My 2nd favorite F-1 race is coming up this weekend: the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, known locally as La Pista Magica (the magic racetrack)! It would be hard to find a more storied and legendary track than Monza: the home race for Ferrari and us tifosi; in 1988, the one and only race not won by McLaren, when Ferrari finished 1-2 in front of their home crowd; the site of the fastest-ever Grand Prix race (Peter Gethin, 1971); the place where my very first driver hero, the incomparable Niki Lauda, returned to racing a mere six weeks after his horrible accident at the Nurburgring, and I cried like a little kid (well, I WAS a little kid, it was 1976) - it was at that moment that he ceased to be a mere driver and became a Legend to me; the place where an F-1 race was won for the very first time by an American (Phil Hill, first American World Champion the very next year - 1960); Monza 1991 was the debut race of some guy named Michael Schumacher; in 2001 the Ferraris ran at Monza with no sponsorship ads and with black noses, in recognition of the tragedy of September 11.
If you’re more of a cinema buff than a racing buff, John Frankenheimer’s movie Grand Prix owes a lot to Monza (look for the scene where Yves Montand sticks his Ferrari up a tree and the majestic long shot of James Garner standing on a track at sunrise). Lots of drivers are in that movie, too - Lorenzo Bandini, Jim Clark, Bob Bondurant (my dad’s instructor), Jack Brabham, Richie Ginther and Bruce McLaren among them. Look for the vastly debonair and handsome Graham Hill in a bigger role. James Garner did most of his own driving, and was very good at it; he even beat some of the "real" drivers in informal races during filming. The aforementioned Phil Hill, no relation to Graham, did a lot of work, too; most of the time when you see shots of feet and hands, they’re Phil’s - he knew Monaco so well that he replicated each and every shift of the circuit on the straight at Long Beach.
But Monza is a greedy track, too, and the insidious Parabolica has claimed the life of many a talented driver, including Jochen Rindt, the only driver to win the World Championship posthumously. Ronnie Peterson died here in ‘78. In ‘61, Wolfgang von Trips died in a wreck after colliding with Jim Clark; horribly, fourteen spectators were killed when his Ferrari slammed into the crowd. That’s not even the worst Monza race disaster - that would be Emilio Materassi in 1928, when he crashed near the pits and died along with 27 spectators. And...well...sadly, there’s a reason besides his being a top driver born in nearby Milan that a certain corner is called the Variante Ascari; Alberto Ascari died here in 1955, not even racing, but testing a Ferrari sports car. Sniff.
I have a kinda funny story about Monza. Over the years, my brother and I had noticed that McLaren driver and 2-time World Champ Mika Hakkinen had this tendency to perform exceedingly well under pressure, but if he established a big lead and had the track to himself, he’d make some rookie mistake or do something incomprehensible. He built up a good lead during the '99 Monza race and, while we bore him no ill will, Bo and I wanted Ferrari to win so we jinxed him like little kids do, pointing our crossed fingers at the television and chanting "Jinxjinxjinxjinxjinxjinxjinxjinxjinx" over and over. This irritated our dad, who was trying to listen to the commentators so he frowned darkly at us and went to the kitchen for more coffee. Trying to establish peace, our mom said in this rebuking tone, "Now kids, y’all stop jinxing Mika!" at which time, as if on cue, off the track he spun! He was out there all alone, solid drive, no pressure, and - oops! cartwheel! - for no apparent reason! Understand that I’m not dumb enough to think we really caused his wreck via long-distance jinx, but it was totally funny, especially when Daddy came back in, saw Mika crying in the bushes, asked what happened and Mom said, "Your kids jinxed him!"
Mika threw this total crying fit in the bushes beside the track, kneeling down and sobbing like a little bitch for a really long time. I was unimpressed. I was impressed with crying the very next year, though. Michael started crying at the press conference when he was told that this victory at Monza meant his total number of wins equalled the record number of wins held by (say it with me now) Ayrton Senna. It was Mika who told the reporters to wait and give Michael a couple of minutes to regroup, and gave him a comfort hug. I almost felt sorry for jinxing him...almost.
I leave you with one final thought: FORZA FERRARI!!!
MONTOYA DELENDA EST!
If you’re more of a cinema buff than a racing buff, John Frankenheimer’s movie Grand Prix owes a lot to Monza (look for the scene where Yves Montand sticks his Ferrari up a tree and the majestic long shot of James Garner standing on a track at sunrise). Lots of drivers are in that movie, too - Lorenzo Bandini, Jim Clark, Bob Bondurant (my dad’s instructor), Jack Brabham, Richie Ginther and Bruce McLaren among them. Look for the vastly debonair and handsome Graham Hill in a bigger role. James Garner did most of his own driving, and was very good at it; he even beat some of the "real" drivers in informal races during filming. The aforementioned Phil Hill, no relation to Graham, did a lot of work, too; most of the time when you see shots of feet and hands, they’re Phil’s - he knew Monaco so well that he replicated each and every shift of the circuit on the straight at Long Beach.
But Monza is a greedy track, too, and the insidious Parabolica has claimed the life of many a talented driver, including Jochen Rindt, the only driver to win the World Championship posthumously. Ronnie Peterson died here in ‘78. In ‘61, Wolfgang von Trips died in a wreck after colliding with Jim Clark; horribly, fourteen spectators were killed when his Ferrari slammed into the crowd. That’s not even the worst Monza race disaster - that would be Emilio Materassi in 1928, when he crashed near the pits and died along with 27 spectators. And...well...sadly, there’s a reason besides his being a top driver born in nearby Milan that a certain corner is called the Variante Ascari; Alberto Ascari died here in 1955, not even racing, but testing a Ferrari sports car. Sniff.
I have a kinda funny story about Monza. Over the years, my brother and I had noticed that McLaren driver and 2-time World Champ Mika Hakkinen had this tendency to perform exceedingly well under pressure, but if he established a big lead and had the track to himself, he’d make some rookie mistake or do something incomprehensible. He built up a good lead during the '99 Monza race and, while we bore him no ill will, Bo and I wanted Ferrari to win so we jinxed him like little kids do, pointing our crossed fingers at the television and chanting "Jinxjinxjinxjinxjinxjinxjinxjinxjinx" over and over. This irritated our dad, who was trying to listen to the commentators so he frowned darkly at us and went to the kitchen for more coffee. Trying to establish peace, our mom said in this rebuking tone, "Now kids, y’all stop jinxing Mika!" at which time, as if on cue, off the track he spun! He was out there all alone, solid drive, no pressure, and - oops! cartwheel! - for no apparent reason! Understand that I’m not dumb enough to think we really caused his wreck via long-distance jinx, but it was totally funny, especially when Daddy came back in, saw Mika crying in the bushes, asked what happened and Mom said, "Your kids jinxed him!"
Mika threw this total crying fit in the bushes beside the track, kneeling down and sobbing like a little bitch for a really long time. I was unimpressed. I was impressed with crying the very next year, though. Michael started crying at the press conference when he was told that this victory at Monza meant his total number of wins equalled the record number of wins held by (say it with me now) Ayrton Senna. It was Mika who told the reporters to wait and give Michael a couple of minutes to regroup, and gave him a comfort hug. I almost felt sorry for jinxing him...almost.
I leave you with one final thought: FORZA FERRARI!!!
MONTOYA DELENDA EST!
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