1968 Italian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Denny Hulme won at Monza after a fierce slipstreaming contest gradually lost its leading contenders. Johnny Servoz-Gavin took second for Matra, just ahead of Jacky Ickx’s Ferrari.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	John Surtees	Honda
Pole time	1:26.07
Fastest lap	Jackie Oliver	Lotus
Fastest-lap time	1:26.500 on lap 7
First	Denny Hulme	McLaren
Second	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra
Third	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
6 September 1968	Friday timed practice	15:00–18:30
7 September 1968	Saturday final qualifying	15:00–18:30
8 September 1968	Race	15:30

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

Championship background

Graham Hill arrived at round 9 leading the 1968 F1 World Championship on 30 points, with Jackie Stewart on 26. Lotus – Ford headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 44 points.

Race entries

Derek Bell joined Ferrari, Honda added David Hobbs, and Matra fielded Servoz-Gavin alongside Stewart. Mario Andretti practised for Lotus and Bobby Unser for BRM, but both were barred from racing after competing in America within the prohibited 24-hour interval. Their practice appearances did not become Grand Prix starts.

Friday timed practice

Surtees set an outstanding pace in the Honda, with Hill close behind despite limited running after gearbox repairs. Andretti and Unser completed brief official appearances before leaving for America. Amon challenged for Ferrari, while Gurney struggled to make the Eagle’s engine perform properly. Teams compared wing settings against the drag penalty on Monza’s long straights.

Saturday final qualifying

Surtees improved fractionally to secure Honda’s first championship pole, with McLaren making a late slipstream-assisted run for second. Elford damaged one Cooper and suffered an engine failure in the other, leaving his mechanics to assemble a race car from both. Ferrari’s low-fuel runs left Amon and Bell stranded, while several other teams faced engine repairs before Sunday.

Qualifying Classification

Surtees took pole ahead of McLaren and Amon. Andretti and Unser’s exclusion followed the rule against competing in another event within 24 hours; Gardner and Moser failed to qualify for the available places.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Best Time
1	14	John Surtees	Honda	1:26.07
2	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren	1:26.11
3	9	Chris Amon	Ferrari	1:26.21
4	8	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	1:26.41
5	16	Graham Hill	Lotus	1:26.57
6	4	Jackie Stewart	Matra	1:26.60
7	1	Denny Hulme	McLaren	1:26.61
8	7	Derek Bell	Ferrari	1:26.90
9	20	Jo Siffert	Lotus	1:26.96
10	18	Mario Andretti	Lotus	1:27.20
11	11	Jochen Rindt	Brabham	1:27.30
12	19	Jackie Oliver	Lotus	1:27.40
13	21	Dan Gurney	Eagle	1:27.61
14	5	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra	1:27.63
15	15	David Hobbs	Honda	1:27.70
16	26	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	1:28.20
17	10	Jack Brabham	Brabham	1:28.80
18	27	Piers Courage	BRM	1:29.10
19	6	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	1:29.30
20	3	Jo Bonnier	McLaren	1:30.55
21	25	Bobby Unser	BRM	1:30.56
22	23	Vic Elford	Cooper	1:31.30
DNQ	28	Frank Gardner	BRM	1:31.40
DNQ	12	Silvio Moser	Brabham	1:33.70

What happened in the 1968 Italian Grand Prix?

Surtees and McLaren contested the early lead before Amon crashed heavily and Surtees also went off while avoiding him. Both escaped serious injury. McLaren, Stewart, Siffert and Hulme then formed the central slipstreaming battle.

Mechanical trouble progressively broke up the group. McLaren retired after an oil problem, Stewart’s engine failed and Siffert lost a promising finish through rear-suspension failure. Hulme was left clear to secure his first championship victory of the season.

Servoz-Gavin took second after Ickx needed a late fuel stop, with the Ferrari finishing third. Courage, Beltoise and Bonnier completed the points. Hulme’s victory revived his title defence as the championship moved to North America.

After the race, Graham Hill headed the drivers’ standings with 30 points, followed by Jacky Ickx on 27. Lotus – Ford led the constructors’ table on 44, with Matra – Ford on 35.

