Overview
There have been 100 Formula One drivers from Italy including two World Drivers' Champions. Giuseppe "Nino" Farina was the first ever World Champion and Alberto Ascari was the first double World Champion. All three championships came in the early 1950s and very few Italian drivers have come close since Ascari's 1953 victory. In 1989 and again for the following two years there were 13 drivers from Italy. Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes is the only Italian driver in Formula One in 2026. Antonio Giovinazzi was the most recent Italian driver before Antonelli, having competed between 2017 and 2021. Prior to Giovinazzi, there were five consecutive seasons without an Italian driver, with 2012 marking the first season an Italian driver did not enter a Formula One race weekend and the first season since 1969 that an Italian driver did not start a race.