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'''Alberto Ascari''' ([[July 13]], [[1918]] - [[May 26]], [[1955]]) was one of [[Formula One]]'s first stars and the first great [[Ferrari]] driver.

<table align=left><tr><td>[[Image:AlbertoAscari.jpg]]</td></tr><tr><td><center>'''- ''Alberto Ascari'' -'''</center></td></tr></table>
Born in [[Milan, Italy]], Ascari had racing in his blood, as his father [[Antonio Ascari]] was a talented [[Grand Prix motor racing]] star in the [[1920s]], racing [[Alfa Romeo]]s.  Antonio was killed while leading the [[French Grand Prix]] in [[1925]] but the younger Ascari had interest in racing in spite of it.  He raced [[motorcycle]]s in his earlier years; it was after he entered the prestigious [[Mille Miglia]] in a Ferrari sports car that he eventually started racing on four wheels regularly.

His racing career was interrupted by [[World War II]], after which he began racing in Grands Prix with [[Maserati]].  His teammate was [[Luigi Villoresi]], who would become a [[mentor]] and friend of Alberto's.  He won his first Grand Prix race in [[San Remo, Italy]] in [[1948]] and won another race with the team the following year. His biggest success came after he joined Villoresi on the Ferrari team; he won three more races that year with them.

The first official [[Formula One]] season took place in 1950, and the Ferrari team made its debut at [[Monte Carlo]] with Ascari, Villoresi, and popular French driver [[Raymond Sommer]] on the team.  Ascari finished 2nd in that race and later in the year shared a 2nd place at F1's first race in [[Monza]].  He was only 5th in the championship standings however.  He would win his first Formula 1 race the following season on the [[Nurburgring]] circuit and added a win at [[Monza]] to boot, finishing runner up to [[Juan Manuel Fangio]].

With success in Europe, [[Enzo Ferrari]] supplied a car for Alberto in the [[Indianapolis 500]], at the time an F1 event, in 1952.  Ascari was the only European driver to race at Indy in its 11 years on the Formula One schedule, but his day ended after 40 laps with internal favors.  As it would turn out, that would be the only time he would not win an F1 race that season.  Ascari's Ferrari dominated 1952, winning all six races in Europe that season and recording the fastest lap in each race.  He nearly scored the maximum amount of points a driver could earn, but drivers were given points for fastest laps at the time, and he had to share a half point with another driver in one race.

He won 3 more consecutive races to start 1953, giving him nine straight wins (not couting Indy) before his streak was snapped after finishing 4th in [[France]], although it was a close 4th as the race was highly competitive.  He earned two more wins later in the year to give himself a second consecutive World Championship.  Ascari would not continue his dominance in 1954 as he would fail to finish a race in his four attempts at F1 that year, although he made up for it by winning the Mille Miglia.

His [[1955]] started similarly, retiring twice more, the latter of which was a spectacular incident in [[Monaco]] where he would crash into a harbor after missing a [[chicane]].  A week later, on May 26th, he went to Monza to test a Ferrari sports car and crashed hard on one of the track's tight corners.  He would be killed from the accident, a death which is still somewhat mysterious.  That corner now bears his name, the ''Variante Ascari''.

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====References====
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Alberto_Ascari" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Ascari http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Ascari], used under the [[GNU Free Documentation License]]