Throughout its history, the Italian auto manufacturer

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

has participated in various forms of

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

s including

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

sportscar racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

and

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move ...

, both as a works team and through private entrants.

Beginnings

One of the first Maseratis the Tipo 26 driven by

Alfieri Maserati Alfieri Maserati (23 September 1887 – 3 March 1932) was an Italian automotive engineer, known for establishing and leading the Maserati racing car manufacturer with the other Maserati Brothers. Maserati was born in Voghera. In 1903 he and his ...

with

Guerino Bertocchi Guerino Bertocchi (October 29, 1907 – April 13, 1981) was an Italian mechanic and racing driver known for his lifelong association with Maserati. Bertocchi debuted as a mechanic and co-driver alongside Alfieri Maserati in the 1926 Targa Florio ...

acting as riding mechanic won the

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

1,500 cc class in 1926, finishing in ninth place in overall. Maserati was very successful in pre-war Grand Prix racing using a variety of cars with 4, 6, 8 and 16 cylinders (two straight-eights mounted parallel to one another). Other notable pre-war successes include winning the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

twice (1939 and 1940), both times with

Wilbur Shaw Warren Wilbur Shaw (October 31, 1902 – October 30, 1954) was an American racing driver. He was president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1945 until his death in 1954. Shaw was the automotive test evaluator for '' Popular Science'' magaz ...

at the wheel of a 8CTF.

Sports and GT cars

Maserati won the Targa Florio in 1937, 1938, 1939 and 1940. The first two wins were achieved by

Giovanni Rocco Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

with a

Maserati 6CM The Maserati 6CM is an Italian single-seater racing car, made by Maserati of Modena from 1936 to 1940 for the Voiturette racing class. Twenty-seven were built on the Maserati 4CM frame, with front suspension as on the Maserati V8RI, and had a ...

and the last two by

Luigi Villoresi Luigi Villoresi (16 May 1909 – 24 August 1997) was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver who continued racing on the Formula One circuit at the time of its inception. Biography Born in Milan, Lombardy, and nicknamed "Gigi", he was the older ...

with a 6CM in 1939 and a 4CL in 1940. Maserati's post-war factory effort in sports car racing began in 1954 for the second season of the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

. The factory raced as Officine Alfieri Maserati.

World Sports Car Championship

Maserati 300S 2-seater sport 1955 2993cc

Maserati scored points in all but one year of the first era of the

World Sports Car Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and N ...

from 1953 to 1961. Both factory-entered and privately-entered cars were eligible to score points for the manufacturer. At the end of 1957 Maserati retired the factory team from racing though they continued to build cars for privateers. In the 1953 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed thirteenth. In the 1954 World Sportscar Championship Maserati entered the

Maserati A6 Maserati A6 were a series of grand tourers, racing sports cars and single seaters made by Maserati of Italy between 1947 and 1956. They were named for Alfieri Maserati (one of the Maserati brothers, founders of Maserati) and for their straight-si ...

GCS and placed fifth. In the 1955 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed fourth. In the 1956 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed second including a win at the 1000 km Buenos Aires and the 1000 km at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

. The win at 1956 1000 km Buenos Aires was a

Maserati 300S The Maserati 300S was a racing car produced by Maserati of Italy between 1955 and 1958 to compete in the FIA's World Sportscar Championship. Twenty-six examples were produced. Background The 3.0-litre (approx at 6200 rpm) engine was based on th ...

sports car driven by

Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...

and Carlos Menditéguy. In the 1957 World Sportscar Championship Maserati again placed second. This time with wins at Sebring and Rabelöfsbanan In the 1959 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed fourth. In the

1960 World Sportscar Championship The 1960 World Sportscar Championship was the eighth FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was contested over a five race series commencing 31 January 1960 and ending 26 June 1960. The championship was won by Ferrari. Championship summary The 1 ...

Maserati placed third. With a win at the

ADAC ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest motoring association. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in Germany with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an individual mo ...

1000 km Nürburgring for a

Maserati Tipo 61 The Maserati Tipo 60/61 (commonly referred to as the Maserati Birdcage) are a series of sports racing cars produced between 1959 and 1961 by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati for privateers racing in sports car events including the 24 Hours ...

driven by

and

Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...

. In the 1961 World Sportscar Championship Maserati placed second. With a repeat win at the

1000 km Nürburgring for a

this time driven by

Lloyd Casner Lloyd Perry Casner (August 30, 1928 in Miami, Florida – April 10, 1965 in Le Mans, France) was an American race car driver and the creator of the Casner Motor Racing Division team. An airline pilot by trade, "Lucky" Casner developed an interest ...

and

Masten Gregory Masten Gregory (February 29, 1932 − November 8, 1985) was an American racing driver. He raced in Formula One between and , participating in 43 World Championship races, and numerous non-Championship races. He was also a successful sports car r ...

