1971 Italian Grand Prix

The 1971 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monza on September 5, 1971. This race is often referred to as the fastest Formula One race of all time, with a record average speed of 242.615 km/h (150.754 mph), a record that was not broken until 32 years later at the 2003 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.^[1] This race featured the closest finish in Formula One history.^[2] Peter Gethin came from 4th place to lead on the final lap with a bold move. None of the 6 points-scoring drivers had ever previously won a Grand Prix.

Race report

With the championship settled, this was an opportunity for new drivers to prove themselves. Chris Amon in the Matra proved an embarrassment to Ferrari by seizing pole at their home track, with the BRM's on the second row, whilst champion Stewart was in 6th after suffering gearbox problems. Mike Hailwood was making his debut for Surtees—an inspired choice as he held both the Formula 5000 and motorbike lap records for Monza. Clay Regazzoni's Ferrari thrilled the crowd by surging forward from the fourth row to lead from Jo Siffert and Stewart until lap 3, when Ronnie Peterson took the lead. On lap 7, Stewart took the lead. By lap 16, Stewart and Jacky Ickx retired with engine problems, followed two laps later by Clay Regazzoni. The race began to break into high-speed packs—the leading one containing Hailwood (leading on his debut), François Cevert, Peterson, Siffert, Howden Ganley, Chris Amon, Peter Gethin and Jackie Oliver. Gethin, Peterson, Cevert, Hailwood and Ganley (who fell back slightly) battled right down to the line and all finished within two-tenths of a second within each other. Siffert dropped back after problems with a gearbox that would only select fourth gear.

Classification

Monza with no chicanes

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	18	Peter Gethin	BRM	55	1:18:12.60	11	9
2	25	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	55	+ 0.01	6	6
3	2	François Cevert	Tyrrell-Ford	55	+ 0.09	5	4
4	9	Mike Hailwood	Surtees-Ford	55	+ 0.18	17	3
5	19	Howden Ganley	BRM	55	+ 0.61	4	2
6	12	Chris Amon	Matra	55	+ 32.36	1	1
7	14	Jackie Oliver	McLaren-Ford	55	+ 1:24.83	13
8	5	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Pratt & Whitney	54	+ 1 Lap	18
9	20	Jo Siffert	BRM	53	+ 2 Laps	3
10	28	Jo Bonnier	McLaren-Ford	51	+ 4 Laps	21
Ret	10	Graham Hill	Brabham-Ford	47	Gearbox	14
NC	26	Jean-Pierre Jarier	March-Ford	47	Not classified	24
NC	24	Mike Beuttler	March-Ford	41	Engine	16
Ret	16	Henri Pescarolo	March-Ford	40	Suspension	10
Ret	23	Andrea de Adamich	March-Alfa Romeo	33	Engine	20
Ret	4	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	17	Engine	8
Ret	3	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	15	Engine	2
Ret	30	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	15	Engine	7
Ret	22	Nanni Galli	March-Ford	11	Electrical	19
Ret	11	Tim Schenken	Brabham-Ford	5	Suspension	9
Ret	27	Silvio Moser	Bellasi-Ford	5	Suspension	22
Ret	21	Helmut Marko	BRM	3	Engine	12
Ret	7	John Surtees	Surtees-Ford	3	Engine	15
Ret	8	Rolf Stommelen	Surtees-Ford	0	Accident	23

Notes

• Pole Position: Chris Amon - 1:22.4
• Fastest lap: Henri Pescarolo - 1:23.8
• Emerson Fittipaldi drove a Lotus 56 4WD powered by a gas turbine
• Tyrrell-Ford won their first Constructors' Championship with 2 races left to go
• This was the last race ever to be held on the extremely fast, chicane-less Monza circuit. Chicanes made of tire-walls were installed for the next Italian Grand Prix.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jackie Stewart 51 2 Ronnie Peterson 23 3 Jacky Ickx 19 4 François Cevert 16 5 Emerson Fittipaldi 16

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Tyrrell-Ford 55 2 Ferrari 32 3 BRM 30 4 March-Ford 24 5 Lotus-Ford 19

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

1. ^ http://forix.autosport.com/8w/6thgear/fastestraces-laps.html
2. ^ All-Time F1 Records It should be noted that times in this race were only measured to the nearest 0.01 second, so the finish may or may not have been closer than that of the 2002 United States Grand Prix, where the gap between 1st and 2nd was 0.011 seconds.

• "The Official Formula 1 website". http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1971/522/. Retrieved 2008-01-19. 

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