The Glory Of Ferrari

No racing team – maybe no team of any kind – exert so powerful a hold over their fans’ emotions as do Ferrari. Richard Williams explores the myth and magic that make the Scuderia so compelling

- Richard Williams

ASCARI, the first Ferrari driver to finish on the podium at a championship grand prix. Yet this man, now buried next to his father beside a tree-lined path in Milan’s Cimiterio Municipale, is the foundation on which the Ferrari legend is based.

Ascari finished second to Juan Manuel Fangio, in an Alfa Romeo, at the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix, the second round of the inaugural series of the world championship, after half the field had been eliminated in an opening-lap pile-up. Among the unfortunate retirees were Fangio’s team-mates, Nino Farina and Luigi Fagioli, who would surely have climbed the podium alongside him had they not been caught up in one of the great carambolages in F1 history. It was an early stroke of good fortune for the infant Ferrari team, and by no means their last.

Luck has played a powerful role in the longrunning drama of the Scuderia. Good luck (and influential friends) have rescued them from the brink on more than one occasion, while its opposite provided a backdrop of tragedy and disappointment that served only to strengthen their uniquely compelling aura. But there would be no luck involved when Ascari guided his Ferrari Tipo 500 to the world title in 1952 and ’53, becoming the first man to win back-toback titles. His streak of nine consecutive race wins across those two seasons – if we discount the Indy 500, as we should – still stands, to be equalled only by Sebastian Vettel 60 years later.