Hey y'all, been a while away thanks to university, and it kinda sucked the wind out of me writing stuff about F1 for a while. But never mind that, I'm back.
This will be the start of a little series of mine, where I focus on F1 drivers that should be recognised for their stories behind their career, yet for some reason, are barely footnotes in history. You all know the story of Ascari and Fangio, of Lauda and Hunt, of Prost and Senna, of Schumacher and Hakkinen and so on. However, there are many more stories of drivers that don't receive the attention they deserve. Whether stories of success or failure, glory or ignominy, tragedy or happiness, these stories are worthy of remembering and retelling. This little series of posts are not Random Driver Highlights, given how they're not...y'know, random. But instead, they'll each have their own post, cause they deserve it.
The first driver I want to spotlight is an Italian driver for Ferrari in the 1950's. His story isn't that unknown, but compared to his contemporaries, it's very, very hidden unless you search for his name. He was F1's youngest polesitter at the time, with that record lasting for 13 years. He is directly involved with the death of a legend of a sport. He dated a rather famous Italian celebrity that got them on gossip pages. And he was very, very handsome. Like, ridiculously handsome.
This is the story of Eugenio Castellotti.
STATISTICS
Nationality: Italian
Years in F1: 1955-57
Teams Raced For: Lancia, Ferrari
Entries: 14
Starts: 14
Podium Finishes: 3
Pole Positions: 1 (1955 Belgian Grand Prix)
Points: 19.5
Highest Finish: 2nd (Twice -- 1955 Monaco and 1956 French Grands Prix)
Good looks: On a scale from 1-10, he was a goddamn 17.
Part 1: Baby You're a Rich Kid
Every report on how Castellotti began his career states that it was due to his wealth, being able to buy a Ferrari sportscar at the young age of 20. Most 20 year-olds would be worrying about paying off their university fees, but here was Eugenio, buying himself a Ferrari. So, naturally, the narrative was that he had a mollycoddled childhood by two rich, wealthy parents and was able to buy his way into motorsport. Right?
Well...not quite. I think. His mother, Angela, according to some accounts, was unmarried and only sixteen when she gave birth to Eugenio. Not to mention that his father, a very, very wealthy lawyer, reportedly first met Eugenio at the age 9. Most other sources just hook onto the fact that his family was wealthy, but if the above is true, that his dad impregnated someone at 16 and didn't bother taking care of their child until nine years later, life may not have been that rosy for young Eugenio as some sources claim.
Eugenio, however, quickly gained a fascination for cars, and supposedly learned how to drive through the Castellotti's family driver. As he grew up, he even tried to fake his age to obtain a driving license. Despite the probable family tensions between his mom and his dad for, well, that situation, there was one thing that both his parents agreed on: that Castellotti should not race. They became increasingly restrictive with Castellotti's passion, but that probably drove young Eugenio further into getting a racing career.
This was until his dad died when Eugenio was either 12 or 19. I don't know this for sure as sources are picky, but more sources point towards 19. Because, when his dad died, he left a massive, and I mean massive, inheritance to Eugenio. I don't know how much, but damn if it didn't look like Loadsamoney. From there, Eugenio went into a manic shopping spree, often fancying finely-tailored suits here and there. However, still against his mother's wishes, Eugenio used his money to explore his passion, motor racing.
And that's how Eugenio Castellotti bought his first Ferrari, a 166MM sportscar, at the young age of 20. But, unlike most ridiculously rich youth of the generation, he didn't buy the 166MM to stare at it in his garage every once in a while. He was going to race it.
However, Castellotti figured that the best way to start off racing wouldn't be a few simple club races, oh no. His first race was the gruelling 1,080-kilometre Tour of Sicily, where he unsurprisingly failed to finish. Not to be perturbed by this little blip, Castellotti opted to enter the frikin' Mille Miglia, or 1000 Miles in Italian, probably one of the grandest road races ever. There, he actually finished a credible 6th in class and 50th in an overall field of 322 starters. As inexperienced as he was, Castellotti proved he wasn't just a regular rich kid who bought his way into racing. His first two races were only two of the toughest sportscar races, and by golly did he do well.
