Lorenzo
Bandini

Lorenzo Bandini was born in 1935 in Barce, in what was then Italian-ruled Libya. His family returned to Italy in 1939 and settled near Florence. He worked as an apprentice in a Milan workshop, raced motorcycles at first, and moved into car racing in 1957 in a borrowed Fiat 1100. In 1958 he won his class in the Mille Miglia. In Formula Junior, where he caught the attention of Enzo Ferrari, he finished fourth in the 1960 world championship.

For 1961 Ferrari chose Giancarlo Baghetti instead. Bandini drove a Cooper for Scuderia Centro Sud and made his world championship debut at Spa, retiring with engine failure. In 1962 he joined Ferrari and finished third on his debut in a works car at Monaco. In 1963 Ferrari initially kept him for sports car racing only. With Ludovico Scarfiotti he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and took second place in the Targa Florio. That year in Formula One he drove cars from BRM and Ferrari. A fifth place at the British Grand Prix persuaded Ferrari to keep him in the team for the rest of the season, and he ended the championship tenth.

In 1964 Bandini won the first Austrian Grand Prix, held at Zeltweg. He added podium finishes in Germany and Italy, and fourth place in the standings remained his best championship result. At the Mexican Grand Prix he was running second when he let his team-mate John Surtees past, which made Surtees world champion. In 1965 Bandini won the Targa Florio and finished sixth in the championship.

Surtees left Ferrari part-way through 1966, and Bandini became the team's lead driver. He finished second at Monaco behind Jackie Stewart. In France and the United States he held a big lead before mechanical problems ended his chances, and he finished the year ninth. In 1967 he won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 1000 km of Monza with Chris Amon. At the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix he was second behind Denny Hulme on lap 82 when he crashed. He died three days later, aged 31. Straw bales were banned from Formula One afterwards, and the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy was created in his memory. In Formula One Bandini started 42 races, won one, reached the podium eight times and took one pole position.

Source: Wikipedia, “Lorenzo Bandini”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.