Giuseppe Farina

Emilio Giuseppe "Nino" Farina (; 30 October 1906 in Turin, , Piedmont, Italy – 30 June 1966 in Chambéry, Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France) was an Italian racing driver from Turin. He is notable for winning the very first Formula One race and the season that it was part of, thus Farina is the first Formula One winner and the first Formula One World Champion. 
==Early Years==
On the same day of young Giuseppe Farina's birth, Giuseppe's father, Giovanni had established Stabilimente Farina, a bodywork shop for cars, located in the famous manufacturing city of Turin, Italy. The young Giuseppe, affectionately known as 'Nino' grew up in an automotive environment with his Giovanni owning a bodywork business and uncle Pinin owning one of Italy's most prolific coach building companies, Pininfarina.
Farina's first experience in a car came when he drove his father's car around his company factory at the age of nine years old. His appetite for motoring ventures was further whetted when his uncle Pinin asked him to accompany him as a co-driver in road races at the age of 16. After three years of racing as Pinin's co-driver, young Giuseppe began entering solo events at age 19. In one of his first solo races, young Nino, survived an enormous accident in a hill climb, this crash would set a worrying trend in Farina's career.
Giuseppe Farina was both highly athletically and academically inclined. Aside from motorsports Farina had the athletic qualities of being a fast runner and being strong in football and skiing. Farina also received a Doctorate of Law at the Turin University demonstrating his academic ability.
In the early 1930s Farina completed his mandatory military service as a cavalry officer in the Italian army. Following the completing of his military service in 1932, Farina returned to his racing bug and purchased an old Alfa Romeo to compete in local race events and hillclimbs. 
== 1933-1956: Grand Prix Career ==
=== 1933-1935: Early Grand Prix years ===
After two years in the Italian army as a cavalry officer, Farina left the military to pursue other interests. Farina's marked academic ability was demonstrated during this time when he gained a PhD in Political Science during this period. Between 1933 and 1934, Farina's main profession was practicing as a lawyer. Motor racing at this period of his life, was little more than an expensive hobby. In 1933, Farina competed in a few Italian hillclimbs and sports car races, however his motorsport involvement was not prolific during this time and no significant results were recorded in this period. 
However, in 1934, Farina began to advance his motor racing activities. Farina joined a Voiturette racing team, the equivalent of a feeder series to grand prix racing of the era called Scuderia Subalpina. The team owned by a pair of Italian counts, Count Lurani and Count Castelbarco hired Farina as their third driver. Farina competed in seven Voiturette and Grand Prix events throughout the year. Starting the season in an old Alfa Romeo 8C, Farina found it difficult to distinguish himself, the voiturette unable to compete with the grand prix cars he was racing against. However he was consistently finishing among the top Voiturette cars in the races and consistently outperforming his more experienced teammates.
Mid-season, the team transitioned to using the more competitive Maserati 4CM, this car finally allowed Farina's talent to shine through. At the Biella Grand Prix, Farina took a commanding victory in the Voiturette class, the next race at the Czech Grand Prix he once again dominated the field in his Maserati. Farina's final race of the season for the Naples Grand Prix saw him finish fourth, being defeated only by the grand prix class cars. Farina's late season performance in 1934 saw him catch the eye of many of the top Italian racing teams, the great Tazio Nuvolari was one of his more notable admirers from this period.
In 1935, Farina finally made the decision to dedicate himself full-time to motor racing. He quit his regular job as a lawyer while him and his Scuderia Subalpina team made the advance to the grand prix class. Farina had established himself as a man to watch in 1934, during this time he had developed his signature laid-back and relaxed driving style as opposed to the hunched over the steering wheel style that was the norm of the era. 
The Subalpina team were the leading entries for the cars in 1935, the team started the season with the Maserati 6C-34, however the car proved to be uncompetitive and struggled to match their Italian rivals and was way off the German leaders of and . However, despite the slow and unreliable machinery at hand, Farina was able to consistently outmatch his numerous rivals who had the same machinery where he remained challenging the tails of the top three manufacturers. A late season upgrade to the Maserati V8-RI chassis did not improve fortunes, the car being even less reliable than the 6C-34 version. 
