Part One · The life
IV
The seasons 1950–1958
Juan Manuel Fangio’s nine years in the World Championship, a page for each: the teams and cars, every race he entered, five titles and the year lost to injury.
IV · The seasons
Nine years
IV · The seasons
The record
Of his 24 wins between the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 13 May 1950 and the French Grand Prix at Reims-Gueux on 6 July 1958, two came in a team-mate’s car; he set 23 fastest laps, and 35 times he finished on the podium. He was World Champion five times, with four makes: Alfa Romeo in 1951, Maserati and Mercedes-Benz in 1954, Mercedes-Benz in 1955, Lancia-Ferrari in 1956 and Maserati in 1957. In 1950 and 1953 he was second. His championship points total 244½ (often given as 245).1
There are nine pages because there were nine years, though he raced in only eight championships. In 1952 he started no championship race: in June he broke his neck at Monza, in a non-championship race. In 1958 he raced twice, and his entry for the Indianapolis 500, withdrawn before qualifying, makes 52 entries if it is counted.
- World Championships
- 5
- Grand Prix wins
- 24
- Pole positions
- 29
- Grands Prix started
- 51
IV · The seasons
The cars
- 1950
- Alfa Romeo 158
- 1951
- Alfa Romeo 159
- 1953
- Maserati A6GCM
- 1954
- Maserati 250F, then Mercedes-Benz W196
- 1955
- Mercedes-Benz W196
- 1957
- Maserati 250F
- 1958
- Maserati 250F
Notes
At Reims in 1953 he and Alberto Ascari set the same fastest lap, and the official record, like the period’s own arithmetic, shares its point between them; most databases and books credit him with the whole point, making 245. ↑
Sources
F1DB, release v2026.15.1, the open Formula One database. github.com
Formula One, results archive: Juan Manuel Fangio, 1950–1958. formula1.com
“The world’s leading Grand Prix drivers”, Motor Sport, May 1954. motorsportmagazine.com
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, “F1 rookies at IMS, part 1”, 10 April 2012. indianapolismotorspeedway.com