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Monza

The Temple of Speed: Monza's 5.793 km of flat-out straights and three chicanes through the royal park near Milan, F1's fastest lap and home of the Parabolica.

Length
5.793 km
3.6 mi
Turns
11
Direction
Clockwise
In use
2000-present

Autodromo Nazionale Monza

The Autodromo Nazionale Monza opened in 1922 in the royal park north of the city of Monza, near Milan, built in just over three months and joining Brooklands and Indianapolis as one of the world’s first purpose-built motor circuits. The modern Grand Prix course measures 3.600 mi (5.793 km) over eleven turns, runs clockwise, and produces the highest average lap speed of any circuit on the Formula 1 calendar: the reason it is universally known as the “Temple of Speed.” Sitting on the flat Lombardy plain, its character comes not from elevation but from long flat-out straights punctuated by three chicanes.

The Parabolica

The lap’s defining corner is the Parabolica at Turn 11, a long, constant-radius right-hander that opens onto the start/finish straight, where a smooth, early throttle determines speed all the way down the pit straight. In September 2021 the Automobile Club d’Italia officially renamed it Curva Alboreto in honour of Milanese driver Michele Alboreto, twenty years after his death; both names remain in common use.

A lap of Monza

The lap opens by braking from near top speed into the Variante del Rettifilo (Turns 1–2), a tight right-left chicane that is the prime overtaking and lock-up zone. The flat-out Curva Grande (Turn 3) sweeps right toward the Variante della Roggia (Turns 4–5), a left-right chicane that offers the best passing chance of the lap. The two right-handed Lesmo curves (Turns 6 and 7) lead onto the back straight and the flowing left-right-left Variante Ascari (Turns 8–10), the rhythm test of the circuit, before the long straight to the Parabolica completes the lap. McLaren’s Lando Norris set the outright Formula 1 race lap record here in 2025 at 1:20.901, beating a mark that had stood since 2004.

Corner-by-corner

  • T1-2

    Variante del Rettifilo

    • Chicane

    The first chicane, a tight right-left flick at the end of the long start/finish straight reached under heavy braking from near top speed; the prime overtaking and lock-up zone of the lap.

  • T3

    Curva Grande

    • Right

    A long, sweeping right-hander taken at or near full throttle out of the first chicane, flowing at well over 250 km/h toward the Variante della Roggia.

  • T4-5

    Variante della Roggia

    • Chicane

    The second chicane, a tight left-right combination at the end of the Curva Grande run; with a slow corner feeding a long straight on either side it is one of the best overtaking opportunities on the lap.

  • T6

    Curva di Lesmo 1

    • Right

    The first of two quick right-handers named for the nearby village of Lesmo; a blind, medium-fast entry with gravel waiting on the exit to punish any car that runs wide.

  • T7

    Curva di Lesmo 2

    • Right

    The second Lesmo, a slightly tighter medium-speed right-hander that releases the cars down the back straight under the bridge toward the Variante Ascari.

  • T8-10

    Variante Ascari

    • Chicane

    A fast, flowing left-right-left triple chicane named for Alberto Ascari, taken at 170–190 km/h; a high-commitment sequence where a clean line through all three apexes sets up the long straight to the Parabolica.

    The Variante Ascari is the rhythm test of the lap: a quick left-right-left chicane carried at far higher speed than the slower first two variants, demanding the front and rear stay settled across three direction changes. A mistake at the entry compromises the whole sequence and the long straight that follows, so it is one of the most lap-time-critical sections at Monza. It is named for Alberto Ascari, the two-time world champion killed testing at Monza in 1955.

  • T11

    Curva Alboreto (Parabolica)

    • Right

    The long, constant-radius right-hander that closes the lap, opening in radius onto the start/finish straight so that exit speed sets up the whole pit straight. Officially renamed Curva Alboreto in 2021 in honour of Michele Alboreto.

    The Parabolica is Monza's defining corner: a sweeping 180-degree right where the line is everything, a smooth, early throttle application trading entry speed for a maximum exit onto the long start/finish straight. In September 2021 the Automobile Club d'Italia renamed it Curva Alboreto in honour of Milanese driver Michele Alboreto, marking twenty years since his death; both names remain in common use.