Constructed by a workforce of well over 3,000 and completed in just three months, Monza first opened on September 3rd, 1922 – almost exactly 104 years ago. Well before the Formula 1 World Championship was established in 1950, the opening chapters of Monza’s long racing history had already been written.
One of the world’s oldest national Grands Prix, the Italian Grand Prix – first held in Montichiari in 1921 – moved to Monza in 1922. The early years produced victories for the likes of Tazio Nuvolari and Rudolf Caracciola, both legends of their era. But the circuit’s high-speed layout also proved to be deadly in the track’s formative years, with a number of races marred by the deaths of both drivers and spectators.