MONZA, Italy -- Facts and figures for Sunday's Italian Formula One Grand Prix:
Circuit: Monza.
Lap distance: 5.793 km/3.600 miles.
Total distance: 53 laps (306.749 km/190.614 miles).
Race lap record: Ralf Schumacher (Germany), One minute 25.073 seconds (Williams 2001). Average of 152.323 mph.
2001 pole time: Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia), Williams. 1:22.216 (157.616 mph).
Resume of past races
2001
Montoya took the first win of his Formula One career in a race overshadowed by the September 11 attacks on the United States. After officials decided to go ahead with the event, Ferrari painted the noses of their cars black while others painted U.S. flags on theirs. Michael Schumacher was a reluctant racer and finished fourth, his last failure to appear on the podium. Rubens Barrichello was second for Ferrari and Ralf Schumacher third for Williams. The race was preceded by a failed attempt to secure an agreement not to overtake into the first two corners. No champagne was sprayed on the podium.
2000
Michael Schumacher's victory was overshadowed by the death of a local fire marshal, hit by debris after a six-car pile-up. The German's 41st career win brought him level with Brazilian Ayrton Senna and he cried afterwards at the memory of his late rival. McLaren's Mika Hakkinen was second and saw his championship lead cut to two points.
1999
A tearful Hakkinen crouched in the trackside bushes after he had spun off while leading. The Finn started from pole and led by nearly 10 seconds before losing control at the first chicane on lap 30. The crowd erupted in cheers, urging on the Ferraris of Eddie Irvine and Mika Salo, stand-in for the injured Schumacher. Heinz-Harald Frentzen won for Jordan, ahead of Ralf Schumacher in a Williams and Salo.
1998
Schumacher led Irvine for Ferrari's first one-two finish at Monza for a decade as jubilant local fans invaded the track. Schumacher became the first Ferrari driver since Alberto Ascari in 1952 to win six times in a season. Ralf Schumacher was third for Jordan. Johnny Herbert, in a Sauber, had a bizarre accident when he spun off after 12 laps and said a pair of pliers left in his car had interfered with the brake pedal.
1997
David Coulthard won and dedicated his victory to Britain's Princess Diana, whose funeral had been the previous day. The McLaren driver started sixth but made a brilliant getaway and was third after the first lap. France's Jean Alesi was second in a Benetton and Frentzen was third for Williams.
1996
Schumacher drove to his first win in Italy for Ferrari in a virtuoso performance that overshadowed the title battle between Briton Damon Hill and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve. Hill, who had been told 10 days before by Williams that they were dropping him for 1997, started from pole but spun out on lap six.
Notes
Monza, the fastest circuit on the calendar, is in a wooded royal park in the suburbs of Milan and has hosted every Italian Grand Prix since 1950 with the exception of 1980.
One of the most evocative of venues, the banked curves of old have disappeared but the atmosphere remains and it is F1's oldest circuit.
The first race there was in 1922.
There have been plenty of tragedies over the years: In 1961, Ferrari driver Wolfgang von Trips and 14 spectators were killed when the German crashed into the crowd. Von Trips had been heading for the title, won by teammate Phil Hill.
Austrian Jochen Rindt was killed in a qualifying crash at the Parabolica curve in 1970 and became F1's only posthumous world champion.
Eight years later, in 1978, Sweden's Ronnie Peterson died following a pile-up at the start.
The 1971 GP, before the introduction of chicanes, was the closest in F1 history with the first five drivers separated by just 0.61 seconds after 55 laps.
In 1995, Alesi was leading Austrian Gerhard Berger in a Ferrari one-two when the miniature television camera on Alesi's rear wing fell off and hit Berger's car, breaking the steering arm. Alesi retired 12 laps later.
Driver's perspective
"Monza is not among my favourite tracks," Ralf Schumacher said. "To me as a driver it is simply not demanding enough. It is full throttle on the straights and then hard on the brakes before the chicanes so there is not enough variety."
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