IN THE LAND OF BLACK GOLD - Grandprixplus

After his performances in the OSCA and
the Porsche, Ricardo was noticed by US Ferrari
importer Luigi Chinetti who ran the North
American Racing Team, NART. By 1960 he was
racing a NART Ferrari in Europe, finishing second
at Le Mans with Andre Pilette in a 250GT. He and
Pedro also finished third at Sebring and second at
the Nurburgring 1000 kms.
The following season Ricardo was recruited
by Enzo Ferrari for his works team, becoming the
youngest driver in Formula One at 19. He would
repay Il Commendatore’s faith by winning the
Montlhery 1000 kms that year, and again in 1962
when he also won the Targa Florio with established
stars Olivier Gendebien and Willy Mairesse.
It was his performance on his Grand Prix
debut, at Monza in 1961, that really demonstrated
his star quality, however. That season the famed 156
‘Sharknose’ was the class of the field as the British
struggled to catch up after refusing to believe that
the 1.5-litre F1 really would replace the 2.5-litre
formula in which they had come to power. Ferrari
seniors Wolfgang von Trips and Phil Hill were vying
for the title that year, backed by the talented Richie
Ginther. But at Monza only Trips beat Ricardo to
pole position. Hill was third fastest.
The race ended tragically, with Trips dead
after a second-lap collision with Jim Clark; Hill won
and wrapped up an unhappy title, while Ricardo’s
car broke like all the other Sharknoses. Ostensibly
he succumbed to a broken fuel pump, but Hill
remembered that only a change of engine the
night before the race had prevented him being
afflicted by a batch of faulty valve springs that
affected his team-mates on the day. But Ricardo
had done enough, and was signed for 1962 to race
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