As the home of the Ferrari-mad tifosi , Monza is always a bit special.

The crowd only has eyes for the red cars and the men driving them – everyone else is the enemy.

The locals got their wish in 2006 when Michael Schumacher swept to victory and his title rival Fernando Alonso suffered the double blow of a contentious qualifying penalty and a raceday engine failure.

Schumacher then famously confirmed his decision to retire during the winner's press conference.

Monza now occupies a unique position on the Formula 1 calendar as the only circuit where a really low-downforce set-up is required, meaning that unusual results – such as Robert Kubica's 2006 podium for BMW – are likely.

The track is a high-speed blast between chicanes, punctuated with fast corners like the legendary Parabolica – but is not a patch on its virtually flat-out original incarnation.

Back then the cars would jostle in huge slipstreaming packs, such as the one that Peter Gethin burst out of to win the 1971 event by just 0.1s.

The chicanes were introduced to control speeds the following years, but Monza remains a superb location to watch motor racing.

Ferrari is always at the centre of the drama, most poignantly in 1988 when Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto scored a 1-2 finish for the team just weeks after founder Enzo Ferrari's death.

It was the only time all season that McLaren was defeated, as the dominant Ayrton Senna tripped over a backmarker in the final laps.

View Site Map