Italian Grand Prix

By Greg MacLeman

| 30 Jul 2014

Few motor-racing venues are as atmospheric or hold as much resonance as Monza. The Milan parkland circuit is the long-time home of the Italian Grand Prix – one of the highlights of the international racing calendar. The meeting became synonymous not only with the greatest names in motor sport – Nuvolari, Ascari, Stewart and Schumacher – but also with tragedy.

With its long straights and sweeping curves, Monza was always fast – especially when the banking was in use as well. But with the excitement came danger, and eventually the layout was altered to include chicanes and slow the cars down.

And yet there is still something special about Monza. From the crumbling banking to the run down from the Lesmo turns through the trees, the place is dripping with history. Add the vociferous support of the Ferrari-loving tifosi, and it is easy to see why – along with Monaco, Spa and Silverstone – it has become one of the crown jewels of the Formula One World Championship.

Chicanes are nothing new at Monza, as proved by Bernd Rosemeyer in 1936. The young German drove his Auto Union C-type to victory, and here passes the stricken car of teammate Hans Stuck.

A track invasion from a more genteel era. After Rosemeyer's victory, cars, pedestrians and cyclists swarm on to the famously wide sweep of Monza's start-finish straight.

The Ferrari 375s of Alberto Ascari and Dorino Serafini are prepared for the first World Championship Formula One Italian Grand Prix in 1950. Note the police officers and wire fence behind – the sometimes-chaotic paddock at Monza became well known for its over-zealous officials.

Where the famous Parabolica now runs, there used to be two right-handers with a pave surface. Here, in 1953, Juan Manuel Fangio leads the Ferraris of Giuseppe Farina and Alberto Ascari, with Onofre Marimon maintaining a watching brief. On the final lap, Ascari spun at this corner, Farina took the grass in avoidance and Fangio nipped through to win.

In 1956, Stirling Moss's Maserati 250F ran out of fuel with five laps to go. He was pushed to the pits by privateer Luigi Piotti, and after a splash of fuel went on to record the fastest lap of the race before winning overall.

Ferrari's Phil Hill negotiates the banking in 1961, the last year it formed part of the circuit for the Italian Grand Prix. Hill won that race, and with it the World Championship, but the popular American's success was overshadowed by the death of his teammate Wolfgang von Trips' and 15 spectators in an accident on lap two.

Formula One, 1967 style. In a shot that couldn't have been posed better, Jim Clark enjoys an ice cream in the pits with a friend, plus Lotus mechanics. Bette Hill sits on the pit wall, and to Clark's left is his good friend and journalist Jabby Crombac. Clark drove one of his most famous races that year, coming back from a lap down to retake the lead in his Lotus 49, only to run short of fuel at the end and drop to third place.

Before the chicanes were added, Monza produced some great slipstreaming battles, and few were better than 1969. Here, Jackie Stewart leads Denny Hulme, Piers Courage, Jochen Rindt, Jo Siffert, Bruce McLaren and Jean-Pierre Beltoise. Stewart worked hard through practice to find the correct gear ratio for the exit of the final corner, and his approach paid dividends. The finish turned into a drag-race between his Matra and Jochen Rindt's Lotus, the Scotsman reaching the flag 0.08 secs to the good to claim his first world title.

After exiting Parabolica on the final lap in 1971, Peter Gethin took his BRM's V12 engine 1000rpm over its previous limit before snatching top gear and dashing over the line to pip Ronnie Peterson, Francois Cevert, Mike Hailwood and Howden Ganley. Gethin's average speed was 150.754mph - a record that would stand until 2003. And his winning margin? 0.01 secs over Peterson. Ganley, in fifth, was only 0.61 secs behind his BRM teammate.

The 1976 Italian Grand Prix heralded the return of Niki Lauda, just six weeks after his near-fatal crash at the Nurburgring. Despite painful injuries, and the fact that Ferrari had drafted in Carlos Reutemann in expectation of Lauda being out for longer, the legendary Austrian finished fourth and put his title bid back on track.

It couldn't have been scripted any better: less than one month after the passing of Enzo Ferrari, Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto take the chequered flag for a 1-2 at the Scuderia's home Grand Prix in 1988. It was the only race of the season not to be won by the dominant McLaren-Hondas of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

Michael Schumacher brought Ferrari success like no other, and even managed to win his first Italian Grand Prix with the team, in 1996. Here, the tifosi hail their new hero, who would go on to win five Italian Grands Prix in all.