Twenty-five years without Vittorio Brambilla, a driving great
25 years ago, on May 26, 2001, Vittorio Brambilla left us. He was cut short by a heart attack. A great man, the Gorilla of Monza, as he had been nicknamed by British journalists: at first they were ironic because they said he was able to unscrew a bolt with his fingers, but then they grew fonder and fonder of his courage and his driving style, which was particularly effective in difficult conditions.
On August 17, 1975, at Zeltweg the gritty Brianzolo made his masterpiece by winning, in a comeback, the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix. He accomplished it in the pouring rain, with the single-seaters constantly skidding on the slippery asphalt.
That victory at the Österreichring also remained etched in the collective memory because of the circumstances that made it unique: the race was interrupted well in advance because of the pouring rain, and for that reason the points awarded were halved. Niki Lauda, who finished sixth that day, got only half a point instead of a full one – a detail that would have its weight in the following weeks, when the Austrian came to Monza with a 17.5-point lead in the standings to win his first world title with Ferrari.
Just at Monza, three weeks after the Austrian triumph, Brambilla failed to repeat the magic: starting from ninth on the grid, he was stopped at the start by burning out the clutch, managed to get going again with great delay but shortly after the end of the first lap was forced to retire, depriving the home fans of the spectacle they would have so wanted to see.
The bond between Brambilla and his March 761 has remained alive over time thanks in part to fans and collectors. That car, treasured by Roberto Farneti, has become a fixture at the HistoricMinardi Day at Imola, where over the course of the various editions it has been taken to the track by drivers such as Miguel Ángel Guerra, the first driver to race under the Minardi Team’s guise in 1980, who took turns at the wheel with Farneti himself, giving the audience at the Romagna racetrack the thrill of seeing the Gorilla of Monza single-seater in action again.
The memory of Brambilla has also been celebrated through exhibitions and cultural initiatives. In 2024, in Villasanta, in the province of Monza and Brianza – the birthplace of the driver from Brianza – the retrospective exhibition “Formula 75” was set up to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Formula 1 World Championship: among the memorabilia on display were Vittorio Brambilla’s original overalls and the giant cup he won in 1975 at Zeltweg, testifying to how that victory still represents one of the most iconic moments in the history of Italian Formula 1.
Brambilla remains in fact one of sixteen Italian drivers to have won at least one Grand Prix in motorsport’s top category, a list of honor that over the years has been enriched with new names: the latest in order of time is Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who in March 2026 won his first career victory at the Chinese Grand Prix with Mercedes, amid tears and general commotion, entering by right into the history of blue motorsport.
