Giancarlo Baghetti

Giancarlo Baghetti (; 25 December 1934 – 27 November 1995) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Baghetti won the 1961 French Grand Prix in a privateer Ferrari 156, and remains the only driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix on debut.

Born and raised in Milan, Baghetti started his racing career aged 23 in production cars before progressing to Formula Junior in 1958. Three years later, he was selected by the Federazione Italiana Scuderie Automobilistiche to compete in a non-works Ferrari 156. After winning his first two non-championship Formula One races at the Syracuse and Naples Grands Prix, Baghetti made his World Championship debut with FISA at the 1961 French Grand Prix. He went on to win the race, beating the Porsche of Dan Gurney to score a hat-trick of wins in his opening three Formula One races, and become the first driver to win on his World Championship debut since the inaugural season. Despite scoring a fastest lap at the and a non-championship victory at the Coppa Italia, Baghetti would never finish on the podium again. After the success of his rookie season, he signed for Ferrari in , followed by seasons with ATS in and Scuderia Centro Sud in . Baghetti made one-off appearances for Brabham, Parnell and Lotus prior to leaving the sport at the conclusion of the season.

Outside of Formula One, Baghetti won the 1000cc European Touring Car Championship in 1966 with Abarth, before retiring from motor racing two years later.

Formula One career

Baghetti was born in Milan. His father was a wealthy Milan industrialist. He began racing in 1955 in production cars, moving up to Formula Junior in 1958. In 1961 he was selected by the Federazione Italiana Scuderie Automobilistiche (FISA), a coalition of independent Italian team owners who had agreed a loan deal with Ferrari for a 156 Formula Two car to run in non-Championship Grand Prix, giving experience to promising Italian drivers. Despite not showing spectacular form in lower categories, Baghetti was chosen over Albino Buttichi and Lucien de Sanctis for the seat. The car was first entered for the Syracuse Grand Prix, the first major event run under the new 1.5-litre championship regulations, and against a strong field Baghetti qualified second and won in the only Ferrari, with the British teams and Porsche 718 flat 4 unable to compete with the Dino's V6. He then drove the same car to win at the Napoli Grand Prix a few weeks later.

Team FISA entered an original 60-degree V6 Ferrari 156, at least 10 hp down on power, for Baghetti in the 1961 French Grand Prix at Reims-Gueux, for this World Championship event. Once Wolfgang von Trips, Richie Ginther and Phil Hill had all retired their works 156s, Baghetti was left to uphold Ferrari honour. He overcame Dan Gurney's Porsche 718 to take victory, giving him a hat trick of wins from his first three Grands Prix. Gurney was leading with to go as the cars raced to the finish line at . The victory meant Baghetti became the first Italian since 1956 to win a Formula One World Championship event. Baghetti was involved in 1963 in the disastrous ATS effort in 1963, joining up with Phil Hill for Carlo Chiti's breakaway team, but failed to register a finish from five starts. For 1964 he switched to Scuderia Centro Sud's outdated BRM P57 cars, peaking with seventh at the Austrian Grand Prix. His Grand Prix career was then virtually over, though he had three more one-off drives, all at the Italian Grand Prix – a works Brabham in 1965, a Reg Parnell-semiworks Dino Ferrari 2.4 V6 in which he ran strongly ahead of Arundell's Lotus V8 Climax and Anderson's 2.7 litre Brabham, running 5th in 1966 and a similarly competent drive in a works Lotus 49 in 1967, running in midfield and passing Amon and Ickx and would have scored a point but for a blown engine.

Post-Formula One racing Baghetti achieved some success in the European Touring Car Championship with Alfa Romeo and FIAT Abarth, winning the 1966 1000cc Class Championship in an Abarth 1000. After dabbling in Formula Three, he retired after a huge accident at the 1967 "Monza Lottery". Boley Pittard of England was burned severely when his Lola burst into flames at the start of the final qualifying heat. Baghetti won the event in a Branca with an average speed over thirty-five laps of . In June 1968, Baghetti was in a huge pile-up on the 23rd lap of a Formula Two race at Monza. He was driving a Dino.

Baghetti later became a journalist and photographer in motorsport and fashion, and promoted various industrial videos for Fiat.

Death and legacy Baghetti's Championship debut win has secured him a footnote in Formula One history, as he became the only driver to have won his first three Formula One races, starting with two non-championship Grand Prix races in Italy. Baghetti died of cancer on 27 November 1995.

Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 WDC Points FISA Ferrari 156 Ferrari V6 MON NED BEL FRA 9th 9 Scuderia Sant Ambroeus GBR GER ITA USA Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 156 Ferrari V6 NED MON BEL FRA GBR GER ITA USA RSA 11th 5 Automobili Turismo e Sport ATS 100 ATS V8 MON BEL NED FRA GBR GER ITA USA MEX RSA NC 0 Scuderia Centro Sud BRM P57 BRM V8 MONDNA NED BEL FRA GBR GER AUT ITA USA MEX NC 0 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT7 Climax V8 RSA MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX NC 0 Reg Parnell Racing Ltd Ferrari 246 Ferrari V6 MON BEL FRA GBR NED GER ITA USA MEX NC 0 Team Lotus Lotus 49 Cosworth V8 RSA MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER CAN ITA USA MEX NC 0

Non-championship (key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 1961 FISA Ferrari 156 Ferrari V6 LOM GLV PAU BRX VIE AIN SYR NAP LON SIL SOL KAN DAN MOD FLG OUL LEW Scuderia Sant Ambroeus Porsche 718 Porsche Flat-4 VAL RAN NAT RSA 1962 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 156 Ferrari V6 CAP BRX LOM LAV GLV PAU AIN INT NAP MAL CLP RMSDNA SOL KAN MED DAN OUL MEX RAN NAT 1963 Ecurie Filipinetti Lotus 21 Climax Straight-4 LOM GLV PAU IMO SYR AIN INT ROM SOL KAN MED AUT OUL RAN 1964 Scuderia Centro Sud BRM P57 BRM V8 DMT NWT SYR AIN INT SOL MED RAN 1965 Scuderia Centro Sud BRM P57 BRM V8 ROC SYR SMT INT MED RAN 1966 Anglo-Suisse Racing Team Lotus 33 Climax V8 RSA SYR INT OUL