Emilio Giuseppe 'Nino' Farina

Farina began driving a two-cylinder Temperino at the age of nine, and contested the 1925 Aosta-Gran San Bernardo Hillclimb in a second-hand Alfa Romeo, crashing and breaking his shoulder. He became a Doctor of Political Science and excelled at skiing, football, and athletics before cutting short a cavalry career to pursue motor racing. In the 1933–34 seasons he raced Maseratis and Alfa Romeos for Gino Rovere and Scuderia Subalpina, forming a friendship with Italian racing legend Tazio Nuvolari, who guided his early career. In 1935 he joined the factory Maserati team, impressing Enzo Ferrari, who recruited him to Scuderia Ferrari — the team running works-supported Alfa Romeos. In an Alfa Romeo 8C he finished second in the Mille Miglia, driving through the night without lights. He also drove for Alfa Romeo in the 1936 and 1937 Vanderbilt Cups in the United States.

Farina secured his maiden Grand Prix victory at the 1937 Grand Prix of Naples and won three consecutive Italian Championships from 1937 to 1939. He was involved in two fatal accidents during this period: at the 1936 Grand Prix de Deauville, his Alfa Romeo 8C collided with Marcel Lehoux's ERA, causing it to overturn and catch fire; Lehoux died in hospital. At the 1938 Gran Premio di Tripoli, László Hartmann's Maserati 4CM cut across Farina and the cars overturned; Hartmann died the following day. Farina's final pre-war victory came in the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix driving the Alfa Romeo 158 Voiturette, having also won the Grand Prix d'Anvers, Coppa Ciano, and Prix de Berne that year.

After World War II, Farina returned to Alfa Corse and won the 1946 Grand Prix des Nations. A disagreement over team leadership led him to sit out the entire 1947 season. He returned in 1948 with a privately entered Maserati and a works Ferrari. In Argentina he won the Gran Premio Internacional del General San Martín, then on returning to Europe he won the Grand Prix des Nations and the Monaco Grand Prix. He also won the Circuito di Garda using Ferrari's first Grand Prix car, the Ferrari 125, and the Copa Acción San Lorenzo in February 1949 during a Temporada visit. He married Elsa Giaretto during this period; she considered motorsport dangerous and tried to persuade him to stop. He re-signed with Alfa Corse at the end of 1949.

In 1950, Farina returned to Alfa Romeo for the inaugural FIA World Championship of Drivers. The season-opening race was held at Silverstone in front of 150,000 spectators; Farina won, with teammates Luigi Fagioli and Reg Parnell completing an Alfa Romeo 1–2–3. He became the first of only three drivers to win on their World Drivers' Championship début.

At Monaco eight days later, a multiple pile-up on the first lap spun Farina out of a race won by Juan Manuel Fangio. Farina won the Swiss Grand Prix, beating Fagioli into second. After Fangio won the French Grand Prix and Farina finished seventh, Farina went into the season finale — the Italian Grand Prix at Monza — trailing Fangio by two points. Farina was running second in the knowledge that his car needed only one fuel stop to the Alfas' two, but retired with engine problems. Fangio also suffered a gearbox failure; Piero Taruffi handed over his car, but it retired too. First position and the championship passed to Farina.

Farina remained with Alfa Romeo in 1951 but was beaten by Fangio, finishing the season fourth. His only championship victory that year came at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

He switched to Ferrari in 1952, when Grand Prix racing adopted Formula 2 specifications, but was forced into a secondary role behind team leader Alberto Ascari. He won the non-championship Gran Premio di Napoli and Monza Grand Prix, and also drove Tony Vandervell's Thinwall Special to second at the end-of-season Woodcote Cup at Goodwood.

Farina remained at Ferrari for 1953. At the season-opening Argentine Grand Prix, with President Juan Perón having allowed free access, spectators lined the circuit and a young boy ran across the track while Farina was committed to a fast corner; Farina swerved into spectators on the corner exit, killing seven and injuring many others. His best result that season was victory at the 1953 German Grand Prix, taking up the challenge against the works Maserati of Fangio and Mike Hawthorn after Ascari lost a wheel. He also won the Gran Premio di Napoli and Grand Prix de Rouen-les-Essarts as non-championship events, and finished third in the World Championship.

In the inaugural World Sportscar Championship that year, Farina won twice for Ferrari: the 24 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps partnered by Hawthorn, winning by 18 laps (approximately 90 minutes), and the 1000 km of Nürburgring partnered by Ascari, winning by just over 15 minutes. He also won the Daily Express Trophy at Silverstone in the Thinwall Special.

Following Ascari's departure from Ferrari, Farina became team leader for 1954. Early in the season he won the 1000 km Buenos Aires sports car race co-driven by Umberto Maglioli, and the Syracuse Grand Prix, before crashing heavily in the Mille Miglia whilst leading in his Ferrari 375 Plus. Seven weeks later, with his right arm still in plaster, he raced in the 1954 Belgian Grand Prix; he was leading before the end of the first lap before ignition failure ended his race. Later in 1954 he was badly injured in the Supercortemaggiore Grand Prix at Monza, spending 20 days in hospital.

Farina returned to Ferrari for the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix, taking morphine injections to ease the pain. He pitted due to exhaustion and his car was taken over by Maglioli; he later rejoined in the car of José Froilán González, finishing second. After a third place in Belgium, Farina retired mid-season, citing continued pain and the death of Ascari. He returned for the 1955 Italian Grand Prix, where his Lancia D50 suffered a tyre failure at 170 mph on Monza's new banking during practice; the car spun but he stepped out unhurt. Ferrari withdrew the car, and Farina did not start what proved to be his final Grand Prix.

The Indianapolis 500 was included in the FIA World Drivers' Championship from 1950 to 1960. After abortive entries in 1950 and 1952, Farina entered the 1956 Indianapolis 500 with the "Bardahl-Ferrari" — a Kurtis Kraft chassis with a six-cylinder Ferrari engine, sponsored by the Seattle-based Bardahl corporation. He failed to make the grid during four qualifying days, unable to reach speed during the first two sessions; heavy rain cancelled the third day, and on the fourth he was among those unable to make a final attempt.

For 1957, Farina switched to a conventional Offenhauser-powered car but had handling difficulties. His teammate Keith Andrews took the car for a test run, crashed on the front stretch, was crushed between the cowl and fuel tank, and died. Following Andrews' death, Farina withdrew from the event.

Following his retirement from racing, Farina became involved in Alfa Romeo and Jaguar distributorships and later assisted at the Pininfarina factory. On 30 June 1966, near Aiguebelle in the Savoy Alps, he lost control of his Lotus Cortina, struck a telegraph pole, and was killed instantly. He had been travelling to the 1966 French Grand Prix to spectate and to serve as adviser and driving double for the French actor Yves Montand, who played an ex-World Champion in the film Grand Prix.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.