Monza: The Temple of Speed
Monza: Heritage, Speed and Passion
Few motorsports venues ignite the passion of the fans quite like Monza. Other circuits may be known for their technical difficulty, or gruelling conditions but Monza, quite simply is known for its passion.
Charlie Widdicombe explores this most expressive of racing circuits, the home of Italian Motosport, Monza.
A brief history of Monza
Built in 1922 just north of Milan, Italy, The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is the third oldest racetrack in the world and has the heritage to match its age.
Built only after Brooklands and Indianapolis, the original circuit consisted of a 2.6 mile banked oval, with the steepest points at an angle of over 30 degrees - quickly earning the nickname ‘Monzanopolis’.
The track hosted the Italian GP from 1922 but after numerous fatal accidents, the circuit was adapted to avoid sections of the oval track, and 1961 was the last time the original oval banking was used in any form. Monza continued to be adapted regularly, most notably with the addition of chicanes to slow the cars down, up to 2000.
Left to decay over many years until its restoration over the last decade, the banked sections can still be seen today at Monza – right next to today’s circuit - and are reminders of a far more dangerous time in motor racing history.
Today’s circuit is 3.6 miles long but still encapsulates the raw speed of the Monza of old, with F1 drivers on full throttle more than 75% of the time, and reaching up to 230pm on the main straight in the early 2010s before a turbo hybrid was introduced and brought car speeds down.
Monza is used for numerous series including the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and DTM, but is best known for hosting F1 races – something it’s hosted more than any other circuit in the history of sport.
Traditions at Monza
Italy is home to motorsport’s most passionate fans – the Tifosi. Italian GP weekend results in a summer sea of red taking over the grandstands, with Ferrari supporters flocking to Monza in their thousands.
The podium at Monza is completely unique; the fans are let onto the track post-race, gathering on the pit straight, and the podium stand branches out over the track, giving the feeling of a mini-stage, and allowing the top 3 to celebrate more closely with the fans. Charles Leclerc’s win for Ferrari in 2019 was the perfect example of this, with the roar of the fans rivalling the sound of the F1 turbo engines.
Tragedy and Incidents
It was inevitable that the raw speed of Monza would bring its fair share of tragedy – even after the banked circuit was disused.
Two-time world champion Alberto Ascari lost his life during testing in 1955 at the corner that was renamed in his honour – ‘Variante Ascari’. Wolfgang Von Trips was killed in another accident in 1961, whilst leading the drivers’ championship for Ferrari.
Jochen Rindt was another to tragically lose their life at Monza whilst leading the championship, losing control at the famous ‘Parabolica’ in the 1970 Grand Prix. No other driver was able to catch his points total, and so Rindt remains the only driver to win the world drivers’ championship posthumously.
Ronnie Peterson lost his life in a crash at the 1978 race that might have been prevented had more adept systems been in place in the occurrence of serious driver injury. His death prompted the sport to adopt the use of a medical car to follow the cars round the first lap of the race - the most common time for an accident to occur – and has been used ever since, including playing a pivotal role in the aftermath of Romain Grosjean’s horror shunt at Bahrain in 2020.
The 1981 race saw a major crash with a more positive outcome, with John Watson’s car spearing into the barrier and splitting in two. Designer John Barnard’s inventive carbon fibre monocoque chassis is widely regarded to have saved Watson’s life, as the typical aluminium chassis would likely have burst the fuel tank and erupted into a fireball. The carbon fibre chassis is still used by all F1 cars today.
Notable Races at Monza
1988 Italian Grand Prix
Very few results in motorsport history can match the emotion generated from the 1988 Italian GP. Ferrari took a 1-2 win, with Gerhard Berger leading Michele Alboreto home just weeks after the death of founder Enzo Ferrari. The result was made all the more special considering that McLaren won every single other race that year in the most dominant season in F1 history, but both cars retired at Monza, leaving Ferrari to take a famous win.
2006 Grand Prix - Schumacher’s retirement
Michael Schumacher won for Ferrari in 2006 before proceeding to announce his retirement from the sport at the end of the season. This is a widely forgotten moment that felt monumental at the time – the greatest ever driver in the history of the sport announcing retirement on Ferrari home turf – but Schumi’s comeback in 2010 makes this event lose its shine.
2008 - Sebastian Vettel
Monza has also produced some shock results. The 2008 GP saw the arrival of Sebastian Vettel on the world stage – taking pole position and going on to dominate the race in wet conditions, despite being in Italian minnows of Toro Rosso. Vettel’s first win brought back memories of old; the playing of the German and Italian national anthem for driver and team respectively was akin to the Schumacher/Ferrari glory days.
2020 - Alpha Tauri break the stramgelhold
In 2020 the same team, now renamed as Alpha Tauri, took another shock win, with Pierre Gasly taking advantage of a red flag (race stoppage) to take his maiden victory amongst the chaos. The first driver outside of the ‘Big 3’ teams (Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari) to win a race since 2013, this was a truly surprising win, with the circuit delivering another classic race.
Final Thoughts
Three of the most important elements of Formula One, and any motorsport, are speed, history, and the fans; Monza is the absolute epitome of all of these.
It’s unrivalled on the F1 calendar for its speed, it still boasts the physical memory of its old banked track today, and the Tifosi are some of the most passionate fans in sport.
Monza is an absolutely essential ingredient of motorsport heritage and its unique juxtaposition of the old and the new make it a must visit for any racing fan.
