Juan Michael Fangio

Juan Manuel Fangio (24 June 1911-17 July 1995), who was called El Maestro (the master) and El Chueco (the bow-legged one), dominated the first decade of Formula One racing. 

He competed in a Ford V8 in his first national event in 1938, and in 1940, topped the Grand Prix International Championship while racing in a Chevrolet. He achieved higher feats competing in Europe in the late 1940s. In 1950, Fangio demonstrated his vigilance and multi-tasking skills in Monaco by avoiding the hurtling into the wreckage of an invisible crash scene on the harbour road, intrigued that the crowd was looking around the corner and not at him, even though he was leading.

He won his first title in 1951. In the 1950s, he won five Formula One World Drivers’ Championships – a record unbroken for forty-six years until broken by Michael Schumacher. Juan’s winning percentage of 46% (having won 24 of the 52 Formula One races he partook in) is the highest. After retiring at forty-seven, he returned to his homeland, Balcarce, to manage a Mercedes car dealership. He was subsequently appointed president of Mercedes-Benz Argentina in 1974. He became the honorary president of Mercedes-Benz Argentina in 1987, retaining it until his death.

Also, he paid a visit to the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix, sharing the podium with fellow Latin-American racer Ayrton Senna. After two years, on 17 July 1995, Juan Michael Fangio passed away, aged eighty-four.

Credit: formula1.com

By Dhruv Shah