1953 Italian GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Monza
* Location – Italy
* Corners – 8
* Laps – 80
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:30.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:53.200 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:49.325 (Bob Gerard)
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – Medium
* Tyre Wear – Low

## Qualifying 1

A stunning end to the session for one manufacturer in particular as HWM move into 2nd, 4th and 6th on the grid for Scherrer, Mantovani and Lang respectively. They sit aside the Ferrari's of Salvadori, Gerard and Pietsch in 1st, 3rd and 5th…but with 13th place for Whitehead the Brit will have an uphill struggle in the race to reach parity with his team-mates.

The Maserati team occupy most of the rest of the top 10 with de Graffenried, a late show from Maglioli and Ascari ahead of Carini's Veritas in 10th as the top driver from that team once again after his points-score last time out.

The Cooper duo sit 11th and 12th for Bauer and Stuck, with Fangio showing quite well in 24th place ahead of the back-row for once! Misfortune for Berger once more, with Bira also having an accident - both will be hoping for better luck in Q2 and the race itself.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Roy Salvadori [F] – 1:46.150 (12)
* 2nd – Albert Scherrer [H] – 1:46.373 (8)
* 3rd – Bob Gerard [F] – 1:46.400 (18)
* 4th – Sergio Mantovani [H] – 1:46.480 (9)
* 5th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 1:46.525 (13)
* 6th – Hermann Lang [H] – 1:46.665 (9)
* 7th – Toulo de Graffenried [M] – 1:46.675 (14)
* 8th – Umberto Maglioli [M] – 1:46.675 (9)
* 9th – Alberto Ascari [M] – 1:46.685 (10)
* 10th – Piero Carini [V] – 1:46.825 (8)
* 11th – Erwin Bauer [CP] – 1:46.825 (12)
* 12th – Hans Stuck [CP] – 1:46.825 (15)
* 13th – Peter Whitehead [F] – 1:46.900 (13)
* 14th – Stirling Moss [M] – 1:47.000 (4)
* 15th – Chico Landi [M] – 1:47.325 (19)
* 16th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 1:47.915 (6)
* 17th – Hans Herrmann [V] – 1:47.950 (9)
* 18th – Peter Collins [H] – 1:48.358 (5)
* 19th – Onofre Marimon [V] – 1:48.614 (9)
* 20th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 1:49.712 (7)
* 21st – Fred Wacker [O] – 1:50.417 (3)
* 22nd – Charles de Tornaco [G] – 1:50.690 (8)
* 23rd – Luigi Villoresi [O] – 1:51.675 (4)
* 24th – Juan Manuel Fangio [CP] – 1:51.812 (4)
* 25th – Luigi Musso [ B ] – 1:54.345 (7)
* 26th – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 1:54.386 (2)
* 27th – Prince Bira [CN] – 1:56.380 (1)
* 28th – Georges Berger [V] – 2:00.264 (1)
* 29th – Elie Bayol [M] – No Time Set (0)
* 30th – Carlos Menditeguy [H] – No Time Set (0)
* 31st – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [CP] – No Time Set (0)
* 32nd – Maurice Trintignant [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 33rd – Jean Behra [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 34th – Louis Chiron [CP] – No Time Set (0)
* 35th – Louis Rosier [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 36th – Alan Brown [CN] – No Time Set (0)

## Qualifying 2

Given that Q1 determined the grid due to it's dry weather this session was more about setup than position, which means that both Ferrari and Cooper are looking strongest going into the race. Salvadori tops the session, from Whitehead and then Bauer's Cooper. Gerard sits 4th ahead of Carini, who has another exemplary qualifying session for Veritas in front of his home fans.

Pietsch is 6th for Ferrari, ahead of Stuck in 7th for Cooper and then the HWMs of Collins and Lang sandwiching the lone Maserati in the top 10 of de Graffenried. Sadly though, Ascari doesn't manage to get out in Q2 and neither does Musso, so no BMW will start the final race of the season - which pretty much sums up how their season has gone!

