Following an incredible surge in the second half of the 2023 season, McLaren’s Lando Norris emerges as the latest F1 driver to win the prestigious Lorenzo Bandini Trophy, previously also won by current and three-time world champion Max Verstappen and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
The award, given annually to an F1 driver or team, pays homage to a past champion of the sport, Lorenzo Bandini, who died three days after a fiery crash during the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix. Only one driver wins the award, and no driver gets a second nomination after winning it to maintain equality when awarding the young and emerging talents in the sport, per information gathered from Wikiwand.
The winner of the award gets a ceramic replica of Bandini’s Ferrari 312/67, adorning the iconic number ’18’ on it. Master ceramist Goffredo Gaeta creates the replica, which is handed to the winner in Bandini’s hometown of Brisighella in Emilia-Romagna.
A panel of 12 judges comprising of motorsports journalists and former F1 team members decided the year’s winner based on their performances. Race results and the year’s finishing position don’t play a deciding role in the process, but what matters is the winner’s character and approach towards the sport.
Lorenzo Bandini- The Inspiration behind Lando Norris’ award
After his father’s death in the war in 1944, Bandini and the rest of his family moved to Reggiolo, where he started studying in a professional start-up school after bombings destroyed his family-owned hotels. Simultaneously, Bandini also took up a job as a mechanic, beginning his affiliation with the motorsports world. In 1950, Bandini came to Milan to start working for Goliardo Freddi. In 1956, he debuted in racing, driving Freddi’s 1100-103 bicolor at the Castell’Arquatto-Vernasca race. He finished fifteenth in the race.
In 1961, Bandini debuted in the F1 circuit with his first race in Belgium. A year later, he secured a Ferrari seat, where he stayed for the next five years. Racing in a Jim Clarke-dominated era, Bandini could not win many races but won a lot of respect and admiration from his colleagues.
In the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, Bandini looked like a potential race-winner until a fateful Lap 82 of the race. The Italian driver’s Ferrari clipped a left-handed wooden barrier on a chicane, pitching him into the right-handed barrier. With no guardrails, the car hit a large mooring board and flipped on the track before a severed fuel pipe caused an instant fire. Bandini could never recover and passed away three days later.
Bandini only won one F1 Grand Prix in his entire career- the 1962 Mediterranean GP. In 1963, the Italian won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and in his final year as a racing driver, Bandini earned his last piece of silverware when he won the 24 Hours of Daytona with Ferrari. While he may not have won much, Bandini still stands as a prominent figure in the world of motorsports, owing to his charming nature, which helped him earn praise from fans and colleagues alike.
