1961 Italian GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Monza
* Location – Italy
* Corners – 9
* Laps – 43
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 4:00.000
* Road Circuit:
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:39.700 (Stirling Moss)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:38.207 (Jean Behra – K Morris)
* Combined Circuit:
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 2:41.400 (Phil Hill)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 2:40.036 (Joakim Bonnier – I Dobrev)
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – High
* Tyre Wear – High

## Qualifying & Grid

Naylor's chances of taking Pole are ruined by Bonnier sneaking in front of him and, even worse, von Trips too - in what looks like a hammer blow to his hopes of taking the title to the final round of the season. Von Trips claims another Pole Position here, moving up to 3rd in the all-time rankings - though Bonnier in 2nd place is right in the mix with the Ferrari's!

Naylor must settle for 3rd on the grid, with Fairman 4th but Greene back in 6th as Scarlatti does a terrific job to put his JBW into the Top 5. Rodríguez lines up 7th in what looks like a real return to form for the JBWs here...

...completing the Top 10 are the Lotus trio, with Gurney leading Moss and Allison with the aim of getting back into the points again if they can. Emeryson are struggling to reproduce their early season form meanwhile, with Brooks, Baghetti and Ginther in 11th-13th place overall, from the De Tomaso duo of Herrmann and Bandini.

Mairesse is 16th for Porsche - but is less than 2 seconds per lap slower than the Pole sitter, while McLaren is top Cooper driver in 17th, in what looks a tricky race for Cooper as it stands given that Lippi lines up 18th with Surtees 20th after his accident earlier in the session. Incidents for Ireland late on in 19th, plus Vaccarella and Gregory in 21st and 22nd overall, see them all line up near the back.

## Race Link

https://race.f1revisited.co.uk/results/monza-combined/1961/6a91b6a1-7806-4e39-b7c3-9a69a3090b88

## Race Results

The most exciting thing to happen on the final lap is that Rodríguez runs out of fuel once more - as Dan Gurney claims his 1st ever F1R victory to take Lotus to the top of the pile at last and remove their tag of the current team with the most races without a win (inherited now by De Tomaso).

Naylor's 2nd place is not enough to take the title to the final race and so it is CONGRATULATIONS to Wolfgang von Trips on his 2nd title that he takes despite a far from ideal race that saw him finish in 8th place with a damaged car!

Meanwhile, Bonnier finishes 3rd for JBW with Fairman 4th for Ferrari - as those two will now vie with Naylor for 2nd place overall in the Championship at the final round of the season.

It is also a landmark race for De Tomaso, as Herrmann scores their 1st EVER points in a fantastic 5th place finish - while Ginther also scores his 1st ever point in 6th overall.

Greene will reflect on what could have been after a slow opening to the race, while Mairesse does well to come home 9th for a Porsche team that have struggled for consistency of late. Allison completes the Top 10 for Lotus, ahead of Scarlatti, Baghetti, Moss, Brooks, Bandini, McLaren, Lippi, Vaccarella, Surtees, Ireland, Rodríguez (who does at least take Fastest Lap, in a real case of 'what could have been' had his fuel been slightly more in each stint!) and finally Gregory, who will race his final GP as reigning Champion next time out at his home Grand Prix at Watkins Glen...

## Milestones

* 70th race entry for Salvadori (1st ever driver to reach that milestone!)
* 30th Race Start for Scarlatti
* von Trips moves up to 6th for Most Starts Ever at the expense of Mike Hawthorn
* Bonnier moves into the Top 10 for Most Starts Ever at the expense of Toulo de Graffenried
* Allison is into 4th for Most Races without Points, at the expense of Louis Rosier
* Previous winners in Italy are Bonnier (’60), von Trips (’56 and ‘58), Bianchi (’59) and Salvadori (’53); other winners are Gerard (’50, ’51 and ’57 – retired), Farina (’55 – retired), Lang (’54 – retired) and Pietsch (’52 – retired)
* A podium for Bonnier moves him up to 5th in Most Points, at the expense of Salvadori, Giuseppe Farina and Peter Collins
* 2nd place for Naylor moves him above 50 career points
* Points finish for Bonnier is his 20th points finish ever
* Points finish for Gurney is his 10th points finish ever
* As Gurney won, Fairman leapfrogged Georges Grignard to take the American’s place in the Top 10 for Most Points without a Win
* A points finish for Naylor and Fairman makes it their 3rd consecutive points finish
* A points finish for Gurney makes it his 2nd consecutive points finish
* FL at the 1961 Italian GP went to Rodríguez, which was his 1st ever Fastest Lap
* Fastest Lap at the Italian GP before has been taken by Brabham (’60), Salvadori (’53) and Bianchi (’59); other FLs were taken by Gerard (’50, ’52, ’56 and ’57 – retired), Collins (’58 – retired), Farina (’55 – retired), Lang (’54 – retired) and Whitehead (’51 – retired)
* Pole for von Trips moves him up to 3rd in Most Pole Positions ever, at the expense of Salvadori
* Pole for von Trips is the 1st time he has won back-to-back Pole Positions
* Pole at the Italian GP before has been taken by Salvadori (’53) and Bonnier (’59 & ‘60); other Pole-Sitters were Gerard (’50, ’51 and ’57 – retired), Behra (’58 – retired), de Graffenried (’56 – retired), Farina (’55 – retired), Villoresi (’54 – retired) and Whitehead (’52 – retired)
* Podium for Naylor moves him into the Top 10 for Most Podiums ever, at the expense of Jack Brabham
* Podium for Naylor also makes it three consecutive Podium finishes for them