Ongoing Alpine issue could derail Pierre Gasly Italian GP victory shot

After Pierre Gasly's stunning pole position at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, the next big question was, 'can he win the race?'

He's given himself and Alpine the best possible opportunity to claim what would be a second grand prix win for each, but it won't be easy. 

He is armed with the powerful Mercedes engine to fend off George Russell, and overtaking is not as easy as it seems at Monza with cars in their low-downforce configuration, but one long-standing Alpine issue could play a role. 

Alpine’s biggest concern is tyre wear. The team has been struggling with recurring tyre management issues with the A526.

In Austria, Gasly was forced into a three-stop strategy due to excessive wear, a track which shares some characteristics with Monza in heavy traction zones and heavy braking from high speed, whilst in Barcelona, the machine also struggled to preserve its tyres, although this is a circuit which places more lateral load through the tyres. 

Pirelli previously warned that the rear tyres could struggle particularly during the race, as the risk of overheating is high during high-traction phases. Furthermore, as a low-downforce circuit, Monza can be a challenge in any case for a team that generally struggles with tyre management. 

Still, there is one factor that gives the French team reason for hope: Pirelli does not expect extremely high overall tyre degradation, with its strategy predictions indicating a soft-medium strategy could be the best way to go, with the soft tyres holding on well through practice and qualifying, despite the high track temperatures.