The Temple of Speed
Monza sits in a royal park on the northern edge of Milan. It opened in 1922, which makes it one of the oldest purpose-built racing circuits in the world, and it has hosted the Italian Grand Prix almost every year since the world championship began in 1950.
Its nickname is earned. The lap is made of long straights joined by a handful of chicanes and fast corners, so cars run their lowest-downforce wings of the season and spend most of the lap at full throttle. Average lap speeds are the highest of the year.
Beside the modern track, the steeply banked oval that once formed part of the circuit still stands in the trees, and the lap passes underneath it.
Corner by corner
- Rettifilo chicane. The main straight ends in a tight right-left. It is the biggest stop of the lap and the scene of countless first-lap scrambles.
- Curva Grande. A long, fast right-hander that feels more like a bend in the straight.
- Roggia chicane. A left-right that arrives quickly after Curva Grande, so it is easy to brake too late.
- The Lesmos. Two right-handers in the trees. The exit of the second starts the long run down the back of the circuit, under the old banking.
- Ascari. A fast left-right-left chicane where smooth hands are worth more than late braking.
- Parabolica. The last corner, renamed Curva Alboreto in 2021, is a long right-hander that opens onto the main straight. The speed you carry out of it lasts all the way to the first chicane.
How to be fast here
A lap of Monza is won or lost in two places: under braking for the chicanes, and on the exits of the corners that lead onto the straights. Brake in a straight line, turn in as you come off the brake, and give up a little entry speed to get on the power early.
Race it on Late Brake
Late Brake's Monza follows the real circuit's shape at true scale, run clockwise like the real thing. Set a lap and race your own ghost, take on up to three AI rivals, or race friends online, free in your browser. Beat the medal times above to unlock new car colours.