Drivers | 25 |
---|---|
Grands Prix | 265 |
Entries | 362 |
Starts | 338 |
Best season finish | 1st (1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957) |
Wins | 38 |
Podiums | 98 |
Pole positions | 38 |
Fastest laps | 37 |
Points | 697.42 |
First entry | 1950 British Grand Prix |
First win | 1950 Monaco Grand Prix |
Latest win | 1981 Belgian Grand Prix |
Latest entry | 2001 San Marino Grand Prix |
2023 drivers | None |
2024 drivers | None |
There have been 25 Formula One drivers from Argentina including one World Drivers' Champion. Juan Manuel Fangio, who is regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time, won the title five times in the first eight seasons of the championship and was twice a runner-up.
Juan Manuel Fangio is the only Drivers' Champion from Argentina winning the title five times in the 1950s. [1] Two other Argentine drivers have won a championship race: José Froilán González and Carlos Reutemann. 22 other Argentine drivers have driven F1 cars at race weekends, with many of them only racing once and failing to finish a single race. [2]
Juan Manuel Fangio won nearly half of the races he started. His victory in the 1957 German Grand Prix at Nürburgring is sometimes cited as one of the greatest drives in the history of the sport. In a poll of drivers undertaken by Autosport Fangio was voted as the third best racer in the history of Formula One, behind Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. [3] Fangio's record of winning the drivers' title five times stood for 46 years, finally being surpassed by Schumacher, and he holds several other records including the highest percentage of race wins (46% – 24 out of 52). [4] [5] He remains the oldest ever champion, winning his final title at the age of 46. [5] Fangio drove for Alfa Romeo in the first Formula One World Championship season in 1950. He finished second in the title behind team mate Giuseppe Farina, winning three of six races in which he competed. He achieved five podiums out of seven on his way to his first world title in 1951 but had to sit out of the 1952 season after breaking his neck in Monza. He returned to F1 in 1953 driving for Maserati and won just one of the eight grands prix, finishing second in the Drivers' Championship to Alberto Ascari. The next four seasons saw Fangio achieve success that would not be matched for many years. Across the four seasons he won 17 of the 28 races and all four titles. He retired from the sport after two races in 1958. [6] While some of his records have been broken, Ayrton Senna said of Fangio "Even if I or someone else can equal or beat Fangio's record, it still will not compare with his achievements." [6] [7]
José Froilán González was another successful 1950s Grand Prix driver from Argentina. [8] Known as El Cabezon (Fat Head) and The Pampas Bull, González was built more like a wrestler than a modern racing driver. [3] [9] He was runner-up to compatriot Fangio in the 1954 season and is celebrated by Ferrari as their first Formula One championship race winner. [4] [10] He might have achieved other successes but González never contested a full season in any of the nine years he competed and his victory for Ferrari was his second and last win. [3] [9] The Autosport vote placed González as the 27th best driver of all time, stating that he would have been likely to have won more races if he had accepted the offer of a race seat at Vanwall. [3]
Carlos Reutemann is the most recent Argentine race winner to ascend the top of the podium at the 1981 Belgian Grand Prix. That victory in Belgium was the last in a career that included 12 race wins. He achieved four first-place finishes for Ferrari in 1978 and ultimately finished third in the championship. 1981 was his last complete season and Reutemann, driving for Williams, finished as runner-up in the Drivers' Championship. [11] [12] The following year started with a second place at the South African Grand Prix but he would only last one more race before leaving Williams and quitting the sport amidst speculation of dissension between him and the team. [11] [13] Team mate Keke Rosberg went on to win the championship. [14] In the Autosport vote Reutemann was placed 34th in the list of greatest ever F1 drivers. He is one of only a small number of racers who qualified in pole position at their debut race, [4] [13] and also has the most third-place finishes of any driver. [5] Reutemann went on to have a career in politics, governing Argentina's Santa Fe province. [11]
There are currently no drivers from Argentina racing in Formula One. Gastón Mazzacane was the most recent driver, [4] having competed in the 2000 season with Minardi and the first four races of 2001 with Prost. After three retirements he was dropped by the Prost team and replaced by fellow South American Luciano Burti.
As well as those detailed above, the following drivers started at least ten races: [2]
Juan Manuel Fangio, nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro, was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated the first decade of Formula One racing, winning the World Drivers' Championship five times.
José Froilán González was an Argentine racing driver, particularly notable for scoring Ferrari's first win in a Formula One World Championship race at the 1951 British Grand Prix. He made his Formula One debut for Scuderia Achille Varzi in the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix. His last Grand Prix was the 1960 Argentine Grand Prix.
The 1953 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 7 June 1953 at the Circuit Zandvoort. It was race 3 of 9 in the 1953 World Championship of Drivers, which was run to Formula Two rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the Formula One regulations normally used. The 90-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari after he started from pole position. His teammate Nino Farina finished second and Maserati drivers José Froilán González and Felice Bonetto came in third
The 1954 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 20 June 1954. It was race 3 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 36-lap race was won by Maserati driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from pole position. Maurice Trintignant finished second for the Ferrari team with Fangio's teammate Stirling Moss in third.
