1966 Italian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Ludovico Scarfiotti delivered a memorable home victory for Ferrari at Monza, leading Mike Parkes in a one-two finish. Jack Brabham retired early but still secured the World Championship when John Surtees also stopped.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Mike Parkes	Ferrari
Pole time	1:31.3
Fastest lap	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	1:32.400 on lap 49
First	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari
Second	Mike Parkes	Ferrari
Third	Denny Hulme	Brabham

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
2 September 1966	Friday timed practice	15:00; finish unconfirmed
3 September 1966	Saturday final qualifying	15:00–18:30
4 September 1966	Pre-race preparations	Morning; start unconfirmed
4 September 1966	Race	15:30

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Jack Brabham arrived at round 7 leading the 1966 F1 World Championship on 39 points, with Graham Hill on 17. Brabham – Repco headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 39 points.

Race entries

Monza showcased the new three-litre formula at full strength. Honda introduced its V12 car for Ginther, Gurney brought the Weslake-powered Eagle, and BRM committed to its H16 machinery. Ferrari entered Bandini, Parkes and Scarfiotti, while Lotus fielded Clark, Arundell and Geki. Phil Hill and Amon also sought places on a grid limited to twenty starters.

Friday timed practice

Ferrari’s revised V12 engines made an immediate impression, with Parkes leading a sweep of the first three places. Elsewhere, new machinery brought familiar difficulties: Siffert suffered an engine failure, Hill lost his gearbox and Gurney battled fuel starvation. Clark completed substantial running in the Lotus–BRM H16, offering encouraging evidence that the ambitious car could become competitive.

Saturday final qualifying

Parkes retained pole without improving his Friday time. Clark split Ferrari’s challenge by taking third behind Scarfiotti, despite a late gear-selection fault. Surtees reverted to an older engine specification and qualified fourth. BRM struggled to assemble two serviceable cars, while Gurney’s fuel-feed problems continued. Baghetti switched from a broken Lotus to a borrowed Ferrari V6. Phil Hill and Amon missed the twenty-car cut.

Qualifying Classification

Each driver’s fastest lap across Friday and Saturday counted. Gurney practised both Eagle variants, and number changes complicated the contemporary timing records; the final grid and race entries are distinguished below.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	4	Mike Parkes	Ferrari	1:31.3
2	6	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari	1:31.6
3	20	Jim Clark	Lotus	1:31.8
4	14	John Surtees	Cooper	1:31.9
5	2	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	1:32.0
6	10	Jack Brabham	Brabham	1:32.2
7	18	Richie Ginther	Honda	1:32.4
8	16	Jochen Rindt	Cooper	1:32.7
9	28	Jackie Stewart	BRM	1:32.81
10	12	Denny Hulme	Brabham	1:32.84
11	26	Graham Hill	BRM	1:33.4
12	38	Jo Bonnier	Cooper	1:33.7
13	24	Peter Arundell	Lotus	1:34.1
14	42	Mike Spence	Lotus	1:35.0
15	40	Bob Anderson	Brabham	1:35.3
16	44	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	1:35.5
17	36	Jo Siffert	Cooper	1:36.3
18	48	Bob Bondurant	BRM	1:36.9
19	34	Dan Gurney	Eagle	1:37.6
20	22	Geki	Lotus	1:39.3
DNQ	34	Phil Hill	Eagle	1:40.0
DNQ	32	Chris Amon	Brabham	1:40.3

Pre-race preparations

Most drivers completed a warm-up lap before taking their grid positions. Gurney was delayed by final adjustments, while fuel leaks required attention on the cars of Surtees and Stewart. Brabham chose his original chassis for the race.

What happened in the 1966 Italian Grand Prix?

Bandini and Parkes made a strong start, while reliability soon depleted the opposition. Hill and Stewart retired, followed by Brabham. Ginther escaped a major accident in the Honda, and Clark’s promising pace was interrupted by a stop.

Scarfiotti moved into control as Ferrari’s challenge developed. Surtees remained a potential championship threat until a leaking fuel tank ended his race, confirming Brabham as champion in a car bearing his own name.

Scarfiotti secured his only World Championship Grand Prix win. Parkes narrowly beat Hulme to second, completing Ferrari’s home one-two. For Brabham, an unsuccessful afternoon on track nevertheless brought a remarkable third drivers’ title.

