2011 Italian Grand Prix

The 2011 Italian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2011) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 11 September 2011 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy. It was the thirteenth round of the 2011 Formula One season and was also the sixtieth time the Italian Grand Prix had been held at Monza. The 53-lap race was won by Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel, the World Drivers' Championship leader, after he started from pole position. Jenson Button finished in second place for McLaren, and Fernando Alonso completed the podium in third position for Ferrari.

As a consequence of the race, Vettel extended his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 112 points over Alonso, who moved up to second place in the championship. Button moved into third place in the championship, five points behind Alonso, and level on points with fourth-placed Mark Webber, but ahead on countback. In the World Constructors' Championship, Red Bull's championship lead was cut by McLaren to 126 points, with Ferrari a further 71 points behind in third position.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy a special trophy (named Coppa del 150° Anniversario dell'Unità d'Italia) was awarded to the winner. The same trophy was also awarded to the winner of 2011 Giro d'Italia (cycling, won by Michele Scarponi) and 2010-2011 Coppa Italia (football, won by Inter Milan). The special trophy was designed by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga.

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its white-banded medium compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound as the softer "option" compound, as opposed to the previous year where Bridgestone brought the hard compound as the prime.

The Belgian Grand Prix saw a small controversy when several teams discovered their tyres had blistered during qualifying, but were not permitted to change their tyres ahead of the race because the damage was the result of the car set-up rather than an accident. Tyre supplier Pirelli pointed to Red Bull Racing's practice of running camber settings that were outside the recommended parameters given by Pirelli as the cause of the blistering, and said they would be more cautious with their recommendations for Monza to prevent the problem from arising again. Pirelli stated that they were willing to turn to the FIA to enforce camber limits if there was any evidence of blistering after the Free Practice sessions. Shortly before the final practice session on Saturday, the FIA announced that Pirelli's camber limits were mandatory and that any team who failed to observe them would be reported to the stewards under Article 2.3 of the sport's technical regulations for dangerous construction and would risk exclusion from the race.

After experimenting with two Drag Reduction System (DRS) zones with one activation point in Montreal and Valencia, the FIA reverted to a single DRS zone for Silverstone. At the Belgian Grand Prix, it was announced that the Italian Grand Prix would once again see two DRS zones, but this time, each zone would be independent, with one activation point for each zone. One of these zones will be placed along the main straight of the circuit, with reports suggesting that the second zone would be placed along the straight between the second Curva di Lesmo and the Variante Ascari chicane.

On Saturday morning, the FIA modified the della Roggia chicane, moving the kerbs at both corners back five metres to allow the drivers more space to navigate the chicane without being forced over the kerbs.

Bruno Senna replaced Nick Heidfeld at Renault for the Belgian Grand Prix, though Heidfeld expressed dissatisfaction with the appointment and stated that he hoped to return to racing for them at the Singapore Grand Prix and to finish the season driving for Renault, going so far to launch legal action against the team. In the week before the Italian Grand Prix, it was announced that Heidfeld and Renault had reached a settlement, allowing Senna to complete the season in Heidfeld's place. Senna's appointment prompted four new sponsors – Brazilian telecommunications company Embratel, oil and natural gas company OGX, personal care brand Gillette and pharmaceutical company Auden McKenzie – to join the team.