Nationality ![]() |
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Formula One World Championship career | |
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Active years | 1950 - 1955 |
Teams | Alfa Romeo, Ferrari |
Races | 34 (33 starts) |
Championships | 1 (1950) |
Wins | 5 |
Podium finishes | 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 |
Emilio Giuseppe "Nino" Farina (October 30 1906 - June 30, 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.
Farina, born in Turin, Italy and nicknamed "Nino", 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 the great 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 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 Chambery in France, whilst driving to spectate at the 1966 French Grand Prix.
(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 |
8th | 6 | |
Ferrari 553 | BEL Ret |
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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.
Sporting positions | ||
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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) |
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