Born |
Milan, Italy |
10 November 1934
---|---|
Died | 30 March 1969 Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France |
(aged 34)
Formula One World Championship career | |
Nationality | Belgian |
Active years | 1959–1963, 1965, 1968 |
Teams | ENB, UDT Laystall, Reg Parnell, Scuderia Centro Sud, Cooper |
Entries | 19 (17 starts) |
Championships | 0 |
Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 1 |
Career points | 6 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
First entry | 1959 Monaco Grand Prix |
Last entry | 1968 Mexican Grand Prix |
Lucien Bianchi (10 November 1934 – 30 March 1969), born Luciano Bianchi, was an Italian-Belgian racing driver who raced for the Cooper, ENB, UDT Laystall and Scuderia Centro Sud teams in Formula One. He entered a total of 19 Formula One World Championship races, scoring six points and had a best finish of third at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix.
He died in a testing crash in preparation for the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Bianchi was born in Milan, Italy, but moved to Belgium in 1946 when he was still a child, with his father who was a race mechanic working, before the Second World War, in the Alfa Romeo competition department. His grandnephew, Jules Bianchi, who made his Formula One debut with the Marussia team for the 2013 season competing under the French flag, also died as a result of injuries sustained in a racing accident.
Lucien Bianchi's first race event was at the Alpine Rally in 1951. He won the 1957, 1958 and 1959 Tour de France as well as the Paris 1000 sports car race in the latter two years.
He entered Formula One in 1959, although only with sporadic appearances at first. He drove various cars under the banner of the ENB team, including a Cooper T51, a Lotus 18 and an Emeryson. After a couple of races for the UDT Laystall team in 1961, driving another Lotus, he returned to ENB for whom he drove their ENB-Maserati. He finally secured a more regular drive in Formula One in 1968, with the Cooper-BRM team, although success was elusive despite a bright start. Bianchi managed his best Formula One performance, finishing third at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix, in his first race for Cooper.