Italy

Monza, Imola and a Table Built on Simplicity

Italy has held a Grand Prix in every championship season since 1950, and its kitchens reward the same patience its circuits demand.

No country has stayed on the Formula 1 calendar longer. The Italian Grand Prix has been part of every World Championship since the first in 1950, and the 2026 race was its 77th. Monza has staged 76 of them, the exception being 1980, when the race went to Imola. Imola then built a long record of its own, hosting 26 San Marino Grands Prix from 1981 to 2006 and the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix five times between 2020 and 2025, for 32 championship rounds in all. Pescara held a single race in 1957, and Mugello hosted the Tuscan Grand Prix in 2020.

Italy also gave the sport its first champion: Giuseppe Farina took the 1950 title. Alberto Ascari won back to back crowns in 1952 and 1953 on his way to 13 victories, Riccardo Patrese started 256 Grands Prix and won six, and Michele Alboreto won five. In 2026 the young Kimi Antonelli has been the season's busiest winner, with eight races so far, Monza among them. Scuderia Ferrari, the country's most famous team, holds 16 constructors' titles in our records.

Italian cooking prizes good ingredients handled with restraint, and many of its finest dishes were born in home kitchens rather than restaurants. Olive oil, bread, pasta, cheese and cured meats run the length of the country, but the details change at every regional border. The north leans on rice, polenta, butter and stuffed pasta; the south builds its meals around tomatoes, peppers, olives, capers and fish such as anchovies and sardines. The genius, as often as not, lies in what the cook leaves out.

The race weekends map neatly onto that variety. Around Monza, Lombard cooks favor slow braises and risotto turned gold with saffron. Imola sits in Emilia Romagna, home of egg pasta, tortellini, Parmigiano Reggiano and balsamic vinegar from Modena, which is a generous share of the Italian pantry for one region to hold. Mugello opens onto Tuscany, where thrifty soups of beans, bread and cavolo nero share the table with wild boar and pappardelle. Even Abruzzo, home of the 1957 Pescara race, has a signature of its own: small lamb skewers grilled over coals.

A taste of Italy

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