Costa hoping to reunite with Brawn and Schumacher at Mercedes in 2012

Aldo Costa, ousted at Ferrari as their technical director five races into the 2011 season, is hoping to reunite with his mentor, Ross Brawn, at Mercedes in 2012.

Powered by automated translation

Aldo Costa, the ousted Ferrari technical director, could be heading to Mercedes next year. Following leads from German media, the Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Mercedes are excited about the idea, and the Italian is just waiting for the right time to make a move because most contracts with top technicians require a waiting period to switch teams. At Mercedes, Costa could reunite with Ross Brawn, his former mentor at Ferrari, as well as the former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher. Brawn would not confirm the report, telling the Gazzetta: "Aldo is a friend, someone I like a lot and an excellent technician, but we have a well-defined unit." Ferrari removed Costa from their team five races into the current season.

RACE FACTS

The Italian Grand Prix has been part of every Formula One season since 1950, and apart from one year, in 1980, it has taken place at Monza. The track in northern Italy is dominated by long straights, with a number of chicanes mixed in, making it hard on the brakes for the drivers. This is Ferrari's home race and they have won it 18 times, including seven of the past 11 races there.

CLASSIC RACES

1971 A genuine thriller, this is still the proud holder of the closest finish to a F1 race. There were no chicanes at Monza back then so the race was largely made up of a large pack of cars at the front slipstreaming each other down the straights each lap. Five drivers were in contention going into the final lap, but it was Peter Gethin who prevailed by just 0.01 seconds.

1988 Arguably the most popular and emotional of Ferrari's wins came this year. The race was coming a month after the death of Enzo Ferrari, the founder of Ferrari. McLaren had dominated the season, winning the first 11 races of that season, and Ayrton Senna had looked set to make it 12 on the trot. But he tangled with a backmarker and spun out, allowing Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto to claim an unlikely one-two finish for Ferrari.

2008 Sebastian Vettelhas earned a number of F1 records in his time in the sport, but this was one of the first major ones he claimed. The German drove superbly in the wet to win and become the youngest race winner in F1 at the age of 21 years and 73 days. It was the first, and only victory to date, for the Toro Rosso team.

RECENT PAST WINNERS

2010 F Alonso, Ferrari

2009 R Barrichello,Williams

2008 S Vettel, Toro Rosso

2007 F Alonso, Ferrari

2006 M Schumacher, Ferrari

2005 J Montoya, McLaren

2004 R Barrichello, Ferrari

2003 M Schumacher, Ferrari

2002 R Barrichello, Ferrari

2001 J Montoya, Williams

2000 M Schumacher, Ferrari