Race Facts – Italian Grand Prix at Monza

The oldest circuit on the current Formula 1 calendar, Monza’s history dates back to 1922, when it hosted the Italian Grand Prix for the first time.

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Monza’s original circuit layout stretched to over 10km and included a 5.5km road section broadly similar to today’s layout plus a 4.5km loop, which was redeveloped into a high-speed banked oval in the 1950s. 

Monza is one of four current Formula 1 circuits which formed part of the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship in 1950 and since then, the circuit has only been absent only once – in 1980, when the Italian Grand Prix was held at Imola. 

The 10km layout of the circuit including the banked oval was used for four races in the late 1950s before the organisers reverted to the shorter layout over safety concerns following several fatal accidents. Further circuit alterations have taken place over the years to reduce speeds at Monza, including the addition of the Variante del Rettifilo and Variante Ascari chicanes.

Set in the grounds of the largest city park in Europe, Monza has a special home in the hearts of F1 fans, not least the fanatical local ‘tifosi’, most of whom support Ferrari. The circuit has grandstand capacity for just over 50,000 fans and can accommodate well over 100,000 fans including general admission areas.

A new 3-year deal to keep the Italian Grand Prix at Monza until 2019 was signed in 2016, and the deal was renewed in 2019, keeping the race at the track until the end of 2024. With the 2020 Italian Grand Prix being held behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, the deal was extended in May 2020 to 2025.

Following disappointing ticket sales and a half-capacity crowd in 2021, Monza returned to a full capacity attendance in 2022. Celebrating its centenary year, the circuit welcomed its largest ever Italian Grand Prix crowd, with 337,000 fans in the grandstands and general admission areas over the race weekend.

Italian Grand Prix: Did You Know?

  • Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton share the record for the most wins at Monza with five apiece.
  • Ferrari are the most successful team at Monza, having won the race 19 times. Their most recent Monza win was with Charles Leclerc in 2019.
  • Sebastian Vettel’s surprise victory at Monza in 2008 for Toro Rosso made him the youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix (at the time), aged 21 years, 2 months and 11 days old.
  • At the Italian Grand Prix in 2020, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest ever lap in a Formula 1 car, with an average speed on his pole lap of 264.363 km/h.
  • The circuit is unique on the current Formula 1 calendar for its mix of long straights and slow chicanes. The low downforce circuit puts strain on engines, which are on full power for 80% of the lap, and gearboxes, which are used heavily in the chicanes.
  • Between 2003 and 2019, there was only one occasion on which the polesitter failed to finish in the top two at the Italian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the race on the final lap having started from pole in 2009.
  • Thanks to the fact that it used to be held at the end of the season, 12 World Championships have been settled at the Italian Grand Prix since 1950, most recently in 1979.
  • Giuseppe Farina won the first ever Drivers’ Championship at Monza in 1950. He remains the only driver to have won the title on home soil.
  • The Italian Grand Prix is usually the shortest all season. The 2003 race at Monza holds the record for the shortest F1 race to reach full distance, with Michael Schumacher winning in a time of just over 74 minutes. Meanwhile, the 2023 Italian Grand Prix was the shortest not to be red-flagged. It did not reach full distance, however, due to the additional of two extra formation laps.
  • In 2019, Antonio Giovinazzi became the first Italian driver to compete in his home race since Jarno Trulli and Vitantonio Liuzzi competed in the 2011 Italian Grand Prix. Giovinazzi also became the first Italian to score at Monza since Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella finished in the points in 2006.
  • Daniel Ricciardo’s victory at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix was the first time that McLaren won a race since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. With Lando Norris in second place, it was the team’s first 1-2 result since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. 

Memorable Moments in the Italian Grand Prix

1971 Italian Grand Prix: F1’s Closest Ever Finish

The closest finish to a Formula 1 race came at Monza in 1971, with Peter Gethin crossing the line just 0.01s ahead of Ronnie Peterson. The race was the fastest ever F1 Grand Prix until the 2003 Italian Grand Prix, and all of the top five finishers were covered by just over six tenths of a second! In the last running of the race at Monza to not feature the two chicanes, slipstreaming was highly effective, with no less than 25 changes of the lead between eight drivers. It was Gethin’s only Formula 1 win.

1988 Italian Grand Prix: Ferrari End McLaren’s Win Streak

The 1988 Italian Grand Prix was the only race of the 1988 season which McLaren failed to win. Alain Prost was out with engine issues, while Ayrton Senna led until Lap 50 of 52. Senna was attempting to lap Jean-Louis Schlesser, who was on his only race appearance with Williams, when the pair collided. That allowed Gerhard Berger to lead home a Ferrari 1-2; a particularly poignant home result, given that this was the first Italian Grand Prix since the death of the team’s founder Enzo Ferrari.

2008 Italian Grand Prix: Vettel Wins in the Wet

A wet weekend in 2008 saw future World Champion Sebastian Vettel take an unexpected victory for Toro Rosso. As other drivers – such as Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen – found themselves suffering early exits in qualifying, it was Vettel who took the first pole position of his career, with team-mate Sebastien Bourdais also starting from the second row of the grid.

Though Bourdais stalled on the grid ahead of the Safety Car start, Vettel led comfortably when the race finally got underway. It was a perfect afternoon for the young German, aside from one wide moment, who became Formula 1’s youngest ever winner. It’s a record which was later beaten by Max Verstappen at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Toro Rosso would not finish on the podium again until 2019. Watch the highlights.

2020 Italian Grand Prix: Gasly’s Maiden Win

There was a surprise winner at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, as Pierre Gasly took his first victory. 12  years on from their only other victory, which was also at Monza in 2008, the Red Bull junior team emerged victorious from a frantic race.

Gasly was aided to the win by two major incidents: a red flag period, caused by a crash for Charles Leclerc, and a penalty for Lewis Hamilton, who entered the pit lane when it was closed. Gasly still had to fight for the win though, with Carlos Sainz’s McLaren hot on his heels in the closing laps. This was the first win for a French driver since the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix. Watch the highlights.

2021 Italian Grand Prix: McLaren’s First Win in Nine Years

A slow pit stop for Max Verstappen put him alongside Lewis Hamilton as he exited the pit lane in the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. Somewhat inevitably, given their form in 2021, the championship contenders collided, eliminating both of them from the race.

Daniel Ricciardo has seized the lead at the start of the race and following Hamilton and Verstappen’s collision, the Australian came under little pressure for the win. Ricciardo supplied McLaren with their first victory in almost a decade, while Lando Norris gave the team their first 1-2 result since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. Watch the highlights.

Monza Facts

Circuit NameAutodromo Nazionale di Monza
Track Length5.793km (11 turns)
Race Distance53 laps (306.72 km)
Lap Record1:21.046, Rubens Barichello (Ferrari), 2004
2023 Result1st Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:13:41.143
2nd Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +6.064s
3rd Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +11.193s

1 thought on “Race Facts – Italian Grand Prix at Monza”

  1. Hi there, Monza has been booked with a couple buddies, were heading from Canada, and we have GA tickets for the weekend. just wondering in your opinion which parts of the track we should head to, we also were thinking of trying to make it to Spa for race day seeing how the race is the prior weekend. Spa looks amazing, just unsure of all the leg work of traveling back and forth. There aren’t any direct flights to Belgium so we do a lot of back tracking to go.

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