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Luigi Musso | |
|---|---|
 Musso at the1957 Argentine Grand Prix | |
| Born | (1924-07-28)28 July 1924 |
| Died | 6 July 1958(1958-07-06) (aged 33) Reims, France |
| Cause of death | Injuries sustained at the 1958 French Grand Prix |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Italian |
| Active years | 1953–1958 |
| Teams | Maserati,Ferrari |
| Entries | 25 (24 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 7 |
| Careerpoints | 44 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 1953 Italian Grand Prix |
| First win | 1956 Argentine Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1958 French Grand Prix |
Luigi Musso (28 July 1924 – 6 July 1958) was an Italianracing driver, who competed inFormula One from1953 to1958. Musso won the1956 Argentine Grand Prix withFerrari.
Born inRome, Musso started his career insportscar racing before progressing to Formula One in1953 withMaserati at theItalian Grand Prix. He returned in1954, finishing second at theSpanish Grand Prix to score his maiden podium finish. Musso raced full-time for Maserati in1955, repeating his podium feat at theDutch Grand Prix. After three seasons at Maserati, he joined rivals Ferrari in1956. On debut for Ferrari, Musso won theArgentine Grand Prix alongsideJuan Manuel Fangio,[a] completing 30 of the 98 laps, but his season was curtailed after a sportscar crash at theNürburgring. During his time at Ferrari, Musso entered into a fierce rivalry with British driversMike Hawthorn andPeter Collins. Multiple podiums followed in1957, as Musso beat both Hawthorn and Collins to third in theWorld Drivers' Championship, amongst winning the1000km Buenos Aires in theWorld Sportscar Championship.
During the1958 French Grand Prix atReims,Musso died whilst chasing Hawthorn, when hisFerrari 246 went airborne and critically injured him. He achieved one win, one fastest lap and seven podiums in Formula One, as well as threenon-championship race victories.
Musso was born inRome and began his racing career drivingsports cars before making his début on theFormula One circuit on 17 January 1954, driving aMaserati. In 1954 he won theCoppa Acerbo, a non-championship Formula One race. AtZandvoort, in the1955 Dutch Grand Prix, Musso placed third in a Maserati.[1] At the end of the 1955 Formula 1 season he switched toFerrari. He shared victory in the1956 Argentine Grand Prix withJuan Manuel Fangio, however his season was cut short after a crash in a sports car race atNürburgring.
Musso triumphed in aFerrari 290 MM in the City ofBuenos Aires sports car race on 20 January 1957. He was the third driver of the car.Stirling Moss finished second in a 'light powered'Maserati 300S. Moss made a last-ditch effort for his team at the end but came up short. A second Ferrari 290 MM, driven byEugenio Castellotti, came in third. The Ferrari team gained eight points toward the 1957 World Sports Car Championship in the event.[2] The same year he won theGrand Prix de la Marne. Although the Marne was also not part of the Drivers' Championship, Musso nevertheless finished third in the overall standings for the season. WithOlivier Gendebien he won the 1958Targa Florio driving aFerrari Testa Rossa. Later in the year he shared a 4-litre modified Formula OneFerrari 412 MI with Phil Hill and Mike Hawthorn in the 2ndRace of Two Worlds on the Monza banked oval. They finished 3rd overall in a car that gave way to the purpose-built American oval-track racing cars.
Many years after Musso's death, Fiamma Breschi, Musso's girlfriend at the time of his death, revealed the nature of Musso's rivalry with fellow team Ferrari driversMike Hawthorn andPeter Collins in a television documentary,The Secret Life of Enzo Ferrari. Breschi recalled that the antagonism between them encouraged all three to take more risks. She said: "The Englishmen (Hawthorn and Collins) had an agreement. Whichever of them won, they would share the winnings equally. It was the two of them against Luigi, who was not part of the agreement. Strength comes in numbers, and they were united against him. This antagonism was actually favourable rather than damaging to Ferrari. The faster the drivers went, the more likely it was that a Ferrari would win." Breschi related that at the time of his death, Musso was in debt, and thus winning the French Grand Prix (traditionally the largest monetary prize of the season) was all-important to him.[3]
Within a year, Collins and Hawthorn were also dead, and Breschi could not suppress a feeling of release. She said: "I had hated them both, first because I was aware of certain facts that were not right, and also because when I came out of the hospital and went back to the hotel, I found them in the square outside the hotel, laughing and playing a game of football with an empty beer-can. So when they died, too, it was liberating for me. Otherwise I would have had unpleasant feelings towards them for ever. This way I could find a sense of peace."[3]
Musso was fatally injured during the1958 French Grand Prix atReims when his Ferrari hurtled off the course on the tenth lap of the 50 lap race.[4] Running wide at the trickyGueux Curve while chasing the leader, fellow Ferrari driver Mike Hawthorn, Musso's Ferrari struck a ditch and somersaulted.[5] Musso was airlifted to hospital with critical head injuries and died later that day. Hawthorn went on to win the race.
(key) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)(Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Preceded by | Formula One fatal accidents 6 July 1958 | Succeeded by |
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