Whilst Farina's first season in the grand prix category proved to be difficult, he had also embarked on a second season in Voiturette racing. Farina once again used the competitive, Maserati 4CM chassis, however like in grand prix racing, the Maserati's were being outclassed by the Scuderia Ferrari entered Alfa Romeo's. However, despite his inferior machinery, Farina seemed to be the only-non Alfa driver in contention for wins. Italy's top racing driver, Tazio Nuvolari, seemed untouchable however Farina had chased Nuvolari hard to the flag to finish second at the Bergamo Grand Prix and then at the Biella Grand Prix, he briefly took the lead from the Alfa Romeo ace before eventually going on to finish third. Farina was beginning to demonstrate that he was a highly capable driver given the right machinery and had the capacity to fight among the best given the chance. 
=== 1936-1940: First venture with Scuderia Ferrari / Alfa Romeo ===
==== 1936 ====
Farina had proved over the past two years that he was a driver worthy to be fighting among the best in Grand Prix racing, Tazio Nuvolari, the man that had dominated Italian motorsport in recent years and one of the few drivers capable of challenging the technical dominance of the German cars of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union was a keen fan of Farina, believing him to be Italy's new hope of challenging the Germans. Nuvolari approached his team boss, Enzo Ferrari the man running the Italian Alfa Romeo's under the banner of Scuderia Ferrari determined to sign Farina as his number two driver for 1936. Ferrari, determined to beat the German manufacturers quickly signed Farina to his team for the new season. Farina had finally acquired a top drive in motorsport where he would begin a period under the mentorship of Tazio Nuvolari, Italy's greatest driver. This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship, where the two drivers would gain mutual respect for one another in and out of the car. 
During practice for the first race in Monaco, Farina found it difficult to compete with the Mercedes and Auto Union cars, starting ninth on the grid faster than all the Alfa drivers except Nuvolari who had remarkably managed to put his car second on the grid. There was drama in the Alfa team before the race, teammate Antonio Brivia's car was leaking fuel before the race, the team therefore swapped him into fourth driver, Mario Tadini's car before the start to allow their third driver to have a competitive advantage. Tadini meanwhile was transferred into Brivia's leaking car. Unbelievably Ferrari sent Tadini out on the circuit despite his car leaking fuel all over the circuit. After one lap, Tadini had dropped oil all over the circuit. As the cars entered Tabac for the second lap, Louis Chiron was the first to spin out on Tadini's oil and landed in the hay bales. Farina who was following Chiron was not so lucky and slammed into the concrete barrier at full speed, destroying his car. Another three cars would crash out on the oil behind the pair. Farina remarkably exited his car without injuries, it was a dismal start to his career as an Alfa driver. 
After a lucky escape in Monaco, Farina was to have yet another enormous accident only a few weeks later. Farina whilst at Monza was testing the new Alfa Romeo 8C when after pushing the boundaries of the car too much, he spun off the circuit, crashed and was thrown from the cockpit. Farina, once again had another serious accident, unlike in Monaco he was not so lucky and was kept out of the cockpit for a number of races due to injury, missing the Tripoli and Tunis races. Nuvolari would also injure himself in practice for the Tripoli event. It had been a dismal start to the year for Alfa Romeo, their drivers being involved in a number of serious incidents. 
Their fortunes were to be improved at Penya Rhin however, Farina after a poor qualifying only managed the back row of the grid. However, in the race he managed a storming drive, managing to get past nearly all the Mercedes and Auto Union cars. Teammate Nuvolari dominated the race to take a convincing victory whilst Farina took third, unable to dispense only the Mercedes of Rudolf Caracciola. Some satisfactory results followed with a fourth at the Eiffel GP and a third at the Milan race. Farina was well capable of fighting amongst the leading Mercedes and Auto Union cars but only Nuvolari at this stage truly had the capability of challenging for victories. Farina remained content to learn from the great Italian maestro. 
