Top 5 greatest F1 drivers from Italy

Italy is one of the few nationstruly passionate about Formula 1. Although the Italian team Ferrari has found more success than the Italian drivers,the nation has still produced a fair share of drivers who have proven their mettle in the sport. Here is a countdown ofthe top five greatest Italian drivers.

#5 Michele Alboreto

After a successful junior Formula career, Alboreto graduated to Formula 1 in 1981 with Tyrrell and got his first victory the following year.

Then from 1984-88 he drove for Ferrari, with whom he achieved his greatest success. His achievements during this time included several podiums, wins and also a second place finish in the drivers’ championship in 1985.

After leaving Ferrari, his success graph dropped before he finally left F1 in 1994 to pursue a career in sportscar racing.

#4 Jarno Trulli

Trulli was a great driver who produced several great drives during his 14-year long career in Formula 1.

He achieved a lot of success with Renault in 2003 and 2004, with a victory at the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix being the peak of his career.

He then achieved several podiums with his new team Toyota, before leaving F1 in 2011 after driving for Lotus Racing for two years.

#3 Giancarlo Fisichella

Fisichella had a moderately successful F1 career with three wins and 19 podiums from 229 starts.

After impressive stints with Jordan, Benetton and Sauber, he found the most success with the Renault team in 2005 and 2006 during which he achieved two victories and several podiums.

Although highly regarded as a driver, he perhaps fell short of the heights he promised to scale.

#2 Giuseppe Nino Farina

Farina was a fierce racer who made up for his relative lack of talent with his unbelievable courage.

Although a bit reckless, Farina was nevertheless a fine driver who won the first ever F1 world championship in 1950. He then also finished inside the top 3 of the drivers’ standings in 1952 and 1953 for Ferrari before retiring in 1955.

#1 Alberto Ascari

Even though Ascari had a relatively short career in F1 due to his tragic death in 1955, it was enough to rank him among the greats of the sport. Driving a Ferrari, he stormed to back-to-back world titles in 1952 and 1953, with no one able to catch up to his outright pace.

His record of achieving nine consecutive wins hasn’t been broken till date, although Sebastian Vettel did manage to equal the record in 2013.

As of now he still remains the last Italian driver to have won the championship, and that too with Ferrari.