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Roy Salvadori [F] – 2:26.355 (7)
* 2nd – Peter Whitehead [F] – 2:26.450 (7)
* 3rd – Erwin Bauer [CP] - 2:26.937 (7)
* 4th – Bob Gerard [F] – 2:27.614 (8)
* 5th – Piero Carini [V] – 2:27.746 (6)
* 6th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:28.030 (5)
* 7th – Hans Stuck [CP] – 2:28.188 (7)
* 8th – Peter Collins [H] – 2:29.244 (6)
* 9th – Toulo de Graffenried [M] – 2:29.244 (6)
* 10th – Hermann Lang [H] – 2:29.393 (9)
* 11th – Umberto Maglioli [M] – 2:29.459 (2)
* 12th – Onofre Marimon [V] – 2:30.350 (4)
* 13th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 2:31.155 (4)
* 14th – Sergio Mantovani [H] – 2:31.265 (5)
* 15th – Stirling Moss [M] – 2:31.282 (1)
* 16th – Chico Landi [M] – 2:32.337 (5)
* 17th – Juan Manuel Fangio [CP] – 2:33.948 (4)
* 18th – Prince Bira [CN] – 2:36.376 (3)
* 19th – Hans Herrmann [V] – 2:37.845 (1)
* 20th – Charles de Tornaco [G] – 2:38.858 (1)
* 21st – Albert Scherrer [H] – 2:39.037 (1)
* 22nd – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 2:39.891 (1)
* 23rd – Georges Berger [V] – 2:42.284 (1)
* 24th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 2:43.998 (1)
* 25th – Fred Wacker [O] – 2:59.315 (1)
* 26th – Luigi Villoresi [O] – 3:15.095 (1)
* 27th – Alberto Ascari [M] – No Time Set (0)
* 28th – Luigi Musso [ B ] – No Time Set (0)

## Overall Qualifying Results

Ascari loses his 9th place thanks to not turning up for Q2, which promotes Bauer into the top 10 and Carini up to 9th as well. But Salvadori takes his 2nd pole in a row, which is the one bright spark for Ferrari, as they have a fairly jumbled grid to contend with.

Scherrer lines up 2nd for HWM, from Gerard's Ferrari in 3rd, Mantovani's HWM in 4th, Pietsch's Ferrari in 5th and then Lang's HWM in 6th…the Maserati duo of de Graffenried and Maglioli are 7th and 8th, with Carini and Bauer rounding out the top 10.

Whitehead is 12th for Ferrari, with another tough race ahead of him, and it's good to see Fangio making the grid for his 1st race of the season, even if it is the last available moment.

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - With the rain falling here, the conditions are quite tricky - but most drivers are on wet tyres and ready for what should be an exciting race…and we are GO in the final race of the 1953 season!!

Salvadori gets a good start from pole, with Scherrer bogging down off the front-row; he drops back to 9th position behind Collins, who has an amazing 1st lap - gaining 9 positions in total! Lang and Pietsch both lose places to Whitehead at the start, who makes an incredible get-away going up 7 positions to 5th overall.

The best start though goes to Marimón in the Veritas, who is up 14 places to 4th with some brilliant overtaking manoeuvres around the outside at at least 3 corners of the track! As a result of Scherrer's issue Gerard and Mantovani are 2nd and 3rd places as it stands.

Several drivers risk it on dry tyres at the start, hoping for the rain to abate quickly. Fangio, Bira, Claes, de Tornaco, Berger and Villoresi all take things easy at the start to ensure they can survive the first few laps!

*Lap 2* - Lang makes a mistake at della Roggia, and slips back behind Collins, Ascari and Collins. Stuck is on the move, as he passes Farina with both getting the better of Herrmann and Maglioli, before Stuck also passes de Graffenried.

Herrmann and Maglioli nearly have a coming together, allowing Bauer through but as Moss comes up on this battle he manages to swerve out of the way of the Veritas driver but runs out of road at Sud 1 and ends his race in the bales at the side of the track.

*Lap 3* - Marimón is pushing hard through the spray, but is beginning to struggle with the pace at the front, and as he runs wide at del Vialone both Whitehead and Collins move through. Also making a pass on this lap is Scherrer, recovering to get the better of Pietsch - who is also passed by Carini and Lang as well, with no way of coming back onto the racing line around the outside at the Sud complex!

*Lap 4* - Stuck is the man on the move this lap, as he makes Pietsch's start to the race even worse with a humiliating pass around the outside at the 1st Lesmo corner, followed by getting the better of Lang at the inside of Sud 1!

Bauer passes Farina for 13th in a strong lap for Cooper, as the rain continues to fall at the same sort of medium rate.