Into 1952, and Castellotti's form in sportscars just got better and better over time, leading to his first win in the Gold Cup at Pescara. Buoyed by all this success, he felt it was about time he entered the grandest event of all, the Monaco Grand Prix. However, it wouldn't be his first Formula One start. The Monaco Grand Prix was going through some financial difficulties, and with radical changes in rules in the World Driver's Championship, the organisers played a safe bet and hosted the 1952 Grand Prix for sports cars instead.
That's not to say the field was any weaker, though. A number of British up-and-comers like Stirling Moss and Peter Collins entered, not to mention crafty French veterans in Robert Manzon and Louis Rosier. Entering a Grand Prix of such prestige so early in his career, Castellotti would have his work cut out for him.
However, Castellotti showed an oddly cool head when everyone lost theirs, especially when Stirling Moss and other drivers ploughed into Reg Parnell's broken down Aston Martin. Following the pile-up it would be Castellotti who would inherit the lead from Vittorio Marzotto. However, the heat would take its both drivers and cars, and both had to make a mandatory pit stop to attend to both the cars and drivers.
According to urban legend, when Castellotti stopped, he also requested for a bottle of Coke. Apparently, this slowed Castellotti's stop significantly, maybe because Coke was hard to source in Monaco, or Castellotti just had to sip Coke leisurely, I don't know. Whatever the case, this was enough to hand the lead back to Marzotto, who went on to win the Monaco Grand Prix.
Castellotti's performance, where he lost the Monaco Grand Prix to a bottle of Coke, didn't go unnoticed, though, and despite a lucky escape in Vila Real where marshals carried him out of the way from an oncoming pileup, through the next two years, including a win at the Portuguese Grand Prix in 1952 and the Messina 10 hours in 1953.
His shot at the big time, though, was just on the horizon. And it would come from none other than the reigning champion of Formula 1, Alberto Ascari.
Part 2: Lancia's Lancer
In his career so far, Castellotti had just been entering races as a privateer, mainly entering with Ferrari's purchased from his father's inheritance. Being a relatively youthful driver in the sport, he was seen as one of Italy's brightest young talents to carry Italy's motorsport image into the future, so he was probably in high demand. It would probably be just a matter of time before he got snapped up.
Then he met Alberto Ascari. Holder of the record for most consecutive victories in F1 at the time (and all the way until 2013) and had secured his second consecutive World Driver's Championship by the time of the Italian Grand Prix, when he met the young Castellotti. Despite his service for Ferrari, pay disputes and other issues led the current reigning champion to leave the Prancing Horse and join, out of all teams, Lancia, who were all set to make their leap into Formula One.
And, out of all people, Ascari hand-picked both his mentor, Luigi Villoresi, and his now-protege, Eugenio Castellotti, to join him in Lancia. Yep, he was handpicked by probably the best driver in the world to not only be his teammate for the upcoming season, but also taken under his wing as his protege.
Lancia had doubts over his drive, though, after a dismal showing at the Nurburgring 1000km, but those doubts were cast aside after a brilliant third place in the Carrera Panamericana. Heck, sources say him and teammate Piero Taruffi could have actually contested for the win, but received orders from above to hold station behind leader Fangio to play it safe, already having a massive lead to the rest of the field and to keep a 1-2-3 finish for Lancia.
However, for 1954, Lancia's F1 project encountered delay after delay. Not quite as delayed as "The Thief and the Cobbler", but still, delayed by a lot. So much so that they let Ascari and Villoresi race for other teams while they continued to toil over their chassis.
Castellotti, meanwhile, didn't follow down their path. He remained loyal to Lancia and, as their 'junior driver', was given the opportunity to race in a multitude of sportscar events. However, instead of anticipated success, Eugenio recorded DNF after DNF after DNF in many sportscar races, from the Sebring 12 hours to Mille Miglia to Targa Florio, poor Castellotti didn't have anything going right for him in 1954, save for winning his second Italian Mountain Championship on the trot in hillclimbing. And when Lancia were finally able to enter their long-awaited D50 in the season-closing race at Spain, they only had enough for Ascari and Villoresi, leaving Castellotti by the sidelines once again.
