Monoposto

Nº 3

Alberto Ascari

1952–53 World Champion

Scuderia Ferrari

Overview

Alberto Ascari, born in Milan on 13 July 1918, won the World Drivers' Championship with Ferrari in 1952 and 1953.1 His father, Antonio, was a Grand Prix driver killed at the 1925 French Grand Prix.1

He won nine championship races in a row, not counting Indianapolis.1 He died at Monza on 26 May 1955, aged 36, testing a Ferrari in street clothes and a borrowed helmet, days after surviving a crash into the harbour at Monaco.1

1952

Six wins, 12 points clear of Nino Farina

Only a driver's best results counted in 1952. He scored 53½ points in all, and 36 counted.

Six in a row

He skipped the Swiss opener and raced at Indianapolis, the only European to do so in its championship years, where a wheel collapsed.12 He then won all six remaining rounds with the fastest lap in each, and scored the maximum possible under the best-four-results rule.1

Every Grand Prix finish, 1952

Numeral size follows the result. Round 1 at left.

1953

Five wins, 7 points clear of Juan Manuel Fangio

Only a driver's best results counted in 1953. He scored 47 points in all, and 34½ counted.

Nine straight

He won the Argentine opener and five races in all.1 His run of straight wins ended at nine, with fourth at the French Grand Prix.1

Every Grand Prix finish, 1953

Numeral size follows the result. Round 1 at left.

Image plates

4 photographs, in season order

Helmet

He wore a lucky blue helmet, and left it at home on the day he died.1

A drawing of his 1953 design.

Auge=mit · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Background removed

Ferrari 500

Both titles came in the Ferrari 500, with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine.1

His 1952 Ferrari 500, in the Donington Grand Prix Collection.

Ben Sutherland · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
1952
Ferrari 500
1953
Ferrari 500

Road to the title

  1. 1950Formula One debut at Monaco.1
  2. 1952–53World Drivers' Champion with Ferrari.1
  3. 1955Crashed into the harbour at Monaco, then died testing at Monza four days later.1

Records

  • Nine consecutive championship wins, excluding Indianapolis1

Sources