We really like this 1961 Monaco Grand Prix shirt designed by the user VintageRacing on TeePublic. It features the top three finishers from the 1961 event, which has gone down as a classic in the history of Formula 1.
The 1961 Monaco Grand Prix
The ’61 Monaco GP is Sir Stirling Moss’s greatest drive of his career (even Moss himself admits it). Moss drove in the increasingly obsolete Lotus-Climax campaigned by Rob Walker, which was significantly underpowered in comparison to the all-new Ferrari 156 “Sharknose” driven by Richie Ginther, Phil Hill, and Wolfgang Von Trips. The Climax was just a four-cylinder engine, while the Ferraris possessed a V6, resulting in 30bhp more power. Thankfully for Moss, Monaco is not a power circuit, and he still managed pole position.
In the opening stages of the race, Moss was running second to Ginther after Jim Clark, in the new Lotus, dropped out of the second position on the second lap due to a reliability issue. Remarkably, Moss was able to get around Ginther on lap 14 and eek out a 10-second gap over the next 10 laps. Moss managed this gap for another 20 laps before the Ferraris of Hill and Ginther began to close in on him.
Moss superbly navigated his way through slower traffic but he had still lost 5 seconds to the Ferraris. It soon became obvious that Hill was holding up Ginther, and on lap 75 Ferrari instructed to Hill to let Ginther through.
For the remainder of the race, Ginther and Moss swapped identical fastest lap times, pushing the limits of both cars and drivers. At the end Moss kept it out of trouble to win over Ginther by 3.6 seconds.
“That was certainly the best race I ever drove,” said Ginther later on, “and when Stirling said it was his, too, I felt incredibly proud. He was the greatest driver I ever saw – by a long way – and if I was able to push him to the best drive of his life, that meant something, believe me.”
The Shirt
The 1961 Monaco Grand Prix shirt is a great buy at $20, and if you’re lucky, you can get it for as low as $13 during a sale. The design is also available in a variety of shirt styles and colors and even as hoodie, sticker, or mug.
