Italian Grand Prix 1971

Monza has a habit of producing classic races and arguably the zenith was a BRM victory 1971, with Peter Gethin beating Ronnie Peterson by 0.01 seconds. The top five were separated by just 0.61 seconds, with François Cevert finishing third, Mike Hailwood fourth and Howden Ganley fifth. For Gethin it was all or nothing: “From the start of the race I just revved that V12 engine 500 rpm over its normal limit all the time,” he said in 1983. “I can honestly admit that I didn’t think it would last to the finish. Jo Siffert had a more powerfully developed engine in his BRM and that extra power broke his transmission, so I wasn’t optimistic.” It was a race of 25 lead changes, the final one as late as the very last corner, Peterson entering it ahead of Cevert, followed by Gethin and Hailwood. Gethin: “On the final lap I dived up the inside at Parabolica. The car started to slide and I piled on the opposite lock, telling myself ‘don’t lift, don’t lift’ and I came out of the corner first. I knew as long as I didn’t fumble a gear change I could get to the line first, but Ronnie was surging up on me and passed me 20 feet after the flag. I knew it was going to be really close, so I waved my arm in triumph, not because I was showing off, but I reckoned that as this was Italy, and they might not be too clever on their timing, the chances were that they’d give the win to whichever driver raised his arm!”