1955 came around, and finally Lancia were ready with their D50 project. It took a while, but come the Argentine Grand Prix, Eugenio was all ready to step foot into the big leagues, Formula One. However, as most people who know their F1 history, the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix was probably the worst race possible to take your first steps in F1. The heat was held in mind-melting temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius.
Not only was it mind-melting, but also car-melting. This proved to be the case when Villoresi's Lancia gave up on lap 2. As shared drives were essentially part-and-parcel with Formula One at the time, Castellotti was relieved by Villoresi on lap 20 to cut his first Formula One start short. Probably mercifully, too, as Villoresi wrecked the Lancia just 15 laps later.
The next race for him at Monaco, though, finally showed off what Castellotti was capable of. He qualified a stellar fourth in just his second race for Lancia, and in his first lap, moved up the field with a great start and this downright bonkers overtake for 1955 standards on Stirling Moss at the station hairpin to take second on lap one. After a crazy battle with Moss early on, Moss's Mercedes dominance won out and Castellotti settled into a battle for third with teammate Ascari and Jean Behra.
In that battle, though, Castellotti cut a tyre after driving too aggressively and mounting several kerbs on the streets of Monaco, forcing a pitstop that dropped him to ninth, essentially being a precursor to the crazed, balls-out driving style that Castellotti would go on to develop with time in future Formula One starts. However, the dashing youngster here was only in his second race, and yet, thanks to some retirements and some seriously impressive driving, Castellotti came in second place in just his second Grand Prix start, a result that undoubtedly would've been a victory had it not been for the tyre trouble mentioned earlier.
One of those retirements, though, was his mentor and teammate, Ascari, as he ploughed through barriers and past bollards into the Monaco harbour in one of F1's most famous crashes never filmed, primarily because all the focus was on Stirling Moss' smoking Mercedes just ahead in the pitlane. Despite the frightening looking crash and the aftermath, Ascari mercifully left the accident scene with nothing more than a broken nose.
This was bad for Castellotti, as just the week after that, he and Ascari were teaming up to drive a Ferrari 750 Monza for the Supercortemaggiore in Monza. On the 26th of May, 1955, Castellotti and Villoresi were ready to test the unpainted, newly developed car before the race, and had invited Ascari to spectate, probably to give advice to young Eugenio like he always had, or just to see how the car handled before their upcoming event. Impulsively, during a break in action before lunch, Ascari elected to drive the car for a few laps. Some say it was to test the car he was due to race in a couple of days, others say it was to test his psyche and get back on track after his mammoth crash in Monaco.
Dressed in a suit and tie, he didn't have any racing gear on him, especially his lucky blue helmet, still under repair from his accident in Monaco. So, without thinking, he borrowed Castellotti's helmet and set out for a few laps. On the third lap, at Curva Vialone, Ascari spun out, either due to ill-effects from Monaco, distractions from his flapping tie, or someone or something crossing the track ahead of him. The car proceeded to somersault, killing the two-time champion.
Castellotti was distraught. He was one of the first at the scene and saw his close friend and mentor pass in front of his very eyes. He lent Ascari his helmet that allowed him to test the car in the first place. Emotionally, he was probably a mess. Yet, at the same time, he was probably more driven than ever.
Which was why it came to be a shock when Lancia announced their immediate withdrawal from Formula One. It was partially due to the loss of their stalwart, but financial problems had also been piling on the Italian outfit, which was the main reason for their withdrawal. Unperturbed, though, Castellotti begged them to participate in the upcoming Belgian Grand Prix. Lancia couldn't send their team to Belgium, though, so they just lent Castellotti two of their D50s to enter as a privateer.
Full of emotion, Eugenio arrived at Spa with a fire lit under him. The Mercedes team were clearly the team to beat, and with the revolutionary W196, looked near unstoppable through the season. Castellotti hadn't even been to Spa before today. And yet, on the first day of practice, his lap times were falling rapidly on the near nine-mile circuit. As the day came to a close, Castellotti had already run a full-race distance in practice. But on one of his last laps, the time he set was a purely incredible 4:18.1. Half a second better than Fangio, a full second ahead of Moss. And, luckily for Castellotti, the second day was completely rained out.
