1958 Italian GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Monza
* Location – Italy
* Corners – 7
* Laps – 70
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:30.000
* Road Circuit:
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:40.500 (Stirling Moss)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:39.004 (Bob Gerard)
* Combined Circuit:
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:42.600 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 2:41.781 (Giuseppe Farina)
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds\*
* Fuel Consumption – High
* Tyre Wear – Medium

Note that this season pit-stops will last longer than in previous seasons; this number represents the time it takes to travel down the pit-lane NOT including the time you will spend stationary.

## Qualifying

An exciting race is in prospect this time, with Cooper bringing an incredibly competitive package (over a single lap at least) to claim their first Pole since Luigi Villoresi at the Italian GP of 1954, and their first ever Qualifying 1-2!!! It is also Behra's first ever Pole Position, as he becomes only the third Frenchman to achieve this feat (after Yves-Girard Cabantous and Élie Bayol). Herrmann will be delighted with 2nd position, as this keeps his slim championship hopes alive - though in all likelihood he will need to overtake his team-mate in order to make that happen!

One of the reasons for Herrmann's delight will be where his championship rivals are positioned - highest amongst them is von Trips in 6th, while Gerard is 10th for Maserati and Brabham may have already lost his chances of the title by qualifying down in 12th - indeed if he were to win this race there have only been 3 victories in F1R history from that grid spot or lower (all three of which were rain affected races…)!

Near the front of the grid there are many drivers who will be looking to put themselves in the shop window for next season, including Salavdori (3rd), Bonnier (4th), Collins with another strong qualifying performance in 5th, Gould (7th), Gibson (8th), Fairman (9th) and Musso (11th). Not all the Cooper drivers are up the sharp end however, as Flockhart (13th) and Godia (24th) are proof of…will they be able to find the same pace as their team-mates during the race!?!

OSCA manage to get a full compliment of cars on the grid, with Hawthorn 16th, Chiron 21st and Fangio 26th, while Connaught manage the same as they line up with Moss 17th, Marsh 19th and Emery 20th…one of their best grid line-ups of the season in fact! Meanwhile teams that are missing drivers are Porsche (no Schell this weekend), though they do have Trintignant in 18th and Gendebien in 23rd, and Lotus…who for the 2nd GP this season have no representatives\* on the grid…and that will mean they go into the final race of the season in last place in the Teams Championship.

A few other drivers worth mentioning that are a little way off the pace include de Beaufort 14th for Vanwall (9 places behind his best-placed team-mate), 15th for Hill (7 places behind) and most astonishingly Piotti - at his home Grand Prix - down in 22nd place a whopping 18 places behind his best-placed team-mate. Expect a drive through the field from him! Finally welcome to Phil Hill, who makes his debut for the Vanwall squad at this race - and starts by qualifying in 25th out of 26 drivers!

## Grid

A thrilling race in store here, with several of the Championship contenders out of position and some of the midfield teams looking stronger than usual! Particularly Cooper and Behra, who makes up for qualifying 26th last time out to take his first ever Pole position…but can he convert it into his 2nd ever race win and Cooper's 4th ever race win (in what has been comfortably their most successful season to date)…?

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* – With every driver on the grid ready to go the flag waves and we are off…but Behra on Pole is slow off the line, with team-mate Herrmann also not making the best getaway! That does allow Salvadori to move past the German and briefly up into 2nd…but both of them find themselves falling victim to the fastest starter of all in the shape of Collins for Vanwall, who is now in 2nd behind Behra!

Salvadori is 3rd with Herrmann 4th and von Trips 5th – while a slow start for Bonnier drops him to 6th position for Maserati. Gould is a relatively lonely 7th at the end of the first lap while behind him Gibson struggles off the line, which gifts the fast-starting Gerard and Brabham places – as the Ferrari takes 8th with the Maserati 9th and then another fast-starter in the shape of de Beaufort in 10th for Vanwall!

Fairman comes through in 11th after being held up a little by Gibson, with Musso 12th, Gibson 13th and Flockhart 14th overall into the opening corner. Meanwhile Moss starts strongly for Connaught, moving past Hawthorn and right onto the back of Hill’s BRM in 15th! However, all of those drivers up to Musso in 12th are thwarted by some epic teamwork from the Connaught squad, as Marsh selflessly allows Emery to slipstream behind him on the run down to Parabolica, which catapults the Brit up to 13th ahead of Gibson! That means the BRM is now 14th with Flockhart 15th, Hill 16th and Moss 17th overall.

Behind them Piotti has predictably belied his poor qualifying to hurtle up to 18th already from Hawthorn 19th, Trintignant 20th, Chiron 21st, Marsh the victim of his own chivalry in 22nd, Gendebien 23rd and then the slower trio of Godia, Hill and Fangio bringing up the rear.

*Lap 2* – Behra is under serious pressure from Collins and the drivers behind him…and on the run down to the Lesmo’s it is von Trips who pounces to force Herrmann off line and move into 4th position, which in turn allows Bonnier to pass the Cooper as well!

