A victory tinged with sadness: Mike Hawthorn has just won the 1958 French Grand Prix for Ferrari from Olivier Gendebien (left, also the victor in the 12 hour sport car race that preceded the GP), but everyone is waiting for news of Luigi Musso, who has been rushed to the hospital after crashing out of the race. Musso's wounds would prove fatal.
The son of a wealthy diplomat, Luigi Musso did not inherit his father's delicate touch. He is perhaps best known for refusing to hand his car over to Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1956 Italian Grand Prix, placing Fangio's title hopes in jeopardy.
After Fangio defected to Maserati, Ferrari kept Musso on, but he was outpaced by Mike Hawthorn. He was pursuing Hawthorn for the lead of the 1958 French Grand Prix when he crashed, dying in hospital hours later.
It subsequently emerged that Musso desperately needed the prize money to solve cashflow problems with his troubled car importing business; he also had some well-publicized gambling debts.
His girlfriend, Fiamma Breschi, would later claim that Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins pooled their earnings but kept Musso out of the arrangement and acted together to demoralize him.
