F1 Germany Grand Prix
Nürburgring circuit, 22 Km x 22 laps = 484 Km. To this day this race represents something unique. It is considered by historians to have been the most fantastic F1 race in the 50’s. It’s the race where Juan Manuel Fangio had proven his class and bravery.
The Maserati 250F used Pirelli tyres which didn’t cover all the other 480 km. Whereas, Ferrari used the Englebert tyres, which lasted for the whole race. Therefore, Maserati made the decision for Fangio to set-off with half a tank of fuel, in order to take advantage of the lighter weight than Ferrari, and to build up around ten laps of advantage, which would have been sufficient to keep first position, even after the pit stop to fill up and to replace the rear tyres.
Despite his 46 years, Fangio was in extraordinary good shape. He had already won three races out of the four which had been raced until that point. He didn’t struggle much to obtain the pole position, with a time of 9’ 25” 6; at the start, as he always did, he left all of his opponents parade and the timings table attached is the summary of how Fangio managed the race. At the second lap, he was already at the head of the race and at the twelfth lap, when he stopped at the pits to fill up and to replace the rear tyres, he had gained enough advantage to set off again, if not in first place, in a favourable position at the very least.
When something unexpected happened!!
During the rear tyres change-over, the right tyre’s wheel nut inadvertently slid under the car while the new tyre was being mounted. Once the wheel had been inserted, the mechanic couldn’t find the wheel nut anymore, the mechanic Giulio Borsari, saw the scene from the pit wall and he tried to rush to get a new wheel nut, but the chronometer was spinning. Overall, it took 20-22 seconds on average to fill up and to swap over the rear tyres.
Unfortunately Fangio started off again after around 58 seconds, 36 seconds more than expected! At that stage, the race was won for Ferrari, with a car in first and one in second place and the Maserati right behind them. After starting off again, Fangio took a very slow lap to bring the tyres back to temperature. There were ten laps left and he had to recover over 58 seconds.
From the 14th lap he started to drive hard, as he had never risked before, as he declared in several occasions afterwards. Because recovering 10-12 per lap, on the Nürburgring track, means taking many risks, as well as being able to drive. At the 20th lap, he split the chronometer at a time of 9’ 17” 4/10, the great remount brought him back right behind Collins, the reconnection occurred after a lap time 8 seconds slower than the pole position. Once he surpassed Collins, he threw himself at the back of Hawthorn, and reaching him half-way through the last lap, he overtook him nearly on the finish line, with a time difference of just over 3” (seconds).
With this success, Fangio won his fifth worldwide championship. During one of his visits at the Maserati head office, while remembering that race, he said: “When I stopped, a mess must have happened, and I lost more time than expected, but the car responded so well so my solicitation, that it invited me to push more and more and I risked as I had never done before in my life.”
Author: Ermanno Cozza
Photos: Willy Pragher