During the practice session of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza Circuit, Jochen Rindt was killed and subsequently became motor racing's only posthumous world champion.

The 1970 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on 6 September 1970. It was race 10 of 13 in both the 1970 World Championship of Drivers and the 1970 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was marred by the death of Jochen Rindt, who died during the practice session on 5 September. Rindt himself went on to become Formula One's only posthumous World Champion to date. The 68-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Clay Regazzoni for his first Grand Prix victory after starting from third position. Jackie Stewart finished second for the Tyrrell team in one of the last races the team used the March chassis and Matra driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise came in third.

The Monza Circuit is a 5.793 km (3.600 mi) race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after Brooklands and Indianapolis and the oldest in mainland Europe. The circuit's biggest event is the Italian Grand Prix. With the exception of the 1980 running when the track was closed while undergoing refurbishment, the race has been hosted there since 1949. The circuit is also known as "the Temple of Speed" due to its long straights and high-speed corners.

Karl Jochen Rindt was a racing driver, who competed under the Austrian flag in Formula One from 1964 to 1970. Rindt won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1970 with Lotus, and remains the only driver to have won the World Drivers' Championship posthumously, following his death at the Italian Grand Prix; he won six Grands Prix across seven seasons. In endurance racing, Rindt won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1965 with NART.