100th anniversary of F1 legend Fangio's birth

[John S]

Today (Friday) is the centenary of Juan-Manuel Fangio's birth and to celebrate what would have been his 100th birthday Crash.net has published this vignette about the true F1 legend.
Maserati will pay their own Centenary tribute to the ace at Goodwood.
For me Fangio is only bested in the all time F1 greats list by Jim Clark, I'm pretty sure Juan-Manuel, being a real gent, just might approve.     
 
Fangio was born in Balcarce, Argentina to Italian immigrants on 24 June, 1911, and the five F1 World Championship crowns that he clinched between 1951 and 1957 – the last of them at the comparatively grand old age of 46 – stood as a record for almost half a century, until Michael Schumacher claimed his sixth in 2003. His incredible 46.15 per cent winning ratio – with 24 grand prix victories from just 51 starts at the highest level – will likely never be surpassed.

A motor racing legend in the very truest sense of the word, two of Fangio's world championship successes were achieved with Maserati – in 1954 and 1957 – and he produced what was arguably the greatest drive of his life to secure his fifth title in a Maserati 250F at the Nürburgring on 4 August, 1957, his final grand prix victory.

In a race that lasted just over three-and-a-half hours and held around the fearsome Nordschleife, Fangio boldly elected to plump for softer tyres and just half a tank of fuel in his bid to overcome the Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn, Peter Collins and Luigi Musso. In the knowledge that the scarlet machines were not planning on making a pit-stop, he reasoned that he could make up time through the corners by way of his innovative strategy – and when he came in to refuel and fit new rubber on lap 13 of 22, he was duly 30 seconds ahead of Hawthorn and Collins.

However, a delay in the stop saw 'El Maestro' rejoin the fray almost 50 seconds behind the pair. Over the next ten laps, Fangio broke the lap record nine times and passed both Ferraris on the penultimate tour – in the case of Hawthorn, with two wheels on the grass – to triumph, afterwards remarking that he had driven 'in a state of grace' and confessing: “I have never driven that quickly before in my life, and I don't think I will ever be able to do it again.”

“I raced and won with cars of all makes, but I always had a special relationship with Maserati,” he had conceded. “Not only were they safe and reliable cars always on the cutting-edge of technology, but there was a relationship of friendship and a special atmosphere between the brand and I...felt at home.”

Maserati will pay tribute to Fangio at this year's Goodwood Revival meeting from 16-18 September, paying homage both to the centenary of his birth and also the 60th anniversary of his first world championship. A daily track parade will include a variety of his most famous cars in honour of the life and achievements of this incredible man.

Crash.net/f1, Today.

[cosworth151]

He was a truly amazing driver. Two other quick facts: First, with 24 wins in 52 starts, his winning percentage was 46.15%. He won 5 championships in the 7 full seasons he raced. He placed second in the other two. Second, due to World War II, all of his championships came after his 40th birthday. One can only wonder what his record would have been with a full career.

[gato]

Yes, Fangio is great legend. He is always ranked high in F1 history statistics. In his time cars were difficult than now and security was very low.

[lkjohnson1950]

In those days drivers were required to balance power against traction. We could use a bit more of that today.

Lonny