*Lap 5* - Marimón recovers from his mistake a couple of laps ago to pass both Collins and Whitehead, as the Ferrari driver runs wide at Lesmo 2 to drop behind the pair of them. Lang passes Stuck for 9th position, as Bauer gets the better of de Graffenried for 12th place. Further back Claes gets the better of both Bira and Fangio, as the Cooper driver also loses his place to the Connaught royalty.

*Lap 6* - An incredible lap of action here!!! First of all Mantovani crashes quite heavily at the 1st Sud corner and has to limp into the pits, which drops him back down from his impressive 3rd position to clear air in front of Wacker but behind Landi.

Marimón is briefly in a podium position, but the resurgent Whitehead passes both him and Collins to take 3rd place. Stuck makes a mistake on this lap to let both Pietsch and Bauer through, whilst behind them de Graffenried makes a similar error to gift Herrmann's Veritas and the Swiss' team-mate Farina his place.

Fangio runs out of fuel on this lap, as the weather begins to dry up, possibly earlier than many would have thought…those dry runners at the back could be seeing some dividend from their strategy very soon indeed!

*Lap 7* - Some drivers come in to the pits to respond to the rain no longer falling…these are Salvadori, Gerard and Farina, with Gerard having the best pit of the 3. That moves Whitehead into the lead of the race, in a quite incredible comeback for the Brit, ahead of Marimón, Collins, Scherrer and Carini as we see 2 HWMs and 2 Veritas in the points as it stands.

6th is Lang, from Pietsch 7th, Bauer 8th, Stuck 9th and Herrmann rounding out the top 10 in the 3rd Veritas as it stands. De Graffenried is now back to 11th place, from Maglioli and Landi. Gerard feeds back out in 14th from Salvadori 15th, Mantovani 16th and Farina 17th.

*Lap 8* - On the now fairly dry track several worried faces on the pit-lane turn from consternation to despair as the drier conditions consume more fuel than was anticipated - and this costs a few drivers who were running quite close to the wire on fuel. First to pull up is Herrmann for Veritas, then Stuck for Cooper, Carini for Veritas and Marimon for the Veritas team too in a disastrous lap for the German manufacturer as they lose 3 cars in the space of a few corners!

Bauer comes in to change for dry tyres, dropping behind Farina in what should be 5th place after all stops are done. There is a bigger change though, in that Salvadori overtakes Gerard for what will become the lead of the race! Further back de Tornaco passes Bira, as the Connaught driver gets out of shape at Sud 1 and looks to have damaged his suspension there - that car will be a real handful in the ensuing laps!!!

*Lap 9* - Finally pitting for dry tyres are Collins and Scherrer on this lap, with the latter losing quite a lot of time in the pits. Losing time out there on wet tyres still is Mantovani, who drops behind Farina for 9th place. Collins emerges from the pits in 11th, with Bauer up to 12th ahead of Scherrer who is now 13th.

Claes passes Hawthorn for 15th on this lap, as it seems the strategy of starting on dry tyres has not born fruit for either driver. All that means that Whitehead leads from Lang, Pietsch, de Graffenried, Maglioli and Landi - from Salvadori in 7th place leading those who have pitted and coming up fast on the group in front.

*Lap 10* - Another action-packed lap, as some of those who were out on wet tyres, and clearly anticipating more rain, run out of fuel on track - namely Lang and Maglioli for HWM and Maserati respectively. Pitting for dry tyres this time around are Whitehead, Pietsch and Wacker, whilst Claes comes in to put on wet tyres - clearly anticipating another rain shower soon!

That leaves de Graffenried in the lead of the race, some 8 seconds ahead of Salvadori and Gerard, who have now put Landi behind them down to 4th place. Farina is now 5th, from Collins in 6th with Whitehead back out of the pits in 7th, from Bauer 8th, Mantovani 9th, Scherrer 10th and Pietsch out in 11th place.

Wacker and Claes emerge from the pits behind Berger in 16th and 17th place with only the ailing Villoresi behind them.

*Lap 11* - Villoresi's race comes to an abrupt end as he runs out of fuel and pulls off the track, still some laps down on the leaders. Up front de Graffenried's worn wet tyres are no match for the fresh dry rubber of Salvadori, with Gerard breathing down his neck too. Farina is up to 4th as Landi pits at long last, dropping to 13th position.

