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Formula One drivers from Italy
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Formula One drivers from Italy
There have been 100[citation needed] Formula One drivers from Italy including two World Drivers' Champions. Giuseppe "Nino" Farina was the first ever World Champion and Alberto Ascari was the first double World Champion. All three championships came in the early 1950s and very few Italian drivers have come close since Ascari's 1953 victory. In 1989 and again for the following two years there were 13 drivers from Italy. Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes is the only Italian driver in Formula One as of 2025. Antonio Giovinazzi was the most recent Italian driver before Antonelli, having competed between 2017 and 2021. Prior to Giovinazzi, there were five consecutive seasons without an Italian driver, with 2012 marking the first season an Italian driver did not enter a Formula One race weekend and the first season since 1969 that an Italian driver did not start a race.
Two Italian drivers have won the drivers' championship, both driving for Italian teams. Giuseppe Farina won the inaugural championship in 1950 driving for Alfa Romeo, and Alberto Ascari won consecutive titles in 1952 and 1953 driving for Scuderia Ferrari. Mario Andretti, the 1978 drivers' champion, was born in Italy, but is an American citizen and represented the United States in Formula One.
A total of 15 different Italian drivers have won a race in Formula One, the most recent being Giancarlo Fisichella with Renault at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix. Only six drivers from Italy have won more than a single race, Ascari being the most successful with 13 victories.
Kimi Antonelli is the only Italian driver in the 2025 Formula One World Championship.
Giuseppe "Nino" Farina won the very first World Championship race and title in 1950 in an Alfa Romeo. He won half of the six races that year, more than he would win in the remainder of his career in Formula One. Teammate Juan Manuel Fangio took the title in 1951 with Farina only managing to finish fourth in the championship, but he came much closer with Ferrari the following year. However, he was again beaten by a teammate as Alberto Ascari took the 1952 title. His final race victory came in 1953 and he finished third in the title race but would later suffer a career-threatening crash. In 1954 Farina was driving in a sports car race alongside his F1 career. At the start of a race in Monza his car was engulfed in flames and he suffered serious burns that would mean he turned to amphetamines and morphine to cope with the pain. He returned to Formula One for four races in 1955 and, despite finishing on the podium at all three of the ones he started, he felt unable to continue.
Alberto Ascari won the drivers' championship for Ferrari in 1952 and became to first person to retain the title. Across the two seasons he won nine consecutive races, a record still unbeaten 60 years later. Ascari had made his debut with Ferrari in 1950, coming fifth in the championship after contesting just four races. The following year he won two grands prix and was runner-up in the title race. After back-to-back championships with Ferrari in 1952 and 1953 Ascari moved to Lancia but the car was not ready until late in the season leaving him unable to challenge the dominant Juan Manuel Fangio and he ended the year without seeing the chequered flag at a single event. Two races with Lancia in 1955 brought about similar disappointment but Ascari would not manage to see the year out. While testing a Ferrari at Monza he crashed under unexplained circumstances and was killed. He remains the last Italian Formula One Drivers' World Champion and the title holder with the fewest ever grand prix starts (32).
Michele Alboreto started 194 races in a career that spanned 14 seasons. He started with a drive for Tyrrell in 1981, impressing the team enough to secure a three-year contract. He won two races with them before moving to Ferrari for five seasons. It was with the Italian team that Alboreto would come close to winning the title – eight podium finishes including two wins was not quite enough to give him the 1985 championship and he finished the year as runner-up. On leaving Ferrari Alboreto's career went downhill with only one podium finish in his final six years.
Four Italian drivers have started more than 200 races, easily more than any other country. Though they had 936 starts between them, the drivers only scored ten victories and 62 other podium finishes.
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Formula One drivers from Italy
There have been 100[citation needed] Formula One drivers from Italy including two World Drivers' Champions. Giuseppe "Nino" Farina was the first ever World Champion and Alberto Ascari was the first double World Champion. All three championships came in the early 1950s and very few Italian drivers have come close since Ascari's 1953 victory. In 1989 and again for the following two years there were 13 drivers from Italy. Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes is the only Italian driver in Formula One as of 2025. Antonio Giovinazzi was the most recent Italian driver before Antonelli, having competed between 2017 and 2021. Prior to Giovinazzi, there were five consecutive seasons without an Italian driver, with 2012 marking the first season an Italian driver did not enter a Formula One race weekend and the first season since 1969 that an Italian driver did not start a race.
Two Italian drivers have won the drivers' championship, both driving for Italian teams. Giuseppe Farina won the inaugural championship in 1950 driving for Alfa Romeo, and Alberto Ascari won consecutive titles in 1952 and 1953 driving for Scuderia Ferrari. Mario Andretti, the 1978 drivers' champion, was born in Italy, but is an American citizen and represented the United States in Formula One.
A total of 15 different Italian drivers have won a race in Formula One, the most recent being Giancarlo Fisichella with Renault at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix. Only six drivers from Italy have won more than a single race, Ascari being the most successful with 13 victories.
Kimi Antonelli is the only Italian driver in the 2025 Formula One World Championship.
Giuseppe "Nino" Farina won the very first World Championship race and title in 1950 in an Alfa Romeo. He won half of the six races that year, more than he would win in the remainder of his career in Formula One. Teammate Juan Manuel Fangio took the title in 1951 with Farina only managing to finish fourth in the championship, but he came much closer with Ferrari the following year. However, he was again beaten by a teammate as Alberto Ascari took the 1952 title. His final race victory came in 1953 and he finished third in the title race but would later suffer a career-threatening crash. In 1954 Farina was driving in a sports car race alongside his F1 career. At the start of a race in Monza his car was engulfed in flames and he suffered serious burns that would mean he turned to amphetamines and morphine to cope with the pain. He returned to Formula One for four races in 1955 and, despite finishing on the podium at all three of the ones he started, he felt unable to continue.
Alberto Ascari won the drivers' championship for Ferrari in 1952 and became to first person to retain the title. Across the two seasons he won nine consecutive races, a record still unbeaten 60 years later. Ascari had made his debut with Ferrari in 1950, coming fifth in the championship after contesting just four races. The following year he won two grands prix and was runner-up in the title race. After back-to-back championships with Ferrari in 1952 and 1953 Ascari moved to Lancia but the car was not ready until late in the season leaving him unable to challenge the dominant Juan Manuel Fangio and he ended the year without seeing the chequered flag at a single event. Two races with Lancia in 1955 brought about similar disappointment but Ascari would not manage to see the year out. While testing a Ferrari at Monza he crashed under unexplained circumstances and was killed. He remains the last Italian Formula One Drivers' World Champion and the title holder with the fewest ever grand prix starts (32).
Michele Alboreto started 194 races in a career that spanned 14 seasons. He started with a drive for Tyrrell in 1981, impressing the team enough to secure a three-year contract. He won two races with them before moving to Ferrari for five seasons. It was with the Italian team that Alboreto would come close to winning the title – eight podium finishes including two wins was not quite enough to give him the 1985 championship and he finished the year as runner-up. On leaving Ferrari Alboreto's career went downhill with only one podium finish in his final six years.
Four Italian drivers have started more than 200 races, easily more than any other country. Though they had 936 starts between them, the drivers only scored ten victories and 62 other podium finishes.
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