Meanwhile Ferrari do some slipstreaming through Rettifilo Centro – but it only serves to swap Gould and Brabham for 7th and 8th place and give Brabham the new fastest lap. A few places back Vanwall show them how it’s done, as de Beaufort allows Fairman to draft behind him and accelerate past not only him but also Gerard’s Maserati as well!

De Beaufort manages to only lose the one position – and through his strong defence against Musso, Emery even manages to capitalise and move up to 12th for Connaught! Meanwhile in a stellar series of corners another Connaught is making rampant progress…Moss passes Hill at Curva Grande, out-brakes Flockhart into Lesmo 1 and gets a better exit than Gibson out of Lesmo 2 to move up from 17th to 14th in a single lap!!! Indeed, his pace is so good that Piotti in the Maserati is able to slipstream behind and pass both Hill and Flockhart as well…

And to cap off a great lap for Connaught Marsh gets involved as well, with a slick out-braking manoeuvre on Chiron at Parabolica to move into 21st position!

*Lap 3* – Von Trips knows that a great result here could be crucial in the championship given that Gerard is some way down the order – and he utilises Salvadori to great effect as he drafts past him through Curva del Serraglio and manages to leave Collins for dead at Parabolica to move up to 2nd place and claim the fastest lap in the process! Brabham retains an outside hope of taking the title, and he does his chances the power of good with a comfortable pass on Herrmann at Curva Grande before out-braking Bonnier for 5th at the 1st Lesmo.

Meanwhile a HUGE train has formed behind Gould in 8th, which sees Gerard capitalise to push Fairman off-line for 9th (and sees de Beaufort follow him through into 10th). Moss also makes further progress with a pass on Musso for 13th, Flockhart narrowly exits Parabolica ahead of Gibson and Piotti after finding extra traction out wide…and finally Marsh continues his own progress with a well-timed pass on Trintignant to claim a Top 20 position.

*Lap 4* – Von Trips is right on Behra’s tail as they exit Parabolica at the end of this lap…which may have something to do with Collins getting a little closer to the Ferrari this time around! Meanwhile Brabham again uses slipstreaming to just gain the place on his team-mate (Salvadori this time) and take 4th overall.

Gerard is defending from de Beaufort for 9th, while Connaught deploy a strong slipstream manoeuvre to allow Moss to pass not only team-mate Emery for 12th, but also Fairman for 11th as well AND take Fastest Lap in the process! Gibson is under pressure from Piotti over 16th, while Marsh’s progress is halted by the resilient OSCA of Hawthorn in 19th place.

*Lap 5* – Von Trips pulls wide to try and pass Behra at Lesmo 1…but realises he won’t make the pass and so pulls back onto the racing line at the last minute to cause a series of harsh braking moments behind him, which Salvadori uses to great effect as he passes both Brabham and Collins to move into 3rd position and claim fastest lap in the process!

Meanwhile Bonnier in 6th is holding up everyone from Herrmann in 7th down to Emery in 13th and Gibson is still holding Piotti behind him also…

*Lap 6* – Collins is being defended against admirably by Salvadori, which in turn is bringing Brabham into play for the podium positions…while Bonnier is still holding the group up – but this time Gerard reacts quickly enough to dive up the inside of Gould for 8th at the 1st Lesmo corner!

Further back Fairman is holding up both Emery and Musso, while Piotti gets as close as possible to Gibson at Parabolica this lap – but still cannot make the move stick! Hawthorn also still has the pressure on him from those chasing him all the way down to Chiron in 22nd place.

*Lap 7* – Behra is utterly determined to keep von Trips behind him, and does so with real aplomb as he defends strongly at Parabolica to ward off the Ferrari’s move around the outside…though this forces both way too wide and opens up space for Salvadori to claim the race lead and fastest lap during the same lap (!), with Collins back up to 2nd place, Behra recovers to 3rd, Brabham up to 4th and then von Trips down to 5th place overall.

Meanwhile Bonnier holding up the same string of cars, which allows de Beaufort to seize the initiative and dive up the inside of both Gould and Gerard to move into 8th place! Emery also uses the concertina effect to get up the inside of Fairman’s Vanwall and claim 12th position at Curva Grande.

*Lap 8* – Behra is defending strongly from Brabham on the run down to Lesmo 1, but von Trips gets a tow behind the Australian and manages to slip past both him and the Cooper ahead to reclaim 3rd position overall! Meanwhile Connaught look a different proposition today, as Moss pressures Gould through Rettifilo Centro…and as the Ferrari jinks to the inside to defend the corner that allows Emery to take a wider line into Parabolica and roar around the outside of both to move into the Top 10!!!

Further back Gibson continues to thwart Piotti and Marsh is still held up by Hawthorn over 19th position. Near the front Collins is gaining ground and sets a new fastest lap (a 1:41.9) in the process.

*Lap 9* – Collins has the gap down to less than a tenth at the front as he set a 1:41.6 to move some 1.5 seconds ahead of von Trips. Bonnier meanwhile is holding up a huge queue of cars down to Flockhart in 15th place, which allows Moss to capitalise and dive up the inside of Gould to move up to 11th – and that makes it two Connaughts passing a Ferrari in the space of two laps!!!

