My Formula 1 Blog

  Hi, this week I'm introducing Alberto Ascari Alberto Ascari (13 July 1918 – 26 May 1955) was an Italian racing driver and a two time Formula One World Champion. He was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Ascari won consecutive world titles in 1952 and 1953 for Scuderia Ferrari. He was the team's first World Champion and the last Italian to date to win the title. This was sandwiched by an appearance in the 1952 Indianapolis 500. Ascari also won the Mille Miglia in 1954. Ascari was noted for the careful precision and finely-judged accuracy that made him one of the safest drivers in a most dangerous era until his death. Early life Born in Milan, Ascari was the son of Antonio Ascari, a talented Grand Prix motor racing star in the 1920s, racing Alfa Romeos. Just a fortnight before Alberto's seventh birthday, Antonio was killed while leading the French Grand Prix in 1925 at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry, but the younger Ascari ha...

  Hi, this week I'm introducing Ralf Schumacher Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races. Early life and career Schumacher was born in Hürth, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany on 30 June 1975, the second son of Rolf Schumacher, a bricklayer, and his wife Elisabeth. He has one elder brother, Michael. Schumacher began karting at the age of three driving on his parents' go-kart track in Kerpen. His first major karting success came when he clinched the NRW Cup and the Gold Cup in 1991. In 1992 he won the German Junior Kart Championship. He then moved up into the senior series, finishing runner-up. Aged 17 Schumacher moved into car racing, finishing runner-up in the ADAC Junior Formula Championship. This performance allowed Schumacher to test a Formula Three car during 1992, and later took part in a Fo...

  Hi, this week I'm introducing the German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg and occasionally AVUS in Berlin. The race continued to be known as the German Grand Prix, even through the era when the race was held in West Germany. History Origins In 1907, Germany staged the first of the Kaiserpreis (German: Emperor's Prize) races at the 73-mile (118 km) Taunus public road circuit, just outside Frankfurt. The same circuit had been used three years earlier for the 1904 Gordon Bennett Cup race, which was won by Leon Thery in a Brasier, beating Belgian Camille Jenatzy in a Mercedes. Entries were limited to touring cars with engines of less than eight litres. The race itself was a tragedy; a driver and his co-driver were killed 19 miles into the lap and the ...

  Hi, this week I'm introducing Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham AO OBE (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in 1959, 1960, and 1966. He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Early life John Arthur 'Jack' Brabham was born on 2 April 1926 in Hurstville, New South Wales, then a commuter town outside Sydney. Brabham was involved with cars and mechanics from an early age. At the age of 12, he learned to drive the family car and the trucks of his father's grocery business. Brabham attended technical college, studying metalwork, carpentry, and technical drawing. Brabham's early career continued the engineering theme. At the age of 15 he left school to work, combining a job at a local garage with an evening course in mechanical engineering. Brabham soon branched out into his own business selling motorbikes, which he bought and repaired for sale, using his parents...