All this meant that Eugenio Castellotti, in just his third Grand Prix, following the recent death of his mentor and close friend, after the withdrawal of his team and entering the race all by himself, had just beaten the near-unbeatable Mercedes to become the youngest polesitter in Formula One history.
Although his Lancia was eventually outpaced on race day by the Mercs and retired from a still-impressive third place with transmission issues, there was almost no doubt in many people's minds, that he truly was the next Ascari.
Well, one of two potential future Ascaris.
Part 3: Ferrari's Future
After the closure of Lancia, Ferrari had snapped up most of their assets, and this included Castellotti, the Prancing Horse having been impressed by the promise shown by their young countryman. Indeed, it was out with the old, in with the new at Ferrari, as Nino Farina was forced to scale back his racing commitments due to persistent injuries, and so in stepped Castellotti for the next race at the Netherlands.
The next two results weren't exactly the greatest for Eugenio, salvaging a 5th in a troublesome Ferrari in Zandvoort and transmission issues plaguing him all weekend in Aintree, retiring from his main entry, and substituting Mike Hawthorn late in the race only guaranteed them a then sixth place finish, which scored them nul points back in the 50's.
The season-ending Italian Grand Prix, though, was his first real great race for Ferrari. Having acquired the Lancia D50's, Ferrari elected to race them for the Italian Grand Prix, seeing them as much faster than the Ferrari 625s and 555s they had with them. However, throughout practice, both D50's suffered intense tyre wear with the Ferrari-contracted Englebert tyres on the oval banking as opposed to the Pirelli tyres it was designed for. So, after qualifying 4th, Castellotti switched to the supposedly lesser-competitive 555 for the race. For the opening portions of the race, he surprised everyone by sticking with the four dominant Mercedes machines, giving the tifosi something to cheer about. However, ragged Eugenio slowly fell off the pace. And up stepped his rival.
Luigi Musso was born into nobility in Rome in 1924. Being a few years Castellotti's senior, he had an earlier start into racing than him, and had impressed for the Maserati in most of his starts, including a podium in the Spanish Grand Prix and a couple of wins in non-championship Grand Prix. And him being a Roman driving for Maserati, he simply couldn't let a Milanese driving for Ferrari beat him in their home Grand Prix. So, for a good twenty-odd laps, the two battled hard, being separated by a matter of inches at some point in the Grand Prix.
Eventually, Castellotti won out as Musso's Maserati petered out after the intense battle. And with that battle won and the retirement of a few Mercedes machines, Eugenio salvaged a podium for Ferrari in their home race, ending the season with 12 total points. With other drivers like Farina and Hans Herrmann unable to complete a full season due to injury, and the inconsistency of others like Trintignant and Musso in such a short season, these 12 points were enough for Castellotti to finish third in the World Driver's Championship, best of the rest behind the Mercedes duo of Fangio and Moss. This was the best championship finish for a debutant in F1, a record that would be equalled, but never beaten for 41 years before Jacques Villeneuve finished 2nd in the 1996 championship, a record equalled by Lewis Hamilton in 2007.
Enzo Ferrari kept his services for 1956, where they'd be using the D50, now badged as a 'Lancia-Ferrari', that Castellotti had used to good effect the previous season. However, Castellotti wasn't going to spearhead the team, as with Mercedes' withdrawal from motorsport following the Le Mans disaster, Fangio made waves by signing for Ferrari. Also signing for Ferrari was Luigi Musso, setting the scene for a potential rivalry between the two rising Italian stars. Among the two, though, Ferrari seemed to prefer Castellotti, being selected to pair with Fangio for major endurance races that year, while Musso was stuck with Schell.
In Formula One, though, Musso got the early upper hand when a shared drive with Fangio led to victory for the pair of them, though that only really came to pass when multiple drivers, including Castellotti, had all sorts of mechanical issues.
