The Pride of Being Ferrari Driver – Volume 1

By Charles Sanz

DO YOU KNOW THE STORY OF THE DRIVERS WHO BEGAN TO BUILD THE FERRARI LEGEND IN FORMULA 1?

 

Scuderia Ferrari is undoubtedly one of the most legendary in the history of Formula 1. Perhaps the most prestigious of all. It is the team with the most championships won and the only one that has participated in all editions. But beyond its historical journey and the glory achieved, Ferrari is something more. It is a philosophy. That is why the dream of any racing driver is to drive for this legendary constructor at some point in his life.

 

This means that all the drivers who managed to sit in a Scuderia Ferrari single-seater ended up covered by a halo of heroism capable of transcending time. In this volume, we will take a walk through the stories of all the drivers who participated in the team during the 50s: Ascari, the first great Ferrari legend; José Froilán González and the first victory of the Scuderia; Giuseppe Farina, the first F1 champion; the friendship of Hawthorn and Collins to the detriment of Musso; Peter Collins and his enormous chivalry; Fangio and his talent beyond the brand ....

 

I hope you enjoy the Formula 1 career and main anecdotes of the thirty or so drivers covered in this work, in a walk through the first drivers who began to forge the history of this great racing team. 

 

In this book you will find:

- Alberto Ascari, the first great Ferrari and Formula 1 legend.

- Luigi Villoresi, Italian post-war talent at the service of Lancia, Maserati and Ferrari.

- Raymond Sommer, the Le Mans champion after 20 hours of driving in a row

- Peter Whitehead, the Royal Air Force pilot

- Dorino Serafini, the motorcycling champion who finished on the podium in "all" his Formula 1 races

- José Froilán González and Ferrari's first Formula 1 victory

- Giuseppe Farina, the first champion of the competition

- Mike Hawthorn, the champion of the tragic 24 Hours of Le Mans 1955

- Umberto Maglioli, an expert endurance racing driver

- Piero Carini and his 100 % of Formula 1 retirements

- Maurice Trintignant, the "rat excrement man" who triumphed in Formula 1

- Robert Manzon, the last survivor of the 1950s

- Harry Schell, from the Finnish air force and the U.S. tank corps to motor racing

- Paul Frére, from the track to triumph as a sports writer

- Eugenio Castelloti and his ability to perform at the level of Moss and Fangio

- Luigi Musso and his cursed rivalry with his teammates Hawthorn and Collins

- Peter Collins and his sacrifice of a championship to show his respect for Fangio

- Olivier Gendebien and the anecdote of the yellow Ferrari

- Alfonso de Portago, from the Spanish royalty to Formula 1

- Wolfgang von Trips and his fight for the championship to life and death

- Cesare Perdisa and a career dedicated to giving up his car

- Phil Hill, the first American to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans and to win a Formula 1 race with a front-engined car

- Jean Behra and his rivalry in Formula 2 against his own team until it came to fisticuffs

- Tony Brooks and the first victory of a British car in the World Championship

- Cliff Allison, Chapman's protégé who scored the first point for Lotus

- Dan Gurney, the multi-disciplined champion who also acted as engineer

- Richie Ginther, Phil Hill's pupil who wanted to beat his master

 

And much more in a book that will make you know or remember the first drivers who participated with the legendary Ferrari team!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles Sanz
• Release date: Mar 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9798223138525

Book preview

Introduction

The Scuderia Ferrari is undoubtedly one of the most legendary in the history of Formula 1. Perhaps the most prestigious of all. It has earned its privileged position in the world's greatest motor racing competition over time: it is the only team that has participated in all the editions of the world championship.

It is also the team with the most championships won. But beyond its historic journey and the glory achieved, Ferrari is something else. It is a philosophy. That is why the dream of any racing driver is to drive once in a lifetime for this legendary constructor. Even drivers who have already managed to become champions have always flirted with Ferrari looking for a place in the team.

This means that all the drivers who managed to sit in a Scuderia Ferrari car ended up covered by a halo of heroism capable of transcending time. In this series we will meet all of them, those few who managed to gain the confidence of the Italian team to squeeze their single-seaters on the track.

In this first volume, we will take a walk through the stories of all the drivers who participated in the team during the 1950s. Ascari, the first great Ferrari legend; José Froilán González and the first victory for the Scuderia; Giuseppe Farina, the first F1 champion; Hawthorn and Collins' friendship to the detriment of Musso; Peter Collins and his enormous chivalry; Fangio and his talent beyond the mark...

I hope you enjoy the trajectory and main anecdotes of the thirty drivers that are addressed in this work, in a walk through the first drivers who began to forge the history of this great team.

Luigi Villoresi

Luigi Villoresi ▷ Información, Historia, Biografía y más.

The Italian Luigi Villoresi was one of the three lucky ones who drove the Ferrari 125 1.5 V12 that made the constructor's debut in Formula 1 at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1950. The legendary Italian team had not participated in the first race in the history of competition at Silverstone, but joined the second round of the newly created world championship to become the only team to appear in all its editions.

Luigi, known as Gigi, was born in Lombardy on May 16, 1909, and his motorsport experience began as a co-driver for his younger brother Emilio Villoresi.

Belonging to a wealthy family, he bought a Lancia Lambda to compete at the age of 22 in local rallies, and later bought a Fiat Balilla to compete alongside his brother in the prestigious Mille Miglia.

It was in 1935 that he began to achieve his first successes, finishing third in the Coppa Ciano and winning the Italian 1100cc car championship. After that, he bought a Maserati to share with his brother.

It was then that Scuderia Ferrari appreciated his talent and hired him to drive the Alfa Romeos that he managed in 1937. The following two years, he drove for Maserati, highlighting his victory in the 1939 South African Grand Prix. Unfortunately, that year his brother died testing an Alfa Romeo 158/159 at Monza. This loss did not dampen his enthusiasm for motorsport, rather he continued stronger and just two weeks later he won the Adriatic Grand Prix for Maserati.

The Second World War interrupted his career, but after the war he continued driving for Maserati until 1949, since a year later, with the start of the Formula 1 World Championship, the Scudería Ferrari offered him a position in the team at his 41 years.

1950 Monaco Grand Prix Luigi Villoresi(Ferrari). 2nd Formula 1 race. Alfa-Romeo dominates. [1]

He did not have a great start with the Scuderia, having to abandon in Monaco and Switzerland and without getting to start the race in France. He alone could finish the race in Belgium, and he did it in sixth position. Despite frequent mechanical problems at the time, Ferrari continued to count on him for 1951 to drive the Ferrari 375.

The confidence of the Italian team in Villoresi was rewarded with success, because this time the Italian managed to finish five of the seven races, three of them on the podium and the other two in fourth position, which led him to be fifth in the world championship .

File:1951-07-01 French GP Ferrari 375 F1 Villoresi.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

[2]

In 1952, he only participated in the last two races of the championship, where he achieved two notable podium finishes, finishing third in both.

In 1953, his fourth and last season as a Ferrari driver, he returned to enjoy a full program that he took advantage of to add three new podiums to his career and score 17 points to repeat