Alberto
Ascari

Alberto Ascari was born in Milan on 13 July 1918. His father, Antonio Ascari, was also a racing driver and was killed at the 1925 French Grand Prix. Alberto began on motorcycles and rode for the Bianchi team at 19. In 1940 he entered the Mille Miglia in a car supplied by Enzo Ferrari, a close friend of his father. After the war he raced Maserati 4CLTs in Grands Prix alongside Luigi Villoresi and took his first win at San Remo in 1948. He later joined Ferrari together with Villoresi.

In the first World Championship season, 1950, Ascari finished fifth in the standings with Ferrari, and came second behind Juan Manuel Fangio at Monaco. In 1951 he won the German and Italian Grands Prix, and went into the Spanish finale just two points behind Fangio. He took pole there but finished fourth, and Fangio clinched the title.

The 1952 season ran to Formula Two regulations, and Ascari drove the Ferrari 500. He missed the Swiss Grand Prix because he was qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, which counted towards the World Championship at the time. He retired there after 40 laps with a wheel failure. Back in Europe, he won the remaining six championship rounds, setting fastest lap in each, and became world champion. In 1953 he won the first three races, finished fourth in France and won twice more later in the year. That made him the first driver to win two world titles.

For 1954 he moved to Lancia. As the car was not ready in time, he drove twice for Maserati and once for Ferrari. He also won the Mille Miglia in a Lancia. The Lancia D50 made its debut at the Spanish Grand Prix, where Ascari took pole and fastest lap before retiring with a clutch problem. He did not finish any of his four races that year. In 1955 Lancia won the non-championship races at Turin and Naples. At the Monaco Grand Prix Ascari left the track while leading and ended up in the harbour.

Ascari died on 26 May 1955 during a test in a Ferrari sports car at Monza. The corner where it happened was later named after him and then replaced by the chicane called Variante Ascari. In 32 starts he scored 13 wins, 17 podiums and 14 pole positions. He was inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame in 2017.

Source: Wikipedia, “Alberto Ascari”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.