Further back Gibson and Piotti are slowing each other down so that Hill has a look at the Maserati ahead, which is the same for Hawthorn and Marsh allowing Trintignant and Chiron to close in.

*Lap 10* – Brabham is still pressuring Behra, while Collins could not be ANY closer to Salvadori in the lead! Meanwhile this lap it’s a half-hearted attempt by Piotti on Gibson and Marsh on Hawthorn given how close the other drivers are behind them…

*Lap 11* – Collins finally gets close enough to have a go at Salvadori, but he finds the door shut firmly in his face by the race leader. Behra continues to hold up Brabham for 4th, while Herrmann is the one defending from a large queue of cars this lap…and Connaught use the chance to switch their drivers and allow Moss to claim 10th place – however in moving over Emery leaves himself open to attack, which is an opportunity that Gould doesn’t hesitate to grab as he recovers to 11th place overall.

*Lap 12* – Collins is on fire today and set a 1:41.2 to move within 3 tenths of the leader again. Meanwhile Emery immediately uses Bonnier holding up the same queue of cars to avenge himself against Gould and reclaim 11th from the Ferrari. Further back Gibson slows Piotti down and Hawthorn does likewise to Marsh.

*Lap 13* – Behra is still holding Brabham up over 4th position, while Herrmann is holding up de Beaufort and this time it’s Moss who moves over to let Emery through…and it is therefore Moss who fails to realise how close Gould is behind and so concedes 11th to the Ferrari again!

*Lap 14* – Collins latest passing attempt on Salvadori comes to naught, just like Brabham’s latest effort on Behra and Herrmann’s latest chance at overhauling Bonnier – though the usual confusion behind yet again resonates back to Gould and the Connaughts, and this time it is Moss who capitalises to both Gould and his team-mate in the space of a single lap!

Flockhart is held up by Musso as the other usual scraps between Gibson & Piotti and Hawthorn & Marsh continue to rage on for corner after corner!!!

*Lap 15* – Behra is holding up Brabham, while Gibson continues to prevent Piotti from making any further progress…while we have an unlikely new fastest lap holder thanks to a 1:41.0 by de Beaufort’s Vanwall!

*Lap 16* – Collins reclaims fastest lap as both he and Salvadori become the 1st men in the 1:40s with a 1:40.7 enough for the former to be in at least temporary charge of the point on offer for FL! Bonnier meanwhile holds up Herrmann at the 1st Lesmo, which forces the Cooper off-line and opens the door for de Beaufort to sneak up the inside at the 2nd part of the Lesmo corners!

Moss is pressuring Gerard for 9th but thanks to some stout defending by the reigning champion it is Emery who emerges ahead of his team-mate from the Parabolica, as the Connaughts switch places this lap. Further back Piotti continues to have no luck in passing Gibson – but behind them Marsh FINALLY makes his move against Hawthorn at Curva Grande, which moves the Connaught up to 19th overall!

*Lap 17* – Emery drops back a little, which allows Moss through – and the Brit puts together the lap of his life, as he not only passes Gerard at the Lesmo’s but also Herrmann at the Parabolica as well to move up to 8th overall! Piotti is still being held by Gibson meanwhile, with Marsh now gaining ground on Hill and this duo…while behind them both Trintignant and Chiron are pressuring Hawthorn over 19th place.

Meanwhile predictably Emery comes out in 23rd position in a whole host of clean air!!!

*Lap 18* – Collins is quick but is again held up by Salvadori’s measured pace at the front of the race, while Brabham’s attempts to pass Behra are starting to come under increased scrutiny from Bonnier behind – as the Maserati moves to within a second of the duo ahead. Meanwhile a busy time in the pits see de Beaufort, Moss and Hawthorn all come in…

That means Herrmann is now 7th, Gerard 8th, Gould 9th and Fairman 10th – though Herrmann is currently preventing all these drivers from showing their true pace! Musso is 11th, Flockhart 12th, Gibson 13th with Piotti still 14th, Graham Hill 15th, Marsh 16th, Trintignant 17th, Chiron 18th, Gendebien 19th and then it’s de Beaufort emerging crucially ahead of Moss after an excellent stop by both sets of mechanics!

The early stop for Emery backfires as he can’t heat up his tyres and thus, he loses ground to those pitting now…

*Lap 19* – Salvadori has a lap without pressure and uses it to great effect as he sets a 1:40.4 to claim Fastest Lap on the same lap that Collins comes into the pits from 2nd position, which promotes von Trips to 2nd, Behra to 3rd, Brabham to 4th, Bonnier to 5th, Herrmann to 6th, Gerard to 7th, Gould to 8th, Fairman 9th, Musso 10th, Flockhart 11th, Gibson 12th, Piotti 13th, Hill 14th, Marsh 15th, Trintignant 16th, Chiron 17th, Gendebien 18th and Collins out of the pits in 19th overall with a good amount of clear air to run into!

