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Alberto Ascari and his Lancia Take a Precarious Tumble Into the Harbor After Blowing the Chicane at the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix.

1955 RACE 2
Principality of Monaco

22 May, Thirteenth Grand Prix de Monaco
Circuit de Monaco

P1 Grid: J.M. Fangio, ARG, Mercedes 196W 2.5 liter fuel injection inline eight. Continental (16th, career).

Fangio wins the start.
S. Moss (Mercedes) assumes the lead at Lap 50 after Fangio suffers mechanicals.
M. Trintignant (Ferrari) assumes the lead at Lap 81 after Moss suffers mechanicals and A. Ascari suffers a dramatic shunt at Harbour Chicane. Trintigant drives on to victory.

The May 1955 Monaco meeting triggers a horrific strech for motor sport that continues to prompt pause among enthusiasts to the current day. In the race proper, the heady Daimler Benz team, thrilled with its recent signing of Briton ace Stirling Moss, roar off the grid with J.M. Fangio and Moss at the spearhead. The afternoon seemingly emeges as a dominant performance for the Silver Arrows, yet Fangio suffers mechanicals (failed transmission) on Lap 49, yielding the lead to teammate Moss. Moss confidently leads the field for the next thirty laps, but on Lap 80 suffers another mechanical, rare for the Teuton marque. A. Ascari, driving for Lancia, inherits the point for a brief moment before breaking loose in Moss’ oil stream. Ascari misses the apex at Harbour Chicane, slides into the harbor wall, and in dramatic fashion flips over the barrier and soars into the Cote d’Azur. As officials retrieve the injured Ascari and his auto from the harbor, M. Trintignant speeds his Ferrari 625 into the lead and on to the flag, a surprise maiden victory for both himself and the French nation.

Motor sport takes a dark turn shortly afterward; the great Ascari, likely still suffering from the injuries inflicted at Monaco, dies four days later in a horrific shunt during a test session at Monza. Seventeen days later at the Sarthe, Pierre Levegh’s flaming Mercedes hurtles an embankment near Maison Blanche and crashes headlong into the main tribune, killing over eighty spectators. A stunned Daimler Benz AG, distressed over the negative press, swiftly withdraws from the contest, and shortly thereafter from all of international motor sport.

1. Trintignant, FRA, Scuderia Ferrari 625 Type 106, 2.5 liter inline four. Pirelli (maiden victory).
2. E. Castellotti, ITA Lancia D50, -20.3 sec.
3. C. Perdisa, ITA,Officine Alfieri Maserati.

Constructor Victor: Scuderia Ferrari (twentieth).
Engine Victor: Scuderia Ferrari (twentieth).

Championship
Trintignant-FRA 11.33, Fangio-ARG 10, G. Farina-ITA 6.33.

Scuderia Ferrari 21, Daimler Benz AG 13, Officine Alfieri Maserati 8.

Race Officials Tend to the Injured After Nino Farina Plows Into the Crowd at Buenos Aires.

1953 RACE 1
Buenos Aires, Argentina

18 January, Maiden Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina
Autodromo Oscar Alferedo Galéz

P1 Grid: A. Ascari, ITA, Ferrari Tipo 500 2.0 liter inline four. Pirelli (8th, career).

The 1953 Grand Prix season again runs under the Formula 2 specification.

Ascari wins the start and leads wire to wire for ninety-seven laps for victory, yet the race story revolves around Ferrari driver Giuseppe ‘Nina’ Farina. Per the permission of Argentine president Juan Perón, race fans line up trackside in rally-style fashion at many locations around the circuit, including the right hand sweeper that terminates the front stretch. The crowd presses itself onto the circuit’s asphalt edge as the race proceeds and on Lap 30, a young boy steps on the circuit to cheer the passing cars. Farina, approaching the curve, brakes and swerves to stay clear of the wayward child, yet his car breaks loose with the sudden action and careens into the crowd. Five to seven spectators lose their lives and scores suffer injuries in the horrific debacle as Farina climbs from the wreckage without a scratch.

Ferrari ascends as the series all-time leader in constructor and engine victories with eleven, surpassing one-time marque power Alfa Romeo.

1. Ascari, ITA, Scuderia Ferrari (9th, career).
2. L. Villoresi, ITA, Scuderia Ferrari, -31.7 sec.
3. J. F. Gonzalez, ARG, Officine Alfieri Maserati.

Constructor Victor: Scuderia Ferrari (11, all-time).
Engine Victor: Scuderia Ferrari (11, all-tiime).

Championship
A. Ascari-ITA 9, L. Villoresi-ITA 6, J.F. Gonzaléz-ARG 4.

Scuderia Ferrari 19, Officine Alfieri Maserati 6.

The Unassailable Alberto Ascari and Ferrari Dominate the Nurburgring and the Entire Series in 1952.

With the permanent withdrawal of Alfa Romeo and the accompanying pullback of Maserati from Formula 1 after the 1951 season, the field was literally left wide open for Scuderia Ferrari. Series organizers, stunned by the sudden departure by the Italian marques, desperately adopts a lesser mechanical formula (F2) in order to encourage other constructors, primarily the British, to replenish the depleted starting grid.

The Scuderia takes full advantage of the fallow period and in turn emblazons its brand among the minds of racing enthusiasts for all time. The marque dominates all events with the exception of Indianapolis, and ace driver Alberto Ascari establishes the F1 pantheon after winning six consecutive races, including four by wire-by-wire result. Along the way to his maiden F1 championship, Ascari ascends atop the tables with eight career victories, eclipsing the great Argentine Fangio, who misses most of the 1952 circuit with injury.

Ferrari wins its second consecutive constructor’s championship and matches former racing power Alfa Romeo with ten chassis and engine victories.

The Ferrari Tipo 500 1.9 Liter Inline Four.