Maserati

**Maserati** was formed by the brothers Alfieri and Ettore as a tuning business in 1914, the brothers then served in the 1st World War and resumed tuning and racing cars upon their return.

The company went into partnership with Diatto, designing a Grand Prix racing car in 1925, it was never raced but Maserati decided they should make there own car and this launched their career as a GP Manufacturer.

The cars were sold to many constructors and enjoyed success on all continents.

Their greatest success came in sportscars, but their Formula One legacy was ensured with the Maserati 250F, a beautiful car that took Stirling Moss to prominence and a factory drive for Mercedes and Juan Manuel Fangio who won the World Drivers Championship at the wheel of one of these cars.

## Background

 File:1926 Maserati T26.jpg
Maserati was formed by the brothers Alfieri and Ettore as a tuning business in 1914, the brothers then served in the 1st World War the company was left in the hands of 16 year old Ernesto Maserati.

When the brothers returned from war they began to tune cars and Alfieri raced them. This led to an alliance with the Diatto company and in 1925 the Maserati Brothers designed a Grand Prix car for Diatto. It was never built and the Maseratis decided to build their own instead. The car was debuted on the Targa Florio in 1926 and won its class. They began building customer cars to help fund their own racing.

## Prior to Formula One World Championship

 File:1946 Sommer.jpg
In March 1932, Alfieri died of kidney problems and Bindo Maserati joined Ettore and Ernesto and they continued the work begun by their brother.

Winning races became harder with the advances made by Alfa Romeo and the emergence of the German cars in the mid to late 1930s, and the company faced financial trouble and Adolfo Orsi, an industrialist from Modena joined the team.

 File:1948 Viloresi.jpeg
The Maserati's left the business side of the company to be run by the savvy Orsi whilst they concentrated on engineering and enjoyed a string of Indianapolis 500 wins, although the war came and the Orsi Family gradually edged them out. As the war progressed, Maserati had to move into the production of trucks.

In 1946, the Maserati Brothers left the company and set up OSCA while the Orsi's began building roadgoing cars. Racing activities were overseen by Scuderia Milan amougst others and wins were achieved by drivers like Raymond Sommer, Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari. The cars were largely modified pre-war models but new cars were commissioned by the team and by Scuderia Ambrosiana and so the firm enjoyed considerable success in the immediate postwar era.

## Formula One World Championship

### **1950**

Maserati were heavily represented on the grid in 1950, represented by many private entries and professional racing teams and with a selection of cars:

*Maserati 4CLT/48*
 **Scuderia Ambrosiana -**
*Maserati 4CLT/48*
David Hampshire

 **Joe Fry -**
*Maserati 4CL*
 **Enrico Plate -**
*Maserati 4CLT/48*
 **Scuderia Milano -**
*Maserati 4CLT/50*
 **Scuderia Achille Varzi**-
*Maserati 4CLT/48*
Nello Pagani

 **Paul Pietsch** -
*Maserati 4CLT/48*
*Maserati 4CL*

 File:1950 Chiron.jpg
1950 brought mixed success for Maserati drivers against the dominant Alfa Romeo, the factory Talbot-Lago and the ever improving Ferrari cars points were hard to come by.

Prince Bira was the marques most successful driver in 1950, picking up points in 5th Monaco and 4th Switzerland finishing 8th in the championship. In Switzerland Maserati drivers finished 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, the other Maserati scorer was Italian Felice Bonetto.

A podium finish from Louis Chiron at his home Grand Prix in Monaco was a highlight for the Maserati team, but represented the only other points scoring position for the Italian cars in the World Championship competition.