Nino Farina F1 stats & info

Nino Farina: Wiki, Biography, F1 Career Stats & Facts Profile

NameNino Farina
CountryItaly Italy
Height1.78 meter / 5 feet 10 inch
Place of BirthTurin
Date of BirthOct 30th 1906
Date of DeathJun 30th 1966 - 59 years old
Season Entries6
Car Number42
First Race1950 British F1 GP
Last Race1955 Belgian F1 GP
First Pole1950 British F1 GP
Last Pole1954 Argentine F1 GP
First Win1950 British F1 GP
Last Win1953 German F1 GP
First Win from Pole1950 British F1 GP
Last Win from Pole1950 British F1 GP
First Hat-trick1950 British F1 GP
Last Hat-trick1950 British F1 GP

F1 Teams HistoryAlfa Romeo (1950-1951)
Ferrari (1952-1955)

Nino Farina F1 Stats

Drivers' Titles1
Grand Prix Entries34
Grand Prix Starts33
Total Points127.33
Avg. Points per GP3.75
Grand Prix Wins5 (14,7%)
Wins from pole1 (2,9%)
Pole Positions5 (14,7%)
Front Row Starts16 (47,1%)
Avg. GP Grid3.2
GP Podiums20 (58,8%)
GP Fastest Laps5 (14,7%)
GP Points Finish26 (76,5%)
Avg. GP Position2.8
Hat-tricks1 (2,9%)
GP Retirements13 (38,2%)
GP DNF's9 (26,5%)
Total GP Laps1.838


Biography

 

Nino Farina Biography


Nino-Farina-1951

Nino Farina (1951)

Giuseppe Nino Farina was the first-ever Formula 1 race-winner and the first champion in the history of the sport.

During the 20s, the Turin-born Farina, a great athlete overall, started his racing career with an Alfa Romeo which he bought for himself. He participated in the 1925 Aosta-Gran San Bernardo Hillclimb but crashed out of the competition. During the 30s, his career enjoyed the luxury of having the racing legend Tazio Nuvolari as a mentor.

Farina went on to win the Italian Championship three times in a row between 1937 and 1939. Then, he won many competitive European events during the 40s and some races in South America. In 1948, he won the Monaco Grand Prix driving a Maserati 4CLT defeating Louis Chiron by 35 seconds. Later on, in the 24th of October of 1948, he drove Ferrari's first Formula One car in the Circuito di Garda, winning the race over Bruno Sterzi.

The Italian entered the 1950 Formula One World Championship as a driver for Alfa Romeo. He was one of three drivers (Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli) to compete at the wheel of the Alfetta in every race of the calendar (without considering the Indy 500).

After becoming the first driver to win a World Championship race at Silverstone on the 13th of May of 1950, Farina went on to take two more wins (in Swiss and Italian GPs) in the following six races and scored three more points than Fangio.

Although Fangio won three races, his three retirements were key to Farina's success. Only the four best results counted for the World Championship and a driver was awarded one point if he had the fastest lap of the race. Farina added a fourth-place and three fastest laps to his three victories and secured the championship over the Argentine legend (30-27 in the standings).

Farina was not able to replicate his success in 1951 since he had to retire from three races with mechanical problems in his Alfa Romeo 159. In the three events in which his car could not complete the full distance, Farina had started the GP in the top four.

Despite his three retirements, the Italian finished fourth in the championship with 19 points, scoring four podiums in seven races. He took the fourth win of his career in the 1951 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

One of the podiums he achieved during the 1951 season was due to a shared drive with his teammate Felice Bonetto in the Italian Grand Prix after Farina's car was sidelined early in the race with an engine issue.

For the third World Championship season in history —1952—, Farina moved to Ferrari to compete alongside Alberto Ascari and Piero Taruffi. Driving the Ferrari 500 2.0 L4 —a car with Formula 2 specifications—, Farina started the season scoring a dominant Pole Position for the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix with 2.6 seconds over Taruffi.

Farina's car retired from the inaugural GP of the season in the early stages of the race, which was a missed opportunity for him since Ascari was not competing due to his preparations for the Indy 500 of that year —the second race of the calendar, which Ascari entered as the only European driver—.

