1961 Italian Grand Prix

1961 Italian Grand Prix
Race 7 of 8 in the 1961 Formula One season
Race details
Date	September 10, 1961
Official name	XXXIIo Gran Premio d'Italia
Location	Autodromo Nazionale Monza Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	10.000 km (6.213 miles)
Distance	43 laps, 430.000 km (267.189 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari
Time	2.46.3
Fastest lap
Driver	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari
Time	2.48.4 on lap 2
Podium
First	Phil Hill	Ferrari
Second	Dan Gurney	Porsche
Third	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax

The 1961 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 September 1961 at Monza.

The race was marked by one of the most terrible accidents in the history of Formula One, when on the end of lap 2 at the approach to the Parabolica the German driver Wolfgang von Trips lost control of his Ferrari and crashed into a stand full of spectators, killing 15 and himself. The race was not stopped, allegedly to assist the rescue work for the injured. This was also the last Formula One race ever to be held on the full 10 km (6.213 mi) Monza circuit, with the 2 bankings and the straight between the bankings included.

The race was won by von Trips' American team mate Phil Hill, who – since the German was the only one who could challenge him – thus won the World Championship with one race to go.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Phil Hill	Ferrari	43	2:03:13.0	4	9
2	46	Dan Gurney	Porsche	43	+31.2 secs	12	6
3	12	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	43	+2:28.4	14	4
4	60	Jackie Lewis	Cooper-Climax	43	+2:40.4	16	3
5	26	Tony Brooks	BRM-Climax	43	+2:40.5	13	2
6	40	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	42	+1 Lap	18	1
7	74	Carel Godin de Beaufort	Porsche	41	+2 Laps	15
8	62	Lorenzo Bandini	Cooper-Maserati	41	+2 Laps	21
9	48	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Maserati	41	+2 Laps	22
10	16	Tim Parnell	Lotus-Climax	40	+3 Laps	27
11	20	Henry Taylor	Lotus-Climax	39	+4 Laps	23
12	58	Renato Pirocchi	Cooper-Maserati	38	+5 Laps	29
Ret	28	Stirling Moss	Lotus-Climax	36	Wheel bearing	11
Ret	6	Richie Ginther	Ferrari	23	Engine	3
Ret	72	Gaetano Starrabba	Lotus-Maserati	19	Engine	30
Ret	44	Jo Bonnier	Porsche	14	Suspension	8
Ret	8	Ricardo Rodríguez	Ferrari	13	Fuel system	2
Ret	32	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	13	Engine	6
Ret	50	Nino Vaccarella	De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo	13	Engine	20
Ret	22	Masten Gregory	Lotus-Climax	11	Suspension	17
Ret	24	Graham Hill	BRM-Climax	10	Engine	5
Ret	10	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	8	Overheating	10
Ret	14	Brian Naylor	JBW-Climax	6	Engine	31
Ret	38	Innes Ireland	Lotus-Climax	5	Chassis	9
Ret	30	Jack Fairman	Cooper-Climax	5	Engine	26
Ret	42	John Surtees	Cooper-Climax	2	Accident	19
Ret	4	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	1	Fatal collision	1
Ret	36	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	1	Collision	7
Ret	54	Roberto Bussinello	De Tomaso-Alfa Romeo	1	Engine	24
Ret	56	Wolfgang Seidel	Lotus-Climax	1	Engine	28
Ret	52	Roberto Lippi	De Tomaso-Osca	1	Engine	32
Ret	18	Gerry Ashmore	Lotus-Climax	0	Accident	25
DNQ	68	André Pilette	Emeryson-Maserati
DNS	46	Edgar Barth	Porsche		Practice only
DNS	58	Massimo Natili	Cooper-Maserati		Pirocchi drove car
WD	34	Alfonso Thiele	Cooper-Climax
WD	64	Ernesto Prinoth	Lotus-Climax
WD	66	Menato Boffa	Cooper-Climax
WD	70	Michael May	Lotus-Climax		No car
Source:

Lap leaders

• Phil Hill 36 laps (1-3, 5, 7, 10, 14-43); Richie Ginther 7 laps (4, 6, 8-9, 11-13).

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	Phil Hill	34 (38)
1	2	Wolfgang von Trips	33
	3	Stirling Moss	21
	4	Richie Ginther	16
2	5	Dan Gurney	15

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos	Constructor	Points
	1	Ferrari	40 (52)
	2	Lotus-Climax	24
	3	Porsche	17
	4	Cooper-Climax	13 (15)
	5	BRM-Climax	3

• Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.