1961 Italian Grand Prix

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 accidents with the highest death toll 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.<ref name="50 years ago today: F1's worst tragedy at Monza">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 Template:Convert 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.<ref>Daily Express pages 1, 2 & 7 Monday 11 September 1961</ref>

Background

Wolfgang von Trips, who was killed during the race

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

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Template:Nowrap		Gap
				Q1	Q2
1	4	Template:Flagicon Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	2:50.3	2:46.3	—
2	8	Template:Flagicon Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	2:49.6	2:46.4	+0.1
3	6	Template:Flagicon Richie Ginther	Ferrari	2:46.8	2:47.1	+0.5
4	2	Template:Flagicon Phil Hill	Ferrari	2:48.9	2:47.2	+0.9
5	24	Template:Flagicon Graham Hill	BRM-Climax	2:55.0	2:48.7	+2.4
6	32	Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	2:53.4	2:49.0	+2.7
7	36	Template:Flagicon Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	2:52.4	2:49.2	+2.9
8	44	Template:Flagicon Jo Bonnier	Porsche	2:53.6	2:49.6	+3.3
9	38	Template:Flagicon Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	2:56.7	2:50.3	+4.0
10	10	Template:Flagicon Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	2:55.1	2:51.6	+5.3
11	28	Template:Flagicon Stirling Moss	Lotus-Climax	2:51.8	2:57.5	+5.5
12	46	Template:Flagicon Dan Gurney	Porsche	2:53.4	2:52.0	+5.7
13	26	Template:Flagicon Tony Brooks	BRM-Climax	2:58.8	2:52.2	+5.9
14	12	Template:Flagicon Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	2:59.8	2:53.4	+7.1
15	74	Template:Flagicon Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	2:57.9	2:53.8	+7.5
16	60	Template:Flagicon Jackie Lewis	Cooper-Climax	No time	2:54.0	+7.7
17	22	Template:Flagicon Masten Gregory	Lotus-Climax	3:01.4	2:55.2	+8.9
18	40	Template:Flagicon Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	3:02.0	2:55.2	+8.9
19	42	Template:Flagicon John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	2:59.3	2:55.6	+9.3
20	50	Template:Flagicon Nino Vaccarella	De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo	3:03.7	2:56.0	+9.7
21	62	Template:Flagicon Lorenzo Bandini	Cooper-Maserati	2:57.7	2:58.2	+11.4
22	48	Template:Flagicon Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Maserati	3:03.9	2:58.7	+12.4
23	20	Template:Flagicon Henry Taylor	Lotus-Climax	3:03.8	3:00.6	+14.3
24	54	Template:Flagicon Roberto Bussinello	De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo	3:09.8	3:01.7	+15.4
25	18	Template:Flagicon Gerry Ashmore	Lotus-Climax	No time	3:03.0	+16.7
26	30	Template:Flagicon Jack Fairman	Cooper-Climax	3:06.7	3:04.8	+18.5
27	16	Template:Flagicon Tim Parnell	Lotus-Climax	3:15.4	3:05.7	+19.4
28	56	Template:Flagicon Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus-Climax	No time	3:06.0	+19.7
29	58	Template:Flagicon Renato Pirocchi	Cooper-Maserati	3:18.3	3:06.5	+20.2
30	72	Template:Flagicon Gaetano Starrabba	Lotus-Maserati	No time	3:07.9	+21.6
31	14	Template:Flagicon Brian Naylor	JBW-Climax	3:13.0	3:08.1	+21.8
32	52	Template:Flagicon Roberto Lippi	De Tomaso-Osca	3:27.7	3:08.9	+22.6
115% cutoff time: 3:11.36 {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
DNQ	68	Template:Flagicon André Pilette	Emeryson-Climax	3:19.4	3:11.6	+25.3
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Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Template:Flagicon Phil Hill	Ferrari	43	2:03:13.0	4	9
2	46	Template:Flagicon Dan Gurney	Porsche	43	+31.2	12	6
