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There were 42 laps to go, but Von Trips saw his hopes for the title skidding. Impatient and worried, he smoked down the straightaway toward the gently banked Curvetta. Von Trips moved into fourth place, nosed ahead of Clark into third at 130 m.p.h., his car a red blur as it ran into the curve. Then he made his mistake—a marginal error involving no more than a couple of inches, but more than enough to spell tragedy in a Grand Prix. His car swerved slightly; its rear wheel grazed the front wheel of Clark's onrushing Lotus. That was the end. The Lotus spun crazily, careened off an embankment, came to rest on its wheels. Clark was shaken but unhurt. Von Trips's Ferrari ricocheted off a steel guardrail, hurtled wildly across the track and up an embankment, sheared off the top of a chest-high wire fence, then spun end over end back onto the track.
Reaching the Limit. Five spectators who were leaning over the fence died instantly, their skulls crushed; ten died later; two dozen were badly mangled. Von Trips's broken body lay at the edge of the track. The drivers knew there had been an accident, but no one was sure who was involved or how bad the accident was. It was, in fact, the worst European auto-racing disaster since the tragedy at Le Mans, France, in 1955, when a Mercedes disintegrated in a crash, scythed through hysterical spectators, and killed 82.
Not quite two hours after Von Trips had finally reached the limit he dreaded, his teammate, Phil Hill, roared across the finish line, winner by 31 sec. Only as he accepted the Italian Grand Prix trophy did Hill learn of Von Trips's death. The first U.S. world champion in history burst into tears. Wolfgang von Trips, who had hoped to bring the title to his family, was sent home for burial at his ancestral castle near Cologne.
* The title is determined in a series of Grand Prix races, in which every auto complies with the current "formula" calling for a i.s-liter maximum engine capacity. The championship is awarded on the basis of a driver's five best races, with first place worth 9 points, second 6, third 4, etc. Von Trips had 33 points going into Monza, Hill 29.