Charles Pozzi (27 August 1909 – 28 February 2001) was a French

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

who participated in one World Championship

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

race in 1950, the year of its inception.

Racing career

Born Carlo Alberto Pozzi in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

of Italian parentage, he became known as Charles, the French translation of his name. He was working as an automobile broker and his career as a racing driver only began when he was already 37 years old. Later in life, as the official French importer of

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

and

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 ...

automobiles, his name was to appear on many racing cars. In 1946, he competed, with his

Delahaye Delahaye was a family-owned automobile manufacturing company, founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours, France. Manufacturing was moved to Paris following incorporation in 1898 with two marriage-related brothers-in-law, George Morane and Le ...

135CS, in several races including the Grand Prix of Bourgogne – Dijon where he finished in fourth position and the Le Mans Grand Prix, raced on the Nantes race track this year, where he finished in fifth position, driving a

. In 1949, he won the Comminges sports car Grand Prix, in Saint-Gaudens, with a

Delahaye 145 The Delahaye 145 is a luxury car, derived from a racecar design, manufactured by French automaker Delahaye. Based on a sporting tourer, it was designed to be capable for racing. History Only four 4.5 litre naturally aspirated V12 Type 145 r ...

(chassis N° 48775), equipped with a 4.5-litre six-cylinder

Delahaye 175 The Delahaye Type 175 is a coachbuilt luxury automobile manufactured by French automaker Delahaye. Production build numbers were formally recorded from early 1948 to mid 1951, validating that 107 cars were built in the mechanically cloned three ...

engine.

Major achievements

''Note: 35th Grand Prix de L'ACF results shared with

Louis Rosier Louis Claude Rosier (; 5 November 1905 – 29 October 1956) was a French racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing, Rosier won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in in a privateer Talbot-Lago T26C- ...

as co-driver'' * 1947, raced at: ** Grand Prix of Pau, ** Grand Prix Automobile of Marseille, ** Circuit des Remparts in Angoulême, **

Grand Prix du Comminges The Grand Prix du Comminges was an automobile race held in France. The race was named after the Comminges, one of the former Provinces of France in ancient Gascony in what is now the Haute-Garonne department of the Midi-Pyrénées region of Franc ...

in Saint-Gaudens. * 1948, raced at: **

Grand Prix des Nations The Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial (against the clock) for both professional and amateur racing cyclists. Held annually in Cannes, France, it was instituted in 1932 and often regarded as the unofficial time trial championship ...

in Genève, ** DNF at

in Saint-Gaudens (Talbot). * 1949, raced at Grand Prix Automobile of Pau, * 1952, won the

12 Hours of Casablanca The 12 Hours of Casablanca was a sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race organised on the route of the future Ain-Diab Circuit in Morocco. Only two editions were held in 1952 and 1953, before the race was replaced by the Moroccan G ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

* 1953, won : ** the first position of the 12H of

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (département), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Al ...

in the 2L category and at the third overall position, ** the second position of the 12H of Reims in the 2L category and the 6th position in the overall ranking. For these two events, he raced on the Ferrari 166MM Berlinetta Vignale which belong to his teammate François Picard. ** the third position at the 12 Hours of

Agadir Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...

with a

Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe, which is the European subsidiary of Stellantis. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganise ...

Aurelia * 1954, finished : ** the 12 hours of Hyères in 2nd position with a Ferrari 500 Mondial,
Ranking 1954 ** the 12 hours of Reims in 9th position with the same car. ** the hillclimb de Planfoy.

Pozzi's business

After his retirement from racing, he founded Charles Pozzi S.A., the official importer of Ferrari and Maserati motor vehicles in France. In 2003, the company was acquired by the

company. Ferrari dark blue paint ''Blu Pozzi'' was named in honour of Charles Pozzi. Pozzi died in 2001 in

Levallois-Perret Levallois-Perret () is a Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department and Île-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It lies on the right bank of the Seine, some from the Kilometre z ...

, a suburb in western Paris.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) :''* Indicates Shared Drive with

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pozzi, Charles 1909 births 2001 deaths French racing drivers Grand Prix drivers French Formula One drivers French sportspeople of Italian descent Racing drivers from Paris 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers