FANGIO, THE BEST DRIVER OF ALL

DIFFICULTIES IN DRIVING CARS FROM THE 50S:

Drivers from the 50s were literally heroes, in the truest sense of the word.

They drove cars without a Santo Antonio, without seatbelts, without power steering, with leather helmets, truck steering wheels, thin cinnamon tires and zero safety in cars that reached 300 km/h with drum brakes. It was a time without telemetry, in which the driver had to be fast and precise, and it was not uncommon for the brakes to give out before the end of the race, as Stirling Moss said in an interview.

The driver changed the mechanical setup of the car to improve it in the curves, and there was no aerodynamic or electronic setup. The driver talked directly to the Chief Mechanic to try to improve the car.

Of course, the car and the team have always made a difference in motorsport, whether in touring, rally, prototype or formulas, but in the 1950s the driver was around 50% of the team's success and Fangio is living proof of that.

CAREER BEFORE F1

Fangio began his professional career as a mechanic at the age of 16. After enlisting in the military at the age of 21, he opened his own mechanics workshop to race in local events.

In 1936, he began racing on touring roads on dirt and asphalt tracks, winning dozens of races in Argentina and abroad, including the 1000 Miles of Argentina in 1939 and the Presidente Getúlio Vargas race (Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Goiânia, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) in 1941. In 1940 and 1941, he was Argentine champion with a Chevrolet.

Fangio's first major victory was in the 1940 Northern GP, a race of almost 10,000 km between Argentina-Peru-Argentina, passing through the Andes Mountains in Bolivia and the Atacama Desert in Chile. Fangio raced for 15 days with his co-driver at altitudes of up to 4,300 m, in deserts, tropical forests and on dangerous cliffs, oscillating between cold and heat, dry weather and high humidity. His car suffered some breakdowns (drive shaft, fan blade, radiator and even the headlight), but he managed to fix it and win this grueling race.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Manuel_Fangio

In 1948, the Argentine government and the Automobile Club of Argentina helped him buy a Maserati and Fangio went to Europe. In 1949, he won the Pau GP, San Remo GP and Perpignan GP, all with Maserati. Fangio also won the Marseille GP (with a Simca Gordini) and the 1949 Monza GP (with a Ferrari). This caught the attention of Tazio Nuvolari (considered the best pre-F1 driver) who said that the Argentine would be the best driver of the 1950s.

In 1950, Alfa Romeo invited Fangio to a new category that was emerging, Formula One, about a month before the first race. He won the 1950 Pau and San Remo GPs, both for Alfa Romeo, before the first F1 race.

FANGIO'S OPPONENTS

Fangio perdeu o campeonato de 1950, por causa da quebra de câmbio na última corrida do ano, mas depois ele ganhou 5 títulos disputando contra grandes dois gênios (Moss e Ascari) e um excelente piloto (Farina).

Stirling Moss (55/56/57): even though he did not win a title, he was a brilliant driver with impressive numbers. Moss won 212 of the 529 races he competed in from 1948 to 1962 and managed 84 different types of cars and competed in 62 races in one year. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_Moss

Alberto Ascari (51): he was Ferrari's number one driver in the 1950s, and held the record of 9 consecutive victories in 1952/1953 (Belgium 1952 to Belgium 1953), this record was broken by Verstappen in 2023. He was a brilliant driver, who unfortunately died in 1955 during Ferrari's private tests in Monza.

Giuseppe Farina (50): was an excellent driver, the first F1 champion in 1950, then he went into decline due to his advanced age, but he was a driver with great qualities.

FANGIO X FARINA

Giuseppe Farina had been racing for Alfa Romeo since the 1930s, and was Tazio Nuvolari's 2nd driver at Alfa Romeo, recognized by many as the best pre-F1 driver. Farina won the Grand Prix Motor Racing championships in 1937, 1938 and 1939. Even though he was behind Nuvolari and Fangio, he was an excellent driver, had a lot of experience and was the first F1 champion in 1950.

Fangio x Farina in 1950 and 1951:

Starts: 11 x 2 (1.1s Fangio)

Finishes: 8 x 5

Points: 58 x 49

Fangio lost to Farina in 1950 because the Argentine had one more breakdown, but in 1951 he easily beat the Italian driver.

FANGIO X ASCARI

We can only compare Fangio and Ascari in 1951, because both had more or less balanced cars. In 1953 Ascari's Ferrari was far superior to Fangio's Maserati, and in 1954 and 1955 Fangio's Mercedes was much better than Ascari's Ferrari.

