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Scuderia Toro Rosso has finally confirmed the departure of erstwhile technical director Giorgio Ascanelli, who has been ‘on holiday’ for some weeks.

The team says that the former McLaren and Ferrari man has resigned his post.

Ascanelli said in an STR statement: “I’ve enjoyed the past years working at Scuderia Toro Rosso. It has been a very intense and interesting time, in which we had to manage the transition from a small team to a much larger one, and everybody has put a lot of effort to bring us where we are today. We have sown the seeds for a successful future and I think the team challenge is now to gain a stable presence in the upper mid-field and I wish all at Toro Rosso the very best for the future.”

Meanwhile team boss Franz Tost said: “Over a period of almost five years, Giorgio has contributed positively to the development of our team. Especially in the difficult transition period from a simple racing team to a fully-fledged constructor he made an important contribution and his undoubted experience was very valuable to us. We would like to thank him for his efforts and wish him all the best for the future.”

Lotus technical director James Allison has confirmed that the Double DRS ‘Device’ now won’t be raced until Suzuka at the earliest.

The team had planned to race it at Spa, but the wet Friday meant that it took the conservative choice of running in standard spec from Saturday onwards. However he says it was never intended to use it at Monza.

“Although we would like to have it at Monza – because it is the type of circuit that rewards such a thing – we don’t have the DRS device configured to cope with the Monza level of downforce,” said Allison. “So it is not even on the table. In Singapore you won’t see it either, because it’s too high a downforce circuit with insufficient straights for it to be worthwhile. The earliest you might see it now is Suzuka.”

Team boss Eric Boullier added: “Quite a few interesting developments are still in the pipeline and they’ll be implemented later in the year. At this time of the year, the team usually starts focusing almost only on its next car. This is not the case this year, as we’ll develop the E20 until the very last race. And that won’t compromise the design of the E21.”

Meanwhile Allison is confident that the team will bounce back in Italy after a disappointing weekend in Belgium that saw Kimi Raikkonen finish a distant third.

“It’s always tricky to go into Monza with any certainty about how the world is going to work out, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the track always produces very, very close grids and this is a season where the grids are close anyway. We could be in a situation like Valencia, where if you were two or three tenths too slow you could miss getting into Q3.

“Not only does Monza already attract a close grid – in a season of close grids – but it is also a very distinct circuit. In some ways it’s a bit like Canada: Straight into a corner, straight into a corner, without any big ‘S’ sections. The closest you’ve got is Ascari and Parabolica. This means that the straight-to-corner ratio is such that you run a wing level that is way too small for the corners.

“So the drivers will be doing their best to scrabble around the corners in a car that is optimised for the straights. All this means it’s difficult to know how we’ll perform. And, having made predictions about the last race that were not exactly on the mark, it’s even harder to do so here!

“That said, if you took the season as a whole, we’ve got a fair hit rate of arriving at tracks and performing reasonably. So the balance of probability is that we’ll do the same in Monza as well. In all probability it will be pretty warm and we’ve tended to go well when it’s warm, Valencia being a case in point and another point-and-squirt circuit where we’ve done very well. So we ought to be able to get our show back on the road in Monza after a slight misfire in Spa.”

Allison admitted that it’s not going to be an easy weekend for Jerome D’Ambrosio, who is deputising for Romain Grosjean.

“He has driven the car – very capably – at the Mugello test, but that’s a very different type of circuit. There’s very little braking in Mugello and almost nothing but braking for the driver to think about in Monza. However, he is a reasonably seasoned campaigner and certainly a very level-headed sort of chap.

“It’s a big opportunity for him to show us and the rest of the world what he’s got. I know he’ll really want to make the most of it and hopefully he will be able to cement some good championship points for us.”

Lotus reserve driver Jerome D’Ambrosio has an opportunity to prove himself this weekend as he steps into the car temporaily vacated by the suspended Romain Grosjean.