At a minor race called the Deauville Grand Prix, Farina would begin a reputation that would solidify throughout his career as a quick but truly ruthless driver on the circuit. Farina up against a field of mainly Voiturette cars was expected to take a convincing win in the race. Determined to do well, Farina was up against René Dreyfus, a quick and formidable driver who was looking to establish himself within the Ferrari team as a rival to Farina. It would turn out to be a tragic race, Dreyfus retired early on in the race allowing Farina to take a commanding lead. In the early laps, Maserati driver Albert Chambost was killed. Farina, oblivious to the tragedy, raced on, leading the race from Jean-Pierre Wimille and Marcel Lehoux. Farina came in for an early pit-stop which dropped him to third. Farina began a storming comeback and was quickly approaching Wimille and Lehoux ahead of him. Farina, out of patience and determined to get his first win for Alfa, made a move of Lehoux's which would have tragic consequences for his rival. The ill-fated move saw Farina slam into Lehoux, sending them both off the circuit. Lehoux's car spun and rolled, before bursting into flames killing the Frenchman. Farina exited his Alfa injured but alive, unlike poor Lehoux. The ambitious move from Farina had cost him the race and caused the second fatality of the day
It would prove to be a difficult end to the season for Farina, at the Coppa Acerbo, Swiss Grand Prix and Italian Grand Prix, Farina was ruled out of the running due to mechanical failure. Farina managed a third at the Modena Grand Prix but finished behind teammates Nuvolari and Tadini. It had been a hard year for Farina, his undoubted speed gave way to some mistakes and he was unable to shake the dominance of Nuvolari within the Ferrari team. Whilst being the only Alfa Romeo pilot capable of running with Nuvolari consistently, he was accident prone and reckless, a dark lesson for the young Italian to learn following his terrifying accident with Lehoux. Nuvolari, however continued to encourage and push his young teammate, the team hoping for better fortunes in 1937.
==== 1937 ====
1936 had been a trying year for Farina, the fatal accident with Lehoux had cost his reputation dear. During the pre-season there were rumours that Ferrari manager, Enzo Ferrari was trying to sign the other two great Italian drivers, Luigi Fagioli and Achille Varzi to the team for the new season. This would effectively force Farina out of the team. However Varzi would go on to semi-retirement whilst Fagioli continued to compete for the German Auto Union squad. It was a trying time for Farina, however Nuvolari continued to hold faith in Farina and convinced Ferrari to retain him alongside Antonio Brivio for the new season.
Scuderia Ferrari became a semi-works operation for Alfa Romeo when Alfa bought 80% of Enzo Ferrari's team that year, Ferrari would however remain in charge of the Italian squad, however. Alfa Romeo were developing a new superpowered engine, the Tipo 12C/37 in order to compete with the Mercedes and Auto Union who increased in their dominance in 1936.
The season started with a minor event at the Turin Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo were expected to win, facing only a field of Voiturettes as opposition. However, during practice, Nuvolari suffered an accident which saw him have such serious injuries, his ability to compete for the rest of the season was put in to question. A dark mood surrounded the Alfa camp as Brivio took pole with Farina alongside him. Farina took an early lead and looked set to take the victory, however overheating issues saw him drop behind Brivio forcing him to settle for second place in the race.
The next race for the Naples Grand Prix, Farina finally took his first victory for Alfa Romeo. Another minor race which saw a number of Alfa Romeos competing against Voiturettes. Farina dominated the event, taking pole position and an early lead which would see him become virtually untouchable throughout the race, taking a dominant win that was likened to his teammate Nuvolari.
The Tripoli Grand Prix saw for the first time that season the Alfa Romeos going up against the new Mercedes and Auto Union cars. The Alfa squad would also enter its new 12C/37 designed by Vittorio Jano for the first time. It was hoped that this new car would finally allow the Italians to get ahead of their German rivals. Unfortunately the car's performance was absolutely dismal, neither Farina or even Nuvolari could match the pace of the Auto Union's and Mercedes. Nuvolari retired, whilst Farina could only manage ninth, a long way off the pace of the German manufacturers. The team was dejected at the performance, Nuvolari in particular who was beginning to question his will to continue with the team.
This worrying prospect saw the Alfas pull out of the AVUS Grand Prix in order to continue to test and develop their seriously underperforming new car. For the Eiffelrenen Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, the team reverted to the old 36 chassis whilst they tried to work out the problems of the new car. Both Nuvolari and Farina underperformed, Nuvolari could only manage a distant fourth whilst Farina retired with mechanical problems. The old outdated 36 chassis was no match for the new German machinery on home turf. 
