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Ciao, Formula One fans — it’s time for the Italian Grand Prix.
Based in Monza, Italy, just a short train ride northeast of Milan, Autodromo Nazionale Monza has been the home of the fabled race for over a century and has held the grand prix every year since the F1 world championship began in 1950 except for one. The sport’s fastest race and record for the smallest winning margin were recorded at this circuit, known as the Temple of Speed.
According to Mercedes, Monza offers few energy recovery opportunities due to its mix of long straights and chicanes and just three points of heavy braking. The drivers go full throttle for around 80 percent of the lap, and the cars require a unique setup for the oldest purpose-built track in mainland Europe.
But when talking about Monza, you can’t ignore the passionate tifosi, Ferrari’s fanbase. Expect plenty of Prancing Horse flags and a sea of red throughout the complex. Before it’s time for lights out, grab an espresso and read about what you need to know about what the locals call ‘La Pista Magica.’
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Monza’s storied history
Speed, passion and a dash of sorrow paint a picture of the track’s extensive history.
Built after the First World War, Autodromo Nazionale Monza’s rise to prominence dovetailed with a period when Italy’s auto industry and its influence blossomed. Alfredo Rosselli was the architect, and construction was underway in early 1922 before conservationists brought it to a halt due to the amount of trees being cut down in the park. Authorities began negotiations with Rome, and eventually, they were allowed to resume building the circuit, just with a modified layout to reduce the number of lost trees. More of the park’s existing roads were used instead. The track was created in 110 days, opening in Sept. 1922 and hosting the Italian GP a week later. Autodromo Nazionale Monza was just the third purpose-built track in the world, joining the likes of Brooklands and Indianapolis.
Disaster struck during the 1928 grand prix when Emilio Materassi crashed into the grandstand while attempting an overtake, killing himself and 28 spectators. More deaths and injuries followed over the years, including 1933’s ‘Black Sunday,’ triggering track changes and safety tweaks to be made over the years.
The current Monza track no longer uses its banked areas, but the sloped bits of circuit remain on the grounds. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
World War II stopped racing at Monza, and the buildings were repurposed for things like housing animals from the Milan Zoo and storing war materials. By the time the war was over, not much of the track was usable, and a complete restoration got underway in 1948.
Many may recall how Monza used to include steep banking. But it was removed from the high-speed circuit’s layout (some of it still exists on the grounds) after the 1961 grand prix where, after colliding with Jim Clark, Wolfgang von Trips crashed into the crowd, killing himself and 10 spectators immediately. Several more died at the hospital. Though grand prix races then started taking place on the road course, deaths continued to occur at Monza, including Jochen Rindt, who crashed and died on impact during practice for the 1970 race. He’s the only driver to be named an F1 world champion posthumously.
Along with plenty of melancholy days, Monza has produced iconic battles and memorable celebrations, like the 1967 race where Jim Clark unlapped himself and regained the lead only to run out of fuel on the final lap, Ferrari’s 1-2 finish in 1988 weeks after founder Enzo Ferrari’s death, Charles Leclerc’s 2019 victory, Pierre Gasly’s first-ever win in 2020, and the McLaren duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris bringing home a 1-2 finish in 2021.
Monza through the years
Here are a few of the circuit changes that have been made over the years, which include spectator safety improvements:
- Florio course: By 1930, a new configuration was made, with a short straight and two corners connecting the road course’s central straight and the speed course’s eastern straight. The northern curve was eliminated.
- After the grand prix driver deaths in 1933, motorsport moved on from the original 10-kilometer (6.21-mile) track layout at Monza a few years later.
- Radical changes were made after the 1938 Italian Grand Prix. The banked oval course was eliminated, and a road course was created. Pirelli commissioned a new section for the testing track. Improvements were made to spectator facilities, including more grandstands. But then WWII happened, and the complex suffered through the embattled period.
- The Milan Automobile Club decided the circuit needed a complete restoration in 1948, and the revival began. The 1938 improvements came back. It’s worth noting that the F1 world championship had not yet started, so a Formula Race was the first post-war competition.
- By 1955, the Monza oval returned, using concrete pillars for reinforcement rather than the earth.
- The 1961 von Trips tragedy saw the end of the full circuit with banking and grand prix racing stuck with the road course layout.
- A slew of speed-limiting chicanes came in the 1970s, including the Ascari chicane, which was revised in 1974 to help the curve flow better initially. From 1976 until the 1990s, a more classic layout remained in place, which included a left-right-left sequence at the grandstand straight’s end.
- After Ayrton Senna’s death at Imola in 1994, more circuit changes were made. Speed was reduced in some sections, and runoff areas were expanded.
2024 changes
- The track has been fully resurfaced.
- A gravel strip has been added in the runoff to Turn 2.
- A gravel strip has also been added to the righthand side between Turns 4 and 5.
Tackling the Temple of Speed
In the words of Williams, “Monza is giving Rainbow Road vibes.”
It’s the fastest track on Formula One’s calendar. The cars run on low-drag setups at this circuit, creating a lighter car; however, it’s finding the right balance with the aerodynamic packaging so there’s enough downforce when the drivers brake, like heading into Turn 1. This is where incidents often happen at the end of the DRS zone as cars can go into the chicane side-by-side. Drivers need confidence when tackling the track at high speed and entering quick braking zones and corners that vary in speed. Keep an eye on the well-known Parabolica curve and Ascari chicane.
As Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez said, “It’s not always a straightforward thing.”
Qualifying presents an opportunity for teams to use a tactic called towing. It’s almost a cat-and-mouse game that unfolds as drivers try to catch a slipstream, either from teammates or competitors. The leading car essentially punches a hole in the air, cutting the drag, and the second car can move up more easily and rapidly.
“The tow is worth quite a lot of lap time, especially from the start to open a lap to Turn 4,” Alex Albon’s race engineer, James Urwin, said in Williams’ engineers’ preview.
(Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Circuit curiosities
- Home of the fastest-ever F1 race: Michael Schumacher won the 2003 Italian Grand Prix in one hour, 14 minutes, and 19.838 seconds. His average speed during that race was 247.585 kph (153.842 mph).
- Holds the record for the smallest winning margin: The 1971 race saw the top five finishers end the grand prix in a slipstream, the top two drivers separated by just 0.01 seconds.
- Shortest F1 career: Marco Apicella’s career lasted 800 meters (2,600ft) after he was given a one-off start. During the 1993 Italian Grand Prix, he was involved in a multi-car incident at the first corner on the first lap, ending his only F1 race early.
- The Race of Two Worlds, aka the 500 Miles of Monza: European F1 cars competed against IndyCar for the first time in 1957, sticking to the oval layout and racing counterclockwise like in the U.S. Only two of this type of race occurred, which an IndyCar won both years (Jimmy Bryan in 1957 and Jim Rathmann in 1958).
(Lead image: Andrej Isakovic/AFP, Alessio Morgese/NurPhoto, Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images; Design: Drew Joran, The Athletic)
