Juan Manuel Fangio

Biography

Juan Manuel Fangio was born in Balcarce, Buenos Aires province, on 24 June 1911. He started racing in Argentina's Turismo Carretera series in 1938 and made his Grand Prix debut at Reims in 1948. His first Formula One race was the 1950 British Grand Prix, and he won at Monaco the same season.

Fangio took his first world title in 1951 with Alfa Romeo. A crash at Monza in 1952 kept him out for the rest of that year, and in 1953 he was runner-up with Maserati. He then won the 1954 championship driving for Maserati and Mercedes-Benz, the 1955 title with Mercedes-Benz, 1956 with Ferrari and 1957 with Maserati. His last victory, the 1957 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, came after a record lap and a late pass on both Ferraris.

On 23 February 1958 he was kidnapped in Havana and freed after 29 hours, and he retired after that year's French Grand Prix. In 51 starts he scored 24 wins and 29 pole positions, and his five titles remained the record for 46 years. He became president of Mercedes-Benz Argentina in 1974 and its honorary president in 1987. A museum bearing his name opened in Balcarce in 1986, and he died in Buenos Aires on 17 July 1995.