A minor race on the streets of Milan was the next venue for the Milano Grand Prix. The Alfa Romeo squad was expected to win, Farina, Nuvolari and third driver Carlo Felice Trossi were up against a single Auto Union car driven by Rudolf Hasse and a series of less competitive Maseratis and private or voiturette Alfas. Farina, who had never driven the circuit before, struggled in practice and only managed fifth on the grid whilst Nuvolari took pole. Farina got a lightning start and took the lead at the first corner, however it was not long before the Alfa number one Nuvolari reclaimed the lead at the end of the first lap. Farina then dropped behind teammate Trossi on lap 14 before dropping a further place behind Hasse's Auto Union ten laps later when he spun off the circuit. Trossi was forced into the pits with mechanical troubles allowing Farina back into third. He then began a spectacular duel with Rudolf Hasse's Auto Union, finally getting past the German and back into second on lap 46. After a strong comeback drive, Farina went on to take second behind teammate Nuvolari who once again dominated the field. 
Farina then crossed the Atlantic for the first time to compete in the US for the Vanderbilt Cup in New York. Both Nuvolari and Farina were representing Scuderia Ferrari and were up against the Germans of Auto Union and Mercedes to compete against Ferrari and various assortments of the best American machinery. The American cars were well off the pace but the Ferrari-Alfa Romeo's who were still using the old 36 car were no match for the German machinery. Nuvolari and Farina were fifth and sixth on the grid, Nuvolari in particular was becoming frustrated at the lack of competitiveness of the Alfas and the slow development of the 37 chassis. The race saw little success for the Alfa's, the Germans once again dominating. Nuvolari retired early and as team leader took over Farina's car. The shared drive between Nuvolari and Farina saw the duo finish a disappointing fifth behind the Germans and more embarrassingly, American driver Rex Mays who was driving an even more outdated Alfa Romeo 35 chassis. 
The Alfa Romeo squad returned to Europe in a somewhat dejected mood, the next race would be on their main rivals home territory for the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. Farina had a dismal practice only managing thirteenth on the grid. Nuvolari was fourth but still way off the pace of the leading Mercedes and Auto Union cars. It was a dismal race for Farina, retiring with ignition problems on the eighteenth lap whilst Nuvolari managed a distant fourth position. 
For the next race at Monaco, Farina was expected to lead the Ferrari squad, a frustrated Nuvolari pulled out of the race to continue development of the 37 chassis Alfa Romeo. Called in to replace Nuvolari was Antonio Brivio. Farina had done a good job in practice to beat the Mercedes of Geoffredo Zehender and the Auto Union of Rudolf Hasse to sixth on the grid, however he was still a long way off the top German drivers. Teammate Brivio was well down the order in thirteenth. In the race Farina did the best he could to compete with the Germans, however once again the Alfa Romeo was not quite up to the task. He fought hard to defend his fifth place from Zehender's Mercedes, however eventually Farina had to settle for sixth position in the final standings, losing out to the superior Mercedes car. Nonetheless, Farina showed strong leadership for Ferrari with team leader Nuvolari unavailable. 
In September 1937, Alfa Romeo took full ownership of the Scuderia Ferrari team. Scuderia Ferrari now called 'Alfa Corse' had become a full-works team, a bid by Alfa Romeo to help increase the team's competitiveness after a lack of success against the works German manufacturers of Mercedes and Auto Union. Enzo Ferrari remained team manager but had lost his ownership of the team. With the team's new start, they were finally ready to give new designer Vittorio Jano's 12C/37 a second chance, the car being completely redesigned since its debut in Tripoli. The restructured Alfa Romeo team had to perform, their lead and most valued driver Tazio Nuvolari was considering defecting to the German teams after a lack of performance from the Alfa squad. 
The second debut of the 37 chassis came at the Coppa Accerbo. Nuvolari and Farina opted to share a car rather than compete against each other for the car's debut. A second car was entered for reserve driver Raymond Sommer. However it was a disappointing debut for the 37 chassis, the car seemed to have little improvement from its first entry and the Germans remained the fastest cars on track. The shared car of Farina and Nuvolari could only manage fifth on the grid with Sommer one position behind. To make matters worse both cars retired with mechanical issues before the completion of the first ten laps. The German manufacturers had dominated once again.
