Ickx relives Monza magic with emotional 1970 Ferrari F1 drive

On Saturday afternoon the tifosi rose to their feet for one of their own, as he motored a scarlet Ferrari around Monza.

But it wasn’t Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton the Italian fans were cheering on. It was F1 and sportscar legend Jacky Ickx, taking the wheel of the Ferrari 312B he took to second in the 1970 world championship, the very car he claimed pole with at Monza.

Organised by F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and former F1 driver Paolo Barilla, whose Barilla pasta company joined F1 as an official partner this year, 80-year-old Ickx celebrated his most successful F1 season by hustling the Ferrari around Monza for two laps amid a sea of red.

Ickx, who shared the grid with Barilla at the 1985 Le Mans 24 Hours race that the Italian was victorious in, was visibly moved to tears as he stepped out of the cockpit on the grid, greeted by Barilla and Domenicali.

Speaking to Autosport in the Ferrari hospitality, after providing guest commentary on the race for Belgian broadcaster RTBF, Ickx was still basking in the afterglow of an emotional celebration of both his and Ferrari’s rich heritage.

“Sentimentally, it was a great moment to return to the car in Monza, a car in which I won,” he said. “Monza is incredible, with the masses of red tifosi as far as the eye can see during the podium celebration.

“I’ve raced five times here for Ferrari, but the atmosphere has never changed. It’s really part of the DNA of every Italian. Yes, I was moved, because it was such a display of kindness. Frankly, we live in a world today where you can ask yourself a lot of questions. It’s difficult, that’s the least you can say. And this was a magical moment.

“I am good friends with Stefano, who liked the idea of doing something special for my 80th birthday. And Paolo, who is now a sponsor of F1, knows everyone and arranged everything. That’s how we got to share a moment together that was unexpected and deeply human.”

Barilla, who owns the chassis and had it restored, also experienced a moment he won’t forget. “It was very emotional, also for me,” Barilla told Autosport. “It was emotional for all the people who lived through it at the time and even for the younger generation, so they understand more about the spirit of Formula 1 today.

“It was a wonderful moment because Jacky connected to a magic past of the Monza circuit and basically to all his career. Formula 1 is all about high technology and innovation, and when you can combine that with its rich history, it’s a great fun and very emotional.”

Ickx is not the only Ferrari icon connected to the celebration. To restore the car to its former glory when he acquired it over a decade ago, Barilla turned to the late, legendary Ferrari designer Mauro Forghieri, the man who also penned the original car as part of the long-running Ferrari 312 lineage. Forghieri passed away in 2022 at the age of 87.

“We restored the car with Mauro Forghieri, who supervised the entire rebuild of the car and today the car is immaculate, perfect condition,” Barilla explained. “You can see the car on display, but it’s only used for special events and for someone like Jacky Ickx.”

In fact, the car was in such good condition that to Ickx it felt like riding a bicycle, and the cockpit of his scarlet museum relic fit like a glove, just the way he remembered it.

Jacky Ickx drives a Ferrari 312B on track

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

“I sat in the car as if I had left it,” Ickx smiled. “That is to say, I didn’t have to move the seat forward or change the position of the steering wheel. I got in and we didn’t touch the pedals. It has a very particular gearbox, which was better than the Cosworth at the time. You can’t go wrong with it, with a very small, light lever.”

He added: “It is also simple to drive. There are no settings to change. There are three gauges for the instruments and that’s it. But the best part is the music it makes – a naturally aspirated 12-cylinder Ferrari. I took it to 10,000 rpm, although it could have done 11,000. It’s just magical. It’s something you don’t forget. And since it’s quite comfortable, it’s not that difficult to go fast in a straight line.

“When Paolo bought the car, Forghieri, who was getting old at the age of 81, wanted to rebuild it. And it was rebuilt from A to Z, like never done before with such a car – let alone a Ferrari. It’s an absolute gem.”

To Ickx, the link with Forghieri added a whole new dimension to the occasion. He is not particularly nostalgic about his two Monza poles, his eight grand prix victories or his six Le Mans 24 Hours triumphs. But on the occasion he is asked to reflect, he thinks about the people he met along the way like the revered Italian designer.

“I live in the present, and I live with what remains of the future, which is unknown to all of us,” he mused. “I do have nostalgia, but what came to my mind was not just the car, it’s all the people who surrounded me at that time. In motor racing, we only see those who are in the spotlight, but this sport doesn’t work without all the people in the shadows who contribute.”

Ickx certainly wasn’t alone on his two laps of the classic Autodromo, but was saluted by throngs of scarlet clad fans in the grandstands. The tifosi’s rapturous response shouldn’t come as a great surprise. As any former Scuderia driver, the Belgian is every bit the honorary Italian. 

Ferrari fans deploy a giant Ferrari flag on the track

Photo by: Marco Bertorello / AFP via Getty Images

“When you drive for Ferrari or you have been a driver for Ferrari, you have the world in your hands,” Barilla explained. “The people respect you, they love you.”

Ickx concurs: “Paolo is right, that’s clear. Just look at Lewis Hamilton, because now everyone is a philosopher about his future, his presence. Everyone speculates. But he wanted to enjoy it and drive for Ferrari. And the experience will remain with him forever because he will never forget the fans.

“The fans at Mercedes are great, but being at Ferrari it’s multiplied by 10. I was lucky enough to experience that too, and it really is special.”

Ickx’s 1970 pole celebration isn’t without a hint of sadness, because at the same event his title rival Jochen Rindt perished in an accident at Parabolica. Rindt would end up F1’s only posthumous world champion, with Ickx relieved to finish runner-up behind the mercurial Austrian.

“You have to understand that at that time, the races never ever stopped. Rain, wind, hail… you had to go all the way. Death accompanied us every weekend,” said Ickx, who in 1970 had a brush with death himself, surviving a fiery accident at Jarama’s Spanish Grand Prix. “When we left, we weren’t sure we’d come back on Monday. It’s something you don’t think about, because if you do and you have the slightest apprehension about what you’re doing, you’ve already been beaten.

“It was tragic, but fortunately he ended up with four more points than me. I say fortunately because, even today, if you’d ask me what it would have meant to be the world champion while your competitor is no longer there, I would have never enjoyed it and I probably wouldn’t have taken it.

“I have no right to have any regrets. None. Because I received a lot, lot more than I would have ever hoped. And I also reached the age of 80, which hasn’t been the case for many people I’ve met in my life. If you believe in guardian angels, I certainly had a very, very, very good one. That’s the truth, because it’s miraculous. To survive during that era, it’s not talent. It’s luck.”