Former GP driver Robert Manzon has died at the age of 97

The Formula One world sadly received news that former driver Robert Manzon, who was the last survivor of the inaugural Formula 1 world championship season in 1950, has died at the age of 97.

The French driver was a regular with the Gordini squad during much of the 1950s and is mostly famous for claiming a third place finish in the wet 1952 Belgian Grand Prix for the team.

Marseilles-born Manzon initially worked with cars as a mechanic and after World War 2 made his racing debut driving a Cisitalia D46 in 1947. With impressive early results that he gained in his career in the sport which included racing closely against Equipe Gordini patron Amedee Gordini landed him a contract with the French squad for 1948.

He then raced both single-seaters and sportscars for Gordini, although results were hard to come by given that the team’s ambition wasn’t always matched by its resources. But things did start well at during his time with the Gordini team, with Manzon completing a Gordini one-two-three in third place in the Formula 2 Grand Prix of Geneva in May 1948 but results were not always that easy to come by.

Given the limitations of Gordini equipment, Manzon built a good reputation for himself without ever establishing himself in the front rank of the drivers of the era. There were occasional wins in minor events, but too many retirements, often through mechanical problems.

Even after making his world championship debut in the 1950 Monaco GP, Manzon was a regular for Gordini at the top level, finishing sixth in the standings in 1952. This was thanks to points finishes in France and the Netherlands, on top of the third place at Spa, but there were also some good results elsewhere during a prolific season of racing.

But Manzon left Gordini early in 1953 amid frustration at the team’s struggles and contested sportscar races for Lancia before joining Louis Rosier’s team, which ran privateer Ferraris the following season. He spent 1954 racing for both Lancia and Rosier, taking his second and final podium in a world championship race in the French GP of that year.

Manzon agreed to return to Gordini in 1955 and spent two more seasons with the team, struggling in world championship events but winning the non-championship Naples GP in 1956 for F1 cars, as well as taking the Circuito di Pescara sportscar race.

All you can say is that despite the troubles he encountered during his Formula One career, Manzon did the best that he could do with the equipment he was given. It has been all documentated that after his retirement from the sport, Manzon was regarded as a very able driver who would have won more races in better equipment and you can understand why that is the case.

But we have ultimately lost a Formula One driver that did the best he could do in his career and did manage some success in the sport when the chance presented itself. Manzon did play a very important role in Formula One especially in the early years of the sport and we will as a community remember him, what he achieved in his career which will live on as part of his legacy and ultimately will always be remembered and missed greatly by the sport and its fans.