1. Arturo Francesco "Art" Merzario was born on 11 March 1943 and is an Italian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1972 to 1979.
18 Facts About Arturo Merzario
1. 2.
Arturo Merzario participated in 85 Grands Prix, scoring 11 championship points.
3.
Arturo Merzario began his career as a test driver with works Fiat Abarths, subsequently participating to GT racing and European mountain-climb events.
4.
Arturo Merzario made his Formula One debut in 1972, and became one of the few drivers to score points at their first race by finishing in sixth place in the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch.
5.
Arturo Merzario was the last driver whose debut team was Ferrari until Oliver Bearman in the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
6.
Arturo Merzario had a promising start with the old 312B2, finishing fourth in Brazil and South Africa.
7.
Deeply disappointed with the way the season had unfolded, Enzo Ferrari decided to change the whole team for the 1974 season, and Arturo Merzario moved to Williams.
8.
Arturo Merzario returned to Formula One full-time in 1976, initially with the works March.
9.
In 1977, Arturo Merzario was able to raise enough sponsors to set up his own Arturo Merzario team.
10.
From 1978, Arturo Merzario began building cars of his own design and the team would eventually move down to Formula Two.
11.
Arturo Merzario continued with his own chassis for two seasons, but results were very poor; the team's cars did not qualify on the majority of occasions, and often retired from the races they did start.
12.
The Arturo Merzario M1-BMW fared no better in Formula Two in 1980 but Arturo Merzario continued to race sports cars with some success after his works Formula One career finished.
13.
Arturo Merzario began his career with Abarth in GT racing and mountain climbs; he won the Sardinia Rally in 1963 in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
14.
Arturo Merzario had several class wins throughout the 1960s; his victory in the Mugello Grand Prix of 1969 led to a Ferrari sports car drive.
15.
In 1972, Arturo Merzario won the 1000 Kilometres of Spa with Brian Redman in a Ferrari 312 PB, won the Targa Florio alongside Sandro Munari, and made his Formula One World Championship debut.
16.
In 1973, Arturo Merzario took second places in the 1000 Kilometres of Nurburgring and at Le Mans.
17.
Arturo Merzario won the Targa Florio in 1975 with an Alfa Romeo T33, and his career continued in sports cars and GT racing into the 1990s; he won the 1985 Italian Prototype Championship, and later campaigned successfully with a Centenari M1.
18.
Arturo Merzario was still active in sports car racing well into his sixties, driving mostly in an Italian prototype series.