A photograph of a Formula 1 car shows you what it looks like. A Giorgio Piola drawing shows you how it works.
It started with a bet. Piola and his brother were both good at drawing. All four kids in the family were. But Giorgio and the brother closest to him in age fought about it constantly. My drawing is better than yours. No, mine is. One day they each sent a drawing to a magazine. The magazine wrote back to Giorgio. Only Giorgio. They liked his work, and by the way, there was a Grand Prix in Monaco in 20 days. Did he want to come produce a technical report? He was 19. He went. He was supposed to be studying engineering, and he did not go back to studying engineering.
His father was one of eight lawyers to the Pope. His father wanted all of his sons to have degrees, and Giorgio was the only one who didn't get one.
That was 1969. He's now attended over 900 Grands Prix. More than any driver, any team principal, any engineer. The person who has been to the most Formula 1 races in history is a man with a pen.
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