The 37 chassis had been a catastrophic failure and Tazio Nuvolari fed up with Alfa Romeo's lack of performance defected to the Auto Union squad for the next race at the Swiss Grand Prix. With the loss of Nuvolari, Farina became Alfa Romeo's new lead driver with Raymond Sommer promoted to second driver. Alfa Romeo sheepishly returned to their 36 chassis, the 37 being both unreliable and uncompetitive. Farina qualified eighth on the grid, one place ahead of Sommer and only one place behind Nuvolari whose Auto Union debut had not gone to plan. Farina started the race way off the pace to the German cars and then went on to retire early on. Teammate Sommer finished but was nowhere near the pace of the Germans.
After a one off race for Auto Union which failed to go to plan, Nuvolari was persuaded to return to Alfa Romeo for the Italian Grand Prix. The event was moved from Monza to Livorno, the Italians believing it would give a better chance for Alfa Romeo to challenge the Germans as Nuvolari had beat them on the same circuit the previous year. Nonetheless, the change of circuit and five works Alfa Romeo cars entering the race was not enough to stop the German juggernaut. Trossi managed a strong seventh on the grid, Nuvolari was ninth whilst Farina could only manage tenth. In the race Farina retired early with mechanical issues, Nuvolari in the leading Alfa was stuck battling in the mid-field. With the season and the Italian squad's home performance being a dismal failure, Nuvolari frustratingly pulled into the pits and handed his car over to Farina. Nuvolari making the final decision to quit the team there and then. Farina man-handled Nuvolari's old 36 chassis to seventh place, the leading Italian car but once again they had been trumped by the Mercedes and Auto Union cars.
Remarkably it was not Nuvolari but Farina who had produced the most successful results for Alfa Romeo in 1937. Nuvolari undoubtedly remained the quickest of the pair, however frustration and a lack of attendance to multiple racing events in 1937 had seen Nuvolari lose out. Farina had matured after his reckless and shaky start to his Alfa Romeo career in 1937 and was overall the most consistent driver at getting results for Alfa Romeo. As Farina had provided the best results for an Italian in an Italian car it led to him being named the 1937 Italian Drivers' Champion, taking the title from the revered Nuvolari. It had been a disappointing season for Alfa Romeo, yet Farina was proving his worth as one of grand prix's quickest racing drivers. 
==== 1938 ====
1937 had been a horrid year for the Alfa Romeo squad. The team had gone through a transitional period returning to a full-works squad after buying out the semi-works Scuderia Ferrari. Their proud team leader Tazio Nuvolari had lost faith in the team after their dismal 12C/37 chassis. Lead designer Vittorio Jano was sacked by Alfa Romeo and a new chassis designed by Gioacchino Colombo and Wilfredo Ricart called the Alfa Romeo Tipo 308 was introduced for the start of the new season. Farina remained faithful to the Alfa Romeo squad whilst Enzo Ferrari persuaded a skeptical Tazio Nuvolari to give the Alfa squad one more chance. 
However it seemed to be another season started in crisis for the Alfa Romeo team. Nuvolari whilst testing the new 308 car at the first race for the Pau Grand Prix crashed the car where it proceeded to burst into flames. An enraged Nuvolari announced he would never drive for Alfa Romeo again and quit the team to join Auto Union for 1938.
This left Farina to finally take charge as a permanent number one driver at Alfa Romeo, leading the charge of the Italian manufacturer against the Germans. Farina's first race of the season was the Tripoli Grand Prix. The 308 chassis had already been disgarded by Alfa's lead drivers and had been replaced by the Alfa Romeo Tipo 312. Alfa Romeo entered five cars to compete against the three Mercedes-Benz's in the race. The Mercedes remained the fastest cars on track, the Alfa's still had not made enough of an improvement to make up the deficit to the Germans. Farina's new teammate Clemente Biondetti outmatched him in qualifying managing a fourth to Farina's fifth. The duo being once again outclassed by the three Mercedes. Farina made an excellent start to move into second behind Hermann Lang, however the more powerful Mercedes cars of Rudolf Caracciola and Manfred von Brauchitsch soon moved past. Carlo Felice Trossi who had now joined Maserati was running well in their new car and soon overtook Farina as well. The Maserati's, Alfa's Italian rivals who had played second fiddle to Alfa for a number of years had seemed to make a gain with their new 8CTF chassis. 
