Top 5 Italian F1 Drivers of all time

#2 - Nino Farina

Giuseppe Farina was the first Formula 1 champion in 1950.

Giuseppe "Nino" Farina won the very first F1 world championship in 1950, beating the great Juan Manuel Fangio to the title in the same car. Alfa Romeo were dominant that campaign, winning all but one of the seven Grands Prix that year, and Farina half of those.

Farina was 43 when he won the championship, and perhaps his age caught up with him somewhat, although F1 drivers were generally older during this time. Most of his success came before the first official Formula 1 season, winning almost 20 races before 1950.

He'd continue in F1 until 1955, when he was almost 50-years-old, and did challenge for the title in most of these years, finishing second overall in 1952 for Ferrari and third in the following year. It's hard to compare drivers of different eras, but Farina won a world title, even if de Angelis had lived, he would've had to move away from Brabham and to a team like McLaren or Williams to have a chance of winning one himself, so Nino edges this battle for me.