Further back Godia, Phil Hill and Fangio all pit on the same lap and emerge line astern in positions 24th to 26th as they were before…

*Lap 20* – Brabham gets as close as he has ever been to passing Behra this time around, but the Cooper resiliently hangs on to his newly reacquired 3rd position. Meanwhile Marsh and Chiron both pit on this lap to promote Trintignant into 15th, Gendebien up to 16th, Collins 17th, de Beaufort 18th, Moss 19th, Emery 20th and then comes Marsh out in 21st and Chiron out in 22nd place respectively.

*Lap 21* – There now seems to be a clear differentiation between the 2-stoppers and the 3-stoppers based on whether anyone has pitted as yet. Gibson is blocking Piotti and Graham Hill over 12th position right now as the pits are preparing for the next wave of cars to make their respective stops…

*Lap 22* – Brabham and Piotti both come into the pits this time around, which moves Bonnier up to 4th, Herrmann up to 5th, Gerard 6th, Gould 7th, Fairman 8th, Musso 9th, Flockhart 10th, Gibson 11th, Graham Hill 12th, Trintignant 13th, Gendebien 14th, Collins 15th, Brabham out in 16th, de Beaufort 17th, Moss 18th, Emery 19th and then comes Piotti out in 20th position overall – but at least he doesn’t have Gibson directly in front of him any longer!!!

*Lap 23* – Salvadori pits from the race lead along with Herrmann, Gerard, Fairman and Gendebien – but how much will those earlier stops cost them vs the other drivers around them that are staying out!?! Von Trips now inherits the lead of the race from Behra 2nd, Bonnier 3rd, Gould 4th, Musso 5th, Flockhart 6th, Gibson 7th, Graham Hill 8th, Trintignant 9th and then it’s Salvadori out in 10th position overall.

Collins is 11th some 8 seconds behind the former leader after his colder tyres and heavier fuel load cost him a significant amount of time compared to Salvadori! Brabham is 12th and then come Herrmann, Gerard and Fairman in 13th, 14th and 15th respectively, with de Beaufort 16th, Moss 17th, Emery 18th, Piotti 19th, Marsh 20th, Chiron 21st and Gendebien out in 22nd position.

*Lap 24* – Another series of stops this lap, as the leading trio of von Trips, Behra and Bonnier come in along with both Graham Hill and Trintignant, which sees Gould into the race lead, from Musso 2nd, Flockhart 3rd, Gibson 4th and Salvadori now back up to 5th position. Von Trips is out in 6th and Collins meanwhile is gaining ground in 7th, with Behra out of the pits in 8th, Brabham now 9th, Bonnier out in 10th, Herrmann 11th, Gerard 12th, Fairman 13th, de Beaufort 14th, Moss 15th, Emery 16th, Graham Hill out in 17th and Trintignant out in 18th position.

*Lap 25* – Another trio of leaders come into the pits on this lap in the shape of Gould, Musso and Flockhart, which means Gibson now leads for BRM followed by Salvadori, von Trips, the fast-moving Collins, Behra, Brabham and then Gould, who has gained a significant number of places by staying out for longer! Bonnier is back up to 8th from Herrmann 9th, Gerard 10th, Fairman 11th, Musso out in 12th, de Beaufort 13th and Flockhart out mere INCHES ahead of Moss in 15th!!!

*Lap 26* – Gibson’s lead is short-lived as he hands back to Salvadori to claim the race lead, with von Trips 2nd being caught by Collins in 3rd at a rate of around a second per lap! Behra is now 4th, with Brabham, Gould, Bonnier, Herrmann and Gerard all in close attendance, with Fairman now back inside the Top 10.

Musso is 11th from de Beaufort 12th, Moss 13th after a great pass on Flockhart at Parabolica, with Emery 15th, Hill’s BRM in 16th and Gibson out in 17th ahead of Trintignant and the luckless Piotti!

*Lap 27* – Collins has the gap to von Trips down to less than 2 seconds, while Brabham in 5th is still stuck behind Behra and that is allowing Gould et al behind to move in closer…meanwhile Fairman in 10th is holding off a whole host of drivers, which allows de Beaufort to capitalise and dive past Musso and up into 11th overall.

Flockhart is blocking Emery over 14th, while Gibson does Piotti a favour in holding up Trintignant – which allows the Maserati to pass the Porsche and resume his position sitting right behind the BRM!

*Lap 28* – Collins is now just 1.1 seconds down on von Trips – but arguably more importantly now has around a 10 second advantage over Behra in 4th! Bonnier meanwhile is holding up both Herrmann and Gerard – with de Beaufort now past team-mate Fairman into 10th position.

Musso is holding up Moss in 12th, while Emery passes Flockhart for 14th with a strong pass up the inside on the run down to Lesmo. Further back Piotti manages to overtake Gibson at the 1st time of asking this time around, while Trintignant is holding up Marsh and Gendebien is doing the same to Hawthorn.

