Juan Manuel Fangio was widely regarded as the first great driver of the world championship era, He set a benchmark so high for a long time many thought it unbeatable.
After narrowly losing the first world championship to Giuseppe Farina, Fangio claimed the title for the first time in 1951.He went on to score four more titles, establishing a record which stood for decades. It took until 2002 for Michael Schumacher to finally equal the record of five world championship victories set by the hero of the fifties whose rivals called him “maestro”.
After his first world title win for Alfa Romeo in 1951, Ferrari held the upper hand over the next two seasons as the championship briefly switched from Formula 1 rules to Formula 2. Fangio sustained a broken neck in a crash at Monza early in 1952 which prevented him from defending his first title.
However he showed he’d lost none of his speed when he returned in 1953 for Maserati and began winning again. He dominated the years from 1954-57, winning all four titles as his judiciously hand-picked the best machinery available.
In 1954 he left Maserati for Mercedes and remained there, now alongside Stirling Moss, to win the title again in the curtailed 1955 season. When Mercedes withdrew from international motor sport following the horror crash of Pierre Levegh at Le Mans (which Fangio narrowly escaped being caught up in), Fangio switched to Ferrari for three wins.
In a mark of the the respect he was afforded by his rivals, Fangio took the 1956 title after team mate Peter Collins relinquished his car – and his own shot at the title – to him.
Back with Maserati in 1957, Fangio won his fifth and final title. His last victory came at the Nurburgring in one of the greatest drives ever, when he overcame a one-minute deficit due to a slow pit stop to catch, pass and beat the Ferraris.
Although he entered the opening races of 1958 Fangio soon headed into retirement. He lived until 1995 when he died at the age of 84.
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