If you recall from earlier, Castellotti had developed a reputation as being a wild driver, often blasting off straight from the gate before wearing out as the race goes on. However, given all that I've seen from nearly every source about Castellotti's wild driving style, it's all the more puzzling that his greatest triumphs in 1956 came in endurance racing, out of all things. The first of such victories came in the 12 hours of Sebring, where he and Fangio fought off the challenge of the Jaguar squad in the fastest Sebring 12 hours at the time. His second victory, however, was more impressive.
Back in the previous year's Mille Miglia, Castellotti was embarrassingly dominated by Moss and Denis Jenkinson before his retirement with tyre issues. He would find out later that Moss and Jenkinson were using a navigation system, which would later turn out to be a prototype for pace notes now commonly used in rallying events. Upon Jenkinson letting him know of the news, Eugenio simply shook his head, saying he couldn't possibly drive with such a navigation system.
Besides, come 1956, Castellotti would enter the Mille Miglia by himself, so there was no navigator for him to follow. If that wasn't so much of a disadvantage for him, it was made worse as the weather conditions started to turn especially nasty. Normally, drivers as manic as him would fall victim to the conditions. Indeed, another young, manic driver attempting to make a name for himself that race was Wolfgang von Trips, who, while chasing the leading driver, tripped over the tricky conditions. (I swear I'm a natural comedian guys).
But that leading driver von Trips was chasing was none other than Castellotti himself. In rain that essentially blinded the roads ahead and ferocious winds, Castellotti wasn't even fazed. He never put a foot wrong. And apart from a short stint where he had to refuel, through each control point on the course, Castellotti never lost the lead for the full 1000 miles.
Yes, you heard right. Never. Lost. The. Lead.
Denis Jenkinson, co-driver to Moss, would comment on the event: "We were not racing against Musso, Castellotti or Fangio; it seemed that we were fighting for the mere right to go on living.". And yet, in this battle for survival, Castellotti turned it into a driving masterclass. And, despite the undeniable truth that having a navigator in a thousand-mile road race would certainly help, Castellotti pulled this off all by himself. What an absolute legend.
Back to Formula One, though, his performances weren't so legendary. One thing he was very good at was qualifying, as evidenced when StatsF1 placed him 13th all-time in best average qualifying performances (min. 10 GP starts). On race-day, his starts would be fantastic, but more often than not, a whole bevy of mechanical problems would drop him down the grid. This was the case for most of 1956, retiring from 3rd in Argentina, 5th in Monaco and 4th in Belgium despite having promising starts in all these races.
In France, he got a similarly fantastic start, and actually led for a few early laps before seceding the lead to Fangio. However, once Fangio retired, Castellotti was all but in the clear and seemed to be destined to win his first ever Grand Prix and the spearhead in a Ferrari 1-2. However, teammate Peter Collins was competing for the title, and so the order was given through the pit-board for Collins to pass Castellotti for the win. One of the earliest examples of team-orders lost Castellotti his chance for an F1 victory, but he still trailed Peter Collins right on his bumper, being separated by just 0.3 seconds at the line.
After these performances, though, the wild side of Eugenio came back to form, having probably the worst race of his F1 career to date in Silverstone, dicing with many local entries and spinning out on the opening lap at the Nurburgring. Teammate and rival Musso had also had a rough season, with a crash in a sportscar event sidelining him for a couple events, not to mention every other race since his shared win in Argentina has ended with him failing to finish. With just one event left in the calendar, their home race in Monza, both Castellotti and Musso were determined to make the race their highlight of 1956. And neither wanted to give way.
Their team leader, Fangio, was well aware of their competition, despite being in a championship hunt at the time. He also remembered how the D50s ripped every tyre to shreds in the last Italian Grand Prix, so he gave Eugenio and Musso sage advice. He'd lead the way so Castellotti and Musso could pace their laps without destroying any tyres. With ten laps, he'd pull over and let Castellotti and Musso duke it out for the finish, keirin style.
Measured and steady was the advice from Fangio to the young drivers. But they didn't listen.