Fangio x Ascari in 1951:

Starts: 5 x 2 (0.9s Fangio without counting the Swiss GP)

Finishes: 4 x 3

Victories: 3 x 2

Points: 31 x 25

In 1951, Ascari gave Fangio a hard time, finishing ahead of the Argentinean 3 times and winning two races. The Italian was the runner-up that season. But in 1952 and 1953, Ascari, helped by the excellent Ferrari car, gave no one a chance, winning 11 of the 15 races (not counting the Indy 500).

Ascari victories:

1952 (6): Belgium, France, England, Germany, Holland, Italy.

1953 (5): Argentina, Holland, Belgium, England, Switzerland.

FANGIO X MOSS

Stirling Moss was a brilliant driver, he won about 50% of the races he competed in in all categories he raced in from 1948 to 1962, and he raced in 84 different types of cars, something astonishing. But when he had Juan Manuel Fangio as a teammate, the story was different. In fact, they were both GENIUSES, but Fangio was above Moss.

Fangio x Moss in 1955:

Starts: 5 x 1 (0.3s Fangio)

Finishes: 4 x 1

Points: 40 x 23

Even though Fangio easily beat Moss in the points, in practice the Englishman was very close to the Argentine, only 3 tenths slower on average, which shows that Moss was a super talented driver.

RACES IN THE RAIN

Fangio won 75% of the races he competed in in the rain, the highest percentage of victories in the rain in the history of F1, even above Senna, who is considered the best driver in the rain in the history of F1.

Fangio (6 in 8) 75%
Senna (13 in 21) 62%
Ascari (4 in 8) 50%
Moss (3 in 7) 45%
Schumacher (19 in 51) 36.5%
Hamilton (16 in 44) 36.4%
Verstappen (8 in 22) 36.4%
Clark (3 in 12) 25%
D Hill (5 in 21) 24%
Stewart (3 in 15) 20%
Hunt (3 in 15) 20%
Ickx (3 in 16) 20%

CHAMPION FOR ALL THE TEAMS HE RACED FOR

Fangio was champion in all 4 teams he raced for, a unique feat in F1 to this day: Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Ferrari and Maserati. To this day, no driver has managed to be champion for 4 different teams, and he won the 1951 title, but Ferrari was probably a little better.

The 1957 title was the only one in the history of Maserati, a team he transferred to after they said he "only won because he had the best car". He went to the Italian team, shut up his critics and became champion, without Fangio in the team, they never managed to be champions again in F1.

PERCENTAGES

Fangio's percentages are the highest and most impressive among all F1 champions. Of course, the fact that he had good cars throughout his career helped a lot, but at that time the driver made a lot of difference.

Title by championship contested: 5/7 71%
Percentage of champion or runner-up: 7/7 100%
Wins in percentage: 24/51 47%
Poles in percentage: 28/51 57%
Starts in the front row in percentage: 48/51 94%
VMR in percentage: 45%
Podiums in percentage: 69%
Hat trick in percentage: 17.6%

PERFORMANCE IN THE CHAMPIONSHIPS DISPUTED:

His results show what a GENIUS Fangio was as a driver:

1950- runner-up

1951- champion

1953- runner-up

1954- champion

1955- champion

1956- champion

1957- champion

NOTE: Fangio did not race in 1952.

WHY WAS FANGIO THE BEST OF THEM ALL?

Fangio was an extraordinary driver, fast, precise, with good knowledge of mechanics, he knew how to talk to mechanics and understood race strategy. If you have any doubts, just look at his victory in the 1957 German GP, in which he won by making a 45-second pit stop to come back, pass the two Ferraris and win the race on the last lap. This race is considered the greatest performance by a driver in the history of F1.

He was champion in 1951 for Alfa Romeo, and everything indicates that Ferrari was slightly better than Alfa Romeo that season, as his teammate, Giuseppe Farina, finished 4th in the championship behind the two Ferrari drivers. Even so, Fangio made a difference and was champion.

He was criticized in 1956, because he only won with the best car, so he transferred to Maserati in 1957 and became champion that year. In other words, he didn't have to wait 5 years to turn the team into a winner, nor did he have to hire the technical staff of another team to become champion.

Fangio never needed to throw his car at anyone to become champion, as Prost, Senna, Schumacher and Verstappen did. He also never had a 1st driver contract to make the 2nd driver a "doormat", nor did he fall out with anyone to become champion, which is why he was always a driver admired by everyone in F1.

For all that has been said, Fangio should be mentioned at least in the TOP 3, and in the opinion of the author of this site he was the BEST OF ALL TIME.