After the race, Jack Brabham headed the drivers’ standings with 39 points, followed by Jochen Rindt on 18. Brabham – Repco led the constructors’ table on 40, with Ferrari on 31.

1966 Italian Grand Prix race results

The 1966 Italian Grand Prix was held on 4 September 1966, with a scheduled start of 15:30 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	6	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari	68	1:47:14.8	9
2	4	Mike Parkes	Ferrari	68	+ 5.8	6
3	12	Denny Hulme	Brabham	68	+ 6.1	4
4	16	Jochen Rindt	Cooper	67	+ 1 lap	3
5	42	Mike Spence	Lotus	67	+ 1 lap	2
6	40	Bob Anderson	Brabham	66	+ 2 laps	1
7	48	Bob Bondurant	BRM	65	+ 3 laps	0
8	24	Peter Arundell	Lotus	63	Engine	0
9	20	Geki	Lotus	63	+ 5 laps	0
NC	44	Giancarlo Baghetti	Ferrari	59	+ 9 laps	0
Ret	22	Jim Clark	Lotus	58	Gearbox	0
Ret	36	Jo Siffert	Cooper	46	Engine	0
Ret	2	Lorenzo Bandini	Ferrari	33	Ignition	0
Ret	14	John Surtees	Cooper	31	Fuel leak	0
Ret	18	Richie Ginther	Honda	16	Accident	0
Ret	10	Jack Brabham	Brabham	7	Oil leak	0
Ret	30	Dan Gurney	Eagle	7	Engine	0
Ret	28	Jackie Stewart	BRM	5	Fuel leak	0
Ret	38	Jo Bonnier	Cooper	3	Throttle	0
Ret	26	Graham Hill	BRM	0	Engine	0
DNQ	34	Phil Hill	Eagle			0
DNQ	32	Chris Amon	Brabham			0

1966 Italian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	6	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari	49	1:32.400

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

1966 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1966 Italian Grand Prix.

1966 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jack Brabham	Australian	Brabham	39
2	Jochen Rindt	Austrian	Cooper	18
3	Graham Hill	British	BRM	17
4	John Surtees	British	Ferrari / Cooper	15
5	Jackie Stewart	British	BRM	14
6	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	Brabham / Brabham	14
7	Mike Parkes	British	Ferrari	12
8	Lorenzo Bandini	Italian	Ferrari	12
9	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Italian	Ferrari	9
10	Jim Clark	British	Lotus / Lotus	7
11	Mike Spence	British	Lotus	4
12	Bob Bondurant	American	BRM	3
13	Dan Gurney	American	Eagle / Eagle	2
14	Richie Ginther	American	Cooper / Honda	2
15	Bob Anderson	British	Brabham	1
16	John Taylor	British	Brabham	1
17	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	McLaren / McLaren	1
–	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper / Brabham	0
–	Chris Irwin	British	Brabham	0
–	Peter Arundell	British	Lotus	0
–	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Cooper / Brabham	0
–	Guy Ligier	French	Cooper	0
–	Giacomo Russo	Italian	Lotus	0
–	Chris Lawrence	British	Cooper	0
–	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Brabham / Cooper	0
–	Pedro Rodríguez	Mexican	Lotus	0
–	Giancarlo Baghetti	Italian	Ferrari	0
–	Vic Wilson	British	BRM	0
–	Trevor Taylor	British	Shannon	0

1966 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Brabham – Repco	40
2	Ferrari	31
3	BRM	22
4	Cooper – Maserati	20
5	Lotus – Climax	7
6	Lotus – BRM	4
7	Eagle – Climax	2
8	Brabham – Climax	1
9	Brabham – BRM	1
10	McLaren – Serenissima	1
—	Cooper – Ferrari	0
—	McLaren – Ford	0
—	Shannon – Climax	0
—	Honda	0
—	Eagle – Weslake	0

Drivers and constructors counted their best 5 results. Only the highest-placed eligible car for each constructor could score constructor points.

1966 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1966 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	22 May
2	1966 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	12 June
3	1966 French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux, Reims	3 July
4	1966 British Grand Prix	Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown	16 July
5	1966 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	24 July
6	1966 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	7 August
7	1966 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	4 September
8	1966 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	2 October
9	1966 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	23 October