Monza chicanes
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Monza track was sans chicanes. This created many classic slipstreaming races:
1953 - A three way battle between Ascari, Fangio and Farina which ended in the world champion spinning on oil at the Parabolica and Fangio coming through to victory.
1965 - Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart fought for victory in the BRMs, with the young Scot taking his maiden win.
1967 - Jim Clark charged from a lap down after a puncture to lead the race until his fuel pump broke on the final lap, leaving John Surtees to pass Jack Brabham at the final corner to win.
1969 - Jackie Stewart used a long fourth gear to get ahead of his rivals out of the final corner and win the race and the championship.
1971 - Famously, the closest finish in Formula 1 history, as a large pack of drivers fought for the lead throughout and Peter Gethin emerged victorious for the only time in his career.
These slipstreaming races were unique and could only be found at Monza (and, in the early days, at Reims). But in 1972 three chicanes were added to the track for safety reasons and Monza lost some of its uniqueness and became less special a race.
However, with the recent decision to ditch the final chicane at Catalunya significantly improving the track, I wonder if it is time to revisit the need for chicanes at Monza. Could it be possible to have a race at Monza with no chicanes? The cars would be heading into Curva Grande at very high speeds, but they are much safer in the past, and perhaps the barriers could be improved on the outside of the track, so that it would still be safe. The other two chicanes I think could more easily be removed without making the track dangerous.
It wouldn't make Monza a flat-out race because there would still be the braking points at the Parabolica and the Lesmos, and I think it would be really interesting to have a race where the cars were mostly flat out and could slipstream each other, even if it wouldn't be as extreme as it was in the 1960s, and would make Monza a particularly special and unique race.
1953 - A three way battle between Ascari, Fangio and Farina which ended in the world champion spinning on oil at the Parabolica and Fangio coming through to victory.
1965 - Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart fought for victory in the BRMs, with the young Scot taking his maiden win.
1967 - Jim Clark charged from a lap down after a puncture to lead the race until his fuel pump broke on the final lap, leaving John Surtees to pass Jack Brabham at the final corner to win.
1969 - Jackie Stewart used a long fourth gear to get ahead of his rivals out of the final corner and win the race and the championship.
1971 - Famously, the closest finish in Formula 1 history, as a large pack of drivers fought for the lead throughout and Peter Gethin emerged victorious for the only time in his career.
These slipstreaming races were unique and could only be found at Monza (and, in the early days, at Reims). But in 1972 three chicanes were added to the track for safety reasons and Monza lost some of its uniqueness and became less special a race.
However, with the recent decision to ditch the final chicane at Catalunya significantly improving the track, I wonder if it is time to revisit the need for chicanes at Monza. Could it be possible to have a race at Monza with no chicanes? The cars would be heading into Curva Grande at very high speeds, but they are much safer in the past, and perhaps the barriers could be improved on the outside of the track, so that it would still be safe. The other two chicanes I think could more easily be removed without making the track dangerous.
It wouldn't make Monza a flat-out race because there would still be the braking points at the Parabolica and the Lesmos, and I think it would be really interesting to have a race where the cars were mostly flat out and could slipstream each other, even if it wouldn't be as extreme as it was in the 1960s, and would make Monza a particularly special and unique race.