Any debate about the greatest Formula 1 racer of all time usually ends these days with the name of retired German legend Michael Schumacher. Older fans might also bring up the names of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
But not this time. A team of researchers at the University of Sheffield has published a new study where, after some in-depth calculation, they have proclaimed that the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time was... Argentinian legend Juan Manuel Fangio.
Juan Manuel...who?
Younger fans of Formula 1 may be hard-pressed to recall the name, but it would be worthwhile to know that Fangio was one of the first legends of Formula 1. He dominated the first decade of Formula 1 racing in the 1950s, and won the World Drivers' Championship five times in that decade.
Fangio is a super star, and it is not a surprise that he tops the list. But if any doubt persists, his performance in the 1957 German Grand Prix should quell all doubts – he lost a minute and half due owing a wheel change but still made for the chequered flag with never-before-seen speed, shattering record after record along the way (rare footage above).
Without any of the protective equipment that drivers nowadays enjoy, Fangio won a succession of races. As a comment on a video featuring his driving skills puts it, his racing was nothing less than "poetry on four wheels."
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