1968 Italian Grand Prix race results

The 1968 Italian Grand Prix was held on 8 September 1968, with a scheduled start of 15:30 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Denny Hulme	McLaren	68	1:40:14.8	9
2	5	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	Matra	68	+ 1:28.4	6
3	8	Jacky Ickx	Ferrari	68	+ 1:28.6	4
4	27	Piers Courage	BRM	67	+ 1 Lap	3
5	6	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	Matra	66	+ 2 Laps	2
6	3	Jo Bonnier	McLaren	64	+ 4 Laps	1
Ret	20	Jo Siffert	Lotus	58	Suspension	0
Ret	10	Jack Brabham	Brabham	56	Oil Pressure	0
Ret	4	Jackie Stewart	Matra	42	Engine	0
Ret	15	David Hobbs	Honda	42	Engine	0
Ret	19	Jackie Oliver	Lotus	38	Transmission	0
Ret	2	Bruce McLaren	McLaren	34	Oil Leak	0
Ret	11	Jochen Rindt	Brabham	33	Engine	0
Ret	26	Pedro Rodríguez	BRM	22	Engine	0
Ret	21	Dan Gurney	Eagle	19	Overheating	0
Ret	16	Graham Hill	Lotus	10	Wheel	0
Ret	14	John Surtees	Honda	8	Accident	0
Ret	9	Chris Amon	Ferrari	8	Accident	0
Ret	7	Derek Bell	Ferrari	4	Fuel System	0
Ret	23	Vic Elford	Cooper	2	Accident	0
DNQ	28	Frank Gardner	BRM			0
DNQ	12	Silvio Moser	Brabham			0
DNS	18	Mario Andretti	Lotus		ACI 24 hour rule	0
DNS	25	Bobby Unser	BRM		ACI 24 hour rule	0
WD	22	Robin Widdows	Cooper			0
WD	24	Lucien Bianchi	Cooper			0

1968 Italian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time
1	19	Jackie Oliver	Lotus	7	1:26.500

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

1968 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 1968 Italian Grand Prix.

1968 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Graham Hill	British	Lotus	30
2	Jacky Ickx	Belgian	Ferrari	27
3	Jackie Stewart	British	Matra	26
4	Denny Hulme	New Zealander	McLaren / McLaren	24
5	Pedro Rodríguez	Mexican	BRM	11
6	Jean-Pierre Beltoise	French	Matra / Matra	11
7	Chris Amon	New Zealander	Ferrari	10
8	Jo Siffert	Swiss	Cooper / Lotus	9
9	Bruce McLaren	New Zealander	McLaren / McLaren	9
10	Jim Clark	British	Lotus	9
11	John Surtees	British	Honda	8
12	Jochen Rindt	Austrian	Brabham	8
13	Richard Attwood	British	BRM	6
14	Johnny Servoz-Gavin	French	Matra / Cooper	6
15	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Italian	Cooper	6
16	Lucien Bianchi	Belgian	Cooper	5
17	Brian Redman	British	Cooper / Cooper	4
18	Piers Courage	British	BRM	4
19	Vic Elford	British	Cooper	3
20	Jackie Oliver	British	Lotus	2
21	Jack Brabham	Australian	Brabham	2
22	Silvio Moser	Swiss	Brabham	2
23	Jo Bonnier	Swedish	Cooper / McLaren	1
–	Dan Gurney	American	Eagle / Brabham	0
–	John Love	Rhodesian	Brabham	0
–	Hubert Hahne	German	Lola	0
–	Kurt Ahrens	German	Brabham	0
–	Jackie Pretorius	South African	Brabham	0
–	David Hobbs	British	Honda	0
–	Robin Widdows	British	Cooper	0
–	Sam Tingle	Rhodesian	LDS	0
–	Basil van Rooyen	South African	Cooper	0
–	Jo Schlesser	French	Honda	0
–	Andrea de Adamich	Italian	Ferrari	0
–	Derek Bell	British	Ferrari	0
–	Mike Spence	British	BRM	0
–	Dave Charlton	South African	Brabham	0

1968 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Lotus – Ford	44
2	Matra – Ford	35
3	Ferrari	32
4	McLaren – Ford	31
5	BRM	21
6	Cooper – BRM	12
7	Brabham – Repco	10
8	Matra	8
9	Honda	8
10	McLaren – BRM	3
—	Cooper – Maserati	0
—	Eagle – Weslake	0
—	Lola – BMW	0
—	Brabham – Climax	0
—	LDS – Repco	0
—	Cooper – Climax	0

Drivers and constructors counted their best 5 results from rounds 1–6 and their best 5 from rounds 7–12. Only the highest-placed eligible car for each constructor could score constructor points.

1968 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	1968 South African Grand Prix	Kyalami, Midrand	1 January
2	1968 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuito del Jarama, San Sebastián de los Reyes	12 May
3	1968 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	26 May
4	1968 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	9 June
5	1968 Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	23 June
6	1968 French Grand Prix	Rouen-les-Essarts, Rouen	7 July
7	1968 British Grand Prix	Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown	20 July
8	1968 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	4 August
9	1968 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	8 September
10	1968 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Saint-Jovite	22 September
11	1968 United States Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	6 October
12	1968 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	3 November