Where to begin when thinking of the Italian Grand Prix? It's not a race I've attended, much to my regret, so I can't add any personal touches to this post - I was hoping someone else would take the reins...but it's nearly Tuesday, I've a glass of red to finish, and we need a thread.
In 1921, the Italian Grand Prix was run at Brescia, but Monza was built in 1922, and has been the home of the most of the Italian races since then - since the revival in 1950, only one Italian GP has not been run on this iconic circuit, whereas two of the other survivors from this date - Silverstone and Spa, have sat out many years. Monaco, of course, is Monaco. On these old tracks, the corners of the circuit have names, not numbers. If the environs of Silverstone, with it's cluster of F1 factories is the powerhouse of F1, then Monza is the heart and soul of F1. The racing fans of Italy have more passion for the sport than any others, you will see the massive Ferrari flag in the main grandstand, and this love for the Scuderia is deep - when Imola was still a track for F1, you could see it there too, but now, Monza has this passion to itself. What marks Monza out uniquely is the sheer speed of the track. In 2002, Juan Pablo Montoya ran a qualifying lap at an average speed of 259.827 km/h (approx 162mph).
The orginal layout was a double loop with a banked corner, but in 1928 a massive tragedy occurred where 27 spectators and 1 driver died and many were injured when a car came off this banking. This was an era of many other tragedies, and after 1938 the banking was dismantled, and only the flat road circuit was used - until 1954, when the circuit was revamped with the construction of the famous Parabolica, and the reconstruction of a much bigger and aggresive banked corner over the original, almost flat banking. This was used in 1955 (Fangio) and 1956 - a race notable because after Fangio's Ferrari retired with broken steering, the Italian driver was called in but refused the call, so Collins - who had a chance of the championship came in and passed his car, and is championship challenge, to Fangio.
The banking remained contraversial. It was not built on a solid foundation, but on columns, and was incredibly rough, so for the next few years the banking was retired and only the road circuit used, but in 1960, with the powerful but heavy Ferraris losing out to the nimble British mid-engined cars during the season, it was re-instated and integrated with the road track to make the circuit much faster and more favourable to the more powerful Ferraris. The British teams boycotted the race for safety reasons, and it became the last race won by a front engined car.
In 1961, the race returned to the combined circuit, but another tragedy occured when Von Trips and Clark collided, and the following accident claimed the life of Von Trips, and the lives of 14 spectators. After this race, the banking was never used again - it was physically ripping the cars to pieces, and now survives as a decaying monument to the earlier, more brutal days of F1.
Since then the track has remained more or less the same - it was upgraded in 1980 with new pits a few revisions, but the layout remained almost identical. After the tragedies in 1994, a few modifications were made, and again in 2000, but it remains the fastest track on the F1 calendar. The cars run with almost invisible rear wings, and somehow the drivers keep the cars on the track. Well, mostly. Last year, after the pole qualifying Hamilton made a very poor start and allowed Nico Rosberg to disappear into the distance, Nico had problems twice at the Variante del Rettifilo, the second mistake allowed a flying Hamilton who was recovering fast to pounce and he then disappeared into the distance.
Last years pole time was 1.24.109 by Lewis Hamilton, and the race was won by him as well. The tifosi had their hearts broken when Fernando Alonso's Ferrari stopped due to an engine issue - his first mechanical problem for nearly 4 years.
After the tyre issues at Spa a couple of weeks ago, another very fast circuit, it will be interesting to see what Pirelli say about this race.
I can't think of much more to say, other than bring it on, and the folk with stats and interesting stuff please add it in.
Because the track is unique, the race itself is unique, and is another I always enjoy. See you all at the weekend.
Edited by Lotus53B, 01 September 2015 - 07:59.