(born in
Nice ,
France ,
February 16 1921 - died in
Berlin ,
Germany ,
August 1 1959 ) was a
Formula One driver who raced for the
Gordini ,
Maserati ,
BRM ,
Ferrari and
Porsche teams.
Although he never got a victory, he managed an unquenchable thirst for motorsport, being considered a formidable competitor to the day he died. He hit the headlines when he won the non-title
1952 Reims Grand Prix . Between then and 1959 he scored many victories but in non-championship races. In 1959 he moved to Ferrari where he partnered with
Tony Brooks . When he retired in the
French Grand Prix at
Reims after a piston failure, he was involved in a strong discussion in which he punched team manager
Romolo Tavoni , and was instantly dismissed from the team. Less than a month later he crashed his
Porsche RSK in the sports car race that preceded the
German Grand Prix at
AVUS . He was thrown from his car and fatally injured against a flagpole.
(Note: grands prix in denote '''points scoring''' races.)
