Formula 1 indulged itself in a 75th birthday party last week, as it launched the new cars and the new 2025 season, marking the anniversary of the World Championship which began in 1950.
There from the start, near enough, was Autosport, which launched just three months after the first race in that inaugural season, by which time six of the seven races had been run. Thankfully, Autosport were there in time for the decider, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where the three Alfa Romeo drivers were in the running – Fangio, Farina and Fagioli.
Autosport reported on it in its 8 September 1950 issue, with Fangio retiring from the race and leaving Nino Farina to come home as the winner and the inaugural world champion.
But Autosport was more intrigued by the car that finished second. “From Monza, Italy, comes news that an unsupercharged 4 ½ litre V-12 Ferrari almost pulled off a win in its first appearance. This car gave Alfa Romeo seriously to ponder [sic], as it proved to be a match for their latest 370 bhp model. The question everyone will ask is: ‘Is the day of the supercharged 1 ½ litre coming to a close?’”
More on that, and the race itself, can be found here.
