The Exceptional Races - 1957 Formula 1 German Grand Prix

1957 Formula 1 German Grand Prix

This was the race in which Fangio, at 46 years of age, clinched his fifth World Championship. Rarely, if ever, has a title been gained in such majestic fashion. It was Fangio's Maserati 250F that took pole position in 9m 25.6s, just under three seconds quicker than the Ferrari of Mike Hawthorn. Peter Collins, in the other Ferrari, was on the second row...

With race day dawning blazing hot, tyre wear became a critical part of the equation. Ferrari decided that it would run non-stop, although the drivers would need to be quite careful in the early laps. Maserati and Fangio opted to make a stop and, thus, to start with the fuel tanks only half-filled.

Although the Ferraris led away, Fangio in the lighter Maserati had passed them both by the third lap and was pulling steadily clear. After 12 of the 22 laps, he came in for his planned stop with a lead of 28s. But the team's pitwork was hopelessly slow, even by the standards of the day, and was not helped by the seat having broken. Fangio rejoined some 80s behind the two Ferraris.

The Ferrari crew relaxed, particularly when it timed Fangio's out lap and found him to be lapping no quicker than Hawthorn and Collins. But that was merely Fangio bedding in his new tyres. His next nine laps were among the finest anyone has ever driven, being breathtaking in their audacity. Later the maestro admitted that he did things in the car that day that he never wanted to repeat. Furthermore he was already 28 miles into this charge by the time the Ferrari team could alert its drivers via pit signals.

Each successive tour brought Fangio a new lap record, and on the 20th, with Collins in his sights, he lowered it to 9m 17.4s, a staggering 8s faster than his pole time, He passed both Ferraris on the next lap, on the way to the last — and most glorious — of his 24 wins.