Antonio Creus i Rubín de Celis (28 October 1924 – 19 February 1996) was a Spanish motorcycle racer and racing driver who made a solitary appearance in the Formula One World Championship. His career crossed the divide between two wheels and four, eventually taking him to the Grand Prix grid in one of the most celebrated racing cars of the 1950s, the Maserati 250F.
Driver Bio
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Birthplace | Madrid, Spain |
| Born | 28 October 1924 |
| Died | 19 February 1996 |
| First Grand Prix | 1960 Argentine Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 1960 Argentine Grand Prix |
| Years Active | 1960 |
| Current/Last Team | Privateer: Antonio Creus Maserati |
Career
Before turning his attention to cars, Antonio Creus competed as a motorcycle racer, giving him an unusually varied motorsport background. He later moved into automobile racing and, by the end of the 1950s, had earned himself an opportunity to compete at the highest level.
That opportunity arrived thousands of miles from his native Spain. Creus travelled to South America for the 1960 Argentine Grand Prix, held on 7 February 1960, where he entered a privately run Maserati 250F.
By then, the 250F was hardly the newest weapon on the Formula One grid. Maserati’s elegant front-engined machine had enjoyed its greatest successes earlier in the decade and had famously helped Juan Manuel Fangio win the 1957 World Championship. Nevertheless, private entrants continued to race the car after the factory’s withdrawal from Formula One, and it provided Creus with his chance to become a Grand Prix driver.
The Argentine Grand Prix would prove to be both his first and last Formula One World Championship appearance. Creus started the race but was unable to reach the chequered flag, retiring as a result of electrical problems and physical exhaustion.
With his afternoon ending in retirement, Creus left Argentina without scoring a World Championship point. He never returned for another Formula One Grand Prix, leaving him with the distinction of a World Championship career of exactly one race.
Brief though his Formula One adventure was, Creus joined a select group of Spanish drivers to have competed at Grand Prix racing’s highest level during its early years.
Creus died in his native Madrid on 19 February 1996, aged 71.
Grand Prix Stats
| Race Entries | 1 |
| Race Starts | 1 |
| Did Not Start | 0 |
| Best Race Start | 22nd |
| Best Race Finish | DNF |
| Retirements | 1 |
| First-Lap Retirements | 0 |
| Not Classified | 0 |
| Disqualified | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 0 |
Qualifying
| Qualifying Sessions | 1 |
| Reached Q3 | 0 |
| Q2 Eliminations | 0 |
| Q1 Eliminations | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 0 |
Stats by Season
| Year | Constructor | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Privateer: Antonio Creus Maserati | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | n/a | 0 | 0 | NC |
