The best drivers of the 1950s to never win an F1 title: Luigi Villoresi

Luigi Villoresi came agonisingly close to winning in F1 but struggled to convert strong performances during his career.

Beginning racing professionally in 1937, Luigi Villoresi would have a prestigious career in motor racing. His first professional race was in Tripoli in 1937. Next was the 1938 Italian Grand Prix. Suffering mechanical issues in the race, he qualified 12th on the grid, two-tenths behind fellow Maserati Carlo Felice Trossi. He would also race in the 1939 German Grand Prix but retired after a collision. He had qualified 11th.

Just after the war, Villoresi won many races. In 1946, he won the Nice Grand Prix, and in 1947, he won Buenos Aires twice, Nimes, Nice, Alsace, and Lausanne. In 1948, he won another six Grand Prix in Buenos Aires twice: Saint-Gaudens, Albi, Silverstone, and Pedralbes, and in 1949, he won in Rio de Janeiro and Zandvoort.

F1 Debut

After the war, Villoresi made his F1 debut in Monaco in 1950 and retired from a car issue on lap 63. There were signs of promise, as he comfortably out-qualified teammate Alberto Ascari and would back this up in Switzerland again, but he would again fail to finish after his engine gave out on lap nine.

He had his first finish in Belgium, two laps down in sixth after once again out-qualifying Ascari. Had Villoresi finished where he qualified, including DNFs, he would have scored a second in Monaco and a third in Switzerland. Ultimately, he came home with nothing at the end of the season due to issues out of his control.

1951 would be his breakout year, however. Despite retiring in the opening race in Switzerland due to a crash, he would score his first points in Belgium in what would be a happy hunting ground for him during his F1 career.

Qualifying third, Villoresi had a steady race, even leading the opening laps. He finished where he started, earning his first podium. He would take two consecutive third places in France and Britain, starting fourth and fifth in both races.

The Italian would take two fourth-place finishes in Germany and Italy to give him fifth in the standings come season’s end behind four race winners: Farina, José Froilán Gonzalez, Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio.

Down but not out

For some reason, Villoresi was ditched in favour of Giuseppe Farina despite outperforming Piero Taruffi, who remained in the seat in 1952. Had he raced instead of Taruffi, he likely would have taken a Grand Prix to win in Switzerland as Ascari was away at Indy, and Farina retired

When Villoresi competed in the final two races of 1952, only Ascari and technically Farina scored more points with two third-place finishes in Zandvoort and Italy. He was extremely unlucky because the one year he did not race full-time was the year that was the least competitive, as only Ferrari won the Grand Prix, and only Jean Behra and Robert Manzon scored podiums outside of the Ferrari drivers.

He returned full-time in 1953, which would be his final full season of Grand Prix racing. Maserati returned, and thus, competition hiked up. Ferrari remained strong with Ascari, Farina, Villoresi and young Brit Mike Hawthorn in their seats against Maserati’s lineup of Fangio, Gonzalez, Felice Bonetto and young Onofre Marimon.

Villoresi was beaten by all of his teammates but lost points in Zandvoort, Germany, Britain, and Switzerland due to issues that were not his fault.

He finished two points behind Mike Hawthorn and nine behind Giuseppe Farina, and had he finished third in Zandvoort and Britain, which was where he was running pre-retirement, he would have closed up four points due to the format of points, putting him ahead of Hawthorn and fourth in the standings.

He did score three podiums in Argentina and Belgium, two second-place finishes, and a third in Italy. Occasional appearances followed after 1953, with three fifth-place finishes in three years with Maserati and Lancia.

Luck deals a cruel hand

His rotten luck in F1 races did not continue in non-championship events. He won six non-championship F1 races, beating the likes of Ascari, Farina, Gonzalez, and Hawthorn in such events.

He won at tracks such as Syracuse, Pau, Vallelunga, Modena, Les Sables-d’Olonne and Boreham. The Milan native also finished seventh in the 1946 Indy 500, finishing as the third-highest rookie and the only European to compete.

He died in August 1997 at the age of 88. He was one of the final podium finishers from the early 50s to live, outlived by Robert Manzon, Gonzalez, Maurice Trintignant, Karl Kling, Hans Herrmann (who is still alive at 96), Stirling Moss, Umberto Maglioli, and Dorino Serafini.

Of those drivers, all but Trintignant and Maglioli were older. Manzon lived to 97, Gonzalez to 90, Trintignant to 87, Kling to 93, Moss to 90, Maglioli to 79 and Serafini to 90.

Feature Image Credit: Motorsport Magazine