A traditional mainstay of the calendar it usually can be guaranteed to bring colour and glamour to the fore as a partisan home crowd roar on the Ferrari team to what they hope will be a home victory, and the expectations will be high on championship contenders Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen to supply a home success on Sunday afternoon.
The long main straights, mixed with chicances that require hard braking, create plenty of chances for passing. While modern aerodynamics don't make it quite so easy to get by a rival driver these days, it is certainly more do-able than at other tracks as Lewis Hamilton demonstrated with a bold out-braking manouevre on Raikkonen during last year's race. The 1971 running of the racing is arguably one of the greatest races in the sport's history as it produced one of the most dramatic finishes
There had been more than 30 changes of the lead during the previous 54 laps of action, but the real drama was on the final lap, or to be more succinct at the final corner. The Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson led in his March-Ford, but was being harried by four drivers as they entered the Parabolica turn for the last time. The French driver Francois Cevert passed Peterson in his Tyrrell-Ford, but the loss of the momentum from the pass allowed his rivals a clear run at him as they went for the finish line.
The sight of five cars all pushing for the line to win a race would be unheard of today, but here it was stunning stuff as the British driver Peter Gethin just took the win in his BRM, ahead of Peterson and Cevert. It would be the only win of Gethin's career, but what a victory to claim with the first five covered by only six tenths of the second. His fellow Briton Mike Hailwood finished fourth on his grand prix debut.
Jackie Stewart, who would go on to win the 1971 championship, had a day to forget as engine problems forced him to retire from the race on lap 15. @Email:gcaygill@thenational.ae