That puts Collins back into the points in 5th place, from Whitehead 6th, Bauer 7th, Scherrer now 8th and Pietsch 9th as Mantovani slides further down the field on his wet tyres. De Tornaco passes Hawthorn for 11th place, and further back Wacker uses his new dry tyres to get the better of Berger's Veritas.

*Lap 12* - De Graffenried is helpless to prevent Gerard passing him for 2nd place, and he will soon have Farina to deal with for his podium position. Further back Landi passes Hawthorn as he enjoys the grip his fresh tyres afford him, and Bira's suspension issues mean he will soon be victim to Wacker and Berger's advances.

*Lap 13* - Farina moves into 3rd position, ahead of Collins in 4th and Whitehead in 5th. De Graffenried is now 6th and struggling to keep any grip through the corners on his by now rather tired and worn tyres.

Bira loses 14th to Wacker as expected on this lap, and will soon have Berger for company too!

*Lap 14* - Whitehead passes Collins for 4th place at della Roggia, as de Graffenried drops places to Bauer, Scherrer and Pietsch. Wacker gets the better of Hawthorn, who still has his original tyres on, and as anticipated Berger passes the ailing Bira here too.

*Lap 15* - Pietsch passes Scherrer for 7th position, whilst de Tornaco takes 10th place from Mantovani who must be looking to pit soon!

*Lap 16* - Farina pits for wet tyres here as he anticipates the next rain shower - which from the clouds above looks to be something coming soon. Mantovani does come in this time as well, also choosing wet tyres to try and eke them out until the showers arrive.

Farina comes out of the pits in 9th place, with Mantovani now in 13th position. Up front it is now a Ferrari 1-2-3 with Salvadori leading Gerard and Whitehead, with the latter nearly 20 seconds down on the leading duo.

*Lap 17* - Collins re-passes Whitehead on this lap for 3rd place, as the HWM driver refuses to lie down and let the Ferrari man get away! The clouds are still looming overhead, and rain is expected any minute…

*Lap 18* - Both Salvadori and Gerard pit on this lap for rain tyres, and the first signs of drizzle are certainly heavy in the air. That moves Collins into the lead of the race, from Whitehead 2nd, Bauer 3rd, Pietsch 4th and Scherrer 5th ahead of the Ferrari duo who just pitted.

De Graffenried pits on this lap for another set of wet tyres, which is a very good choice it would seem.

*Lap 19* - And here comes the rain again! Berger makes a small error at Lesmo 1, which has crumpled his front suspension on the left side of his car…he will have to pit to mend that soon…

Up front Collins makes a mistake at Lesmo 1 too, with the track there particularly treacherous…and Whitehead leads until an error at Sud 1 lets Bauer's Cooper through into the lead of the race! Whitehead does hold on to 2nd place though, ahead of Colllins.

At the back Claes passes team-mate Bira, who still refuses to pit with his suspension issue, to move out of 17th and last on track.

*Lap 20* - Several drivers come into the pits, as the rain intensifies on this lap, with all of the top 5 (Bauer, Whitehead, Collins, Pietsch and Scherrer), de Tornaco, Wacker, Hawthorn, Berger and Claes coming in - all besides de Tornaco, Berger and Claes opt for wet tyres, clearly this trio believe this shower will be short-lived.

All of that moves Salvadori back into the lead, from Gerard in 2nd, Farina 3rd, Whitehead now up to 4th after a great pit that put him ahead of Bauer in 5th, Collins in 6th, Pietsch in 7th and Scherrer in 8th. Landi is up to 9th ahead of de Graffenried in 10th, Mantovani 11th, de Tornaco 12th, Wacker 13th, Bira 14th (and still suffering!), Hawthorn 15th, Berger 16th and Claes bringing up the rear in 17th place.

*Lap 21* - Landi pits for wets on this lap, dropping behind de Graffenried and Mantovani. At the back Claes passes Berger for 16th position.

*Lap 22* - Bira loses 14th to Hawthorn, and it wont be too long before Claes catches him too.

*Lap 23* - Whitehead makes a move on Farina for 3rd place, with Bauer still in very close attendance.

*Lap 24* - Collins is starting to gain on the battle for 3rd position too, whilst Bira finally loses 15th place to Claes meaning only Berger's Veritas sits behind him now.

*Lap 25* - Gerard takes a big lump out of Salvadori's lead, whilst further back Wacker passes de Tornaco for 12th place.

