Biography of Juan Manuel Fangio

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The legendary Juan Manuel Fangio was born on June 24, 1911, in Argentina and was a dominant figure of motorsports racing during the first decade of the Formula One Championship series. His record of five Championship wins remained undefeated for about 46 years. He has been widely addressed to as the ‘greatest driver’ in the history of Formula One, because of his amazing feats of achievement in the sport.
Fangio was part of four different teams in his racing career, including Alfa Romeo, Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, and Maserati, which is a fact completely unique to Fangio,

Unlike most motor car racers of his time, Fangio started racing at a mature age and was even the oldest person to race in many of the races he took part in. In any case, his age did not show any signs of faltering as he defeated younger rivals of Alberto Ascari, Sterling Moss, and Giuseppe Farina. Fangio entered the world of Formula One at the 1948 French Grand Prix, held at Reims, France.
He did not win the race however, with his Equipe Gordini Talbot. Fangio’s next race at San Remo was a success, when he raced with an upgraded Maserati 4CLT/48, which was sponsored by the Automobile club of Argentina. In 1949 Fangio took part in six further Formula One races, winning four of them against established F1 drivers.

The first Formula One driver’s championship title in 1950, the win came to Fangio while being a part of the Alfa Romeo team, along with Giuseppe Farina and Luigi Fagioli.
Fangio won the three races he finished in that season, as well as the non-championship races he took part in. His winning spell continued to dominate the race tracks, with three yet again championship races in 1951, in the events held in Switzerland, Spain and France. His modified Ferrari did not let him down, when he took the championship title in the final race of the season, finishing six points ahead of fellow competitor Alberto Ascari.

In the year 1952, when Formula Two regulations were imposed, the El Maestro (or the little master, as Fangio was nicknamed), could not use the supercharged version of the Alfa, so he could not take part in the first race of the season. That very year he met with a terrible crash, at the Monza circuit, in a Maserati car. But he astonished everyone when he was back to complete fitness the next year, which he started with a bang by coming first at the American race Carrera Panamericana, in a Lancia.
After returning to Europe, he went back to Maserati for the championship season races, ruled by the dominating Ferrari led Ascari till then, and managed to squeeze out a victory at Monza. In 1954, he was with Maserati until he began racing with Mercedes Benz mid season, which became a successful partnership for both parties that season.

In 1956, Fangio went over to Ferrari, replacing the late Alberto Ascari, who was killed in an accident, and won his fourth Championship title.

In the year 1957 he went back to Maserati, and exhibited a hat trick of race wins in Argentina, France and Monaco. That season he claimed his number five Championship title.
The iconic El Chueco, El Maestro, and other names Fangio was called, had at the end of his career won a total of 24 Grand Prix races, from a record 51 pole positions. The unparalleled race legend died at the age of 84 in the year 1995.

The immensely talented Michael Schumacher had to say this about Fangio when Schumacher broke his record of Championship wins: "Fangio is on a level much higher than I see myself. What he did stands alone and what we have achieved is also unique. I have such respect for what he achieved. You can't take a personality like Fangio and compare him with what has happened today. There is not even the slightest comparison." That sums up the El Maestro, he was truly a class apart.