Anyone who thinks of Monza will quickly think of Ferrari. The constructor from Maranello is the national pride and has won the race twenty times since the inception of Formula 1 in 1950. Despite the success of the Scuderia, the number of wins by Italian drivers at Monza remains stuck at four. The last Italian to win on the super-fast track was Ludovico Scarfiotti in 1966, exactly sixty years ago this Friday.
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Scarfiotti is a name that will not ring a bell for most Formula 1 fans. That is not surprising, as the Turin-born Italian only raced in ten official championship races between 1963 and 1968. Yet he managed to win one of those races, and not just any race.
The weekend of Scarfiotti
Scarfiotti qualified second with his Ferrari. The Italian was three tenths behind teammate Mike Parkes for pole position. Jim Clark completed the front row with his Lotus.
After 68 laps and many retirements of well-known names such as Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, and John Surtees, Scarfiotti crossed the finish line first with a gap of 5.8 seconds to Parkes. Denny Hulme finished third with his Brabham, completing the podium. Scarfiotti was the first Italian to win his home Grand Prix since Alberto Ascari in 1952.
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For Scarfiotti, this was his only victory and also his only podium in his short career as a Formula 1 driver. He also managed to gather a few points here and there for Ferrari, the American team Eagle, and Cooper. In other racing classes, Scarfiotti achieved more success. In 1963, he won Le Mans for Ferrari in his Ferrari 250P. During the same year, he also won the 12 Hours of Sebring with his Ferrari.
In 1968, Scarfiotti died in an accident during a hillclimbing race in the German Alps. His Porsche 910 flew off the road and fell nine meters down into a tree-covered valley. The car got stuck in a tree, and Scarfiotti was thrown from his seat, after which he was found severely injured 45 meters from his car. He died of his injuries in the ambulance.
New attempt by Antonelli?
This weekend, Kimi Antonelli can become the fourth Italian to win at Monza after Giuseppe Farina, Ascari, and Scarfiotti. The Mercedes driver is hunting for his seventh victory of this season but will not be able to start from the front row due to a grid penalty.
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