1961 Italian Grand Prix



Race details
Date: 10 September 1961
Official name: XXXII Gran Premio d'Italia
Location: Autodromo Nazionale di Monza; Monza, Italy

The 1961 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 September 1961 at Monza. It was race 7 of 8 in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.

The race was marked by one of the most terrible accidents in the history of Formula One, when on the end of lap 2 at the approach to the Parabolica German driver Wolfgang von Trips lost control of his Ferrari and crashed into a fence line of spectators, killing 15 and himself. The race was not stopped, allegedly to avoid the audience going home en masse jamming the roads around the stadium and thus impeding the rescue work for the injured. This was also the last Formula One race ever to be held on the full 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) Monza circuit, with the 2 bankings and the straight between the bankings included.

The race was won by von Trips's American teammate Phil Hill, who – since von Trips was the only one who could challenge him – thus won the World Championship with one race to go. Hill's Monza win also assured Ferrari of the Constructors' Championship for 1961.

{snip}