Eugenio Castellotti | |
|---|---|
 Castellottic. 1956 | |
| Born | (1930-10-10)10 October 1930 Lodi, Lombardy, Italy |
| Died | 14 March 1957(1957-03-14) (aged 26) Aerautodromo di Modena, Modena, Italy |
| Cause of death | Single vehicle collision whilst testing the Ferrari 801 |
| Partners | Delia Scala (eng. 1956) |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Italian |
| Active years | 1955–1957 |
| Teams | Lancia,Ferrari |
| Entries | 14 (14 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 3 |
| Careerpoints | 19.5 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1955 Argentine Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1957 Argentine Grand Prix |
Eugenio Castellotti (Italian pronunciation:[euˈdʒɛːnjokastɛˈlɔtti]; 10 October 1930 – 14 March 1957) was an Italianracing driver, who competed inFormula One at 14Grands Prix from1955 to1957. Nicknamed "il Bello",[a] Castellotti won theMille Miglia and12 Hours of Sebring, both in 1956 withFerrari.
Born and raised inLombardy, Castellotti began his career insportscar racing aged 20, driving aFerrari 166. He took his first major victory at thePortuguese Grand Prix in 1952. The following year, he won the10 Hours of Messina; he took further podiums in sportscars at theBari andMonaco Grands Prix in 1952, as well as theCarrera Panamericana in1953. Castellotti debuted inFormula One withLancia in1955, taking his maiden podium inMonaco and becoming thethen-youngest polesitter in Formula One history inBelgium, aged 24.
Castellotti contested the final three rounds of 1955 withFerrari, taking a podium at theItalian Grand Prix to clinch third in theWorld Drivers' Championship. He retained his seat in1956, securing his third career podium at theFrench Grand Prix. Amongst his Formula One duties, he continued his sportscar career, winning the12 Hours of Sebring alongsideJuan Manuel Fangio, as well as theMille Miglia in a290 MM. Remaining with Ferrari for his1957 campaign, he won the1000 km Buenos Aires. In March 1957, Castellotti died following an accident whilst testing theFerrari 801 atModena.
Castellotti was born inLodi, Italy. He acquired aFerrari 166 MM s/n 0058M at the age of twenty, from a local benefactor,[4] and began racingsports cars.[5] In 1952 he won the Portuguese Grand Prix, was third atBari and second atMonaco which was run that year for sports cars. In 1953 he won the10 Hours of Messina and finished third in theCarrera Panamericana in Mexico.[4] In 1954, he signed forLancia and again drove sports cars whilst awaiting the team's Grand Prix car.[4] He eventually made his Grand Prix debut atBuenos Aires on 16 January 1955, for Lancia, but struggled in the warmer temperatures and crashed.[4] However, he finished second atMonaco,[6] but in mid-season the team amalgamated withScuderia Ferrari, for whom Castellotti drove for the remainder of his career. He participated in 14 World Championship Grands Prix, achieving 3 podiums and scored a total of 19.5 championship points. He securedpole position, with Lancia, at the1955 Belgian Grand Prix, becoming the youngest driver to do so (at age 24 years, 7 months and 26 days), a record that stood for 13 years untilJacky Ickx's pole position at the1968 German Grand Prix.
He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races. Castellotti won the March 195612 Hours of Sebring atSebring, Florida partnered withFangio.[4] He followed this triumph by winning theMille Miglia race inBrescia and the Grand Prix for sports cars inRouen, France.[5] Castellotti's Ferrari achieved a total race time of 2 hours 10 minutes 31.1 seconds, winning the race.[7] He was also second in theNürburgring 1000 km race again partnered with Fangio.[4]
Known for his sophisticated manners and tailored clothes, Castellotti had significantly prominent media profile in Italy for his relationship with ballerina and actressDelia Scala. Castellotti and Scala were officially engaged at the time of his death.[8]
Castellotti died at 26 years old during a private Ferrari test session at theAerautodromo di Modena.[9] Castellotti was testing a newFerrari Grand Prix car for the 1957 season.[10] He had been told byEnzo Ferrari in person to test there and set a fast time, in order to beat an unofficial lap record that had just been set byJean Behra forMaserati.[11] He hit a high kerb at a chicane and was thrown out of the car; his body was hurled 100 yards (91.4 m). The car repeatedly overturned before coming to rest in the members' stand. No other people were hurt. According to physicians, Castellotti's skull fracture caused his instant death.[5]
Castellotti was considered the greatest Italian driver sinceAlberto Ascari.[5] In 1958, Castellotti's friend Giuseppe Corsi founded Scuderia Castellotti inLodi to honour his memory. The team used modified Ferrari Tipo 553 2.0-litre engines bored out to 2.5 litres and rebranded as "Castellotti", with "Eugenio" on the cam covers. The team folded in 1961 after driverGiulio Cabianca fatally crashed in the same autodrome where Castellotti had his accident. Castellotti's legacy has been honoured by Club Auto Moto Storiche Castellotti in Lodi.[12]
Major career wins (sportscars):
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Scuderia Lancia | LanciaD50 | Lancia DS50 2.5V8 | ARG Ret | MON 2 | 500 | BEL Ret | 3rd | 12 | ||||
| Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari625 | Ferrari 107 2.5L4 | GBR 6 | ||||||||||
| Ferrari555 | Ferrari 106 2.5L4 | NED 5 | ITA 3 | ||||||||||
| 1956 | Scuderia Ferrari | LanciaFerrariD50 | LanciaFerrari DS50 2.5V8 | ARG Ret | MON 4 | 500 | BEL Ret | FRA 2 | GBR 10 | GER Ret | ITA 8 | 6th | 7.5 |
| 1957 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari801 | LanciaFerrari DS50 2.5V8 | ARG Ret | MON | 500 | FRA | GBR | GER | PES | ITA | NC | 0 |
Source:[13] | |||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)(Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Scuderia Lancia | LanciaD50 | LanciaV8 | NZL | BUE | VAL 4 | PAU 2 | GLO | BOR | INT | NAP | ALB | CUR | COR | LON | DAR | RED | DAT | |||
| Scuderia Ferrari | OUT 7 | AVO | SYR | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1956 | Scuderia Ferrari | LanciaD50 | LanciaV8 | BUE Ret | GLV | SYR Ret | AIN | INT | NAP Ret | 100 | VNW | CAE | SUS | BRH | |||||||
| 1957 | Scuderia Ferrari | LanciaD50 | LanciaV8 | BUE 5 | SYR | PAU | GLV | NAP | RMS | CAE | INT | MOD | MOR |
Nei primi mesi del 1957 il nome di Castellotti compare sui giornali non per le sue imprese sportive, ma per la sua discussa relazione con la soubrette Delia Scala
| Preceded by | Formula One fatal accidents 14 March 1957 | Succeeded by |
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Youngest Grand Prix polesitter 24 years, 238 days (1955 Belgian Grand Prix) | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