*Lap 29* – Behra blocks Brabham, which allows Gould to take the initiative and pass his team-mate at Lesmo 1, who doesn’t block the Brit from claiming 5th position. Meanwhile Bonnier continues to defend from Herrmann, Gerard and de Beaufort – while behind them Moss makes quick work of passing Musso to take 12th place.

Further back Gibson gets it all wrong going into Parabolica and desperately tries to keep others behind him – and causes havoc as a result! As a consequence, it is now Marsh up to 18th, Chiron 19th, Trintignant 20th and then Gibson down to 21st overall – and behind them Gendebien is defending heavily from Hawthorn.

*Lap 30* – Collins is blocked by von Trips after almost seizing the moment at the 1st Lesmo to pass…and given the pace of the Vanwall it may only be a matter of time before he overhauls the Ferrari! Meanwhile Behra blocks Gould strongly at the 1st Lesmo but leaves himself vulnerable to Brabham slipstreaming around the outside and out-braking him to move up to 4th position and leave the erstwhile Pole Sitter in 5th overall.

Herrmann blocks Gerard, which in turn allows de Beaufort to get a run on the Maserati and move past him into 9th overall. Meanwhile Fairman blocks Moss, Musso and Emery – which allows the latter to pass all of them and move up to 11th overall from Fairman in 12th, Moss in 13th and Musso in 14th place. Hawthorn again gets blocked by Gendebien…

*Lap 31* – Collins finally makes his pressure on von Trips pay with a great dive past the Ferrari at Curva della Roggia. Bonnier is still blocking Herrmann but focuses too much on the Cooper and gets caught out by de Beaufort on the run down to Parabolica as the Vanwall grabs 7th position overall.

Fairman blocks Moss again, while Hawthorn continues to struggle to overhaul Gendebien this lap…

*Lap 32* – Behra is now clinging on to 5th place from Gould, while further back Bonnier blocking Herrmann, Gerard and Emery allows the reigning champion to move into 9th and the Connaught into 10th as the Cooper drops outside of the Top 10 thanks to sliding wide at the Lesmo’s. Fairman suffers similarly with a slide, which promotes Moss to 12th and Musso to 13th.

*Lap 33* – Collins has the gap to Salvadori at the front down to less than 3 seconds, while de Beaufort overtakes Gould for 6th position with a well-timed pass at Rettifilo Centro. Meanwhile it’s another brilliant lap for Emery and Connaught, who manages to overtake not one but two Maserati’s as he overtakes Bonnier and Gerard to move up to 8th position.

There are also blocks this lap by Herrmann on Moss, Hill on Piotti, Marsh and Chiron – and finally Gendebien on Hawthorn yet again!

*Lap 34* – The gap at the front is just 2 seconds, while de Beaufort is the latest driver to overhaul Behra as he demotes the Cooper to outside of the Top 5. Meanwhile Emery pits, which promotes Bonnier to 8th, Moss to 9th after another double pass for a Connaught (which is followed through by Musso’s BRM) with Herrmann and Gerard now 11th and 12th respectively.

Fairman is 13th, Flockhart 14th, Graham Hill 15th, Piotti 16th and defending from Marsh 17th and Chiron 18th. Trintignant is 19th, with Gibson back inside the Top 20, Hawthorn 21st after FINALLY passing Gendebien and then comes Emery out of the pits in 23rd with a good amount of clear air still.

*Lap 35* – Collins sets an unbelievable lap-time of an even faster 1:40.4 to take the Fastest Lap of the race…could this be Vanwall’s 1st point of the season!?! Moss meanwhile makes short work of passing Bonnier, as the Connaught moves up to 8th overall! Herrmann has Gerard and Fairman for company…but is doing enough to keep them at bay for now…

*Lap 36* – Salvadori’s lead is just 4 tenths of a second over Collins right now, while de Beaufort, Moss and Hawthorn all come into the pits. That means Behra is back up to 5th, Gould up to 6th, Musso 7th and then it’s Bonnier in 8th still defending from Herrmann, Gerard and Fairman. Flockhart is up to 12th, with Graham Hill 13th, Piotti 14th, Marsh 15th, Chiron 16th, Trintignant 17th, Gibson 18th, Gendebien 19th and then de Beaufort out in 20th, from Moss 21st, Emery 22nd and then Hawthorn out in 23rd overall.

*Lap 37* – Collins is just 1 tenth down on the leader now, while Behra is now forced to defend from Gould to hang onto the final points paying position! Bonnier still has Herrmann and Gerard for company, while Marsh defends stoutly from Chiron over 15th place – and at the back Godia, Phil Hill and Fangio all come in and emerge in exactly the same order.

*Lap 38* – The last of the 3-stoppers come into the pits now, as Collins, Marsh and Chiron all make their 2nd stop, which promotes von Trips to 2nd, Brabham to 3rd, Behra 4th, Gould 5th, Musso 6th, Bonnier 7th, Herrmann 8th, Gerard 9th, Fairman 10th, Flockhart 11th, Graham Hill 12th defending from Piotti 13th, Trintignant 14th, Gibson 15th, Gendebien 16th, Collins out in 17th, de Beaufort 18th, Moss 19th, Emery 20th, Marsh out in 21st, Chiron out in 22nd and Hawthorn 23rd overall.