It’s a big ask, as he’s only done 40 laps in the E20 at Mugello back in May, but on the other hand, he has nothing to lose. Here’s what he had to say in a Q&A issued by the team.

Q: How does it feel to be called on to drive in the Italian Grand Prix?

“I understand the circumstances in which the drive has come about, but for me it’s a great opportunity and great challenge. I first want to thank the team for having faith in me and allowing me to step in the car for this race at Monza. I will do everything I can to do the best possible job. I’ve worked hard outside the car this year and tried to prepare as best I can just in case something like this happened. I want to make the most of this weekend.”

Q: How is your past form at Monza?

“I had my last podium in GP2 there, so I have good memories of Monza. It is a very challenging track because of the low downforce. It’s also going to be a special event in general, because it is the last race in Europe and Monza always has a very special atmosphere. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Q: What are the challenges of being thrown in at the deep end for a race like this?

“It’s a massive challenge, especially because I’ve not driven much this year and Monza is a unique low downforce track. But I don’t want to focus on what will be hard or difficult. I just want to focus on what I can achieve. It will be challenging but I am already part of the team, I know everyone and I will have great support from them to do the best I can. I will be focussed 100% to make full use of free practice because that could be the key for me this weekend.”

Q: What have you been doing in preparation for your race?

“As soon as I got the call on Sunday night I drove back to Spa to speak with Ayao Komatsu who will be my race engineer. We checked my seat and talked through everything I need to know. I will be spending time in the simulator, fine tuning myself with all the procedures. And I’ll be speaking a lot with the engineers so I’m as prepared as I can be heading into first practice on Friday.”

Q: Monza’s quite a unique track, where will your focus be?

“I can’t wait to be in the car! Monza is high speed and low downforce. Parabolica is a very important and a great corner. Ascari is also not an easy corner. There are some good challenges. It’s a different track from most these days and there will be plenty to do. I’m looking forward to being there and looking over all the data, but most of all I’m looking forward to being there and driving.”

Q: Are you ready for extra attention you’re going to receive this weekend?

“My focus is on the race. I had a complete season in F1 last year. This is a good thing because I know how an F1 weekend runs and also I’ve been with the team this year. I know it’s really busy at a Grand Prix, but in a good way because it’s a lot of work with engineers which I like.”

Q: You did drive at last year’s Italian Grand Prix – is that good preparation?

“It wasn’t too good as preparation as my car broke down on the warm-up lap! I’m definitely hoping for something better this year. My last real memory of Monza is from GP2 when I was on the podium. I’m going to be 100% focused to get a good result this year and am really looking forward to being on the grid watching the start lights.”

Lotus F1 has formally confirmed that reserve driver Jerome D’Ambrosio will replace the banned Romain Grosjean at the Italian GP this weekend.

The race will give the 26-year-old Belgian a unique chance to showcase his talent in a car that has earned nine podiums this year, although clearly the circumstances are not ideal, especially given that cars are always hard to drive in low downforce Monza spec.

Although the team could have taken someone else – even a driver with sponsorship – there was never any real doubt about D’Ambrosio getting the job, given that he is part of the Genii Group family.

Last year his management underwrote his season with Marussia Virgin Racing so the chance to give him a ‘free’ run in a car capable of reaching the podium was too good to miss.

D’Ambrosio’s only previous experience of the E20 came when he drove 40 laps at the Mugello test on May 1.

Team boss Eric Boullier said: “When we signed Jérôme as our third driver we signed a man who is highly motivated, fresh, talented and who contested the full 2011 season. We hope that this will pay dividends when he drives the car this weekend in Monza. We know that Jérôme is well integrated into the team and that he did a good job when he drove the E20 at the Mugello test.

“Now he has the challenge of a Grand Prix at the challenging circuit of Monza, in a car which is capable of finishing on the podium. One thing is for sure, he’s half Italian and I think I know which driver the spectators will support apart from Fernando! It’s a tough task for Jérôme, but we will be supporting him in every way to achieve a good result.”

