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1961 Italian Grand Prix

{{short description|Formula One motor race held in 1961}}

{{use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}

{{Infobox Grand Prix race report

|Type = F1

|Country = Italy

|Grand Prix = Italian

|Date = 10 September

|Year = 1961

|Image = Autodromo Nazionale Monza 10km.svg

|Official name = XXXII Gran Premio d'Italia

|Location = Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
Monza, Italy

|Course = Permanent racing facility

|Course_mi = 6.214

|Course_km = 10.00

|Distance_laps = 43

|Distance_mi = 267.190

|Distance_km = 430.00

|Weather = Sunny

|Pole_Driver = Wolfgang von Trips

|Pole_Country = Germany

|Pole_Team = Ferrari

|Pole_Time = 2:46.3

|Fast_Driver = Giancarlo Baghetti

|Fast_Team = Ferrari

|Fast_Time = 2:48.4

|Fast_Lap = 2

|Fast_Country = Italy

|First_Driver = Phil Hill

|First_Country = US

|First_Team = Ferrari

|Second_Driver = Dan Gurney

|Second_Country = US

|Second_Team = Porsche

|Third_Driver = Bruce McLaren

|Third_Country = New Zealand

|Third_Team = Cooper-Climax

|Lapchart = {{F1Laps1961|ITA}}

}}

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 after colliding with the Lotus of Jim Clark and crashed into a fence line of spectators, killing 15 and himself.{{Cite web|url=https://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/09/10/1961-italian-grand-prix/|title=50 years ago today: F1's worst tragedy at Monza|last=Collantine|first=Keith|date=2011-09-10|website=www.f1fanatic.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-08-20}}{{cite web|url=http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=612|title=Motorsport Memorial}} 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 {{convert|10|km}} Monza circuit, with the two banked corners and the straight between the bankings included.

The race was won by von Trips's American teammate Phil Hill; since von Trips was the only one who could challenge him, Hill won the World Championship with one race to go. Hill's Monza win also assured Ferrari of the Constructors' Championship for 1961.Daily Express pages 1, 2 & 7 Monday 11 September 1961

Background

Before the running of the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, four drivers were mathematically in contention for the year's Drivers' Championship: Wolfgang von Trips, Phil Hill, Stirling Moss, and Richie Ginther. Realistically, however, the championship had come down to two Ferrari drivers, von Trips and Hill.

In the Constructors' Championship, two teams were mathematically in contention: Ferrari, and Lotus-Climax. In order for Lotus to overtake Ferrari at this point, one of their drivers had to win both this race and the final race of the season, the 1961 United States Grand Prix.

Qualifying

37 cars attempted to qualify for the Italian Grand Prix, and 32 had sufficiently fast times to make it to the race grid. Similar to the 107% rule of today, a rule was in place for the 1961 season enforcing a 115% cutoff against the time of the second fastest driver.

Classification

= Qualifying =

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"

! rowspan="2" |Pos

! rowspan="2" |No

! rowspan="2" |Driver

! rowspan="2" |Constructor

! colspan="2" style="background:#eaecf0; text-align:center;" |{{nowrap|Qualifying times}}

