Maserati. Special during the early years of Formula 1

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In 2020, Formula 1 will be 70 years old. Soon, the Royal Class of motor racing will be restarted after the forced corona break. It means that new events and heroics are added to the now rich history. That Formula 1 history produced beautiful moments. Take the famous 'double' victory in Formula One, which was achieved by two different Maserati race cars. On two different circuits. On the same day.

The first victory of the Maserati double stroke took place during the Pau Grand Prix of 1950, which was held on April 10, 1950 at the Pau circuit in France. It was an official F1 race that did not count for the F1 championship. This race is considered the first race of the 1 Formula 1950 season. The race was completed in 110 laps. The winner? That was by none other than the legendary driver Juan Manuel Fangio. His tool was the Maserati 4CLT.

On the exact same day, with the exact same car ...

What was special was that Reg Parnell won the Richmond Trophy at the Goodwood Motor Circuit on the exact same day with his own Maserati. That was also a 4CLT. And this victory was also a Formula 1 victory. With this he wrote history in a special way, together with Fangio, who took his victory far away near the Pyrenees. The legend of the “F1 double” was born. Made possible by Maserati, a beautiful and illustrious achievement.

Tubolare and sixteen valve technology

Alberto Massimino developed the Maserati 1947CLT in 4. Massimino was Maserati's chief engineer. And he found the Maserati 4CL to be the ideal car to build the 'sixteen valve' Formula 1 / A car. That became the 4CLT. The additional letter 'T' stood for 'Tubolare' and reflected the car's new tubular chassis frame.

strong> San Remo

The first pair of 4CLTs debuted in San Remo in June 1948. Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi finished first and second. With their achievements, they gave the 4CLT the nickname 'San Remo Maserati'. Ascari and Villoresi not only scored very well in San Remo, but they were at their best all year round.

Reg parnell

Meanwhile, the British driver and private owner of a Maserati race car, Reg Parnell, was one of Britain's leading drivers. He made a name for himself behind the wheel of his pre-war Maserati 4CL. After becoming the owner of his 4CLT, Parnell won several Goodwood Trophies, as well as The Richmond Trophy. He took it in April 1949 and 1950. And that last trophy had a special load, because it symbolized the second F1 victory with the same type of car on the same day. And in a different place.

strong> Formula 1 kick-off

And 1950 was the year of the kick-off of Formula 1. In the meantime, more manufacturers had seen that there was much to be achieved at the top of the competitive sport. Formula 1 provided a structural character to the arms race. Maserati wanted to speak for itself in this. For example, at that time Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Talbot-Lago strong manufacturers who pressed their noses prominently at the competition window. Maserati was forced to respond.

More powerful and lighter: the 4CLT / 50

The 4CLT was upgraded and was now called 4CLT / 50. The crankshaft on the 50 was changed. The engine now got a more powerful pair of Rootes superchargers. The ignition timing was even adjusted. All these engine changes caused the power to be increased to 280 horsepower. Maserati also discovered that it could save on weight. The modification of the chassis design resulted in a weight reduction of 22 kilos.

strong> New perspective

This would be the car's last major update. At Maserati, people noticed that it was against Alfa Romeo and Ferrari would be no powder. It created the brand new A6GCM and it was aimed at the wider Formula 2 market. Although the 1 Formula One season was to be raced to F1952 rules, Maserati was unable to break Ferrari's dominance. However, the arrival of Gioachino Colombo provided a new perspective.

Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio

Maserati thus laid the foundation for even more success in future Formula 1 world championships. Impressive was second place with the 250F, in which Sir Stirling Moss took second place in the general classification in the 1956 season. And Juan Manuel Fangio celebrated his return to Maserati in 1957 with his fourth consecutive world title. It was his fifth overall. He crowned the important role Maserati played in the motorsport world of the XNUMXs and XNUMXs.

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