D’Ambrosio added: “My desire for 2012 has always been to get back into the seat of a Formula 1 car so I am grabbing this opportunity with both hands. Monza is a fantastic circuit and I can’t wait to take to the track on Friday. As third driver I have worked with the team at every Grand Prix, attending all the briefings and meetings that the race drivers do, so I am well prepared in this respect. Monza is a superb circuit, but it is also quite a technical one so I am not underestimating the task ahead of me.

“I want to reward the faith that the team has in me with a good haul of points from the race. I will hand the wheel back to Romain after Sunday’s race and I hope that this one showing in Italy will allow me to show my capabilities fully.”

Jenson Button admits he was disappointed by Lewis Hamilton’s now infamous Tweet of sensitive telemetry data just prior to the Belgian GP.

The team asked Hamilton to delete it, but not before the image had been widely circulated around the internet.

“We work so hard to improve the car and keep things like that secret and private,” Button told The Guardian. “I didn’t want to see it on Twitter. It was the whole telemetry from qualifying. It wasn’t just the rear wing. I was very surprised and disappointed.

“The bit about the time on the straights isn’t the bit that’s important to me. He should be gaining it back in the corners because he’s got more downforce on anyway. And I was eight tenths quicker in qualifying anyway.

“I think it’s done now. I don’t think it’s for me to be angry with Lewis. It’s not a personal thing.”

After Sunday’s race team boss Martin Whitmarsh confirmed that Lewis had been told to delete the Tweet but insisted that earlier deletions were the decision of the driver.

“I think the Tweets earlier in the weekend he took down of his own volition,” said Whitmarsh. “No one spoke to him about it. This morning I think he made an error of judgement and we asked him to take that one down, and he did. I think he realises that. I don’t think that’s had an impact on his weekend.”

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says that Jenson Button is right to believe that he still has a shot at the 2012 title, despite still being some way behind the other contenders after his Spa win.

Whitmarsh says a highly motivated Button can only be good news for the team.

“Jenson rightly believes that he’s a title contender,” said Whitmarsh. “I’m glad that he believes that, I want him to believe that. And he will be trying to win in Monza and every race thereafter, and that’s what he’ll do. There’s lots of points at stake.

“It’s been an interesting and topsy-turvy season so far, and anything is possible at the moment. It was terrible sad for Fernando and he was another innocent victim, but in a bitter sweet way. Obviously for Lewis that was the only tiny glimmer of good news. Lots of things can happen, I think we’re going to have an exciting last eight races of the season.

“I think we’re in a reasonable situation. The fact is we’ve got a quick car, I think we’re doing a reasonable job as a team. And we’ve got two highly motivated quick racing drivers. Both of them will have triumphs and traumas in the rest of this season, just as I suspect all the top runners will. I think that’s why we come motor racing, isn’t it? That’s what makes it good.”

The first corner crash at Spa has inevitably put a renewed focus on the FIA’s research into cockpit protection, which has been quietly progressing for some time.

Although ‘fighter’ canopies have been considered the emphasis is now on a bar arrangement, to ensure that the cockpits remain open.

McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe has, via the FIA Technical Working Group, been part of the process.

“In the TWG we’re working on it,” said Lowe after Sunday’s race in Spa. “We’ve been looking at two avenues, either the full screen, fighter aircraft technology, or some type of set of bars that would exist in front of the driver that would deflect any incoming wheel or a whole car.

“That one is the one that’s actually more active as a project, so it’s not going to cause a closed cockpit, but it would provide some defence against cars sliding along or landing from above.

“We’ve made a test piece which has been tested structurally with various impacts firing wheels at it. And that was successful, so we’ve understood some of the parameters in terms of the angles that are needed and the strength of the pieces.”

One of the key issues is to ensure that the driver’s view is not compromised.

