The banked curve of Monza, which has not hosted Formula 1 races for more than six decades, still stands and draws attention again during the 2026 Italian GP. The structure can be seen over the circuit, on the bridge that crosses the track before the Ascari chicane, and remains a concrete reminder of the early days of motorsport.
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Monza was inaugurated on September 3, 1922, after only three months of construction carried out by more than 3,000 workers. It was the third racetrack built specifically for racing in the world, after Brooklands and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Italian Grand Prix, created in 1921 in Montichiari, began to be held in Monza the following year.
The speed of the circuit brought great victories, with names like Tazio Nuvolari and Rudolf Caracciola, but also fatal accidents. Renovations allowed the GP to return in 1949 and, from 1954, a new concrete banked curve became part of the layout.
Formula 1 raced on the section four times. In 1955, Juan Manuel Fangio won and secured his third world title. The following year, he secured the championship again in Monza after Peter Collins gave him his car, while Luigi Musso refused to do the same.
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In 1960, most British teams boycotted the race considering the cars fragile given the risks of the banked curve. The following year, the fatal accident of Wolfgang von Trips, which also killed 15 spectators, marked the end of that era. Phil Hill won the race and the championship.
The curve was used by other categories and appeared in the film Grand Prix (1966), but was definitively abandoned in 1969, after the 1000 km of Monza. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was even threatened by demolition projects. The campaign “Save the Banked Curve of Monza,” supported by names like Stirling Moss and John Surtees, helped preserve it. Investments and resurfacing works in 2014 also contributed to its conservation.
Today, with a banking of up to 80%, the structure is impractical for modern Formula 1. At the 2026 Italian GP, while the cars run the current Monza layout, the old curve will literally remain above the track, being appreciated from afar by fans of a sport that now values maximum safety, even if it means giving up historic parts of circuits.
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