Nino Farina is a racing driver from Italy who last raced in Formula 1 for Ferrari. Farina is a one-time champion (1950), with 5 wins and 19 podiums from 34 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 5,565 ranks Farina 165th of 15,348 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the low five figures. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file, decayed for time since their last race.
| 1955-09-11 | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza | DNF | −177 |
| 1955-06-05 | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | P3 | +57 |
| 1955-05-22 | Circuit de Monaco | P4 | +51 |
| 1955-01-16 | Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez | P2 | +26 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | ▸Formula 1 | Ferrari | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | P5 | −43 | 6,330 |
| 1954 | ▸Formula 1 | Ferrari | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | P8 | −1 | 6,373 |
| 1953 | ▸Formula 1 | Ferrari | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 32 | P2 | +289 | 6,374 |
| 1952 | ▸Formula 1 | Ferrari | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 27 | P2 | +530 | 6,085 |
| 1951 | ▸Formula 1 | Alfa Romeo | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 22 | P4 | +233 | 5,556 |
| 1950 | ▸Formula 1 | Alfa Romeo | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 30 | P1 | +522 | 5,322 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇮🇹 Alberto Ascari | 5,339 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 33% |
| 🇫🇷 Louis Rosier | 4,858 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 88% |
| 🇦🇷 Juan Fangio | 6,092 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 21% |
| 🇮🇹 Luigi Villoresi | 5,038 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 82% |
| 🇬🇧 Mike Hawthorn | 5,537 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 78% |
| 🇨🇭 Toulo de Graffenried | 4,915 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 100% |
| 🇧🇪 Johnny Claes | 4,371 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 100% |
| 🇦🇷 José Froilán González | 5,180 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 38% |
| 🇫🇷 Yves Cabantous | 4,654 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 100% |
| 🇬🇧 Stirling Moss | 5,388 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 86% |
Nino Farina was an Italian racing driver who won the inaugural Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship in 1950 at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo. Across six seasons of Formula 1 competition from 1950 to 1955, he started 34 races, took five wins and finished on the podium 19 times, predominantly for Ferrari in the latter part of his career. His average finishing position of 2.8 across classified starts places him among the strong professional drivers of that era, though the championship-winning season represented the peak of his competitive standing; by 1955 his performances had declined markedly, yielding only two podiums from four rounds.[1]
Farina's head-to-head record against his most frequent rivals reveals a driver who dominated some but struggled against the very best. He finished ahead of Ferrari teammate Luigi Villoresi nine times in eleven encounters and held a strong advantage over Louis Rosier, winning 14 of 16 meetings. Against contemporary champions and front-line competitors, the picture shifted. He beat Mike Hawthorn seven times across nine races and Alberto Ascari six times in eighteen, but Juan Fangio outpaced him decisively; Farina finished ahead of the five-time champion only three times while falling behind him eleven times across fourteen shared races. This record suggests a driver competitive in the first rank of his period but overmatched by Fangio, who emerged as the era's dominant figure.[2]
The honours heaped upon Farina in the decades since retirement, from retrospective celebrations of his championship victory to posthumous tributes and a bespoke road car edition, affirm his historical significance as Formula 1's first world champion rather than any sustained dominance of the sport thereafter.