After Ascari's return from the US, there were six races left in the calendar and Farina just scored four-second places against Ascari's six dominant wins. Farina finished in the championship in second place with 24 points, 12 behind Ascari.

After his first winless campaign in the Formula 1 World Championship —although he won two non-championship races during 1952—, Farina entered the 1953 season looking to capture the title again, but the year started horribly in Argentina. After Argentinian president Juan Perón commanded free entry for the spectators, the race was run without any kind of safety for those involved. On lap 31, the inevitable occurred after a boy ran into the track and into the path of Farina. The Italian driver was able to evade the kid but ran into the crowd and seven persons lost their lives.

Unable to touch Ascari and Fangio in terms of speed and pace, Farina was able to take third in the championship again after scoring five podiums in eight races. The Italian took the last victory of his GP career at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the German Grand Prix with more than a 60-second advantage over Fangio. Britain's World Champion-to-be, Mike Hawthorn accompanied the two former champions in the podium.

In the first race of 1954, he established the record for the oldest driver to achieve Pole Position when he started first in the 1954 Argentine Grand Prix at 47 years and 79 days of age, which still is the record. His streak of four consecutive podiums to end the 1953 season and another podium at the first GP of 1954 at Buenos Aires gave him the best streak of podium finishes in his career. He had started to compete in the World Sportscar Championship in 1953, enjoying some success and taking a couple of victories at Spa and Nürburgring. However, in 1954 his luck was different and a crash in the 1954 Mille Miglia dictated what his season would be.

Still recovering from his injuries, he participated in the following Grand Prix at Belgium and was leading after 15 laps when the engine on his Ferrari failed. Another Sports Car crash saw him burned at Monza, which meant he only took part in two World Championship races in 1954, finishing the year in eighth place with six points. He drove for Ferrari again in 1955 but took part only in three races. Although the results were good —two podiums and a fourth-place— the physical cost was too high since he was still taking painkillers to be able to race.

He decided to retire after the 1955 Belgian Grand Prix due to the physical pain. However, he tried to compete in the 1955 Italian Grand Prix at Monza in a Lancia D50, but a crash in practice —in which he was unhurt— saw him retire from the Grand Prix and from Formula One. He entered the 1956 and 1957 Indy 500, but for various reasons did not start any of the two races.

Farina retired from Grand Prix racing as one of the most successful drivers of his time. He retired with five World Championship wins, 20 podiums, five Pole Positions and four Fastest Laps and will forever be remembered as the first-ever World Champion.

Nino was a fierce competitor who often was considered as a bully inside the track but a gentleman outside the car. He died after he crashed on his way to the 1966 French Grand Prix, a race he was just going to watch. He was driving a Lotus Cortina.

"A man of steel, inside and out. But I could never help feeling apprehensive about him. He was like a high strung thoroughbred, capable of committing the most astonishing follies. As a consequence, he was a regular inmate of the hospital wards." Farina in the words of Enzo Ferrari.

Seasons

Nino Farina Final Championship Results

195019511952195319541955
1st4th2nd3rd8th5th

 

Nino Farina F1 Seasons Summary

YearTeamEngineGP1st2nd3rdPodPoleLapsFLAvg PtsPoints
1955 Italy Ferrari Ferrari40123024902.5810.33
1954 Italy Ferrari Ferrari20101110103.006
1953 Italy Ferrari Ferrari81315036804.0032
1952 Italy Ferrari Ferrari80404244903.3827
1951 Switzerland Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo81034038922.7522
1950 Switzerland Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo63003228235.0030

Races

 

Nino Farina F1 GP Race Classifications

1st5 Times
2nd9 Times
3rd6 Times
4th3 Times
5th2 Times
6th1 Time
7th1 Time
DNF9 Times
DNS1 Time

 