Whilst Farina was chasing in fourth position, he would on lap 13 be involved in another great tragedy. Whilst coming up to lap the backmarker Maserati of Voiturette racer László Hartmann, Hartmann made a slight mistake and went wide. Farina seeing an opportunity to get passed attempted a move up the inside, only to slam into Hartmann's Maserati. The two cars crashed off the circuit with both drivers being thrown from their vehicles. Farina walked away with cuts and bruises, Hartmann however was not so lucky and had broke his back, the injury being so severe it saw his death the next morning. The incident was eerily similar to the accident that had killed Marcel Lehoux two years earlier. Farina's determined on track nature had seen another death on the circuit, he had become not only a respected racing driver but one also to be feared by his competitors.
The first major race of the season was the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. It was to be the first true test of the Alfa Romeo 312 against the power of Mercedes and Auto Union. Practice was another frustrating day for Alfa Romeo as Farina and Biondetti could only manage ninth and tenth on the grid. The duo were behind all the Mercedes and Auto Union cars, the new car's development had once again been unable to trounce the Germans. Biondetti crashed on the first lap whilst Farina retired with mechanical troubles on the second, it was another difficult weeekend for Alfa Romeo.
Like the 308 before it, the 312 chassis had proven to be a failure. For the Coppa Ciano race, Farina brought a new model of the car, called the 316. The car had a 16-cylinder engine, however the car that was expected to be the true replacement of the 37 chassis of the previous year was the 158 Alfetta in which in a minor race had dominated the field. Farina qualified in fourth, a place ahead of teammate Jean-Pierre Wimille. A frustrating result starting behind the Mercedes cars of Lang and Caracciola, however it was Carlo Felice Trossi in the Maserati that took pole. The 316 chassis proved to be somewhat more competitive, Farina moved into second position at the start behind Hermann Lang. Farina was able to hold second position until Von Brauchitsch finally moved past to take second place. Farina finished behind Von Brauchitsch and Lang in third place, however he was classified in second when Von Brauchitsch was subsequently disqualified.  
The next event at Pescara for the Coppa Acerbo saw Farina revert to the Tipo 312. He was yet again unable to match the pace, starting from sixth behind the five German cars. He would yield a strong result when he finished second to Rudolf Caraccoiola after Lang, Von Brauchitsch and Nuvolari broke down.  
The Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten was the next venue. 
=== ===
=== 1940-1945: Life during the Second World War ===
Farina and Alfa Romeo went on to become Italian drivers champion three years in a row from 1937 to 1939.
Farina was reaching his peak as WWII broke out but enjoyed post war success driving a privately owned Maserati in which he won the 1948 Monaco Grand Prix.
===1950===
For 1950 Nino Farina was one of the factory drivers that would dominate the season right from the first GP at Silverstone which Farina won with ease and took the championship leader whilst his teammates and rival Luigi Fagioli came second and Juan Manuel Fangio retired.
The second race of the season was at Monaco and Farina made a slower start than Fangio entering the first corner in second position. As they entered the Tabac corner on the harbour front they found it had been flooded by a strong wave and although Fangio found his way through, Farina spun and was involved in a multi-car pile-up. Fangio won the race as Farina retired levelling the championship.
The championship competitors skipped Indianapolis and met again at Bremgarten for the fourth round which proved a dominant flag to flag victory for Farina, Fangio retiring whilst running second.
By the Belgium GP, Farina had 18 points, Fagioli 12 and Fangio 9 and Farina had started thinking about the championship. When he started developing clutch problems he decided to just bring the car home in the points rather than race Fangio and brought the car home fourth as Fangio took the win.
At Reims for the French GP Farina looked formidable as he was in Switzerland, searing off the front at a pace nobody could match. But sadly, during his second pitstop, he was delayed with fuel pump issues, and could only manage seventh place.
As the cars arrived at the final GP of the season at Monza, Farina was no longer leading the championship and was four points behind Fangio and two behind Fagioli. Farina would have to win the race and hope that Fangio scored lower than second.
 had brought a new car to the GP and as the flag dropped it was Farina and Alberto Ascari leading the race. The new Ferrari had better fuel consumption than the Alfa and when Farina pitted Ascari surged into the lead until his new engine blew on lap 20. At this point Farina now had a 2-minute lead and started cruising.
Fangio was driving a cautious race in third and with the retirement of Ascari was in a title winning position which lasted only 2 laps when his car retired with gearbox troubles.
