MYRIAD OF WINS
In those days, the drivers raced just about anything anywhere, and Fangio was no exception. He failed to finish in his three attempts at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and did not qualify in his one attempt at the Indy 500 in 1958. But he won a number of sports car races, including the 12 Hours of Sebring twice.
In the 1950s, there were usually only about eight or nine F-1 races that counted toward the world championship. But there were also many non-championship F-1 races, and Fangio won a myriad of them.
KIDNAPPED
Fangio holds another “record” of being the only F-1 race winner — and surely the only F-1 driver — who was kidnapped. Cuba hosted a non-points F-1 race in 1957, which Fangio won. He returned for the 1958 race in February when the revolution was really gearing up in Cuba as Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement tried to topple President Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship.
Gunmen working for Castro kidnapped Fangio from his hotel room to bring attention to the cause. Batista ordered the race to go ahead, and after being held for 29 hours Fangio was released unharmed. It was, as he said, “one more adventure” in his life.
TIME WILL TELL
After his two championship F-1 races in 1958 — in Argentina and France — and finishing fourth in both of them, Fangio decided to retire.
He attended the final F-1 race of the 1958 season where he was the honorary flagman at the start of the Italian Grand Prix. Later he had a dinner with many of his fellow drivers. He gave the following speech:
“I am now 47 years old, though in my heart I feel as if I were younger than any of you. But it is time to stop. I have always gone in for motor racing with a passion. I have struggled very hard and have had some success. Where ever I have been, I’ve made a cult of friendship and an obligation of sincerity. I may have made mistakes with my head, but never with my heart. Only time will tell if my sporting campaigns will be remembered. What I will remember most is the friends I have made, and also sadly those who were lost in our sport. I wish you all very well. For myself, a new life has begun.”
His new life included owning Mercedes dealerships in Argentina and becoming an ambassador for Mercedes. Fangio died on July 17, 1995.
GREATEST VICTORY
Fangio’s greatest victory — and what many people say was the greatest F-1 win of all time — was when he triumphed in the 1957 German Grand Prix at the 14.15-mile Nürburgring circuit. Problems during his pit stop dropped him 50 seconds behind the Ferraris of Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn.
Driving his Maserati in a trance, Fangio chased them down as he set lap record after lap record. His fastest lap was 11 seconds better than the Ferrari drivers.
In the book “Fangio, The Life Behind The Legend,” written by Gerald Donaldson, Fangio recalled that race.
“That day I had everything turned on and firing on all cylinders. I was ready to do anything,” Fangio said. “Whichever way you look at it, it was an extraordinary race. When it was all over, I was convinced that I would never be able to drive like that again — never! I’d reached the limit of my concentration and will to win. Those were the two things that allowed me to take the risks I did that that day.
“I knew I could win, but I equally knew I could lose. I was stretching myself to the limit, and afterwards the car was covered with grass and dirt. I was trying out new things, pushing myself further in many blind spots where I’d never before had the courage to go on the limit. I was never a daredevil, never a spectacular driver. I would try to win slowly as possible until that race. I never made demands on myself that I couldn’t sleep for two nights afterward.
“I was in such a state that whenever I shut my eyes it was as if I were in the race again, making those leaps in the dark on those curves where I’d never before had the courage to push things so far.”
It was Fangio’s 24th and final win. At the next grand prix he clinched his fifth title. He holds the record of being the oldest world champion at 46 years and 41 days old.
RECORD HOLDER
Just how great of an F-1 driver was Fangio? In time, others have topped his records, but they have had more races in a season and more years in F-1 to accumulate success. To this day Fangio holds the records for the highest percentage of wins — 47.06% (24 wins in 51 entries) and the highest percentage of pole positions — 56.9% (29 poles in 51 entries).
Back then and half a century later Fangio was and still is a legend.