*Lap 26* - Scherrer makes a mistake at Sud 2, and it dents his bodywork, which must be affecting him aerodynamically.

*Lap 27* - FINALLY on this lap Bira pits to do something about his suspension, dropping to the back in the process, and to put on dry tyres in preparation for when the shower ends - though the rain shows no sign of letting up as yet.

Collins catches up with the battle for 3rd place, though Whitehead has pulled about 5 seconds ahead of the others…and so Collins passes both Farina and Bauer for 4th place.

*Lap 28* - Not much to report on this lap…

*Lap 29* - De Tornaco spins!!! He gets it all wrong at Lesmo 1, where the track is still at its most treacherous (though we are starting to see some parts of the circuit with less rain at) and is out of the race - disaster for the lone Gordini driver!

Meanwhile up front we have Whitehead streaking away from those behind in 3rd, Collins looks comfortable in 4th and then comes Farina, Bauer and Pietsch all line-astern in the battle for 5th position.

*Lap 30* - Farina makes a mistake at Lesmo 1, which is proving to be a very tough corner to judge as the sun comes out and we start to see the rain lessening. As a result of his error he drops behind both Bauer and Pietsch to 7th place. Scherrer's ailing HWM falls victim to de Graffenried, as the Swiss comes back to 8th place, some 30 seconds or so behind the next driver.

*Lap 31* - Landi crashes at Grande, risking far too much given that it is still raining out there - albeit nowhere near as hard as it was previously.

*Lap 32* - The rain stops and a whole plethora of drivers come in to the pits to put on dry tyres. Those who do not come in are Salvadori, Gerard, de Graffenried, Hawthorn, Berger and Bira…of those who come in Claes swaps over to wet tyres in an inexplicable move!

In the pits Pietsch passes both Collins and Bauer, with the Cooper also losing a place to Farina. All of these drivers lose a place to de Graffenried in the pits, with the Maserati driver now in 3rd position, albeit still on wet tyres. Hawthorn moves past Wacker thanks to the American's pit-stop as well.

*Lap 33* - Berger passes Claes here, mostly due to the Belgian having the wrong tyres on in yet another stint!

*Lap 34* - Salvadori, Gerard and de Graffenried all come in to switch to dry tyres at long last, the former Ferrari pair come out still 1-2, about 10 seconds ahead of Whitehead now. De Graffenried meanwhile feeds out in 8th place behind Bauer and just 6 seconds ahead of Scherrer, bafflingly he has elected to remain on the rain tyres though - could that be a crucial error for the Swiss?!?

*Lap 35* - Wacker passes Hawthorn, who is still on the rain tyres, for 11th place.

*Lap 36* - Scherrer takes de Graffenried for 8th place down to the Swiss being on the wrong tyres.

*Lap 37* - Mantovani also passes de Graffenried, and Bira takes Claes on this lap as well, with the Belgian yet again on the wrong tyres…

*Lap 38* - Not much to report on this lap, other than Gerard taking the lead down to just 7 seconds.

*Lap 39* - Another quiet lap, though the lead is down to just 4.4 seconds for Salvadori as Gerard looks to seal his championship with a win at the final race!

*Lap 40* - Both Hawthorn and Berger pit this time around, with the latter switching to dry tyres and the former to wets again. Berger drops to the back of the race as a result of that stop though.

Gerard is now just 2.5 seconds down, as Salvadori starts to buckle under the pressure of a potential hat-trick that is in his graps!

*Lap 41* - Farina passes Collins for 5th place as they dual over the final points position…still no sign of the next rain shower coming any time soon.

*Lap 42* - Claes is another who has miscalculated his fuel today, as he is forced to pull off the track and end his race at the side of the road. That moves Berger into 14th place, though still last of those left in the race.

*Lap 43* - The gap at the front is down to pretty much nothing, as Gerard closes to within less than 1 second of Salvadori…can he pass his team-mate though? At the back Berger makes a mistake at Curva Grande, but once again survives his error - though he certainly has damaged his car in the process.

*Lap 44* - It seems that someone was tipped off that it would rain on this lap, it's not clear where they got that information from but the skies are still clear and dry as it stands. Whitehead is first to come in, and is followed to the pits by Pietsch, Collins, Bauer, Scherrer, Mantovani and Wacker.