The 1954 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Bremgarten on 22 August 1954. It was race 7 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 66-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from second position. José Froilán González finished second for the Ferrari team and Fangio's teammate Hans Herrmann came in third.
The 1958 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 19 January 1958 at Autodromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires Circuit. It was race 1 of 11 in the 1958 World Championship of Drivers and race 1 of 10 in the 1958 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the sixth Argentine Grand Prix. It was held on the #2 variation of the circuit. The race was held over 80 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 313 kilometres.
The 1980 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 January 1980 at the Autodromo Municipal Ciudad de Buenos Aires in Argentina. It was the opening round of the 1980 Formula One season. The race was the 16th Argentine Grand Prix and the sixth to be held on the #15 variation of the Buenos Aires circuit. The race was held over 53 laps of the 5.81-kilometre (3.61 mi) circuit for a total race distance of 308 kilometres (191 mi).
The 1959 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1959 World Championship of Drivers and the 1959 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over a nine-race series which commenced on 10 May and ended on 12 December. The season also included several non-championship Formula One races.
The 1954 Formula One season was the eighth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1954 World Championship of Drivers, and several non-championship races. The World Championship of Drivers was contested over a nine-race series which commenced on 17 January and ended on 24 October 1954. The championship was won by Juan Manuel Fangio, who drove, and won races for both Maserati and Mercedes-Benz throughout the series. Argentine drivers gained the first two positions in the championship, with José Froilán González placing second to his compatriot Fangio.
The 1951 Formula One season was the fifth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1951 World Championship of Drivers, which commenced on 27 May 1951 and ended on 28 October after eight races. The season also included 14 races open to Formula One cars but did not count towards the championship standings.
The Argentine Grand Prix was a round of the Formula One championship, held intermittently from 1953 to 1998, at the Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez in the Argentine national capital of Buenos Aires.
Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann was an Argentine racing driver who raced in Formula One from 1972 to 1982, and later became a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party, and governor of Santa Fe in Argentina.
There have been 54 Formula One drivers from Germany including three world champions. Michael Schumacher holds many records in F1 including the most world championship titles and the most consecutive titles. In 2008 Sebastian Vettel became the youngest ever driver to win a race and, in 2010, became the youngest world championship winner. In 2016, Nico Rosberg became the third driver from Germany to win the F1 World Drivers' Championship. There is currently one active German race driver in Formula One.
There have been 32 Formula One drivers who have represented Brazil, including three world champions. Ayrton Senna, the three-time title winner, is regarded by many as the best driver in the history of Formula One. Nelson Piquet also won the title three times and Emerson Fittipaldi was a two-time winner. Rubens Barrichello, who used to hold the record for the most races contested with 322 starts, finished as the championship runner-up in two seasons. Following the retirement of Felipe Massa after the 2017 season, in 2018 there were no Brazilian drivers entered for the World Championship, the first time this had occurred since 1969.
There have been nine Formula One drivers from Finland who have taken part in races since the championship began in 1950. Three drivers have won the World Drivers' Championship, with Keke Rosberg being the first in 1982. Mika Häkkinen won it in 1998 and retained it in 1999, becoming the first - and so far only - Finnish double world champion. Kimi Räikkönen is the most recent Finnish champion having won the title in 2007. Finland is considered to have an unusually high amount of successful Formula One drivers for a country of its relatively small size.
There have been fifteen Formula One drivers from Spain, the most successful of them being Fernando Alonso who won the World Drivers' Championship twice. Alonso is the only Spanish champion and one of only two Spanish drivers to win a Grand Prix, the other being Carlos Sainz Jr. Two other Spanish drivers have achieved a podium with Pedro de la Rosa and Alfonso de Portago having taken one a piece.
There have been 15 Formula One drivers from Canada, four of whom have scored points. Gilles Villeneuve, rated amongst the greatest drivers of all time, died while qualifying for his 68th race. His son, Jacques Villeneuve won the World Drivers' Championship in 1997. Canadian drivers were absent from Formula One since his departure in 2006, until the arrival of Lance Stroll in 2017.
There have been 98 Formula One drivers from Italy including two World Drivers' Champions. Giuseppe "Nino" Farina was the first ever World Champion and Alberto Ascari was the first double World Champion. All three championships came in the early 1950s and very few Italian drivers have come close since Ascari's 1953 victory. In 1989 and again for the following two years there were 13 drivers from Italy. Antonio Giovinazzi was the last Italian driver, having competed in F1 from 2019 to 2021. Prior to Giovinazzi, there were five consecutive seasons without an Italian driver, with 2012 marking the first season an Italian driver did not enter a Formula One race weekend and the first season since 1969 that an Italian driver did not start a race.
There have been 58 Formula One drivers from the United States including two World Drivers' Championship winners, Mario Andretti and Phil Hill. Andretti is the most successful American Formula One driver having won 12 races, and only Eddie Cheever has started more Grands Prix. Logan Sargeant is the most recent American, having competed in the 2023 championship.