! rowspan="2" |Gap

Q1

!Q2

1

|4

|{{flagicon|FRG}} Wolfgang von Trips

|Ferrari

|2:50.3

|2:46.3

| align="center" |—

2

|8

|{{flagicon|Mexico|1934}} Ricardo Rodríguez

|Ferrari

|2:49.6

|2:46.4

| +0.1

3

|6

|{{flagicon|US}} Richie Ginther

|Ferrari

|2:46.8

|2:47.1

| +0.5

4

|2

|{{flagicon|US}} Phil Hill

|Ferrari

|2:48.9

|2:47.2

| +0.9

5

|24

|{{flagicon|UK}} Graham Hill

|BRM-Climax

|2:55.0

|2:48.7

| +2.4

6

|32

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Giancarlo Baghetti

|Ferrari

|2:53.4

|2:49.0

| +2.7

7

|36

|{{flagicon|UK}} Jim Clark

|Lotus-Climax

|2:52.4

|2:49.2

| +2.9

8

|44

|{{flagicon|Sweden}} Jo Bonnier

|Porsche

|2:53.6

|2:49.6

| +3.3

9

|38

|{{flagicon|UK}} Innes Ireland

|Lotus-Climax

|2:56.7

|2:50.3

| +4.0

10

|10

|{{flagicon|Australia}} Jack Brabham

|Cooper-Climax

|2:55.1

|2:51.6

| +5.3

11

|28

|{{flagicon|UK}} Stirling Moss

|Lotus-Climax

|2:51.8

|2:57.5

| +5.5

12

|46

|{{flagicon|US}} Dan Gurney

|Porsche

|2:53.4

|2:52.0

| +5.7

13

|26

|{{flagicon|UK}} Tony Brooks

|BRM-Climax

|2:58.8

|2:52.2

| +5.9

14

|12

|{{flagicon|New Zealand}} Bruce McLaren

|Cooper-Climax

|2:59.8

|2:53.4

| +7.1

15

|74

|{{flagicon|Netherlands}} Carel Godin de Beaufort

|Porsche

|2:57.9

|2:53.8

| +7.5

16

|60

|{{flagicon|UK}} Jackie Lewis

|Cooper-Climax

|No time

|2:54.0

| +7.7

17

|22

|{{flagicon|US}} Masten Gregory

|Lotus-Climax

|3:01.4

|2:55.2

| +8.9

18

|40

|{{flagicon|UK}} Roy Salvadori

|Cooper-Climax

|3:02.0

|2:55.2

| +8.9

19

|42

|{{flagicon|UK}} John Surtees

|Cooper-Climax

|2:59.3

|2:55.6

| +9.3

20

|50

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Nino Vaccarella

|De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo

|3:03.7

|2:56.0

| +9.7

21

|62

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Lorenzo Bandini

|Cooper-Maserati

|2:57.7

|2:58.2

| +11.4

22

|48

|{{flagicon|France}} Maurice Trintignant

|Cooper-Maserati

|3:03.9

|2:58.7

| +12.4

23

|20

|{{flagicon|UK}} Henry Taylor

|Lotus-Climax

|3:03.8

|3:00.6

| +14.3

24

|54

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Roberto Bussinello

|De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo

|3:09.8

|3:01.7

| +15.4

25

|18

|{{flagicon|UK}} Gerry Ashmore

|Lotus-Climax

|No time

|3:03.0

| +16.7

26

|30

|{{flagicon|UK}} Jack Fairman

|Cooper-Climax

|3:06.7

|3:04.8

| +18.5

27

|16

|{{flagicon|UK}} Tim Parnell

|Lotus-Climax

|3:15.4

|3:05.7

| +19.4

28

|56

|{{flagicon|FRG}} Wolfgang Seidel

|Lotus-Climax

|No time

|3:06.0

| +19.7

29

|58

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Renato Pirocchi

|Cooper-Maserati

|3:18.3

|3:06.5

| +20.2

30

|72

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Gaetano Starrabba

|Lotus-Maserati

|No time

|3:07.9

| +21.6

31

|14

|{{flagicon|UK}} Brian Naylor

|JBW-Climax

|3:13.0

|3:08.1

| +21.8

32

|52

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Roberto Lippi

|De Tomaso-Osca

|3:27.7

|3:08.9

| +22.6

colspan="7" |{{center|115% cutoff time: 3:11.36}}
DNQ

|68

|{{flagicon|Belgium}} André Pilette

|Emeryson-Climax

|3:19.4

|3:11.6

| +25.3

colspan="7" |{{center|Source:}}

=Race=

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1

| 2

| {{flagicon|US}} Phil Hill

| Ferrari

| 43

| 2:03:13.0

| 4

| 9

2

| 46

| {{flagicon|US}} Dan Gurney

| Porsche

| 43

| +31.2

| 12

| 6

3

| 12

| {{flagicon|New Zealand}} Bruce McLaren

| Cooper-Climax

| 43

| +2:28.4

| 14

| 4

4

| 60

| {{flagicon|UK}} Jackie Lewis

| Cooper-Climax

| 43

| +2:40.4

| 16

| 3

5

| 26

| {{flagicon|UK}} Tony Brooks

| BRM-Climax

| 43

| +2:40.5

| 13

| 2

6

| 40

| {{flagicon|UK}} Roy Salvadori

| Cooper-Climax

| 42

| +1 Lap

| 18

| 1

7

| 74

| {{flagicon|Netherlands}} Carel Godin de Beaufort

| Porsche

| 41

| +2 Laps

| 15

|

8

| 62

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Lorenzo Bandini

| Cooper-Maserati

| 41

| +2 Laps

| 21

|

9

| 48

| {{flagicon|France}} Maurice Trintignant

| Cooper-Maserati

| 41

| +2 Laps

| 22

|

10

| 16

| {{flagicon|UK}} Tim Parnell

| Lotus-Climax

| 40

| +3 Laps

| 27

|

11

| 20

| {{flagicon|UK}} Henry Taylor

| Lotus-Climax

| 39

| +4 Laps

| 23

|

12

| 58

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Renato Pirocchi

| Cooper-Maserati

| 38

| +5 Laps

| 29

|

Ret

| 28

| {{flagicon|UK}} Stirling Moss

| Lotus-Climax

| 36

| Wheel bearing

| 11

|

Ret

| 6

| {{flagicon|US}} Richie Ginther

| Ferrari

| 23

| Engine

| 3

|

Ret

| 72

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Gaetano Starrabba

| Lotus-Maserati

| 19

| Engine

| 30

|

Ret

| 44

| {{flagicon|Sweden}} Jo Bonnier

| Porsche

| 14

| Suspension

| 8

|

Ret

| 8

| {{flagicon|Mexico|1934}} Ricardo Rodríguez

| Ferrari

| 13

| Fuel system

| 2

|