*Lap 39* – Bonnier blocks Herrmann for 7th in an otherwise quiet lap…

*Lap 40* – Behra is now under mounting pressure from both Gould and Musso as he strives to maintain 4th place for Cooper, while stamina is starting to kick in as a factor for the drivers…

*Lap 41* – Musso is pressuring Gould over 5th for BRM, while Fairman has a half-hearted look at Gerard for 9th place. Emery meanwhile passes team-mate Moss for Connaught, as he now looks the best chance of Connaught getting back into the Top 10…though that is a significant way away right now!

*Lap 42* – Behra is still defending hard from Gould and Musso in what could be crucial points for Cooper here!

*Lap 43* – Fairman is pressuring Gerard for 9th while at the front von Trips is hunting down Salvadori – though Musso is faster than both of them right now!

*Lap 44* – Gould attempts a wide line around the outside at Parabolica to get around Behra…but he runs out of traction and finds himself sliding too far wide, which promotes Musso up to 5th for BRM!

*Lap 45* – The 2-stoppers start to come in for their final stops here, with Brabham and Musso into the pits here, which means Gould is now 3rd after a strong pass on Behra 4th, Bonnier 5th, Herrmann 6th, Flockhart up to 7th after an amazing double pass on Gerard 8th and Fairman 9th down through Rettifilo Centro! Graham Hill is up to 10th from Piotti 11th, Trintignant 12th, Gibson 13th, Gendebien 14th, Collins 15th and then it’s Brabham out in 16th and Musso out in 17th overall.

*Lap 46* – Salvadori, Herrmann, Fairman, Graham Hill, Piotti and Gendebien all come in – which means von Trips now lead from Gould 2nd, Behra 3rd, Bonnier 4th, Flockhart 5th, Gerard 6th, Trintignant 7th, Gibson 8th and then Salvadori out in 9th place. Collins is up to 10th, with Brabham up to 11th, Musso 12th, Herrmann out in 13th, de Beaufort up to 14th, Emery 15th, Fairman out in 16th, Moss up to 17th, Hill out in 18th, Piotti out in 19th, Marsh 20th, Chiron 21st and Gendebien out in 22nd overall.

*Lap 47* – Von Trips, Behra, Gerard and Trintignant all come in, which means Gould assumes the race lead from Bonnier 2nd, Flockhart 3rd, Gibson 4th and Salvadori JUST ahead of the returning von Trips in 5th place! Collins is 7th some 11 seconds down on the former leader, with Brabham 8th, Behra 9th, Musso 10th, de Beaufort 11th after a great pass on Herrmann at Curva del Serraglio, Emery 13th, Gerard out in 14th, Fairman 15th, Moss 16th, Hill 17th, Piotti 18th, Marsh 19th and Trintignant out in 20th position.

*Lap 48* – The leading trio all pit, which promotes Gibson to the race lead – surely the BRM can’t take another race win this time out can he!?! Von Trips is now 2nd after a comfortable pass on team-mate Salvadori to inherit what is likely to be the race lead…and what may even be the title of ‘championship favourite’ in the process! Collins is up to 4th (but must pit again) with Gould out in an impressive 5th ahead of team-mate Brabham 6th, Behra 7th, Bonnier out in 8th, Musso holding off de Beaufort for 9th and then Flockhart out in 12th overall behind Emery.

Emery had already made a comfortable pass on Herrmann for down the start/finish straight and Moss does likewise on both Gerard and Fairman to claim 14th position!

*Lap 49* – The 3-stoppers have some serious pace right now, which de Beaufort deploys to pass Bonnier and Musso to claim 8th overall. Marsh meanwhile overtakes Piotti for 18th and Trintignant holds Chiron behind him using every trick he knows how!

*Lap 50* – De Beaufort continues to make ground as he breezes past Behra and up to 7th position, while Fairman is pressuring Gerard for 15th and Chiron finally passes Trintignant to move into the Top 20!

*Lap 51* – Emery pits for the final time and drops to 23rd, while Moss passes the Cooper duo of Flockhart and Herrmann, who are presumably aware that the Connaught needs to pit again…

*Lap 52* – Gibson finally pits from the race lead, which at last gives us the real situation on track for the points positions. Von Trips leads Salvadori by some 2.1 seconds with Collins 3rd some 5.2 seconds back but still needing to pit again. Gould is now 4th from Brabham 5th, who is about to come under pressure from de Beaufort in 6th (who is still about to pit), Behra 7th, Bonnier 8th, Musso 9th, Moss 10th, Herrmann 11th (after an incredibly easy pass on Flockhart), Gerard 13th (after defending strongly from Fairman), Hill 15th (now defending from the on-rushing Marsh), Piotti 17th, Chiron 18th, Trintignant 19th and then Gibson out in 20th position.

