Alberto Ascari was the third man to be crowned Formula One World Champion and the first to do so driving for Enzo Ferrari, but there is so many more points of interest with the man from Milan. Ascari was the sports first double champion and in 1952-53 dominated the sport. He was also, along with his father Antonio, part of one the sports first famous motor racing dynasties. And in 1955 he infamously crashed his Lancia D50 into the Monaco harbour. Who was Alberto Ascari then?
Born in Milan in 1918 he was perhaps always destined to become a racing driver as he watched his father Antonio race and become European Champion. But is was on motorbikes that young Alberto would first cut his racing teeth when at the age of 19 he was signed to ride for the Bianchi Motorcycle team. But from 1940 he was racing four wheels after being given a drive by Enzo Ferrari, who had been a good friend of his father, in the Mille Miglia.
World War 2 interrupted his early career and when the war was over he wasn’t keen to return to the race tracks as he now had two children and was focused on his family responsibilities,but it was fellow Italian racer Luigi Villoresi that persuaded him to get back in the cockpit. Its a good job that Alberto couldn’t resist the lure of the race tracks as in 1949 he scored the first ever Grand Prix victory for Enzo Ferrari, starting a partnership that would lead to the biggest prize in Formula One racing.
During the interwar period Ascari played a role in the war effort when the Ascari garage in Milan was given the task of servicing and maintaining military vehicles. Additionally he started a transport business with Villoresi and supplied fuel to army depots in North Africa.
As we know in 1950 the F1 World Championship was started and Ferrari’s first championship race was at round two in Monaco where Ascari came in second behind Juan Manuel Fangio. Not a bad start to the campaign but the Ferrari package was not the
strongest the team were unable to provide a challenge to the all conquering Alfa Romeo squad. However at the final round at Monza there were signs of improvement as Ferrari raced their new more powerful machine and Ascari finished second. He actually had to take over his team mates car after his suffered mechanical problems mid race but his drive back through the field was impressive and was a portent of things to come in 1951.
The first two events of the 51 season didn’t go well as Ascari could only manage a solitary sixth place but at round three at Reims the progress made was in evidence as Ascari yet again clawed his way through the field after having to swap machines mod race and secured a well deserved second place with Villoresi following him across the line for a Ferrari two three.
The potential of the Ferrari was never more clear than at Silverstone and it was here that Asccari could possibly have secured a win. Again his car failed and as the senior driver in the team he could have taken over the car driven by Jose Frolian Gonzalez but after recognizing that Gonzalez was on incredible form he declined and allowed his team mate to continue his charge. Gonzalez won the race by almost a minute to score a memorable win and cause the Alfa team to worry about the growing speed of the cars from Modena.
At the German Grand Prix it was finally Ascari’s turn to take victory and he would take another at Monza in front of the home crowd to finish the season as runner up to Fangio in the standings. Alfa new that the ageing 159 would struggle against Ferrari in 1952 and they withdrew from F1.
1952 was a golden year for Ascari. He entered six of the eight Grand Prix held and won all six of them allowing him to secure the title before the final round at Monza. It was the kind of dominance that we would go on to see from Senna, Prost, Shumacher, Vettel and Hamilton in the modern era. The Alfa Romeo team had been supreme in 1950 and raced without challenge but thier top drivers were fighting among themselves, but in 52 it was all about Ascari.
The 1953 season saw more more of a challenge for Ascari with Fangio in the Maserati proving to be very competitive but if you discount the Indy 500 which none of the F1 drivers competed in Ascari won the first three races of the season to set up the defense of his title perfectly. Those three wins also meant that he had won an amazing nine consecutive races, a feat that was only matched by Sebastian Vettel in 2013. Two further victories gave Fangio too much work to do and so Ascari was able to successfully defend his title. In these two seasons Ascari cemented his place in F1 history and I personally think he should be included in the sports list of legendary drivers.
At the end of 1953 a dispute over money lead to him leaving Ferrari and joining Lancia and as the works Mercedes team had now taken F1 by the scruff of its neck Ascari would never achieve the same level of success again. Who knows what may have happened in the future though as Ascari tragically died testing a Ferrari sports car at Monza at the age of thirty six in 1955.
The accident happened just four days after his crash into Monaco’s harbour during the Grand Prix and here we must address some frightening similarities with the death of his father Antonio.
Antonio died during the French Grand Prix of 1925 at the age of thirty six, four days after surving another serious accident. Alberto Ascari died at the age of thirty six, four days after surviving his Monaco accident, both died on the 26th day of the month, and both had won thirteen Grand Prix. Co-incidence or strange twist of fate? We will never know but the sad thing is Ascari wasn’t even scheduled to be driving that Ferrari sports car that day in Monza, he was only there to have a look at the new car. Even sadder is that like his father Alberto also left behind a wife and two young children. Two drivers being killed in accidents during the early period of motor racing is not starnge, many did and would go on to pay the ultimate price, but for father and son to die in similar ways with all the things mentioned above is desperately tragic. Antonio’s death must have had a profound effect on the young Alberto, seven at the time, because it is said that he intentionally tried to be hard with his children so that it would be easier for them if a deadly accident was to claim his life. Losing his father surely influenced how he prepared his own family.
His death was mourned by the whole of Italy, thousands lined the streets of Milan to see the funeral prepossession pass by, a national hero ans well loved man had been lost. Amidst the sadness of his passing though we can celebrate his successes and his talent behind the wheel of a racing car, and marvel at the standard he was helping to set for the champions of the future. In this seventieth anniversary year of Formula One it is right to be looking back at Alberto Ascari.
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My F1 talk 