History

The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a race track located near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. The circuit's biggest event is the Formula One Italian Grand Prix. With the exception of 1980, the race has been hosted there since the series's inception. Built in the Royal Villa of Monza park in a woodland setting, the site has three tracks – the 5.793-kilometre (3.600 mi) Grand Prix track, the 2.405-kilometre (1.494 mi) Junior track, and a 4.250-kilometre (2.641 mi) high speed oval track with steep bankings which has been unused for many decades and is now decaying. The major features of the main Grand Prix track include theCurva Grande, the Curva di Lesmo, the Variante Ascari and the Curva Parabolica. The high speed curve, Curva Grande, is located after the Variante del Rettifilo which is located at the end of the front straight or Rettifilo Tribune, and is usually taken flat out by Formula One cars. The first track was built from May to July 1922 by 3,500 workers, financed by the Milan Automobile Club. The initial form was a 3.4 square kilometres (1.31 sq mi) site with 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) of macadamised road comprising a 4.5 kilometres (2.80 mi) loop track, and a 5.5 kilometres (3.42 mi) road track. The track was officially opened on 3 September 1922, with the maiden race the second Italian Grand Prix held on 10 September 1922. There was major rebuilding in 1938–39, constructing new stands and entrances, resurfacing the track, moving portions of the track and adding two new bends. The resulting layout gave a Grand Prix lap of 6.300 kilometres (3.91 mi), in use until 1954. In 1954, work began to entirely revamp the circuit, resulting in a 5.750 kilometres (3.573 mi) course, and a new 4.250 kilometres (2.641 mi) high-speed oval with banked sopraelevata curves. The two circuits could be combined to re-create the former 10 kilometres (6.214 mi) long circuit, with cars running parallel on the main straight. The track infrastructure was also updated and improved to better accommodate the teams and spectators. Formula One used the 10 kilometres (6.214 mi) high speed track in the 1955, 1956, 1960 and 1961 Grands Prix. Both car and Grand Prix motorcycle racing were regular attractions at Monza, but as the speed of the machines were increasing, two chicanes- the Variante del Rettifilo at the middle of the start/finish straight, and the Variante Ascari, were added in 1972 to reduce racing speeds. This resulted in a new circuit length of 5.755 kilometres (3.576 mi). Grand Prix motorcycles continued to use the un-slowed road track until two serious accidents resulted in five deaths, including Renzo Pasolini and Jarno Saarinen, in 1973, and motorcycle racing did not return to Monza until 1981. These races involved drivers constantly slipstreaming competing cars, which produced several close finishes, such as in 1967, 1969, and 1971; the last year the Italian Grand Prix was run at Monza without chicanes. The 1972 chicanes were soon seen to be ineffective at slowing cars; the Vialone was remade in 1974, the other, Curva Grande in 1976, and a third also added in 1976 before the Lesmo, with extended run-off areas. The Grand Prix lap after these alterations was increased to 5.800 kilometres (3.604 mi) long. In 2007, the run off area at the second chicane was changed from gravel to asphalt. The length of the track in its current configuration is 5.793 kilometres (3.600 mi)