1971 Italian Grand Prix

Race report

The historical Monza National Autodrome, located just north of the northern Italian city of Milan, in 1971 became the fastest circuit used by Formula One after the Belgian Spa-Francorchamps circuit was removed from the calendar. However, this was the last year in which the circuit was used with this configuration: considering the enormous speed that the cars reached in this edition, two chicanes were introduced the following year in the two most dangerous curves of the track. Before and during the race there were several tributes in memory of reigning champions Jochen Rindt who had died the previous season.

Emerson Fittipaldi drove a four-wheel drive Lotus 56B powered by a gas turbine, the only time he would race in a Formula One World Championship race in a car not powered by a Ford Cosworth DFV engine. Due to ongoing legal issues between Team Lotus and the Italian authorities following Jochen Rindt's death the previous year, the car was entered under the name "World Wide Racing".

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 fastest lap of all time in a Formula One championship race, lapping at 156 mph, with the BRMs 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 the top 4 finished within two-tenths of a second of each other, with Ganley a further four-tenths back in fifth. Polesitter Amon took the last point in sixth, nearly half a minute behind Ganley. Siffert dropped back after problems with a gearbox that would only select fourth gear. Tyrrell-Ford won their first Constructors' Championship with two races remaining.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

Notes

• This was the Formula One World Championship debut for French driver Jean-Pierre Jarier.
• This race saw the 5th podium finish for a Swedish driver.
• This race marked the 1st pole position for a Matra-powered car.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
• Bold text indicates the 1971 World Champions.

References

References

1. "Motor Racing Programme Covers: 1971". The Programme Covers Project.
2. "1971 Italian Grand Prix Entry list".
3. [http://www.f1-grandprix.com/records.html All-Time F1 Records] Times in this race were only measured to the nearest hundredth of a second (0.01 seconds), so the finish may or may not have been closer than that of the [[2002 United States Grand Prix]], where [[Rubens Barrichello]] beat [[Michael Schumacher]] by 0.011 seconds.
4. (14 September 2003). "Fastest races and laps ever".
5. "Grand Prix results: Italian GP, 1971". GrandPrix.com.
6. "F1's Closest Race Finish - Full Story of the 1971 Italian Grand Prix".
7. Pritchard, Anthony. (1972). "The Motor Racing Year No3".
8. "1971 Italian Grand Prix". formula1.com.
9. "Italy 1971 - Championship".