STORY OF THE DAY: Ferrari’s First Victory

On 25 May 1947, Franco Cortese drove the number 56 Ferrari 125 S to victory in the Rome Grand Prix, held on the circuit around the Baths of Caracalla. Coming only two weeks after the marque’s competition debut, the result was the first race victory achieved by a car bearing the Ferrari name.

At Piacenza, Cortese had led before a fuel-pump failure ended Ferrari’s promising debut. Rome offered an immediate opportunity to turn that speed into a result. Cortese completed the race without repeating the earlier mechanical trouble, establishing the young Maranello constructor as a winning concern.

The 125 S employed a light tubular chassis and a front-mounted 1.5-litre V12 conceived by Gioachino Colombo, with important contributions from Giuseppe Busso and Luigi Bazzi. Its compact, high-revving engine introduced the twelve-cylinder architecture that would become fundamental to Ferrari’s identity.

Cortese was an experienced Italian driver from Piedmont whose career included machinery from Itala, Alfa Romeo, Bugatti and Maserati. As Ferrari’s first competition driver, he combined racing judgment with valuable development experience. His victory in Rome permanently associated his name with the beginning of Ferrari’s competitive history.