Formula 1: Italian Grand Prix Trivia

The Italian Grand Prix brings the European leg of the Formula 1 season to a close in what is now a direct tussle between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton for the mantle to be a 5-time world champion.

Another classic circuit in the calendar, Monza is also the home of Ferrari (and tire suppliers Pirelli) who are in the ascendancy in this year's developmental battle with Mercedes.

Circuit Details | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza

Track Length‎: ‎5.793 km (3.600 mi)

Turns 12 Race Distance: 53 laps (306.720 km)

Lap Record 1:21.046, Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), 2004

With its high-speed corners, famed chicanes and an ever boisterous Tifosi, it is always a special event, that more often than not delivers a thrilling experience. Monza incidentally is also the home of tyre suppliers Pirelli, based in Milan and just a few clicks off the circuit.

Kimi Raikkonen is one short of 100 career podiums and if he makes it this weekend, it will a very popular one. Let's look at a few interesting nuggets of trivia regarding the Italian Grand Prix.

The circuit with the Northern banking in the background

#15 Monza is a low downforce circuit during which the engines are on full-throttle for 74% of the lap and consequently one of the fastest, and what the locals call ' La Pista Magica' (The magical track)

#14 Originally built in 1922, Monza has featured in every F1 season except in 1980, when it was closed down for major pit lane renovations and Imola hosted the Italian Grand Prix.

Phil Hill in a Ferrari over the old banking track in 1961

#13 As well as being an F1 mainstay, Monza is also the fastest circuit on the calendar. Michael Schumacher won the fastest ever race in 2003, averaging a staggering 247 km/h (153mph).

#12 Juan Pablo Montoya set the fastest lap in a Formula 1 car at Monza in 2004. His time of 1m19.525s was achieved at an average speed of 162.949 mph (262.241 km/h) in qualifying.

#11 Ferrari are the most successful team at Monza, having won the race 18 times, the most recent of which was with Fernando Alonso in 2010. Fernando Alonso's victory for Ferrari in 2010 sparked wild post-race celebrations in Monza and Italy.

#10 Peter Gethin won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix by just 0.01s - the smallest margin of victory in F1 history. The slipstreaming classic race of 1971 had the top 5 car zooming past the chequered flag separated by just 0.61 seconds.

#9 The last Italian-born driver to win at Monza was Mario Andretti in 1977, but he course competed under the US nationality.

#8 If Sebastian Vettel wins with Ferrari this weekend, having won previously with Toro Rosso (2008) and Red Bull (2011, 2013), he would be the only driver after Stirling Moss ( Maserati, Vanwall, Rob Walker Racing) to have won with three different teams.

#7 Only 3 drivers have triumphed on home soil. Alberto Ascari managed the feat twice in 1951 and '52; Nino Farina once, in 1950; while Ludovico Scarfiotti was the last home winner all the way back in 1966.

Sebastian Vettel's first win in Monza in a Toro Rosso

#6 Sebastian Vettel’s surprise win at Monza in 2008 for Toro Rosso made him the then youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix (at the time), aged 21 years, 2 months and 11 days old.

An ecstatic Gerhard Berger taking the chequered flag at Monza in a Ferrari

#5 Italian Grand Prix was the only race that McLaren didn't win in 1988. Alain Prost retired with engine problems and teammate Ayrton Senna had crashed out handing a famous win for Gerhard Berger in a Ferrari, which was especially memorable as Enzo Ferrari had passed away, just a month before the Grand Prix.

#4 After winning the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher announced his retirement from Formula 1 racing at the end of the 2006 season.

#3 Niki Lauda famously returned to action at the 1976 Italian Grand Prix, just over a month after his horrific fiery crash in Germany, finishing fourth.

#2 Pierluigi Martini backflipped his way across the finish line after contact with Minardi teammate Christian Fittipaldi in 1993

Nico Rosberg is over the moon after his 2016 triumph with Mercedes

#1 Mercedes has taken every pole and won every race in the current engine formula of v6 turbo engines from 2014. The 4 consecutive wins are also the longest streak by a constructor at the Italian Grand Prix.

Edited by Nishant Jayaram