“The next bit of work that’s currently in progress is assessing the visibility. We’ve done some work in our simulator. Obviously a driver ideally wants nothing in the way, but in the same way you drive a road car with pillars, or the old VW bus with a centre pillar, you get used to it don’t you? It’s one of those things, your mind works a way round it.

“That’s what we found in our simulator, provided the pillars don’t get too big then it’s something they can get used to. So we now have some parameters around what is an acceptable pillar size. The next bit it to try and produce a more optimum device – with that pillar size and this strength requirement can we make something that’s practical and what will that then look like, the current test piece looks pretty ugly, but it’s really a very prototype to just assess forces.”

Lowe says that the rules could be in place by 2014, when the new turbo era begins and cars have to undergo major changes anyway.

“I think 2014 has been the intended timescale as we started the project a year ago. Personally I think something is inevitable, because it is the one big exposure we’ve got. You see it time and again, and how many times do you think that was lucky? And you know one day it won’t be lucky, and we’ll all be sitting here saying we should have done something about that.

“At the same time it is an open cockpit formula, and it’s preserving that, but technically it’s achievable one way or another.”

Romain Grosjean says he accepts the FIA decision to ban him from the Italian GP, after he was deemed to have caused the multi-car first corner crash at Spa.

Grosjean is the first driver to be banned since 1994, a year that saw both Eddie Irvine and Mika Hakkinen punished for triggering incidents, and Michael Schumacher for ignoring a black flag.

“When your life is all about racing, not being allowed to attend an event is probably one of the worst experiences you can go through,” said the Frenchman.

“That said, I do respect the verdict of the Stewards. I got a good start – despite being disturbed by Pastor’s early launch, which I think was the case for everybody at the front – and was heading into the first corner when the rear of my car made contact with the front of Lewis’s.

“I honestly thought I was ahead of him, and there was enough room for both cars. I didn’t deliberately try to squeeze him or anything like that. This first corner situation obviously isn’t what anyone would want to happen, and thankfully no-one was hurt in the incident. I wish to apologise to the drivers who were involved, and to their fans. I can only say that today is part of a process that will make me a better driver.”

“It’s been a tough day for the team but we fully respect the Stewards’ decision,” said team boss Eric Boullier. “Romain won’t be driving at Monza but he still has our full support. We’ll announce the name of his replacement a bit later in the week.”

Meanwhile regarding Raikkonen’s third place, he added: “Unfortunately we didn’t have the pace for Kimi to challenge Jenson or Sebastian. We had to look closely at the strategy during the race to see if we should switch to one stop, but in the end a podium finish still brings us some good points.

“Of course, everyone talks about ‘the win’, and this is something we all want. We were not fast enough for it today, so we all need to keep working hard for this goal.”

Pastor Maldonado will drop 10-places on the Monza grid after earning two separate penalties in Spa.

The first is for jumping the start, and has been applied because he retired later and thus could not be given a penalty that impacted his Spa race.

Having been delayed in the first corner crash – he was tipped into the spin at the exit of La Source, after the main accident – he was at the back for the restart.

He then ran into Timo Glock at the exit of La Source, punting the Marussia into a spin, and doing enough damage to the front of the car to ensure he retired later around the lap.

Again as he retired he was given a grid penalty for causing a collision.

Maldonado had already been given a three-place penalty in Spa after a blocking incident in qualifying.

Romain Grosjean won’t be taking part in the Italian GP for Lotus after receiving a one-race suspension for his role in the first corner crash in Spa.

He has also been fined 50,000 euros.

The FIA Stewards decided that he had committed an “extremely serious breach of the regulations which had the potential to cause injury to others. It eliminated leading championship contenders from the race. The stewards note the team conceded the action of the driver was an extremely serious mistake and an error of judgement. Neither the team nor the driver made any submission in mitigation of penalty.”

Lotus can of course run another driver in Italy.