*Lap 53* – De Beaufort has been roaring his way through the traffic, who for the most part have been lax in their defence as they know the Vanwall must pit again…but Brabham elects to defend hard from the Dutchman and the two collide on the run down to the Lesmo’s! De Beaufort recovers to resume in 5th position, while Brabham’s damage is more severe and so he pits to repair the issue…and likely costs himself any chance at points in the process…

That means Behra is now 6th, Bonnier 7th, Musso 8th, Moss 9th, Herrmann 10th, Flockhart 11th, Gerard 12th, Fairman 13th, Marsh 14th after a pass on Hill 15th, Chiron 16th after a great pass on Piotti, Trintignant 18th, Gibson 19th, Gendebien 20th, Hawthorn 21st and Brabham out in 22nd marginally ahead of Emery’s Connaught!

*Lap 54* – De Beaufort’s damage was maybe more severe than he realised initially, and he does pit this time around. Moss and Hawthorn do likewise in fact, which means Behra is now 5th, Bonnier 6th, Musso 7th, Herrmann 8th, Flockhart 9th, Gerard 10th, Fairman 11th, Marsh 12th, Hill 13th, Chiron 14th, Piotti 15th, Trintignant 16th, Gibson 17th, Gendebien 18th, de Beaufort out in 19th JUST ahead of Brabham 20th, Emery 21st, Moss out in 22nd and then Hawthorn out in 23rd overall.

*Lap 55* – Cooper switch Herrmann and Flockhart for 8th and 9th places in an otherwise quiet lap…except for Godia, Hill and Fangio making their final stops.

*Lap 56* – Musso is blocked by Bonnier over what is currently 6th – but will likely be over the final points position once Collins makes his final stop. Herrmann re-takes 8th from Flockhart as the Coopers try to use the slipstream effect to enhance their pace…with little positive impact as yet.

Fairman is held up by Gerard, while both Marsh and Chiron pit, which means Graham Hill is now 12th, Piotti 13th, Trintignant 14th, Gibson 15th, Gendebien 16th and then it’s de Beaufort defending 17th from Brabham 18th and Emery 19th overall. Moss is now 20th with Marsh out in 21st and Chiron out in 22nd position. Collins is now the only driver yet to make his final scheduled stop…

*Lap 57* – Collins pits at long last to emerge in 15th position just ahead of Gendebien, which means Gould is now 3rd, Behra 4th, Bonnier 5th, Musso 6th, Herrmann 7th, Flockhart 8th, Gerard 9th despite increasing pressure from Fairman in 10th, Graham Hill 11th, Piotti 12th, Trintignant 13th and Gibson 14th overall.

*Lap 58* – The main battles on track to watch are Gould gaining slowly on team-mate Salvadori (though a 15 second gap is a lot to make up!) for 2nd, Behra, Bonnier and Musso fighting over the last points positions, Fairman challenging Gerard for 9th, Gibson hauling in Trintignant for 13th and de Beaufort defending from Brabham and Emery over 17th.

*Lap 59* – Gerard blocks Fairman again, which is starting to bring Graham Hill into the mix for a Top 10 position…

*Lap 60* – Behra refuses to give Bonnier an inch…and in frustration the Maserati tries a last-minute dive up the inside at Lesmo 1, which works! But then he cannot stop his braking in time and not only does Behra reclaim 4th but Musso follows him through into 5th for BRM…

Yet again Gerard thwarts Fairman’s overtaking attempt – as the Vanwall looks pacey today!

*Lap 61* – Brabham simply cannot find a way past de Beaufort right now, as the Vanwall is just about the widest car on track right now…

*Lap 62* – Musso challenges Behra but finds the door shut on him – as the BRM v Cooper battle in the Teams Standings rages on so letting his rival past is not part of the plan for the Frenchman today! Bonnier is also still there and it seems reinforcements may be approaching, given that Herrmann and Flockhart are literally a couple of seconds back!!!

Meanwhile Gerard refuses to relinquish 9th position, even going to the extent of forcing Fairman wide at the 2nd Lesmo corner! That allows Graham Hill to capitalise and claim a Top 10 position as a result…

*Lap 63* – Flockhart reassumes 7th from Herrmann to spearhead the charge for more Cooper points, while Hill and Fairman are both stuck behind Gerard – could the reigning champion be slowing them down to allow Piotti to gain?!? The Italian is 5 seconds back at his home track and certainly is quicker than them this time around!

Further back Brabham’s frustrations must be boiling over, as the man he collided with is now ahead of him on-track and refusing to allow the Ferrari the satisfaction of at least moving ahead of the man who caused his downfall today…

*Lap 64* – Musso and Bonnier continue to lurk with intent behind Behra, with Flockhart and Herrmann now just 1.5 seconds back and Gerard continues to defend from Hill a little further back down the order.

*Lap 65* – A great turn of pace by Behra leaves Musso for dead, which now sees the BRM under pressure from Bonnier and fighting hard to retain his own points position. Meanwhile another block by Gerard on Hill and Fairman sees Piotti close the gap to just 4 seconds!

