MEXICO CITY : Kimi Antonelli is poised to become Italy’s first Formula One world champion since Alberto Ascari won his second title with Ferrari in 1953, ending a 73-year wait for the country to produce a drivers’ champion.
The 20-year-old Mercedes driver would join Ascari and Giuseppe “Nino” Farina, who won the inaugural championship with Alfa Romeo in 1950, as Italy’s only Formula One world champions.
Few of Antonelli’s compatriots have first-hand memories of Ascari, whose 13 career victories from 32 races remain an Italian record. The legendary driver was also a childhood hero of Italian-born American Mario Andretti, the 1978 world champion.
“I know the corner in Monza is named after him,” Antonelli told Reuters when asked about his illustrious predecessor.
“I know that he was the last Italian champion. And it was a long time ago. A very, very long time ago.”
Ascari’s tragic legacy
Ascari came from a racing family, as does Antonelli. His father, Antonio Ascari, was a successful racing driver who died in a crash during the 1925 French Grand Prix at Montlhery, south of Paris.
Alberto Ascari died aged 36 in 1955 while testing a Ferrari sports car at Monza, almost exactly the same age as his father when he was killed.
Ascari had not been scheduled to drive the car that day, having gone to watch his friend Eugenio Castellotti. But he decided to take it for a spin, wearing borrowed headgear instead of his customary lucky light-blue helmet and dressed in ordinary clothes.
The car skidded and somersaulted off the track at Curva del Vialone, throwing Ascari from the vehicle. The corner has since become known to Formula One fans as Variante Ascari.
Four days earlier, Ascari had survived another serious accident at the Monaco Grand Prix, plunging his Lancia into the harbour at the chicane after the tunnel. He escaped relatively unscathed after narrowly missing an iron mooring hidden behind a hay bale.
“You have to get straight back into the saddle after an accident, otherwise doubt sets in,” Ascari was quoted as telling a friend before his fatal crash.
Tens of thousands of Italians attended his funeral, where his blue helmet rested on his coffin. He was buried beside his father.
Britain’s first world champion, Mike Hawthorn, later recalled Ascari as the fastest driver he had ever seen, even faster than Juan Manuel Fangio.
Andretti, who now sits on the board of Cadillac’s incoming Formula One team, has also spoken of his admiration for Ascari, describing him as his “absolute idol”.
“Very cool and relaxed. He sat back doing his thing, totally in control of his car. I loved that style,” Andretti said on his website.
Writing in the New York Times in April, Andretti recalled watching his first Formula One race at Monza when he was 14. Ascari did not win that day but battled against the stronger Mercedes team.
“He was my hero regardless. That’s when the dream really was cemented,” Andretti wrote.
