Giancarlo Fisichella, also known as Giano, has three Formula One World Championship wins in his kitty. The popular racing driver also captains the Nazionale Piloti football team. Throughout his career, he has raced for teams such as Renault, Force India, and Ferrari. He is related to a Sicilian noble family.
A multitalented racing driver and twice Formula One World Champion, Alberto Ascari began his racing career with motorcycles, eventually shifting to automobiles, making his debut at Mille Miglia. Later, he started participating in other events, winning a total of thirteen races, including 1951 German Grand Prix and 1953 Swiss Grand Prix before passing away at the age of 36 while testing a car.
Giuseppe Farina, or Nino Farina, was not just a Formula One racer but also boasted of a doctorate degree in engineering. He became the first winner of the world driving championship as per the modern point system. He died in a car accident while on his way to watch a race.
Born into an affluent Roman family, Elio de Angelis joined the Formula One scene with the Shadow team. He was also a talented pianist. Unfortunately, he lost his life in a fiery accident at the Paul Ricard Circuit in 1986, sparking debates about race car safety standards.
Lella Lombardi made headlines by becoming the world’s only female Formula One driver to earn a top six finish in a World Championship race. A butcher’s daughter, she initially drove her family’s delivery van. An LGBT icon, she died of cancer, and was survived by her partner.
Formula One racer Lorenzo Bandini had started his career as an apprentice mechanic at 15, after his father’s death, and gradually began racing motorcycles and then moved on to cars. He sustained deadly injuries at a horrific car crash during the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, and died three days later.
Andrea de Cesaris, who had represented multiple Formula One teams, went down in history as the racer with the most Grand Prix starts without a single win. Post-retirement, he worked as a currency broker. He made headlines again when he dies in a motorcycle accident on a Rome highway.
Giovanna Amati is an Italian former racing driver and one of the more recent female drivers to have participated as a racer in the Formula One World Championship. In 1992, she became the fifth female driver to participate in Formula One when she signed for the Brabham team. In 1993, she won the Women's European Championship at the Porsche SuperCup.