*Lap 66* – Bonnier simply cannot get past Musso – and in more good news for Cooper Behra is now 1.5 seconds ahead of this battle and both Flockhart and Herrmann are within a second of them! Meanwhile Gibson is challenging Trintignant for 13th and Emery is hassling Brabham over 18th position.

*Lap 67* – Disaster for Musso as his tyres seem to have let go at the crucial moment, as he allows not only Bonnier to pass him at Parabolica but also Flockhart in the Cooper as well! In better news for BRM Gibson does pass Trintignant for 13th on this lap, while Emery can’t emulate that feat with Brabham this time around.

*Lap 68* – Hill continues to challenge Gerard for 9th but he really doesn’t look likely to make any move stick, while Emery more than does that with an impressive overtake on Brabham at the 1st Lesmo to claim 18th position!

*Lap 69* – For Herrmann to have a chance at points he needed to make a clean pass on Musso 1st time – but the BRM is wise to his move and keeps him at bay so both bleed time to the group ahead!

*Lap 70* – Von Trips crosses the line to win the race and to take the advantage into the final race of the season, with Salvadori and Gould completing an all-Ferrari podium today! Behra staves off one final attack to come home a strong 4th for Cooper with Bonnier rounding out the point scorers today to at least save some face for Maserati.

Flockhart comes home 6th and it is his team-mate Herrmann in 7th after the German finally dispatched Musso on the final run down to the 1st Lesmo corner. Gerard comes home 9th after a race to forget for the Maserati, who will now surely need a win next time out to keep hold of his championship!

Graham Hill is a solid 10th with Fairman 11th, Piotti 12th, Gibson 13th, Trintignant 14th and then it is Collins in 15th after the 3-stopper proved not to be the best strategy today. The Brit at least has the solace of taking Fastest Lap and with it Vanwall’s 1st point of the season! Behind him come Gendebien in 16th and de Beaufort in 17th position overall, where the former suffered from a lack of pace and the latter made the same strategic error as his team-mate.

*1 LAP DOWN* – Emery comes home 18th after an encouraging race for Connaught, which sees Moss 19th after a last lap pass on Brabham’s Ferrari promotes the other Connaught up a spot thanks to some daredevil driving around the outside of the Parabolica! 20th spells an end to Brabham’s title hopes after de Beaufort sent them up in flames with the only collision of the race, while Marsh 21st, Chiron 22nd and Hawthorn 23rd all struggled with their 3-stopper options.

*12 LAPS DOWN* – Godia in the Cooper, Phil Hill in the Vanwall and Fangio in the OSCA come home in 24th, 25th and 26th places respectively – and the less said about their pace today the better!

Watch this space for the final race of the season, which will be the Moroccan Grand Prix at Ain Diab…

## Milestones

* Moss up to 6th in Most Entries, at the expense of Toulo de Graffenried
* This was Peter Collins’ 50th race start
* Moss up to 9th in Most Starts, at the expense of Menditeguy
* Menditeguy up to 5th in most Races without a Win, at the expense of Umberto Maglioli
* Flockhart up to 10th in most Races without a Win, at the expense of Luigi Villoresi
* Emery and de Beaufort up to 8th and 9th in Most Races without Points, at the expense of Robert Manzon
* Von Trips win moves him into 4th on the all-time list ahead of both Paul Pietsch and Peter Whitehead.
* Von Trips winning the race from 6th place moves him into the Top 10 for Win from Furthest Back on the Start Grid
* Previous winners in Italy are Gerard (’50, ’51 and ’57), von Trips (’56) and Salvadori (’53); other winners are Farina (’55 – retired), Lang (’54 – retired), Pietsch (’52 – retired)
* Von Trips winning for the 2nd time in Italy means he is only the 5th driver to win more than 1 race in a country (after Gerard, Herrmann, Paul Pietsch and Peter Whitehead)
* A single point for Collins moves him up to 4th for Most Points ever, at the expense of Giuseppe Farina
* A podium for Salvadori moves him up to 6th for Most Points ever, at the expense of Toulo de Graffenried
* Points finish for Salvadori would move him into 3rd for Most Points Finishes ever, at the expense of Peter Whitehead
* Points finish for Gould moves him into the Top 10 for Most Points without a Win, at the expense of Luigi Fagioli
* A 3rd consecutive points finish for von Trips here
* A 2nd consecutive points finish for Salvadori here
* FL for Collins moves him up to 4th place in Most Fastest Laps ever, at the expense of Salvadori
* Fastest Lap at the Italian GP before has been taken by Gerard (’50, ’52, ’56 and ’57) and Salvadori (’53); other FLs were taken by Farina (’55 – retired), Lang (’54 – retired) and Whitehead (’51)
* Behra takes his 1st ever Pole Position here!
* Pole at the Italian GP before has been taken by Gerard (’50, ’51 and ’57) and Salvadori (’53); other Pole-Sitters are de Graffenried (’56 – retired), Farina (’55 – retired), Villoresi (’54 – retired) and Whitehead (’52 – retired)
* Podium for von Trips moves him into 6th for Most Podiums of all time, at the expense of Giuseppe Farina
* Podium for von Trips is his 3rd consecutive podium finish