Fangio took over a teammates car but retired that too, leaving Farina an easy win over Fagioli and the world title.
===1951===
==Formula One Statistical Overview==
===F1 Career History===
Year 	Entrant 	Team 	Pts 	WDC Pos. 	Report
Pre-Championship 	Pre-Championship 	Pre-Championship 	Pre-Championship 	Pre-Championship 	Pre-Championship
1935 	Gino Rovere 	 	36 	21st 	Report
1936 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	26 	14th 	Report
1937 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	28 	7th 	Report
1938 	Alfa Corse 	 	21 	8th 	Report
1939 	Alfa Corse 	 	25 	13th 	Report
1940 	Alfa Corse 	 	No Grand Prix Championship 	No Grand Prix Championship 	No Grand Prix Championship
1941–1945: Did Not Compete 	1941–1945: Did Not Compete 	1941–1945: Did Not Compete 	1941–1945: Did Not Compete 	1941–1945: Did Not Compete 	1941–1945: Did Not Compete
1946 	Alfa Romeo SpA 	 	No Grand Prix Championship 	No Grand Prix Championship 	No Grand Prix Championship
1947: Did Not Compete 	1947: Did Not Compete 	1947: Did Not Compete 	1947: Did Not Compete 	1947: Did Not Compete 	1947: Did Not Compete
1948 	Scuderia Milano 	 	No Formula One Championship 	No Formula One Championship 	No Formula One Championship
1949 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	No Formula One Championship 	No Formula One Championship 	No Formula One Championship
Formula One World Championship	Formula One World Championship	Formula One World Championship	Formula One World Championship	Formula One World Championship	Formula One World Championship
1950 	Alfa Romeo SpA 	 	30 	 	Report
1951 	Alfa Romeo SpA 	 	19 (22) 	4th 	Report
1952 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	24 (27) 	 	Report
1953 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	26 (32) 	 	Report
1954 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	6 	8th 	Report
1955 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	10 	5th 	Report
1956 	Bardahl 	 	0 	NC 	Report
1957 	 	 	0 	NC 	Report
Note: Points in parentheses refer to gross points total.
===Statistics===
Entries 	36
Starts 	33
Shared drives 	4
Pole positions 	5
Front Row Starts	27
Victories 	5
Podia 	19 (20)*
Fastest laps 	5
Points 	115 (127)
Laps raced 	1806
kms raced 	12227.854
Races led 	14
Laps led 	336
kms led 	2651.065
Doubles 	1
Hat-tricks 	1
Grand Chelems 	0
* In two shared drives at the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix, he finished both second and third, technically recording two podium finishes.
===Wins===
No.	Race
1 	1950 British Grand Prix
2 	1950 Swiss Grand Prix
3 	1950 Italian Grand Prix
4 	1951 Belgian Grand Prix
5 	1953 German Grand Prix
===Non-Championship Wins===
No.	Race
1 	1937 Naples Grand Prix
2 	1946 Nations Grand Prix
3 	1948 Monaco Grand Prix
4 	1948 Nations Grand Prix
5 	1948 Garda Grand Prix
6 	1949 Lausanne Grand Prix
7 	1950 Bari Grand Prix
8 	1950 BRDC International Trophy
9 	1951 Paris Grand Prix
10 	1951 Ulster Trophy
11 	1951 Goodwood Trophy
12 	1952 Naples Grand Prix
13 	1952 Monza Grand Prix
14 	1953 Naples Grand Prix
15 	1953 Rouen Grand Prix
16 	1954 Syracuse Grand Prix
===Career Results===
* Shared drive.
† Farina finished both 2nd (with Maurice Trintignant and José Froilán González) and 3rd (with Umberto Maglioli and Trintignant). He received a third of the points for both.
Farina died in a car crash 1966 while going to a grand prix, he was 59. Enzo Ferrari himself would say how he was a true man of steel.
==Positions and Records held==
Positions held 	Positions held 	Positions held
Preceded byNone	World Champion1950	Succeeded byJuan Manuel Fangio
Category:World Championship Winning Drivers
Category:Italian Drivers
Category:1906 births
Category:1966 deaths
Category:1950 Début Drivers
Category:Alfa Romeo Drivers
Category:Ferrari Drivers
Category:Kurtis Kraft Drivers
 
Category:Pre-war drivers
Category:Deceased Drivers