Amid the sunshine around Monza, Surtees was able to claim pole position for Ferrari, much to the delight of the tifosi. Yet, at the start, the Englishman, and fellow front starters Dan Gurney and Graham Hill were all outdone by Bruce McLaren who launched into the lead. Hill himself failed to get away at all, his BRM suffering a terminal clutch failure meaning most of the field had to avoid the former Champion.