Farina moves up to 3rd position as a result of the stops, and de Graffenried gains significantly on those ahead too. Bira is almost up with Hawthorn now for 12th place now as well. And at the front Salvadori has woken up at long last to pull out 5 seconds or so over Gerard also.

*Lap 45* - Bira takes Hawthorn's 12th position here, as Salvadori improves his lead up to 9.4 seconds. Farina now has 20 seconds over Whitehead and is pulling out even more time!

*Lap 46* - Nothing much to report on this lap…

*Lap 47* - Again another quiet lap here, but the predicted rain not arriving is causing quite a few drivers to lose a significant amount of time!

*Lap 48* - Berger pits at long last for his issue, to emerge still at the back of the pack. A more crucial stop though from Farina drops him back to 4th place, just 6 seconds behind Whitehead with fresh wets on, which should be an advantage for the Maserati driver.

*Lap 49* - At long last Salvadori and Gerard are separated as the latter comes into the pits for wet tyres, and it looks warranted as the skies are once more dark overhead. Such is his lead though, that he still comes out in 2nd place on wet tyres.

*Lap 50* - Salvadori loses a fair amount of time in the pits from his previously impressive advantage, but still comes out in the lead on wet tyres with a 4.1 second advantage over Gerard, who is around 35 seconds ahead of Whitehead, who has a further 12 seconds over Pietsch.

Also pitting is de Graffenried, for yet another set of rain tyres, though he maintains 10th position given his hefty advantage over Wacker in 11th. And the heavens open on this lap with more intensity than last time around, to thoroughly soak the track…

*Lap 51* - A good lap for Gerard, who is now just 1.5 seconds down on Salvadori. Pietsch is 1.6 behind Farina at this point, with Farina 11 down on Whitehead. Bauer is now only 4 seconds behind Collins in another close battle on track too…

*Lap 52* - Gerard closes up to less than 1/10 of a second over the line, as he really applies the pressure to Salvadori.

*Lap 53* - 0.6 seconds is the gap at the front in an otherwise quiet lap.

*Lap 54* - Still 0.6 seconds for Salvadori's lead, with Pietsch only 0.5 seconds down on Farina. Bira pits and drops behind Hawthorn on this lap, emerging on dry tyres in what is becoming a fairly torrential downpour.

*Lap 55* - A better lap for Salvadori sees him pull his lead back to 2.8 seconds, with Farina now 16 behind Whitehead and 1.5 ahead of Pietsch.

*Lap 56* - Several drivers pit on this lap for dry tyres, clearly expecting the rain to stop…but if anything it's getting even more intense and difficult to drive in! Whitehead, Pietsch, Collins, Scherrer, Mantovani and Wacker all make this potentially inadvisable decision.

One driver who does not manage to come in on this lap is Bauer, who pulls up tantalisingly close to the pit-lane entrance, but ultimately stricken and out of fuel.

All of that promotes Farina to 3rd, Collins passes Pietsch during the stops to now sit in 5th place and up front Salvadori now has a 6 second lead after a very strong lap indeed.

*Lap 57* - Still very wet out on track and that is costing the drivers from 4th down to 8th a significant amount of time - and that is allowing de Graffenried the opportunity to gain on them.

*Lap 58* - The gap at the front is up to 12 seconds as Salvadori revels in the torrential rain!

*Lap 59* - De Graffenried, using his wet tyres, gains on those in front and makes a pass on Mantovani for 8th position with absolute ease…at this rate he will soon be in 4th place!

*Lap 60* - Whitehead makes a big error at Sud 1, heavily damaging his bodywork, and he elects to pit immediately to solve the issue. Also pitting on this lap are Hawthorn and Berger who move on to wet and dry tyres respectively. Pietsch passes Collins at del Vialone to move into what is now 4th place. De Graffenried is now into 6th position ahead of Whitehead by 5 seconds. Scherrer is now 8th from Mantovani in 9th place.

*Lap 61* - The gap at the front is down to 6.7 seconds, with de Graffenried now just 5 seconds down on Pietsch in 4th place.

*Lap 62* - De Graffenried flies past both Pietsch and Collins, and into a 4th place that is looking ever stronger.

*Lap 63* - Collins pits after a brush with the pit wall the lap before, and comes out just 1 second behind Mantovani in 9th place.

*Lap 64* - The rain is starting to lessen out on track, after a lot of water has fallen over the past few laps. Farina chooses this moment to pit for dry tyres and comes back out in 3rd position with a healthy lead over the others.

