F1 teams presented with multiple choice for the Italian Grand Prix

On the face of it, the Italian Grand Prix would appear to be as straightforward as it gets for the F1 team strategists.

The weather forecast is perfect, with sunny, clear blue skies dominating, a light tail wind on the start-finish straight, and only one stop to consider for the 53 laps that, given the conditions, should take around 75 minutes to complete. Simple!

But there is more to it than that for the likes of McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari et al.

One stop, on this occasion, means multiple choice from tyre supplier Pirelli regarding the strategy options, and which compound to use and at what point in the race.

The heavily favoured choice will be starting on the medium tyre, with a switch to the hard around laps 22 to 28.

The strong alternative will be the reverse, with a hard compund start before taking on the medium around laps 28 to 34.

But then there are the prospects of teams opting for a soft-tyre finish. With a medium or hard start, that means taking on the red-striped rubber around laps 32 to 38.

As far as Pirelli is concerned, it does not feel a soft-tyre start is favourable, although a team may still take a gamble by doing so.

It is an intriguing proposition for all the teams to consider and, of course, this does not take into account any safety car periods.

Certainly, starting on the medium provides more favourable grip off the line, and therefore up to racing speed on the long run down to the first chicane that much quicker.

In terms of available tyre sets, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, with the drivers from the four teams all starting in the top eight, have both a new set of hard and medium to hand, offering a strong indicator as to which way they will go.

It is the same with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, who starts a superb seventh.

The anomaly in the top 10 is Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who lines up eighth, as the two-time F1 champion has no new sets available. He has just one used set of hard and medium apiece, and four used sets of softs.

For the race, Red Bull's Max Verstappen starts on pole, ahead of McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth.