Monza's pursuit of speed always gets my heart racing

Very few places demonstrate passion for Formula One like Italy, as the world famous 'Tifosi' stream onto the track at the end of each race with only one colour being worn by the masses . . . Ferrari red.

They may well be there to celebrate the most modern of sports, where technological advances are king, yet they are walking in the footsteps of some remarkable history.

Right here, in 1971, the so called 'fastest race in history' was held on the Italian track. It gained its name due to the incredible average speed that the winner, Peter Gethin, recorded - a stunning average of 242kph.

Not only that, Peter took victory from Ronnie Peterson by a hundredth of a second after 55 scorching laps, with another driver a further nine hundredths of a second back. The fastest race and the closest finish.

However, that's not all Monza can boast. Since 1922 the race has been run in the park on the outskirts of Milan, where the real fans flock. How apt that the first race was won by Pietro Bordino, an Italian driving a Fiat, the parent company of Ferrari.

The first four races there were won by Italians, fuelling a nation's passion for speed. Even tragedies didn't quell the thirst for grand prix racing. In 1928 Emilio Materassi and 27 spectators lost their lives in a tragic accident, yet by 1931 the race was on again and, you guessed it, it was an Italian in an Alfa taking the win.

These days the circuit has changed considerably but if you look close enough you can search out a date with history. Each year I walk out of the modern TV compound, onto the track and then head the wrong way down the pit straight. I push past a rusty old gate, clamber over a fence and there I am, on the famous old banking.

Forget commercial demands on the drivers, don't take into account health and safety or millions watching on TV . . . the old Monza circuit was about one thing. The pursuit of speed.

In 1958 during a race weekend on the circuit, the pole sitter recorded an average speed of 177mph. Astonishing. Maybe it's daft to feel so strongly about a stretch of concrete. However, those few short miles of track have seen tragedy, triumph and tales to rival anything that could be created in Hollywood.

Too steep to stand on, hard to walk up and truly terrifying to drive around, I'm glad Formula One is so safe in 2011 but it will never be quite what it was when the drivers were constantly on a knife edge.

This weekend, as we're live in high definition with millions around the world watching multi-million pound cars going wheel to wheel, just remember this. Only a few feet from us is a lifetime of history.

Follow me on Twitter @jakehumphreyf1