Many Italian Formula 1 fans are increasingly eager to realize a sporting dream: to celebrate a fellow countryman on the top step of the podium at Monza, the ‘Temple of Speed’. Whether it is behind the wheel of a Ferrari or another team seems almost secondary, as demonstrated by a context like this year’s, in a world championship led by the young Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The hopes of the Italian public rest entirely on him, being the only ‘azzurro’ on track, but the Bolognese will have to serve a penalty for introducing the fifth power unit, thus starting from the back of the grid. In this way, barring a true feat, the risk of reaching the 60th anniversary of the last Italian victory at Monza becomes increasingly real.
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The last time
The true feat was achieved in 1966 by the Turin native Ludovico Scarfiotti. On the occasion of the seventh round of that world championship, Ferrari showed all its competitiveness, so much so that the Maranello cars crossed the finish line in first and second place, something that had not happened for five years. Making that one-two even more romantic, to which Mike Parkes contributed with his second place, was the return to victory of the Cavallino Rampante at Monza, as well as the first and only victory of Scarfiotti’s F1 career (in a GP where Jack Brabham was crowned world champion). Two years later, in fact, the Italian lost his life following a tragic accident during a hill climb race at Rossfeld. Consequently, the Turin native remains today the last Italian to have won at the ‘Temple of Speed’.
The ‘false’ Italians
Since that victory, no other Italian has won at Monza, but in this long period there have still been wins by drivers of other nationalities but with clear Italian origins. The first case was Clay Regazzoni, born and raised in Switzerland but with a father from Bergamo. In 1970 and 1975, he won the Italian GP, in the same decade that saw the victories of Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972 and Mario Andretti in 1977. The first, Brazilian by nationality and two-time world champion, has paternal origins from Lucania, while the second was born in the province of Istria, then Italian, before emigrating with his family to the United States. Born and raised in Brazil, the late Ayrton Senna da Silva also won the Italian GP; in 1990 and 1992. Three-time world champion, his mother’s grandparents (from whom the surname Senna derives) were of Tuscan, Sicilian, and Campanian origins. A great friend of Senna was his compatriot Rubens Barrichello, who celebrated at Monza in 2002, 2004, and 2009. In this case, the paternal grandfather of the former Ferrari driver emigrated from Veneto. The last driver of Italian origins to have won at Monza was Daniel Ricciardo, who in 2021 also achieved his last career victory. Australian by citizenship, the father of the former driver was born in Sicily, while the mother in nearby Calabria.
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The two victories in ‘Italy’
It is finally necessary to remember the victories of Italian drivers in the Bel Paese after 1966, even if these were achieved at Imola, and in the San Marino GP. The first was that of Elio De Angelis with Lotus in 1985, followed five years later by Riccardo Patrese, then a Benetton driver.
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