Italy / Monza - FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA 2025

Italian Grand Prix / Monza
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In the Royal Park in Lombardy in northern Italy, corner names such as Parabolica, Lesmo or the variant Ascari send a cold tingling down the spine of fans. Located just behind the gates of Milan, Monza would actually be a sleepy small town if it weren't for the tens of thousands of fans from all over the world who turn the narrow streets into utter chaos on the race weekend and turn the local recreation area into what feels like the narrowest parking lot in Italy.

The Italian Grand Prix has been held for as long as the Formula 1 World Championship has existed. "Bella Italia" has not been missing from the racing calendar once in all these years. With the exception of the 1980 season, when Imola stepped in for renovation work, it was always held at the high-speed Mecca of Monza. Set in a beautiful park, the track has changed over the years, but the start and finish straight is a reminder of the circuit's long history. Nowhere else are the fans so passionate. Whether an Italian wins or not is mostly irrelevant to the famous Tifosi, because only one thing counts for them: Ferrari!

With an average speed of over 240 km/h, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is the fastest Formula 1 racetrack. The 5.793-kilometre circuit primarily puts a strain on the brakes due to the brutal deceleration manoeuvres, but also on the tyres, which are under heavy strain particularly in the fast corners such as the Curva Grande and the Parabolica. The even slope surface enables driving with low ground clearance, which leads to better traction in the curves and allows the wings, which are already flat anyway, to become even flatter. 77 percent of the time, the drivers go full throttle on the lap and ensure that the fuel consumption is correspondingly high and the engines are pushed to their limit.

As early as 1922, the first Italian Grand Prix took place in the Royal Park, where in the meantime a high-speed track of around ten kilometers was used. Monza is particularly well-known for its banked curves, which are no longer used today. The only reminder of them today is a concrete ruin, which falls victim to the weather more and more every year. Plans to demolish it were shelved after protests.

Where today several chicanes slow down the Formula 1 cars, people used to drive at full throttle everywhere, which is why there were many fatalities in Monza. The speed frenzy in Lombardy gave the scene great moments like those of Niki Lauda and Sebastian Vettel, but also cost the lives of four legends: Alberto Ascari, Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips, Jochen Rindt and Ronnie Peterson died in the Autodromo Nazionale.