He is the driver who recorded Ferrari’s worst-ever result but went on to win two F1 championships

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Ferrari are the most iconic and successful team in the history of Formula 1.

During the 75-year history of Formula 1, no team have won more drivers’ or constructors’ championship titles than Ferrari.

Team principal Fred Vasseur is the man responsible for trying to help the Scuderia return to their former glory, but 2025 isn’t proving to be as successful as many of their fans would hope.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have yet to win a Grand Prix this season, and qualifying at Imola was record-breakingly bad for Ferrari this year after both drivers missed out on the top 10.

Ferrari have suffered plenty of highs and lows, but one driver in particular enjoyed both with the team.

His name is Alberto Ascari, who was one of the first drivers to risk their lives racing in Formula 1 at the formation of the sport.

READ MORE: They were F1 teammates for a record-breaking 104 races, and they never crashed

Who is Ferrari legend and Formula 1 two-time champion Alberto Ascari?

Born in Milan in 1918, Ascari was one of the generation of drivers who dominated Formula 1 during the first era of the sport.

Ascari won several races for Maserati in the build-up to F1’s inaugural season in 1950 before switching to Ferrari.

Ferrari infamously didn’t compete in Formula 1’s first official race at Silverstone, but sent three drivers to the next race in Monaco.

Ascari was joined by fellow Italian Luigi Villoresi and Frenchman Raymond Sommer on the grid that day.

Juan Manuel Fangio was victorious for Alfa Romeo, but Ascari finished second to mark a successful start to Ferrari’s time in F1.

He won his first race towards the end of the 1951 season before dominating the next two campaigns.

Ascari won each of the last six Grand Prix of the 1952 campaign and five more races the following year in 1953 to become Formula 1’s first multiple world champion.

Racing legend Stirling Moss was once quoted as saying about Ascari, via ESPN: “Certainly Ascari was wonderfully good… he was rather better than good, he was very good indeed. He may have been as fast as Fangio… but he had not got the polish that so distinguished Fangio.”

However, despite Ascari’s immense talent, he also recorded the worst classified result of Ferrari’s history in very unique circumstances.

READ MORE: He is ‘one of the worst Grand Prix drivers ever’ who started more than 100 F1 races but never finished on the lead lap

Alberto Ascari’s worst-ever Formula 1 result at the 1952 Indianapolis 500

One of the quirks of the first 11 seasons of Formula 1 was that the Indianapolis 500 was an official round of the championship.

It has led to a driver named Bill Vukovich becoming a multiple F1 race winner despite only taking part in a handful of events.

The vast majority of drivers and constructors never overlapped between the Indy 500 and the rest of the campaign, but in 1952, Ferrari decided to send Ascari to compete.

He managed to qualify 19th but suffered a wheel issue on lap 40 and was forced to retire.

However, a quirk of the Indianapolis 500 is that every driver is classified whether they finish the race or not, something that doesn’t happen during any other Formula 1 race.

It means that Ascari’s 31st-place finish at the 1952 Indianapolis 500 is technically the worst F1 result in Ferrari’s history.

Even drivers such as Luca Badoer, who had terrible spells at Ferrari, couldn’t match Ascari’s unwanted record.

James Wood drove Ascari’s Ferrari 375 at the 2022 Goodwood Revival and said: “They’re a very impressive car, the engine is so beautifully smooth.

“There’s a lot of torque. Once it comes on cam, the note changes, and it’s a really sharp sound. Anyone who has driven one is in love.”

Ascari left Ferrari after winning the 1953 championship to race for Maserati, but after two retirements, he competed one last time for Ferrari at the 1954 Italian Grand Prix.

He started the race in second before suffering an engine failure, although this didn’t end his association with Ferrari.

Ascari drove for Lancia for the final three Formula 1 races of his career before he was killed during a test day for Ferrari at Monza in 1955.