Juan Manuel Fangio, the first F1 multi-champion

Juan Manuel Fangio was one of the drivers who competed in the first season of the Formula 1 World Championship, in 1950, and from there, until his retirement in 1958, he completed a successful career that places him among the best ever.

Although he did not take that title, he did in 1951, and also on four more occasions: 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957. Born in Balcarce, Buenos Aires, he was nicknamed ‘ El Chueco ‘ because of the arched shapes of his legs . Despite being a great lover of football, Fangio, a descendant of Italian immigrants, soon abandoned his studies to start his job as a mechanic and start competing in races.

After numerous great prizes and victories in his country, and with the support of the Argentine government, Fangio moved his sports career to Europe, where it would mark an era.

In the ‘Old Continent’, with five different constructors, he managed to become five-time world champion, something that only Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton have been able to overcome. We leave you some statistics and photos of Fangio, who had his birthday every June 24.

Juan Manuel Fangio’s statistics in F1

-Juan Manuel Fangio contested 51 Grand Prix between 1950 and 1958 and won 24 races.

-That data places him as the driver with the best percentage of wins per race, only surpassed by Lee Wallard, who only contested the Indianapolis Grand Prix twice and won one of them when he was part of the F1 calendar. Fangio won 47.06% of the tests for which he qualified.

-He is the ninth historical driver with the most poles: 29. And, in percentage, he has no rival: nobody has a better average than him, who took first place in 56.86% of the classifications he disputed.

-He got the fastest lap 23 times, in 45.1% of the races in which he participated.

-Of his 51 races, 35 times he finished on the podium, which represents 68.63%. No other driver with more than ten grands prix has a better percentage.

-His most outstanding statistic is titles. Juan Manuel Fangio won five world championships, only behind the seven of Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, who had matched him in 2018 and surpassed him in 2019. The Argentine did it in nine full seasons and in which he did not win the title, He finished as runner-up.

-Of those five titles, four were won with different constructors: Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes and Maserati.

-In fact, together with Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, he is the only driver who has won world championships with the Silver Arrows team. The English did it in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018, the German in 2016 and the Argentine in 1954 and 1955.