The 1960 season had been a frustrating one for Ferrari's Formula One program as they campaigned their obsolete Dino 246, a front-engined car as the rear-engined design established supremacy. Due to the boycott by British teams, the championship had already been decided for Jack Brabham and Ferrari had gone without a victory. Seeing an opportunity, the Italian organizers decided to maximize Ferrari's one advantage —straight line speed — by using the combined Monza road and banked oval circuit, making the fast Monza even faster.[citation needed]
Citing the fragility of their cars and the dangers of the banking, the major British factory teams of the day—Lotus, BRM, and Cooper, all boycotted the event, leading to a cobbled together field of private entrants and Formula 2 cars. Because of this boycott by the British teams, none of the drivers who started the race had previously won a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix.
The race was a processional affair, with Ginther leading at the start and eventually being overtaken by Hill. The pair with teammate Willy Mairesse raced on to a rare 1–2–3 team result for Scuderia Ferrari. The boycott also allowed Scuderia Castellotti to score its only world championship points with Giulio Cabianca finishing fourth in his Cooper T51, two laps behind Hill and ahead of Scuderia Ferrari's fourth entry, Wolfgang von Trips in a 1.5 L-engined (conforming to F2 regulations) Ferrari 156 F2 car.
It was the first victory by an American driver in a Grand Prix since Jimmy Murphy in 1921, and, excluding the Indy 500, the first by an American in the Formula One World Championship.
It was the last Formula One World Championship victory by a front-engined car, although the Ferguson P99 won the non-championship Gold Cup at Oulton Park in 1961.
This was Phil Hill's first win and his first pole position in his Formula One World Championship career, and also the first pole position for an American driver (excluding the Indianapolis 500 races).
This was Ferrari's third home win of an Italian Grand Prix. The Scuderia was already the most constructor and engine supplier at an Italian Grand Prix with three wins, four pole positions, five fastest laps and eighteen podiums in eleven Formula One World Championship Italian Grands Prix.
Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results counted towards each Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.