23 Facts About Lorenzo Bandini

Lorenzo Bandini was an Italian motor racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Scuderia Centro Sud and Ferrari teams.

Lorenzo Bandini left home and found a job as an apprentice mechanic in the Freddi workshop in Milan.

Lorenzo Bandini made his way into auto racing from competing on motorcycles.

Lorenzo Bandini started racing cars in 1957 in a borrowed Fiat 1100.

Lorenzo Bandini achieved a first class victory at the Mille Miglia, in a Lancia Appia Zagato, in 1958, and a class win the same year in the 500cc Berkeley in the 12-hour race at Monza.

Lorenzo Bandini purchased a Volpini Formula Junior car and placed third in his first race in Sicily.

Ferrari opted for Baghetti, and Lorenzo Bandini went to drive for Guglielmo "Mimmo" Dei's Scuderia Centro Sud.

Lorenzo Bandini drove his first world championship race at Spa later in 1961.

In 1962 Lorenzo Bandini was hired by Ferrari for the 1962 and 1963 seasons, and moved to Maranello, near the team's headquarters.

For 1963 Lorenzo Bandini was retained by Ferrari for sports car races only.

Lorenzo Bandini won the first Austrian Grand Prix at the Zeltweg circuit and scored two more podiums in Germany and Italy.

At the Mexican Grand Prix, Lorenzo Bandini was running second when he decided to let his teammate John Surtees pass, enabling him to score enough points to win the World Championship.

Lorenzo Bandini was unlucky not to win the French and US Grands Prix that year which he dominated before mechanical problems intervened while he was holding a huge lead.

Lorenzo Bandini's best finish was a second place at the Monaco Grand Prix in a 2.4 liter V-6 Ferrari behind Jackie Stewart's BRM.

Later in the season Lorenzo Bandini helped director John Frankenheimer with his movie Grand Prix.

Lorenzo Bandini recommended the location at the harbour chicane for a crash scene in the movie filmed at the Monte Carlo circuit.

In 1967 Lorenzo Bandini won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 1000 km of Monza, both with Chris Amon.

On 7 May 1967 Lorenzo Bandini was racing at the Monaco Grand Prix, running second to Denny Hulme on the 82nd lap, when he lost control of his car at the harbour chicane.

Lorenzo Bandini had just entered the chicane when his Ferrari's left rear wheel hit the guard rail, sending him into an erratic skid.

The car hit straw bales which lined the harbour side, rupturing the fuel tank, and sparks ignited the fuel as the car rolled over, with Lorenzo Bandini trapped beneath it.

Three days after the crash, Lorenzo Bandini succumbed to his injuries at Princess Grace Polyclinic Hospital in Monte Carlo.

Lorenzo Bandini was later buried in the Lambrate cemetery, in Milan.

Lorenzo Bandini is portrayed by Francesco Bauco in Ford v Ferrari, a 2019 film about the rivalry between Ford and Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans auto race.