FIA GT Championship

Maserati returned to sportscar racing in 2004, entering the

Maserati MC12 The Maserati MC12 (''Tipo M144S'') is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004, with 25 cars produced. ...

in the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

. Since 2005 the MC12 fielded by

Vitaphone Racing Team Vitaphone Racing is a German racing team who participate in the FIA GT Championship. The team is actually Bartels Motor & Sport GmbH but runs under the title of their primary sponsor, Vitaphone GmbH. In 2011 Vitaphone Racing was renamed Vita4One. ...

won five teams' championships and four drivers' championships in a row.

FIA GT1 World Championship

Michael Bartels Michael Bartels (born 8 March 1968) is a German professional racing driver. He is a multiple FIA GT champion and former Grand Prix driver who attempted to qualify for four races in with Lotus. Career Bartels was the 1985 German karting champi ...

and

Andrea Bertolini Andrea Bertolini (born 1 December 1973, in Sassuolo) is an Italian professional racing driver currently driving for AF Corse in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the official test driver of the Maserati factory. Bertolini began racing a ...

won the inaugural GT1 World Championship for Drivers in the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship driving a

for the

. The Vitaphone Racing Team won the GT1 World Championship for Teams.

List of Maserati sports and GT racing cars

GCS Sports Car * Maserati 350S Sports Car. *

Sports Car. * Maserati 250S Sports Car. *

Maserati 200S The Maserati 200S (Tipo 52) is a racing car made by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati as a successor to the Maserati A6GCS. 28 cars were made in total. The development of the 200S, codenamed Tipo 52 started in 1952, led by Vittorio Belle ...

Sports Car. * Maserati 150S Sports Car. *

Maserati 450S The Maserati 450S (Tipo 54) is a racing car made by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati for participating in FIA's endurance World Sportscar Championship racing. A total of nine were made. Development of the 450S started in 1954 under the ...

Sports Car. * Maserati Tipo 60 Sports Car *

the "Birdcage" Sports Car * Maserati Tipo 63 * Maserati Tipo 64 *

Maserati Tipo 65 The Maserati Tipo 60/61 (commonly referred to as the Maserati Birdcage) are a series of sports racing cars produced between 1959 and 1961 by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati for privateers racing in sports car events including the 24 Hours ...

Maserati Tipo 151 The Maserati Tipo 151 is a racing car manufactured by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati for the 1962 LeMans season to compete in the experimental GT car class. Three cars were built in total, one for Johnny Simone of Maserati France (151 00 ...

Maserati Barchetta The Maserati Barchetta is a mid-engine racing car, like the 350 and 450S, that was designed by Carlo Gaino of the Synthesis Design, an Italian design house. The Barchetta was designed and developed for the one-make racing series ''Grantrofeo Bar ...

Sports Car *

Maserati Ghibli Maserati Ghibli is the name of three different cars produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati: the AM115, a V8 grand tourer from 1967 to 1973; the AM336, a V6 twin-turbocharged coupé from 1992 to 1998; and the M157, an executive s ...

II Open Cup GT Car * Maserati Trofeo series GT Car. * Maserati Trofeo Light GT3 Racing Car * Maserati Trofeo GranSport series GT Car. *

GT1 Racing Car *

Maserati GranTurismo The Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio are a series of a grand tourers produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati. They succeeded the 2-door V8 grand tourers offered by the company, the Maserati Coupé, and Spyder. GranTurismo I ( ...

GT4 *

GT3 *

Maserati MC20 The Maserati MC20 (''Maserati Corse 2020'', internal code M240) is a two-seater, mid-engined sports car produced by Italian car manufacturer Maserati. MC20 was originally scheduled to debut in May 2020. Maserati announced a racing variant to b ...

GT2

Touring cars

The

Maserati Biturbo The Maserati Biturbo is a family of executive grand tourers produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati between 1981 and 1994. The original Biturbo was a two-door, four-seater notchback coupé (of somewhat smaller dimensions than the BM ...