Nino Farina F1 GP Race Results

YearRaceNoTeamEngineGridPosRetiredPts
3719551955 Italian F1 GP2FerrariFerrari5DNSTire0
3619551955 Belgian F1 GP2FerrariFerrari434
3519551955 Monaco F1 GP42FerrariFerrari1443
3419551955 Argentine F1 GP12FerrariFerrari022
3319551955 Argentine F1 GP10FerrariFerrari531.33
3219541954 Belgian F1 GP4FerrariFerrari3DNFIgnition0
3119541954 Argentine F1 GP10FerrariFerrari126
3019531953 Italian F1 GP6FerrariFerrari32No Time6
2919531953 Swiss F1 GP24FerrariFerrari326
2819531953 German F1 GP12FerrariFerrari318
2719531953 British F1 GP6FerrariFerrari534
2619531953 French F1 GP14FerrariFerrari652
2519531953 Belgian F1 GP12FerrariFerrari4DNFEngine0
2419531953 Dutch F1 GP6FerrariFerrari326
2319531953 Argentine F1 GP12FerrariFerrari4DNFAccident0
2219521952 Italian F1 GP10FerrariFerrari343
2119521952 Dutch F1 GP4FerrariFerrari226
2019521952 German F1 GP102FerrariFerrari226
1919521952 British F1 GP16FerrariFerrari160
1819521952 French F1 GP10FerrariFerrari226
1719521952 Belgian F1 GP2FerrariFerrari226
1619521952 Swiss F1 GP28FerrariFerrari1DNFMagneto0
1519521952 Swiss F1 GP32FerrariFerrari4DNFMagneto0
1419511951 Spanish F1 GP20Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo43No Time4
1319511951 Italian F1 GP34Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo2DNFEngine0
1219511951 Italian F1 GP40Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo733
1119511951 German F1 GP76Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo4DNFOverheating0
1019511951 British F1 GP1Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo3DNFClutch1
919511951 French F1 GP2Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo252
819511951 Belgian F1 GP4Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo218
719511951 Swiss F1 GP22Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo234
619501950 Italian F1 GP10Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo318
519501950 French F1 GP2Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo27Fuel Pump0
419501950 Belgian F1 GP8Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo144
319501950 Swiss F1 GP16Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo219
219501950 Monaco F1 GP32Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo2DNFAccident0
119501950 British F1 GP2Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo119

Comparison

 

Nino Farina Teammate Comparison

YearTeamTeam MateBest PosPointsWinsPolesPosQuali
1950Alfa RomeoConsalvo Sanesi1238010001010
Juan Manuel Fangio11382743244334
Luigi Fagioli12302830204260
Piero Taruffi1138010001010
Reg Parnell139410101010
1951Alfa RomeoConsalvo Sanesi1415310003140
Felice Bonetto338900001340
Juan Manuel Fangio11243713053618
Luigi Fagioli514401001120
Paul Pietsch18160000000110
Toulo de Graffenried3511200004040
1952FerrariAlberto Ascari212753.506150615
André Simon463000101120
Charles de Tornaco2715000003030
Franco Comotti2126000001010
Hans Von Stuck4333000001010
Louis Rosier21015000105050
Luigi Villoresi239800001111
Peter Hirt276000202240
Peter Whitehead4103000102020
Piero Carini22012000002020
Piero Taruffi21213102204361
Roger Laurent266000001010
Roy Salvadori680000101010
Rudi Fischer22151600204260
Rudolf Schoeller2216000001010
1953FerrariAlberto Ascari114046.525063618
Jacques Swaters1714010002020
Kurt Adolff1288010001010
Louis Rosier1732010006170
Luigi Villoresi12401720007272
Max de Terra286000001010
Mike Hawthorn11322711005371
Peter Hirt2176000001010
Piero Carini2246000001010
Umberto Maglioli286000001010
1954FerrariJacques Swaters8130000001010
José Froilán González2366.500102121
Louis Rosier2166000101010
Maurice Trintignant226900101120
Mike Hawthorn2461.500101120
Umberto Maglioli296000101010
1955FerrariEugenio Castellotti2130400000101
Harry Schell3127000002020
José Froilán González223.33400020102
Luigi Villoresi21220000000010
Maurice Trintignant2116.9914.6601004343
Mike Hawthorn21100000000110
Paul Frère347300002020
Piero Taruffi387000002020
Umberto Maglioli233.332.6600001111


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