*Lap 65* - Gerard pits for dry tyres and drops 49 seconds down on Salvadori, as the rain is really lessening and looks likely to stop very soon indeed.

*Lap 66* - De Graffenried pits for a new set of wet tyres, despite the fact that the rain appears to have stopped at this point. The Maserati driver comes out in 6th place about 9 seconds behind Whitehead.

*Lap 67* - The battle in the mid-field for 7th is hotly contested between Mantovani, who takes Scherrer on this lap and Collins who is just behind now.

*Lap 68* - Finally reacting to the dry conditions, in come Pietsch, Whitehead, Mantovani, Scherrer, Collins and Wacker…but all of them elect to put on wet tyres! Clearly they are hoping for a final shower to help them on their way! That of course moves de Graffenried back into 4th place, about 6 seconds ahead of Pietsch.

Scherrer takes Mantovani during the pit-stop phase, coming out into 7th place. Hawthorn passes Wacker for 10th thanks to his stop too.

*Lap 69* - Nothing much to report on this lap…

*Lap 70* - Collins passes Mantovani for 8th position, now just a couple of seconds behind Scherrer.

*Lap 71* - The gap at the front is holding steady at about 10 seconds, with Scherrer, Collins and Mantovani still in close attendance.

*Lap 72* - Gerard cuts the gap down to 6.5 seconds at the front, whilst Bira gains hand over fist on Wacker and is also catching Hawthorn for 10th as well!

*Lap 73* - A quiet lap this one, as Gerard is 8.6 seconds behind Salvadori, who is still looking good for the hat-trick here! Pietsch is just 9 behind de Graffenried in the battle for 4th position, as the old adversaries fittingly do battle one last time.

Collins is only 3.4 seconds behind Scherrer, with Mantovani just 2.2 further back. Bira is also just 1.2 seconds down on Wacker - but what is more of note is the amount of worried faces on the pit-wall, as this dry spell came sooner than most teams expected and could mean difficulties with fuel for several drivers!

*Lap 74* - The gap at the front is down to 6.1 seconds, whilst Pietsch has cut de Graffenried's advantage to 6.3 seconds and Bira makes the expected pass on Wacker for 11th place and is now just 8 seconds behind Hawthorn.

*Lap 75* - The gap at the front is 5.7 seconds now, Pietsch is 7 behind de Graffenried as the Swiss responds to his challenge. Bira is now only 1 second down on Hawthorn as well!

*Lap 76* - Bira makes the pass on Hawthorn and is now 10th place and looking comfortable to finish within the top 10. Collins is just 0.6 seconds down on Scherrer, with Pietsch struggling about 9.2 seconds down on de Graffenried with Gerard 6.3 seconds behind Salvadori.

*Lap 77* - Disaster for Scherrer, as he has to pull off the track with no fuel remaining. That promotes Collins to 7th and Mantovani to 8th…Bira should be able to still catch up and overtake as well. Though it depends on how quickly he can do the final laps!

*Lap 78* - Wacker makes a big mistake at Lesmo 1 not far off the final lap, which may drop him behind Berger. 5.1 seconds is the gap from Salvadori to Gerard and the hat-trick looks very much on at this point!

*Lap 79* - WHITEHEAD IS OUT!!! The Ferrari driver runs out of fuel and has to pull over at the side of the track, which promotes Collins past him to 6th place and Mantovani to 7th.

*Lap 80* - De Graffenried and Mantovani both run out of fuel just a few laps from the finishing line…disaster for them which really shakes things up.

And so Salvadori takes the chequered flag and claims a first hat-trick of his career, some 5.3 seconds ahead of Gerard. Farina will stand on the podium and must be pleased with a good strategy in what has been an otherwise disappointing season.

Pietsch finishes the race in 4th position for Ferrari, as he gets the better of de Graffenried one last time, even it is by dint of better fuel conservation rather than an on-track pass. De Graffenried actually falls out of the points by a matter of meters as Collins does enough to claim 5th for HWM!

That puts de Graffenried 6th ahead of Mantovani 7th, the luckless Whitehead in 8th, Scherrer in 9th and then an impressive 10th for Bira in the Connaught. Hawthorn takes 11th for Connaught also, with Wacker's retirement placing him 12th from the last finisher today Berger in 13th place.