3	12	Template:Flagicon Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	43	+2:28.4	14	4
4	60	Template:Flagicon Jackie Lewis	Cooper-Climax	43	+2:40.4	16	3
5	26	Template:Flagicon Tony Brooks	BRM-Climax	43	+2:40.5	13	2
6	40	Template:Flagicon Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	42	+1 Lap	18	1
7	74	Template:Flagicon Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	41	+2 Laps	15
8	62	Template:Flagicon Lorenzo Bandini	Cooper-Maserati	41	+2 Laps	21
9	48	Template:Flagicon Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Maserati	41	+2 Laps	22
10	16	Template:Flagicon Tim Parnell	Lotus-Climax	40	+3 Laps	27
11	20	Template:Flagicon Henry Taylor	Lotus-Climax	39	+4 Laps	23
12	58	Template:Flagicon Renato Pirocchi	Cooper-Maserati	38	+5 Laps	29
Ret	28	Template:Flagicon Stirling Moss	Lotus-Climax	36	Wheel bearing	11
Ret	6	Template:Flagicon Richie Ginther	Ferrari	23	Engine	3
Ret	72	Template:Flagicon Gaetano Starrabba	Lotus-Maserati	19	Engine	30
Ret	44	Template:Flagicon Jo Bonnier	Porsche	14	Suspension	8
Ret	8	Template:Flagicon Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	13	Fuel system	2
Ret	32	Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	13	Engine	6
Ret	50	Template:Flagicon Nino Vaccarella	De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo	13	Engine	20
Ret	22	Template:Flagicon Masten Gregory	Lotus-Climax	11	Suspension	17
Ret	24	Template:Flagicon Graham Hill	BRM-Climax	10	Engine	5
Ret	10	Template:Flagicon Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	8	Overheating	10
Ret	14	Template:Flagicon Brian Naylor	JBW-Climax	6	Engine	31
Ret	38	Template:Flagicon Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	5	Chassis	9
Ret	30	Template:Flagicon Jack Fairman	Cooper-Climax	5	Engine	26
Ret	42	Template:Flagicon John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	2	Accident	19
Ret	4	Template:Flagicon Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	1	Fatal collision	1
Ret	36	Template:Flagicon Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	1	Collision	7
Ret	54	Template:Flagicon Roberto Bussinello	De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo	1	Engine	24
Ret	56	Template:Flagicon Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus-Climax	1	Engine	28
Ret	52	Template:Flagicon Roberto Lippi	De Tomaso-Osca	1	Engine	32
Ret	18	Template:Flagicon Gerry Ashmore	Lotus-Climax	0	Accident	25
DNQ	68	Template:Flagicon André Pilette	Emeryson-Climax		Too slow
DNS	46	Template:Flagicon Edgar Barth	Porsche		Practice only - experimental car
WD	58	Template:Flagicon Massimo Natili	Cooper-Maserati		Pirocchi drove car
DNA	34	Template:Flagicon Alfonso Thiele	Cooper-Climax		Support race
DNA	64	Template:Flagicon Ernesto Prinoth	Lotus-Climax		On route to the Flugplatzrennen
DNA	66	Template:Flagicon Menato Boffa	Cooper-Climax		Racing at Vallelunga
DNA	70	Template:Flagicon Michael May	Lotus-Climax		Retired from racing
Source:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

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

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	Template:Flagicon Phil Hill	34 (38)
1	2	Template:Flagicon Wolfgang von Trips	33
	3	Template:Flagicon Stirling Moss	21
	4	Template:Flagicon Richie Ginther	16
2	5	Template:Flagicon Dan Gurney	15
Source:<ref name="Championship">Template:Cite web</ref>

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Template:Flagicon Ferrari	40 (52)
	2	Template:Flagicon Lotus-Climax	24
	3	Template:Flagicon Porsche	17
	4	Template:Flagicon Cooper-Climax	13 (15)
	5	Template:Flagicon BRM-Climax	3
Source:<ref name="Championship"/>

• 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

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