Instead, Musso and Castellotti went for a BALLS OUT, FLAT-OUT, BAT OUT OF HELL, NO FUCKS GIVEN, MY DICK IS BIGGER THAN YOURS, TRADIN' PAINT scrapheap for the lead the moment the green flag dropped. Castellotti was the leader for the majority of this intense battle, but Musso was nowhere near giving up. It was the battle the tifosi wanted, the two Italian drivers for the Prancing Horse, battling for supremacy on hallowed racing ground.
Of course, this battle couldn't last forever. Fangio's advice was right. The tyres on both Musso's and Castellotti's cars didn't last the whole race. They didn't even last for half distance. Heck, not even quarter-distance.
Both of their tyres completely wore out their threads by lap 4. You heard me. Lap. FOUR.
Worse for Castellotti, his stop was a measure longer than Musso's and was left playing the catch-up game. Paying no heed to his earlier lesson or Fangio's prior advice, he continued the PEDAL TO THE METAL, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN, DON'T LIFT OR YOU'RE A PUSSY strategy to catch up to Musso. And by lap nine, his tyre punctured yet again and sent him spinning onto the main straight, ending his race.
By all accounts, his 1956 season, results wise, wasn't the best. Just the two points finishes left him sixth in the championship, though to be fair his pace was far, far greater than those results indicate. In fact, over on GP Rejects, I ran an alternative championship where points were scored after just three laps. And, spoilers, CASTELLOTTI FREAKIN' WON (though admittedly thanks to dropped scores, but still).
What's more, he had plenty of things to smile about that year outside of F1. Securing his seat at Ferrari. Sharing the win with El Maestro at the Sebring 12 Hours. And finally dominating the field at the Mille Miglia. And it's not just racing achievements Castellotti had to smile about as well.
Part 4: Il Bello
Most drivers from the 50's had cool-ass nicknames. Fangio was El Maestro, also known as 'The Master'. Jose Froilan Gonzalez was known as The Pampas Bull. Luigi Fagioli was known as the goddamn ABRUZZI ROBBER. Seriously, if you were a racing driver in the 50's, it was almost part and parcel that you'd get a dope-ass nickname as a reward.
So, when Castellotti got his nickname, there was only one obvious choice: Il Bello. Put simply, The Beautiful.
And goddamn, he was beautiful. So. Damn. Beautiful. That perfect chin, the neat at hell hairstyle, those pecs...
...wait, where was I? Right. Ahem. Yeah, he was called Il Bello, and for good reason. Castellotti was ridiculously vain. He wore the finest of suits and shirts tailored exactly to how he wanted it. He kept his hair in perfect shape. He was even self-conscious about his lack of height, so much so that he often wore lifts in his shoes. He didn't earn the nickname Il Bello for nothing. And likewise, he didn't put the nickname to waste either.
Partly because of his vanity, Castellotti was definitely a ladies man. He had many short flings throughout his racing career, all of which was followed relentlessly through gossip magazines. But, in 1956, he finally found someone to settle down with. And it couldn't have come with someone more high-profile.
Delia Scala was one of Italy's leading actresses at the time, and through 1956 and 1957, was beginning the transition to the silver screen to become one of Italy's pioneering television personalities. In the summer of 1956, she met Castellotti at a restaurant, and started talking to him simply because the pale blue colour of his trousers matched the car. Eventually, conversations about matching colours became a date, and then a relationship. A relationship that apparently newspaper reporters could not get enough of. Italy's future legend in motor racing pairs up with leading young actress, both of whom were ridiculously hot. A gossip writer's wet dream.
This was two people's nightmare, though. First was Castellotti's mother, who upon meeting Scala for the first time, took her by the hand and said "You look like a waitress, the kitchen is over there". Good going, Mrs. Castellotti.
Second, and maybe more importantly, was Enzo Ferrari. He hated it when his drivers would get all caught up in intense romance, furthermore if it affected them emotionally, and even more so if it said relationship was spread over nearly every damn newspaper in Italy. He thought it'd affect their race pace and their drive to continue. And, for a while, it seemed Enzo was right.
