• September 9 down the years

Senna strolls as Alesi thrills

What happened on this day in Formula One history?
Jean Alesi thrilled the crowd for four laps © Sutton Images
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1990
Ayrton Senna took a pole to flag victory to win the Italian Grand Prix from title rival Alain Prost and Gerhard Berger but the star of the show was Jean Alesi, albeit only for four laps! Having qualified fifth, the Frenchman passed Mansell then Prost at the start before the race was stopped as Derek Warwick turned his Lotus upside-down on the start-finish straight. Once again, Alesi brilliantly overtook Mansell and Prost at the re-start before spinning and the race then became a procession to the finish. But Alesi had shown glimpses of brilliance in his less-powerful Tyrrell.

1984
Monza saw the first all-turbo race in Formula One history after the Tyrrell team was thrown out of the championship for running its cars underweight during the race before topping up its water injection supply tanks with extra water and lead shot to ensure they made the weight. In the race itself, Niki Lauda took advantage of the retirements of Alain Prost and Nelson Piquet to win from Michele Alboreto and Riccardo Patrese.

1973
Going into the Italian Grand Prix, Emerson Fittipaldi was faced with the almost impossible task of needing to win the final three races with Jackie Stewart failing to score to take the title. As it happened, Fittipaldi finished second behind team-mate Ronnie Peterson as Stewart coasted home fourth to secure his third and final drivers' title.

2007
Fernando Alonso led home Lewis Hamilton for a McLaren 1-2 at the Italian Grand Prix. More importantly for the Spaniard, it cut Hamilton's lead in the championship to just three points with third-placed Kimi Raikkonen looking a long shot for the title, 18 points further adrift with 40 still to play for. Little were we to know how things would unfold over the remaining races.

1979
A larger field than normal took the grid for the Italian Grand Prix with Alfa Romeo back. The powerful Renault turbos of Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Rene Arnoux lined up on the front row but both were slow off the line, allowing Jody Scheckter to take the lead with Gilles Villeneuve third behind Arnoux. The Frenchman reclaimed the lead only to drop back with a misfire, allowing Scheckter to lead home a Ferrari 1-2.

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