NIGEL ROEBUCK’S FORMULA ONE HEROES
CASTELLOTTI, MUSSO, BANDINI, PATRESE, ALBORETO…
…all had their days in the sun, but the last truly great driver from Italy died 65 years ago. Many rated Alberto Ascari the best of his generation, above even Juan Manuel Fangio.
On 22 June 1952 Ascari won the Belgian Grand Prix for Ferrari, and on 21 June 1953 did the same again. In the course of those 12 months none but he won a world championship grand prix.
True, there were fewer then than now, but non-championship races abounded, and in those Ascari was similarly dominant, winning at such as Syracuse, Pau, Marseille, La Baule and Bordeaux. At his best, which invariably he was, Ascari stands comparison with anyone who ever raced a car.