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...

racing car competed unsuccessfully in the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in ...

in the late 1980s, the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

and the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

(1987). The cars for the

1987 World Touring Car Championship season The 1987 World Touring Car Championship season was the inaugural World Touring Car Championship season. It commenced on 22 March 1987 and ended on 15 November after eleven races. The championship was open to Touring Cars complying with FIA Group A ...

were entered by Pro Team Italia/Imberti. The car was in

Division 3 competing against the

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is a high-performance version of the Ford Sierra that was built by Ford Europe from 1986 to 1992. It was the result of a Ford Motorsport project with the purpose of producing an outright winner for Group A racing in ...

and later in the season Ford Sierra RS 500. The car was driven by

Bruno Giacomelli Bruno Giacomelli (; born 10 September 1952) is a retired racing driver from Italy. He won one of the two 1976 British Formula 3 Championships and the Formula Two championship. He participated in 82 Formula One Grands Prix, competing for the fi ...

Armin Hahne Armin Hahne (born September 10, 1955 in Moers, West Germany) is a German racing driver, best known for his exploits in touring car racing. The highpoint of his career was winning both the 1982 and 1983 Spa 24 Hours driving BMW's. Another highli ...

, Marcello Gunella,

Mario Hytten Mario Hytten (born 20 April 1955) is a Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland * ...

Nicola Tesini Nicola Tesini (born April 19, 1962) is an Italian race car driver and journalist, a promoter of motor events and a driving instructor. Son of Danilo Tesini – Tazio Nuvolari's mechanic, racer and builder of Sport cars – he started his career ...

and Kevin Bartlett. For the

the cars were entered by Trident Motorsport. This was for the 1988 and 1989 seasons. The car was driven by Nick May,

John Lepp John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and Vic Lee.

Rally cars

A former 1987 WTCC car was bought by Adriano Dece who converted it for used on road rallies and the company also manufactured the

Rally car.

Formula One

Maserati participated in Grand Prix racing during the 1930s and in

motor racing during the 1950s and 1960s. Its works Formula One programme was broadly successful, providing a total of 9 Grand Prix wins for the factory team. In addition, Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1957 World Championship of Drivers with a

Maserati 250F The Maserati 250F was a racing car made by Maserati of Italy used in '2.5 litre' Formula One racing between January 1954 and November 1960. Twenty-six examples were made. Mechanical details The 250F principally used the SSG 220 bhp (@ 7400 rpm) ...

. Maserati designed two Formula One cars: the

Maserati 4CLT The Maserati 4CL and its derived sister model the Maserati 4CLT are single-seat open-wheel Grand Prix racing cars that were designed and built by Maserati. The 4CL was introduced at the beginning of the 1939 season, as a rival to the Alfa Rome ...

and the

, and the pre-World War II

Maserati 4CL The Maserati 4CL and its derived sister model the Maserati 4CLT are single-seat Open-wheel racing, open-wheel Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix racing cars that were designed and built by Maserati. The 4CL was introduced at the beginning of the ...

was also used with some success. In addition, the Maserati A6GCM, designed as a

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...

car, was also used in F1. Due to financial difficulties in the late 1950s the team had to withdraw from Formula One in 1958 despite the 250F still being successful. Privateers continued to use the 250F until 1960. In the 1960s, Maserati supplied engines to British Formula One team

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

. The most successful car of that collaboration was the Cooper-Maserati T81, which had a Maserati

V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...

engine. It won the 1966 Mexican Grand Prix and the

1967 South African Grand Prix The 1967 South African Grand Prix, formally the 1st AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: ''Eerste AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix''), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 2 January 1967. It was race 1 of 11 in both the 1967 World Ch ...

, driven by

John Surtees John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...

and Pedro Rodríguez respectively.

Beginnings of Formula One operation

The 1948 Maserati 4CLT was one of the first cars built to the new Formula One regulations, introduced in 1946, and was developed from the 1938 Maserati 4CL

voiturette A voiturette is a miniature automobile. History ''Voiturette'' was first registered by Léon Bollée in 1895 to name his new motor tricycle. The term became so popular in the early years of the motor industry that it was used by many makers t ...

car. The older design was still competitive despite the hiatus of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was entered into Formula One races when racing resumed after the war. Its success encouraged Maserati to develop the car's design and these refinements were brought together as the 4CLT.

Complete Formula One results

Formula E

On 10 January 2022, Maserati announced they would be competing in Formula E beginning in the

2022–23 Formula E World Championship The 2022–23 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship is due to be the ninth season of the FIA Formula E championship. The 2022–23 season is planned to be the first season of the Formula E Gen3 car. The reigning Team's Champions, Mercedes-EQ ...

They will become the first Italian manufacturer in the series once they start competing.

References

External links

maseraticorse.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maserati In Motorsport Maserati in motorsport Formula One constructors Formula One entrants Formula One engine manufacturers Italian auto racing teams Italian racecar constructors Grand Prix teams Sports car manufacturers World Sportscar Championship teams Auto racing teams established in 1950 Auto racing teams disestablished in 1957