Autodromo Nazionale Monza

Autodromo Nazionale Monza at a glance

Location

Monza, Lombardy

Type

road course

Length

5.793 km (3.6 mi)

Turns

11

Direction

clockwise

Banking

the derelict 1955 high-speed oval (roughly 30°) survives alongside the modern track but has not been used for racing since 1969

Surface

asphalt

Opened

1922

Owner

Comune di Monza / Automobile Club Milano, operated by SIAS S.p.A.

Capacity

118,865

Address

Via Vedano 5, Parco di Monza

Phone

+39 039 24821

Website

monzanet.it

Track map and layout

Monza is the fastest circuit on the Formula 1 calendar, a low-downforce test built from long straights joined by hard-braking chicanes rather than technical corner sequences. The lap opens with the Variante del Rettifilo chicane straight after the pits, feeds onto Curva Grande, then slows again at the Variante della Roggia before the two long right-handers of Lesmo 1 and Lesmo 2. A run through the trees down the back straight leads to the Variante Ascari chicane, then full throttle down the second long straight into the famous Curva Parabolica (now officially Curva Alboreto), a huge banked-feel right-hander onto the pit straight. Cars run at close to full throttle for around 80% of the lap, and the circuit sits inside the historic Parco di Monza, with the abandoned banked oval still visible alongside the modern layout.

Named corners and sections

• Variante del Rettifilo. The first-corner chicane immediately after the start/finish straight, a heavy braking zone and the most common first-lap incident spot.
• Curva Grande. A wide, flat-out right-hander taken at close to top speed on the way to the Roggia chicane.
• Lesmo 1 and Lesmo 2. A pair of committed right-handers named after the nearby village of Lesmo; drivers thread a narrow gap between trees on the outside kerb.
• Variante Ascari. A fast left-right-left chicane named after double world champion Alberto Ascari, taken at high speed before the run to Parabolica.
• Curva Parabolica (Curva Alboreto). The long, banked-feel final corner, renamed in 2019 in memory of Michele Alboreto; a heavy braking point and prime overtaking spot onto the pit straight.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

Monza's headline event is the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, held every year since the championship began in 1950 except 1980, and one of the loudest, most passionate races on the calendar thanks to the Tifosi turning out in force for Ferrari. The circuit also hosts rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Challenge Europe's Sprint and Endurance Cups, TCR Europe, and historic events including the Monza Rally Show on the surrounding roads. Motorcycle racing largely moved away from Monza in the 1970s-80s, so the circuit's modern calendar is car-focused.

Getting there and parking

Monza sits inside the Parco di Monza on the northeastern edge of the city, about 15 km (9 miles) northeast of central Milan. Milan Linate is the closest airport, with Malpensa and Bergamo Orio al Serio both under an hour's drive. The circuit is well served by rail: Monza railway station on the Milan–Chiasso line is a short taxi or shuttle ride from the gates, and Milan's Centrale and Garibaldi stations connect onward to the wider Trenitalia and international network.

• Milan Linate (LIN) · about 25 min drive
• Milan Malpensa (MXP) · about 50 min drive
• Bergamo Orio al Serio (BGY) · about 55 min drive

Parking

Large paid car parks surround the park on Grand Prix weekend; official park-and-ride and shuttle buses run from Monza and Milan on race days because on-site parking sells out and roads into the park congest badly.

For the Italian GP, take the train to Monza station and use the organised shuttle buses into the park rather than driving — traffic around the circuit gates is notoriously slow on Friday through Sunday.

Hotels and camping near Autodromo Nazionale Monza

Most Grand Prix visitors base themselves in Milan, 15-20 minutes away by car or train, which has by far the largest hotel supply in the region; rooms across the city sell out and prices spike well ahead of the September race. Monza itself has a smaller but useful range of hotels and B&Bs within walking or short taxi distance of the park gates.

Where to look

Monza town centre is the closest base; Milan (Centrale, Porta Garibaldi and the city centre) offers far more hotel choice with a 15-30 minute drive or train ride to the circuit.

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

Monza runs a busy programme of track days, driving experiences and corporate test days through SIAS and third-party organisers, using the full Grand Prix circuit for most public sessions. Options range from passenger hot laps and single-seater experiences to open-pitlane HPDE-style days for road and track cars, though availability is limited around the Grand Prix and major championship weekends.

Who runs days here

• Monza (in-house track days and experiences)both
• Trackdays.decar
• GEDLICH Racingcar

Lap records

Spectator guide

Monza's grandstands line the start-finish straight, the Rettifilo and Roggia chicanes, Lesmo and the Parabolica, giving good views of braking and overtaking, while general admission areas in the park's woodland let fans move between vantage points and picnic between sessions. The Tifosi atmosphere, especially the podium celebrations when Ferrari does well, is one of the loudest and most celebrated in F1.

Seating

Named grandstands include Centrale, Ascari, Roggia, Lesmo, Parabolica and Serraglio, each facing a different corner or straight.

Best places to watch

The Parabolica and Ascari grandstands give close views of late-race braking and overtaking; general admission mounds inside the park are a cheaper way to see several corners across a day.

Weather

• September (Italian GP): typically warm, highs around 24-27°C with occasional late-summer thunderstorms

History of Autodromo Nazionale Monza

Built in 100 days

Monza was constructed in the grounds of the former royal park north of Milan in 1922, with ground broken in May and the circuit ready for racing by September — a remarkably fast build overseen by the Automobile Club di Milano to give Italy a purpose-built home for grand prix racing. It quickly became one of the world's great speed temples, hosting the Italian Grand Prix from the outset and, from 1950, every round of the Formula 1 World Championship bar one.

The banked oval and its cost

In 1955 Monza added a 4.25 km high-speed banked oval that could be combined with the road course to create a 10 km super-speedway, used for the spectacular 'Race of Two Worlds' events that pitted American IndyCars against European grand prix machinery. The oval's punishing bumps and speeds came at a price: Wolfgang von Trips and fifteen spectators died in a 1961 crash on the banking, one of several tragedies across Monza's history, including the 1928 accident that killed Emilio Materassi and 27 spectators and the 1933 'Black Day of Monza', when three drivers died in separate races on the same afternoon. The oval was abandoned for top-level racing after 1969 and today survives, weathered but structurally intact, as a backdrop rather than a racing surface.

Chicanes, safety and the modern lap

From the 1970s onward, Monza was progressively slowed with chicanes at the first corner, the Roggia and the Ascari curves, transforming a pure high-speed layout into the stop-start rhythm still raced today while retaining its status as F1's fastest circuit, with cars spending roughly 80% of the lap at full throttle. The Curva Parabolica was renamed Curva Alboreto in 2019 in honour of the late Michele Alboreto. Owned by the local authorities and Automobile Club Milano and operated by SIAS, Monza remains the beating heart of Ferrari's home support, packing well over 100,000 Tifosi into the Parco di Monza every September for one of the sport's most emotional weekends.

Frequently asked questions

Other tracks nearby

• Autodromo di Franciacorta (Porsche Experience Center Franciacorta) · 58 km · road course
• Autodromo Riccardo Paletti · 119 km · road course
• Zürich Street Circuit · 202 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• Circuit Bremgarten · 207 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• Adria International Raceway · 233 km · dormant
• Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari · 238 km · road course