Giancarlo Baghetti

Interesting facts

Born in Milan to a wealthy industrialist father, he began racing production cars in 1955 before moving into Formula Junior in 1958. Before his World Championship debut he won two non-championship Formula One races, the 1961 Syracuse Grand Prix and the Naples Grand Prix, a run of three wins from his first three starts. At the 1961 French Grand Prix at Reims, driving a privateer Ferrari 156 entered by the Italian team association FISA, he was left to uphold Ferrari's honour after the works cars of von Trips, Ginther and Hill all retired - he snatched victory from Dan Gurney's Porsche by mere metres in a dash to the line. That result made him the only driver ever to win a Formula One World Championship race on his debut, and the first Italian since 1956 to win a championship Grand Prix. Enzo Ferrari held him in such regard that he called him 'a lesser Varzi', a serious compliment given the legendary status of Italian driver Achille Varzi. He never stood on a podium again after that sensational start: in the works Ferrari's difficult 1962 season he scored just two points finishes, fourth in the Netherlands and fifth in Italy, as Ferrari fell behind the British teams. A serious crash at the 1967 Monza Formula 3 'Lottery' race ended his racing career, after which he worked as a journalist and photographer covering motorsport and fashion, and produced industrial films for Fiat. Giancarlo Baghetti raced in Formula 1 from 1961 to 1967, across 7 seasons as an Italian driver. He scored a total of 14 championship points over his career.