Ret

| 32

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Giancarlo Baghetti

| Ferrari

| 13

| Engine

| 6

|

Ret

| 50

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Nino Vaccarella

| De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo

| 13

| Engine

| 20

|

Ret

| 22

| {{flagicon|US}} Masten Gregory

| Lotus-Climax

| 11

| Suspension

| 17

|

Ret

| 24

| {{flagicon|UK}} Graham Hill

| BRM-Climax

| 10

| Engine

| 5

|

Ret

| 10

| {{flagicon|Australia}} Jack Brabham

| Cooper-Climax

| 8

| Overheating

| 10

|

Ret

| 14

| {{flagicon|UK}} Brian Naylor

| JBW-Climax

| 6

| Engine

| 31

|

Ret

| 38

| {{flagicon|UK}} Innes Ireland

| Lotus-Climax

| 5

| Chassis

| 9

|

Ret

| 30

| {{flagicon|UK}} Jack Fairman

| Cooper-Climax

| 5

| Engine

| 26

|

Ret

| 42

| {{flagicon|UK}} John Surtees

| Cooper-Climax

| 2

| Accident

| 19

|

Ret

| 4

| {{flagicon|FRG}} Wolfgang von Trips

| Ferrari

| 1

| Fatal collision

| 1

|

Ret

| 36

| {{flagicon|UK}} Jim Clark

| Lotus-Climax

| 1

| Collision

| 7

|

Ret

| 54

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Roberto Bussinello

| De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo

| 1

| Engine

| 24

|

Ret

| 56

| {{flagicon|FRG}} Wolfgang Seidel

| Lotus-Climax

| 1

| Engine

| 28

|

Ret

| 52

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Roberto Lippi

| De Tomaso-Osca

| 1

| Engine

| 32

|

Ret

| 18

| {{flagicon|UK}} Gerry Ashmore

| Lotus-Climax

| 0

| Accident

| 25

|

DNQ

| 68

| {{flagicon|Belgium}} André Pilette

| Emeryson-Climax

|

|Too slow

|

|

DNS

| 46

| {{flagicon|FRG}} Edgar Barth

| Porsche

|

| Practice only - experimental car

|

|

WD

| 58

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Massimo Natili

| Cooper-Maserati

|

| Pirocchi drove car

|

|

DNA

| 34

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Alfonso Thiele

| Cooper-Climax

|

|Support race

|

|

DNA

| 64

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Ernesto Prinoth

| Lotus-Climax

|

|On route to the Flugplatzrennen

|

|

DNA

| 66

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Menato Boffa

| Cooper-Climax

|

|Racing at Vallelunga

|

|

DNA

| 70

| {{flagicon|Switzerland}} Michael May

| Lotus-Climax

|

| Retired from racing

|

|

colspan="8"|{{center|Source:{{cite web |url=http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1961/660/ |title=1961 Italian Grand Prix |publisher=formula1.com |access-date=20 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222214405/http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1961/660// |archive-date=22 December 2014}}}}

Notes

  • This was the Formula One World Championship debut for Ricardo Rodríguez; and the first for a Mexican driver.
  • This was the first (and only) pole position for Wolfgang von Trips, and the first for a German driver.

Championship standings after the race

{{col-start}}

{{col-2}}

;Drivers' Championship standings

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
!Pos

!Driver

!Points

align="left"| 10px 1

|align="center"| 1

| {{flagicon|USA}} Phil Hill

| align="left"| 34 (38)

align="left"| 10px 1

|align="center"| 2

| {{flagicon|Germany}} Wolfgang von Trips

| align="left"| 33

align="left"| 10px

|align="center"| 3

| {{flagicon|UK}} Stirling Moss

| align="left"| 21

align="left"| 10px

|align="center"| 4

| {{flagicon|USA}} Richie Ginther

| align="left"| 16

align="left"| 10px 2

|align="center"| 5

| {{flagicon|USA}} Dan Gurney

| align="left"| 15

colspan=4|Source:{{Cite web|url=https://www.statsf1.com/en/1961/italie/championnat.aspx|title=Italy 1961 - Championship • STATS F1|website=www.statsf1.com|access-date=1 March 2019}}

{{col-2}}

;Constructors' Championship standings

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
! Pos

! Constructor

! Points

align="left"| 10px

|align="center"| 1

| {{flagicon|Italy}} Ferrari

| align="left"| 40 (52)

align="left"| 10px

|align="center"| 2

| {{flagicon|UK}} Lotus-Climax

| align="left"| 24

align="left"| 10px

|align="center"| 3

| {{flagicon|Germany}} Porsche

| align="left"| 17

align="left"| 10px

|align="center"| 4

| {{flagicon|UK}} Cooper-Climax

| align="left"| 13 (15)

align="left"| 10px

|align="center"| 5

| {{flagicon|UK}} BRM-Climax

| align="left"| 3

colspan=4|Source:

{{col-end}}

  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

{{reflist | 30em}}

{{F1 race report

| Name_of_race = Italian Grand Prix

| Year_of_race = 1961

| Previous_race_in_season = 1961 German Grand Prix

| Next_race_in_season = 1961 United States Grand Prix

| Previous_year's_race = 1960 Italian Grand Prix

| Next_year's_race = 1962 Italian Grand Prix}}

{{F1GP 60-69}}

Italian Grand Prix

Category:Italian Grand Prix

Category:1961 in Italian motorsport

Category:Disasters in sports venues