Paco Godia is a racing driver from Spain who last raced in Formula 1 for Maserati. Godia has recorded 0 wins and 0 podiums from 13 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 4,813 ranks Godia 475th 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.
| 1958-07-06 | Reims-Gueux | DNF | −80 |
| 1958-06-15 | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | DNF | −15 |
| 1958-01-19 | Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez | P8 | −73 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | ▸Formula 1 | Maserati | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | P22 | −168 | 4,827 |
| 1957 | ▸Formula 1 | Maserati | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | P23 | −99 | 4,995 |
| 1956 | ▸Formula 1 | Maserati | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | P7 | +196 | 5,094 |
| 1954 | ▸Formula 1 | Maserati | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P27 | +86 | 4,898 |
| 1951 | ▸Formula 1 | Maserati | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P20 | +12 | 4,812 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇷 Juan Fangio | 6,092 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0% |
| 🇬🇧 Stirling Moss | 5,388 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| 🇬🇧 Mike Hawthorn | 5,537 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 25% |
| 🇫🇷 Louis Rosier | 4,858 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 50% |
| 🇫🇷 Jean Behra | 4,855 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| 🇮🇹 Luigi Musso | 4,994 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| 🇺🇸 Harry Schell | 4,981 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33% |
| 🇮🇹 Eugenio Castellotti | 4,925 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 67% |
| 🇬🇧 Peter Collins | 4,904 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| 🇫🇷 Robert Manzon | 4,281 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 67% |
Paco Godia was the first Spaniard to compete in a Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix. Between 1951 and 1958, the Madrid-born driver started thirteen times in the series for Maserati, though he never finished in the points. His average finishing position of seventh across classified results reflects a career spent at the midfield of an era dominated by legendary names; he raced regularly against five-time world champion Juan Fangio, Stirling Moss, and 1958 champion Mike Hawthorn. Against Fangio, Godia failed to outscore him across eight shared races. His most notable result came against Hawthorn, whom he finished ahead of once, and he also bested former champions and strong professional drivers including Harry Schell, Bob Gerard, and Eugenio Castellotti on single occasions.[1]
Godia's performance against the field of his time places him among the competitive middle tier of professional racing drivers of that period, with a Racer Rating of 4,813. His five seasons on the Formula 1 grid were intermittent, and he accumulated no wins or podium finishes despite racing against some of the sport's greatest talents. By 1958, his final year of competition, he finished twenty-second across three rounds before retiring from the sport. He has remained a footnote in Spanish motorsport history as a pioneer who broke the ice for future Spanish drivers in the world championship, though his own tenure in the sport proved brief and without podium success.[2]