The debut king
ON MAY 13, 1950 GIUSEPPE Farina took the chequered flag at Silverstone, and thus by definition won a world championship race at his first attempt, for this was the first such to be run. If you want to be similarly pedantic, you can say that 17 days later Johnnie Parsons did the same – unfathomably, for the first 10 years of the world championship, the Indianapolis 500 was a point-scoring round.
Contrary to what some appear to believe, though, motor racing did not begin in 1950. By the time he arrived at Silverstone, Farina had already driven many a grand prix – indeed had won at Monaco – and Parsons’ victory was his third shot at the 500.
Had his engine stayed healthy for six more laps of Melbourne in 1996, Jacques Villeneuve would have triumphed in his first grand prix; as it is, only one man has ever done it, and although his feat will likely remain unique, he is a mere footnote in racing history.
I only met Giancarlo Baghetti once, on the opening day of practice at Monza in 1985, and it was Phil Hill who introduced us: “Do you know my old team-mate?” We started to chat, but soon the afternoon session intruded, and I was sorry to cut things short.
Baghetti said that he
