Peter Gethin, whose sole F1 victory came with the closest winning margin ever at the 1971 Italian GP, was born on this day in 1940. As Nigel Roebuck explains in today's Great Read, there were more than a few tales to tell that day
It was inevitable that the Monza paddock should be a tense place over the weekend of the 2001 Italian Grand Prix. Everyone arrived there on the Thursday, reeling still from the atrocities of September 11 a couple of days earlier, and many, including the Schumachers, were of the opinion that the race should be called off.
Nerves were jangled throughout practice, and by Sunday morning they seemed to have got the better of common sense, for Michael tried to persuade his fellows to join him in an agreement not to 'race' on the opening lap until after the second chicane.
Bernie Ecclestone's opinion on the subject struck a chord with me: "The chicanes shouldn't be there in the first place. If they took them away, we wouldn't have this problem every time we come here..."