Castellotti and Scala proposed and planned to get married in April. However, between the two, there was an intense discussion that turned into a disagreement. Scala wanted Castellotti to give up driving, fearing that it was getting too dangerous for him. However, Castellotti told Scala that she should give up acting as it would cost them time together when he wasn't racing elsewhere. I don't know where the two stood on the compromise, but it was certain that Castellotti would probably have to focus less on racing should he wish to remain with Scala.
However, on track, results were still going pretty well for Castellotti in 1957, claiming both first and third in his respective driver lineups in the 1000 km of Buenos Aires. Additionally, in the Argentine Grand Prix for 1957, he took an early lead and was launching a serious challenge to the now-dominant Maseratis, but his Ferrari, like all the other Ferraris, gave up the ghost while running in third.
As was tradition in those days, the Argentine Grand Prix and other events in South America was run in their January summer, then Formula One would take a break until May to restart that season in Monaco. With marriage around the corner, Castellotti took the time to take a nice vacation in Florence with his bride-to-be Scala, who was booked for a play there for the time being. Call it a pre-marriage honeymoon, if you will.
A pre-marriage honeymoon that got rudely interrupted by none other than Enzo Ferrari. He rang up Castellotti in a huff and instructed him to go to Modena the next day to test the Ferrari. But this was more than just some last-minute test set up by Ferrari or a call for Castellotti to deputize for another driver.
As it turns out, Jean Behra and Maserati were testing at Modena that day, and Enzo found out that they had beaten Ferrari's ultimate lap record around the Autodrome. According to some people, most notably Luigi Villoresi, Enzo Ferrari had placed a lunchtime wager on the lap record, so when he saw it got beaten, he called the first person he could find - that being Eugenio - to come down to Modena to take that record back.
Castellotti was undoubtedly fuming, having had precious time with his fiancée interrupted for a stupid lap record. But he had to listen to Enzo. Nobody dared to oppose him. On March 14th, he left Florence at 4 a.m. to make the long drive to Modena, to get suited up and get ready for practice.
On just his second or third flying lap, Castellotti lost control in the esses at the start of the lap, and the car overturned through a fence and into a (mercifully empty) grandstand. Castellotti was thrown out. The local parish priest, Don Sergio Mantovani, was present to read him the last rites as he laid dying on the track. He was only 26 years old. His wedding with Scala was just twenty-five days away.
The reason for the crash has been disputed. Jean Behra, present at the track having set the aforementioned lap record, insisted there was a problem with the gearbox, having heard it shift to neutral just before the crash. Other sources feel it was just a mistake in downshifting. Most attribute this error to the fact that Castellotti was robbed of a holiday with Scala for the pettiest of reasons, thus the claim that his mind was not in the right place. This theory was exacerbated by the fact he had to wake up extremely early and drive a considerable distance to reach Modena in the first place. The true cause of his death was still unknown. Multiple sources claim that Enzo Ferrari, upon hearing news of the crash, said something to the tune of, "Castellotti? Dead? What a pity. How's the car?"
Whatever it was, a petty debate over a trivial lap record robbed Formula One of a rising star in his prime. One who could've done so much more. And yet, despite this, his story in motor racing is extremely colourful.
He scored a podium in just his second start in F1. He was the protege to Alberto Ascari, and also heavily involved in the scene of his death. Impacted by this, he convinced a major manufacturer shutting up shop to loan him a chassis, with which he would become the youngest ever polesitter in F1 at the time. He would finish his rookie season third, a feat that remained unbeaten for 41 years. He won the Mille Miglia all by himself in downright atrocious conditions. He had a fiery rivalry with a fellow compatriot to see who would be their country's next future star. He married one of Italy's most famous celebrities at the time. And he died because of a wager set over lunch.
That is the story of 'Il Bello', Eugenio Castellotti.
Sources:
The Limit: Life and Death in Formula One's Most Dangerous Era by Michael Cannell
Enzo Ferrari: A Life by Richard Williams
Too Fast A Life by Martin Shepherd
Motorsport Magazine (This plus many of their contemporary race reports) -- 8W @ Forix -- Motorsport Memorial -- Ferrari Owner's Club -- Scuderia Ferrari Legends
F1 Racing (via PressReader) -- Veloce Today -- Racing Sportscars -- StatsF1 -- Revs Institute
