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Nino Farina.jpg
Giuseppe Farina
Born (1906-Template:MONTHNUMBER-30)30 1906
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Died Template:Death date and age
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Formula One career
Nationality 25px Italy Italian
Years 1950 - 1955
File:Giuseppe Farina's damaged racecar at the 1936 Deauville Grand Prix.jpg

Farina's damaged Alfa Romeo 8C-35 at the 1936 Deauville Grand Prix.

Emilio Giuseppe "Nino" Farina (30 October 1906, Turin, Piedmont - 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver. He stands out in the history of Grand Prix motor racing for his much copied 'straight-arm' driving style and his status as the first ever Formula One World Champion.

Biography[]

Template:Refimprove Born in Turin, Italy and nicknamed "Nino", Farina was a doctor of engineering and nephew of Pinin Farina of the coach building company. He began his motor racing career in hillclimbs, graduating to circuit racing with Maserati. But it was not until he moved to Alfa Romeo, as number two driver to Tazio Nuvolari, that his racing career really blossomed. During the late 1930s he won numerous minor races in the Voiturette class, securing himself the Italian Drivers' Champion three years in a row (1937–1939). He then went on to take his first major race win, at the 1940 Tripoli Grand Prix in Libya. Sadly for Farina, he was just reaching his peak as a driver at the outbreak of World War II, and it would be another eight years before he would win a major race.

Entering post-war Grands Prix in a privately owned Maserati, Farina took a win at the 1948 Monaco Grand Prix. When the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile announced the inaugural World Championship for 1950, Farina secured a drive alongside Juan Manuel Fangio and countryman Luigi Fagioli at the dominant Alfa Romeo team, driving the invincible 158 Alfetta cars. Farina took 3 wins from the 7 races of the 1950 season, securing himself the first ever World Championship. It was the pinnacle of his career.

In 1951, he was forced to play second fiddle to Fangio, whose pace was too much for Farina to match. Farina had to make do with a solitary success at the 1951 Belgian Grand Prix, and wins at non-championship races. Moving to Ferrari in 1952, Farina found himself being outdone by another younger team-mate, this time Alberto Ascari who went on to win nine successive World Championship Grand Prix in 1952 and 1953.

Farina's first win for Ferrari, and the last of his 5 World Championship wins, came at the Nürburgring in the 1953 German Grand Prix. That year, he also teamed up with fellow F1 driver Mike Hawthorn to win the Spa 24 Hours endurance race. At the 1954 Argentine Grand Prix, Farina became the oldest pole sitter in a Formula One race, a record he hold to this day. At the beginning of 1954, Farina won a round of the World Sports Car Championship, only to be badly burnt following a startline crash at the Sports Car race at Monza. Farina attempted a comeback in 1955, dosing himself with painkillers and scoring a couple of points finishes. However, conceding defeat, he retired from Formula 1 at the end of the season.

In 1956 he made a half-hearted attempt at the Indianapolis 500, crashing in the process, only to break his collar bone after a crash at a minor race at Monza. Again he recovered and tried the Indy 500, but this time his team-mate had a fatal crash while practicing in Farina's race car, and Farina decided to give up for good.

A notable character in early World Championship Grand Prix racing, Farina was noted for his driving style and intelligence, but also his petulant streak and his disregard for his fellow competitors on the race track. He was involved in the fatal accidents of Marcel Lehoux in the 1936 Grand Prix de Deauville[1] and László Hartmann at Tripoli in 1938 .[2][3] It was ironic that after all the injuries he sustained in the latter part of his career, it was in a car crash that he finally lost his life at Chambéry in France, whilst driving to spectate at the 1966 French Grand Prix.

Complete Formula One results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 WDC Points[4]
1950 Alfa Romeo SpA Alfa Romeo 158/50 Alfa Romeo Straight-8 GBR
1
MON
Ret
500
SUI
1
BEL
4
FRA
7
ITA
1
1st 30
1951 Alfa Romeo SpA Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo Straight-8 SUI
3
500
BEL
1
FRA
5
4th 19 (22)
Alfa Romeo 159B GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
Alfa Romeo 159M ITA
3*
ESP
3
1952 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Straight-4 SUI
Ret
500
BEL
2
FRA
2
GBR
6
GER
2
NED
2
ITA
4
2nd 24 (27)
1953 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Straight-4 ARG
Ret
500
NED
2
BEL
Ret
FRA
5
GBR
3
GER
1
SUI
2
ITA
2
3rd 26 (32)
1954 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 625 Ferrari Straight-4 ARG
2
500
FRA
GBR
GER
SUI
ITA
ESP
DNA
8th 6
Ferrari 553 BEL
Ret
1955 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 625/555 Ferrari Straight-4 ARG
2**
5th 10 Page Template:Fraction/styles.css has no content.13
Ferrari 625 MON
4
Ferrari 555 500
BEL
3
Lancia D50 Lancia V8 NED
GBR
ITA
DNS

* Indicates Shared Drive
** In the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix, Farina finished both 2nd (shared drive with Trintignant and González) and 3rd (shared drive with Maglioli and Trintignant). He was awarded one-third of the points for each result.

Notes[]


Preceded by:
Alberto Ascari
BRDC International Trophy winner
1950
Succeeded by:
Reg Parnell
Preceded by:
None
Formula One World Champion
1950
Succeeded by:
Juan Manuel Fangio
Records
Preceded by:
None
Youngest Grand Prix Polesitter
43 years, 195 days
(1950 British Grand Prix)
Succeeded by:
Juan Manuel Fangio
38 years, 331 days
(1950 Monaco GP)
Preceded by:
None
Youngest Grand Prix Race
Winner

43 years, 195 days
(1950 British Grand Prix)
Succeeded by:
Juan Manuel Fangio
38 years, 331 days
(1950 Monaco GP)
Preceded by:
None
Youngest driver to set
Fastest Lap in Formula One

43 years, 195 days
(1950 British Grand Prix)
Succeeded by:
Juan Manuel Fangio
38 years, 331 days
(1950 Monaco GP)
Preceded by:
None
Youngest Driver to score a
Podium Position in Formula One

43 years, 195 days
(1950 British Grand Prix)
Succeeded by:
Reg Parnell
38 years, 315 days
(1950 British GP)
Preceded by:
None
Youngest Driver to score
Points in Formula One

43 years, 195 days
(1950 British Grand Prix)
Succeeded by:
Reg Parnell
38 years, 315 days
(1950 British GP)
Preceded by:
None
Most Grand Prix wins
2 wins
1st at the 1950 British GP
Succeeded by:
Juan Manuel Fangio
6 wins
,
3rd at the 1950 French GP
Preceded by:
None
Youngest Formula One
World Drivers' Champion

43 years, 308 days
(1950 season)
Succeeded by:
Juan Manuel Fangio
40 years, 126 days
(1951 season)
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