Access the Online Archive
Search the Historical Archive of the Pirelli Foundation for sources and materials. Select the type of support you are interested in and write the keywords of your research.
    Select one of the following categories
  • Documents
  • Photographs
  • Drawings and posters
  • Audio-visuals
  • Publications and magazines
  • All
Help with your research
To request to view the materials in the Historical Archive and in the libraries of the Pirelli Foundation for study and research purposes and/or to find out how to request the use of materials for loans and exhibitions, please fill in the form below. You will receive an email confirming receipt of the request and you will be contacted.
Pirelli Foundation Educational Courses

Select the education level of the school
Back
Primary schools
Pirelli Foundation Educational Courses
Please fill in your details and the staff of Pirelli Foundation Educational will contact you to arrange the dates of the course.

I declare I have read  the privacy policy, and authorise the Pirelli Foundation to process my personal data in order to send communications, also by email, about initiatives/conferences organised by the Pirelli Foundation.

Back
Lower secondary school
Pirelli Foundation Educational Courses
Please fill in your details and the staff of Pirelli Foundation Educational will contact you to arrange the dates of the course.
Back
Upper secondary school
Pirelli Foundation Educational Courses
Please fill in your details and the staff of Pirelli Foundation Educational will contact you to arrange the dates of the course.
Back
University
Pirelli Foundation Educational Courses

Do you want to organize a training programme with your students? For information and reservations, write to universita@fondazionepirelli.org

Visit the Foundation
For information on the Foundation's activities and admission to the spaces,
please call +39 0264423971 or write to visite@fondazionepirelli.org

The Golden Age of Formula 1

The first Formula 1 race was held in 1950, opening a new chapter in the world of motor racing. The partnership with Alfa Romeo continued, and the first World Championship in the history of Formula 1 was won at the Monza Grand Prix, on 3 September 1950, by Nino Farina in an Alfa 158. The tyre was a Stella Bianca Corsa and the wheels displayed the hand that had formed the company logo since 1939, the year when the “Italiana Rudge Whitworth” changed its name to “Carlo Borrani”. We can see this in a number of shots taken by the photographer Federico Patellani, who became known for his reportages in the years of recovery after the war. At the historic Grand Prix he showed the Pirelli Racing Service mechanics in the pits, checking and balancing the wheels of the Alfa 158. The historic partnership with Alfa Romeo and Maserati had started in the years of the pre-war Grand Prix races and it continued into the 1950s, but now a new marque appeared in the racing world: Ferrari. Borrani’s relationship with Enzo Ferrari began during the 1924 Coppa Acerbo, when the young driver achieved one of the greatest results of his sporting career in an Alfa Romeo fitted with Rudge Whitworth wheels. After his triumph he chose Pirelli tyres and Borrani wheels for his Scuderia Ferrari at Alfa Romeo and later for the cars he produced with the prancing horse logo.

Whether for an Alfa Romeo, a Maserati or a Ferrari, Victory Tyres were the first choice for every car manufacturer in racing, and successes came one after the other throughout the 1950s. The Stella Bianca was followed by the Stelvio, while Borrani aluminium rims, made from 1948 without joint plates thanks to the use of modern welding techniques, were named “Record”.

Back to main page 

The first Formula 1 race was held in 1950, opening a new chapter in the world of motor racing. The partnership with Alfa Romeo continued, and the first World Championship in the history of Formula 1 was won at the Monza Grand Prix, on 3 September 1950, by Nino Farina in an Alfa 158. The tyre was a Stella Bianca Corsa and the wheels displayed the hand that had formed the company logo since 1939, the year when the “Italiana Rudge Whitworth” changed its name to “Carlo Borrani”. We can see this in a number of shots taken by the photographer Federico Patellani, who became known for his reportages in the years of recovery after the war. At the historic Grand Prix he showed the Pirelli Racing Service mechanics in the pits, checking and balancing the wheels of the Alfa 158. The historic partnership with Alfa Romeo and Maserati had started in the years of the pre-war Grand Prix races and it continued into the 1950s, but now a new marque appeared in the racing world: Ferrari. Borrani’s relationship with Enzo Ferrari began during the 1924 Coppa Acerbo, when the young driver achieved one of the greatest results of his sporting career in an Alfa Romeo fitted with Rudge Whitworth wheels. After his triumph he chose Pirelli tyres and Borrani wheels for his Scuderia Ferrari at Alfa Romeo and later for the cars he produced with the prancing horse logo.

Whether for an Alfa Romeo, a Maserati or a Ferrari, Victory Tyres were the first choice for every car manufacturer in racing, and successes came one after the other throughout the 1950s. The Stella Bianca was followed by the Stelvio, while Borrani aluminium rims, made from 1948 without joint plates thanks to the use of modern welding techniques, were named “Record”.

Back to main page 

Multimedia

Images