Luigi Musso

Musso was born in Rome and began his racing career driving sports cars before making his début on the Formula One circuit on 17 January 1954, driving a Maserati. In 1954 he won the Coppa Acerbo, a non-championship Formula One race. At Zandvoort, in the 1955 Dutch Grand Prix, Musso placed third in a Maserati.Fangio Captures Dutch Grand Prix, Long Beach Independent, June 20, 1955, Page 15. At the end of the 1955 Formula 1 season he switched to Ferrari. He shared victory in the 1956 Argentine Grand Prix with Juan Manuel Fangio, however his season was cut short after a crash in a sports car race at Nürburgring.

Musso triumphed in a Ferrari 290 MM in the City of Buenos 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 by Eugenio Castellotti, came in third. The Ferrari team gained eight points toward the 1957 World Sports Car Championship in the event.Ferraris Nip Maserati, Lima, Ohio News, January 21, 1957, Page 19. The same year he won the Grand 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. With Olivier Gendebien he won the 1958 Targa Florio driving a Ferrari Testa Rossa. Later in the year he shared a 4-litre modified Formula One Ferrari 412 MI with Phil Hill and Mike Hawthorn in the 2nd Race 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 drivers Mike Hawthorn and Peter 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.

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."Williams, Richard, Richard Williams Talks to Fiamma Breschi, the Woman Behind Enzo Ferrari, The Guardian, 22 January 2004

Musso was fatally injured during the 1958 French Grand Prix at Reims when his Ferrari hurtled off the course on the 10th lap of the 50 lap race.Luigi Musso Is Killed In Race Crash, Fresno Bee Republican, July 7, 1958, Page19 Running wide at the tricky Gueux Curve while chasing the leader, fellow Ferrari driver Mike Hawthorn, Musso's Ferrari struck a ditch and somersaulted.Hawthorn in Race Victory, Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1958, Page C4 Musso was airlifted to hospital with critical head injuries and died later that day. Hawthorn went on to win the race.

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

:* Shared drive with Sergio Mantovani.

:† Shared drive with Sergio Mantovani and Harry Schell.

:‡ Shared drive with Juan Manuel Fangio.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

(Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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Category:1924 births

Category:1958 deaths

Category:Italian Formula One drivers

Category:Maserati Formula One drivers

Category:Ferrari Formula One drivers

Category:Formula One race winners

Category:Italian racing drivers

Category:Racing drivers who died while racing

Category:Racing drivers from Rome

Category:Sport deaths in France

Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers

Category:World Sportscar Championship drivers