Ottorino Volonterio (7 December 1917 – 10 March 2003) was a racing driver from Switzerland.

Biography

A member of Swiss nobility, he was born in

Orselina Orselina is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History Orselina is first mentioned in 1182 as ''Concilio Meziano''. In 1323 it was mentioned as ''Orsarina''. During the Middle Ages and into the Ea ...

and was trained as a lawyer, before he began participating in sports car racing. He debuted in

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, ...

at the

1954 Spanish Grand Prix The 1954 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 24 October 1954 at Pedralbes. It was the ninth and final race in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 80-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Mike Hawthorn after he started fro ...

Pedralbes Pedralbes (, Old Catalan for ''white stones'') is a neighborhood in '' Les Corts'' district of Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). Before the administrative division of 1984, the neighborhood was part of Sarrià and the former municipality of Sant Vice ...

in 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) ...

which he shared with Emmanuel de Graffenried, but the compatriots retired with engine failure. He contested two other World Championship Grands Prix, the

1956 German Grand Prix The 1956 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 5 August 1956 at Nürburgring. It was race 7 of 8 in the 1956 World Championship of Drivers. Winner Forty-five-year-old Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio won the race for Ferrari, and bro ...

on the Nürburgring ''Nordschleife'' where he was unclassified having finished 6 laps behind race winner Juan Manuel Fangio, and the 1957 Italian Grand Prix at Monza with André Simon where he finished 11th some 15 laps behind the winner Stirling Moss. Volonterio continued to compete in non-championship Formula One races and sports cars, with his best result a second place in the Coupe de Paris at

Montlhéry Montlhéry () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located from Paris. History Montlhéry lay on the strategically important road from Paris to Orléans. Under the Merovingians, it was owned by the ...

in 1955. He also fielded Grand Prix cars for other drivers. He continued racing until 1973, and died in Lugano in 2003.

Complete World Championship Formula One Grand Prix results

( key) :''* Indicates shared drive with Toulo de Graffenried :''† Indicates shared drive with André Simon

References

Swiss racing drivers Swiss Formula One drivers 1917 births 2003 deaths Sportspeople from Lugano Swiss motorsport people Swiss nobility Formula One team owners Swiss auto racing teams {{F1-bio-stub