No circuit has hosted more Formula One world championship rounds than Monza, missing out on the schedule on just one occasion, in 1980.
But still the track continues to attract and reverberate passion, particularly for the Tifosi.
In the 21st century, they have celebrated a Ferrari victory on seven different occasions. In 2000 and 2003, Michael Schumacher scored important victories in his successful quests for the drivers' championship, with the latter being won at the quickest race in Formula 1 history, being completed in just over 74 minutes.
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2006 was his last Monza victory, and he would go on to announce his (first) retirement from the sport in the post-race conference.
Other drivers who have won the Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari, in the 21st century, include: Rubens Barrichello, Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc, with the Monegasque driver stunning McLaren to win last year’s race.
Lewis Hamilton has won this race five times, but his last triumph came in 2018 when he overtook both of the day’s red cars, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, to really seize control of that year’s championship.
Shock Results
Although Leclerc’s 2024 success came as somewhat of a surprise, there have been some giant-killings in recent Italian races.
A red flag, caused by Leclerc, a stop/go penalty for Lewis Hamilton, an uncompetitive race from the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and a DNF from Max Verstappen, gave rise to Pierre Gasly winning his first grand prix in the 2020 race, defeating McLaren’s Carlos Sainz by less than a second.
Lance Stroll completed the unlikely podium, with third, while the two dominant Mercedes ended up fifth and seventh. But the attention was worthily given to Gasly, who had only been demoted by Red Bull just a year beforehand.
Pierre Gasly screaming at the top of his lungs after winning in Monza will never not be iconic 🤍#ItalianGP #F1 @PierreGASLY pic.twitter.com/YISvGpChqX
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 30, 2023
Then, in 2021, a collision between the championship rivals of Hamilton and Verstappen enabled McLaren to score their first win in nearly nine years, courtesy of Daniel Ricciardo. It was the Aussie’s last grand prix win, as he led the other McLaren of Lando Norris for a 1-2 finish.
Red Bull: hot or cold
Historically, Red Bull have either dominated the Monza race or been a huge disappointment. The performance of the Renault engine hardly helped their straight-line speed, but also their car design was less-suited to the Monza track.
In fact, in 2011, Sebastian Vettel took pole for Red Bull, despite recording the slowest straight-line speed of any car. But, having shocked the world with his 2008 triumph, Vettel later won the Italian race in 2011 and in 2013.
And in recent years, the only step of the Monza podium that Verstappen has stood on is the top one. Back-to-back wins in 2022 and ’23 are his only visits to one of motor sport’s great rostrums. And with his most recent Monza win, he broke Vettel’s record for the most grand prix won in a row, with 10.