Abandoned Italian F1 Layout Not Used For Over 60 Years After Driver and Fans Killed
The former Italian Grand Prix layout has not been used for over 60 years after a series of tragic incidents.
The 16th race of the 2025 Formula 1 season will take place this weekend from the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
It is one of the most historic circuits in the sport's history as the home Grand Prix of Ferrari, the sport's most successful team.
The circuit is the fastest ever used in Formula 1, with top speeds reaching up to 370km/h over the 53-lap race.
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Since 1962, the Grand Prix has been ran solely on Monza's road circuit - but remnants of its history is visible all over the venue.
When it was first built in 1922, the circuit comprised of a combined road course and flat banked section.
The circuit was designed in such a way that drivers passed the start/finish straight twice, such was the width of the track.
The first part of the 10-kilometre lap consisted of the road circuit, which isn't too dissimilar from what we see today.
It then looped into two 21-degree banked corners, forming an oval.
Nowadays, the banking - which has been alterated from its previous iterations - is still accessible to members of the public - having been restored during the 2010s - and they can walk along it.
It isn't always accessible during race weekends as it is sometimes used as an operational base for security,
According to an Autosport article from 2000, a total demolition of the banking was planned to take place - but didn't go ahead for two reasons.
The first is that the total cost would have reportedly hit over $2 million, with that cost covered by residents of Monza.
And Chris Balfe, from England, set up a petition to save the banking, which was signed by over 1,500 people in 70 countries.
Former Italian Grand Prix winners such as Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart and Phil Hill signed it.
It was American driver Hill who won the final Italian Grand Prix to use the banked corners in 1961.
Heading into the penultimate round of the season, Hill was battling with his younger Ferrari team-mate Wolfgang von Trips to win the Drivers' Championship.
Von Trips, who was 33, had never previously come close to being in championship contention after joining the sport in 1956, but now knew that if he won in Monza, he would secure the title.
The German driver put his Ferrari on pole, with four of the five Scuderia drivers - including Hill - occupying the top five places on the grid.
But he fell to sixth place by lap two after a mechanical issue off the start line, before overtaking Lotus' Jim Clark heading into Parabolica.
However, the two cars collided towards the end of the straight, causing Von Trips' Ferrari to climb the trackside embankment and roll repeatedly. The German would be thrown from the car and was killed almost instantly.
His Ferrari then went beyond the crowd fence while still rolling, killing a total of 14 spectators.
The race continued to a finish - said to be because authorities were concerned that the exit of fans would hamper rescue crews from attending to the injured.
Hill won the race and the championship with one race left, as no other driver could catch him. Ferrari decided to not enter the final Grand Prix of the season.
F1 would remove the Monza banking completely for 1962.
The part of the circuit had already caused more than its fair share of tragic incidents, with three drivers killed in one race in 1933.
And five years earlier, Italian driver Emilio Materassi crashed into the mainstand, killing himself and 22 spectators.
But the Von Trips incident was the final straw for Formula 1, who would subsequently commission major redevelopments to the circuit.
Various parts of the track have been slowed down over the years and chicanes added, with the current circuit having been in place - barring minor cosmetic changes and adjustments to run-off areas - since 2000.
Ryan Smart