Juan Manuel Fangio is the best Formula 1 driver of all time. The five-time Argentine champion only started racing F1 in his 40s, a remarkable achievement in itself, let alone when combined with the fact that he won the title five times - a record that stood until Michael Schumacher.

But Fangio isn’t only the greatest for the fact he came into Formula 1 so late and won so much, he also boasted an incredibly stylish and avante garde racing style, driving sitting upright with straight arms, balancing and controlling often wildly erratic cars in a four-wheel drift, a truly revolutionary driving technique.

Fangio, the poor son of Italian immigrants, left school at 12 and worked towards opening his own garage as a mechanic. Once opened, Fangio actually started racing to get attention and publicity for his garage, but this wasn’t the glamorous world of Formula 1 in 2008, this was brutal South American racing.

'He sustained a broken neck - which he was very lucky to survive - and his upper torso was partially paralysed for the rest of his life. Incredibly, Fangio continued to win championships'


These dangerous events would last for weeks on end and required Herculean reserves of stamina whilst negotiating perilous routes through remote villages in the Andes. Fangio, a fantastic driver with the brain of a mechanic, naturally modified his own car. The Argentinian was also greatly assisted by an extremely low resting heart-rate of 44 beats per minute, keeping him icy calm as he sped around corners.

Not only was he calm, outside of a race car he was very humble and known for his quiet good manners - very different from the Teutonic sore loser who eventually beat his record!

It took Fangio until 1948 to arrive in Europe with an Argentine racing team and he drove with Alfa Romeo in 1950 at the beginning of Formula 1. In the first eight years of F1 there were three champions - Giuseppe Farina won the championship once, Alberto Ascari won it twice and Fangio won it five times, totally obliterating the opposition in the process.

In 1952, Fangio came very close to death at the Monza Grand Prix. Amazingly, he had raced the day before in Britain, flown to Lyon and then driven an all-nighter alone through the Alps in a rental car just to get to the starting grid at Monza! And because Fangio hadn’t taken part in qualification he started at the back of the grid.

On just the second lap he got in an awful accident which left him out for the rest of the season. He sustained a broken neck - which he was very lucky to survive - and his upper torso was partially paralysed for the rest of his life. Incredibly, Fangio continued to win championships.

He lived to drive and, such was the joy that racing brought him, he actually used to sing whilst behind the steering wheel, serenading the cars he loved so much. Fangio’s record of five championships lasted for more than 40 years. He  came into Formula 1 ridiculously late but, still left too early.

For many, Fangio isn’t just the best driver in the history of Formula 1, he also drove the best race. His last win was at the hardest circuit in the world - the Nurburgring. He only took the lead on the penultimate lap and won by three seconds. This victory won Fangio his fifth title, and the accolade of being the world’s greatest driver - a title that still fits him perfectly.