Giuseppe Farina

Giuseppe Farina

Born	30 October 1906(1906-10-30)
Died	30 June 1966(1966-06-30) (aged 59)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Active years	1950 - 1955
Teams	Alfa Romeo, Ferrari
Races	34 (33 starts)
Championships	1 (1950)
Wins	5
Podiums	20[1]
Career points	115.33 (127.33)[2]
Pole positions	5
Fastest laps	5
First race	1950 British Grand Prix
First win	1950 British Grand Prix
Last win	1953 German Grand Prix
Last race	1955 Italian Grand Prix

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

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^[3] and László Hartmann at Tripoli in 1938 .^[4][5] 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[2]
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	10.33
		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 Gonzalez) and 3rd (shared drive with Maglioli and Trintignant). He was awarded one-third of the points for each result.

Notes

1. ^ total of 20 podiums includes both 2nd place and 3rd place at the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix
2. ^ ^{a b} Up until 1990, not all points scored by a driver contributed to their final World Championship tally (see list of points scoring systems for more information). Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
3. ^ "I GRAND PRIX DE DEAUVILLE". http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman. http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp364.htm#22. 
4. ^ "XII° GRAN PREMIO DI TRIPOLI". http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman. http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp382.htm#6. 
5. ^ "8W - Who? - Nino Farina". http://www.forix.com/8w. http://www.forix.com/8w/farina.html. 

Sporting positions
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 Pole Position 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 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)

Persondata
Name	Farina, Giuseppe
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	30 October 1906
Place of birth
Date of death	30 June 1966
Place of death