Peter Gethin came across the finish line in the lead just three times in his Formula One career. This in itself is not very special, since many drivers have led three or more laps. However, one of these three laps was the final lap of the 1971 Italian Grand Prix, making Gethin the winner in the closest competitive race in Formula One history.
BRM driver Gethin started the race from eleventh, moving up to eight in the first few laps of the race. After a short drop back to tenth, he moved up to seventh after twenty laps. After 32 laps he moved up to sixth when race leader Jo Siffert dropped back. Slowly Gethin moved towards the leaders and when Chris Amon dropped back eight laps from the end, the BRM driver moved to fifth place. On the 50th lap Gethin passed both Howden Ganley and Francois Cevert to find himself in third place within a second of Ronnie Peterson and Mike Hailwood.
In an exciting slipstream duel five drivers dodged and dived past each other. After 52 laps Gethin crossed the line as the leader for the first time. The next lap he maintained his position, but a lap later he was fourth as Ronnie Peterson came across the line leading. As the drivers came out of the Parabolica for the final time it was unclear who was going to be the winner. Cevert led, but Peterson outbraked him. However, the Swede drifted to the side, giving Gethin room to slip past him. As Peterson and Gethin moved to the finish line side by side, it was just a matter of centimeters. Gethin won the race by a mere one hundredth of a second.
