Book Review: Alberto Ascari by Karl Ludvigsen

As Ferrari agree to a mega 5 year contract extension with Charles Leclerc – things are definitively going to amp up between him and Sebastian in 2020. As both Vettel and Leclerc battle to become Ferrari’s next world champion, I thought it would be interesting to re-visit the Scuderia’s very first world champion via Karl Ludvigsen’s biography of the revered Italian driver, Alberto Ascari. This book was the 5th in the series of driver biographies Ludvigsen wrote in the early 2000’s which also included Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Fangio and Dan Gurney. Despite its age, it still holds up as one of the more decent F1 driver biographical books.

Compared to modern F1 in 2019, its difficult to imagine how drivers in the 1950’s hopping into their cars in little more than short sleeve polo shirts and racing googles (& no seat belts!). Ludvigsen tells Ascari’s back story as the young son of successful Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Ascari, early bike racer to maiden Grand Prix racing in the Maserati 4CL. Much of the story discusses his Ferrari stint with Villoresi and Enzo Ferrari and his famous back to back championship seasons in 1952 and 1953. Ludvigsen’s narrative threads interviews with those who knew Ascari including several Italian motorsport journalists.

Good archival photos of F1 in the 1950’s limited but Ludvigsen has managed to assemble a fantastic collection of race photography comparable to Chris Nixon’s excellent historical Grand Prix books. In fact, photos are plentiful and offer a great balance with the double column narrative. The B&W photos are actually higher quality reproductions than the colour plate photos. That said, there are several colour snaps with Ascari decked out or behind the wheel in his trademark blue helmet, shirt & pants. One of the major drawcords of the book is the selected photography of Rudolfo Mailander.

There’s a lot of read and appreciate in this book – again, much of the photography invites careful study of the picture details while Ludvigsen has provided a very detailed examination of Ascari’s career. I’d rate this as one of the better GP driver books.

Wow Factor/money shot: Too many to name – ridiculous photo of Ascari driving the Ferrari 375 at the 1951 German GP without his helmet; Ascari in the Ferrari 500 (pg 157); driving the Lancia D50.

Suitable for: Tifosi and F1 history fans