 |
| Juan Manuel Fangio |
But as the 1953 season progressed, the Maserati team posed an increasingly strong threat, particularly from the car driven by Juan Fangio.
Although Ascari was already confirmed as World Champion when the cars assembled at Monza in mid-September, if Ferrari could win this final round, it would make its domination of the two-year 'F2' championship total, as it had yet to be beaten.
Ascari duly planted his car on pole position, although Fangio — competing at Monza for the first time since breaking his neck there the previous year — was only 0.5s slower. Farina's Ferrari was third quickest, just ahead of the second Maserati driven by Fangio's young protégé, Onofre Marimon.
Ascari led away, but with the cars so evenly matched on the fast slipstreaming circuit, no one was able to make a break for it at the front. The two Ferraris and two Maseratis constantly swopped the lead between them for lap after lap —the official lap charts showed the lead changing 22 times ! The straw bales lining the edge of the track became frayed as the drivers sought to find a vital extra edge, and back-markers were passed on each side by the high-speed four-car convoy.
After 46 of the 80 laps, Marimon pitted with a holed oil radiator, but after repairs had been made, he rejoined the battle for the lead, even though he was three laps adrift, to give support to Fangio. But as the race entered its late stages, it seemed that the Ferraris of Ascari and Farina were slowly, but surely, emerging on top. Going into the final lap, Fangio was only third.
Approaching the double 'porfido' curves, Farina, desperate to beat his team-mate for once, attempted to pass Ascari, but went wide on the exit of the first bend, edging on to the grass and allowing Fangio to nip past into second.Then Ascari turned in early for the second bend, determined that no one was going to get inside him, but began to spin on the way out and was collected by Marimon as Fangio took the lead and the win.