Reliving the memory of Fangio’s Mersey magic
LEWIS HAMILTON will have to wait another year for the chance to win a record sixth British Grand Prix, but is still on target to win a fifth World Drivers’ Championship title this season after delivering a stunning “Hammertime” drive from dead last to second in the searing heatwave temperatures at Silverstone last Sunday.
His breathtaking performance, after his Mercedes-Benz W09 had been spun down, from a pole start, to the back of the field in a first lap clash with Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari, was watched with special interest by two sons of the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, from Argentina, who had wowed the crowds at two historic “Merseyside” British Grand Prix at Aintree in the 1950s on his way to becoming the first driver to win five World Championships.
Ruben Vasquez (75) and Oscar “Cacho Fangio” Espinoza (79) were the VIP guests of the Alfa Romeo sponsored Sauber F1 Team.
And despite speaking little English were clearly thrilled to be at Silverstone to help commemorate the day in May 1950 when Nino Farina in the famous “Alfetta” 158 won the first ever World Championship race - the British and European Grand Prix - supported by fellow Italian Luigi Fagioli (second) and Britain’s Reg Parnell (third).
Unfortunately, Fangio in the fourth Alfa had been forced to retire from the race.
For the author of this piece it turned into a journey down memory lane back on Merseyside as Ruben and Oscar enjoyed looking through books and pictures of their late father, known as “El Cheuco” (the bandylegged one) when he competed at Aintree with Mercedes-Benz in 1955 and then in 1957 with a Maserati 250F.
It immediately revived memories of the first of the five British Grand Prix staged at Aintree on July 16, 1955 when, as the Southport Visiter reported, it was the Lewis Hamilton of the day, Stirling Moss, who hit the headlines as the first Englishman to win his home World Championship Grand Prix.
Moss was a member of the famous Mercedes-Benz team, headed by Fangio, and still believes that the Argentinean ace “gifted” him the race.
Just two-tenths of a second had split them at the finish as the “Silver Arrows” from Germany secured the first four positions in a race of complete invincibility.
Not only had it been an exciting day on the famous Aintree circuit, it had been an amazing week for the residents of Southport where the Mercedes-Benz cars had been based at what was Thompson-Doxey Ltd, motor engineers, in Sefton Street.
Even more exciting was the news that the team’s drivers - Fangio, Moss and Karl Kling along with team personel, would be staying at the resorts Royal Hotel while the 24 Stuttgartbased mechanics were booked in at the resort’s Scarisbrick and Brunswick Hotels. What a scoop for the town!
“It’s a great feather in our cap” declared Southport motor engineering boss Mr Reg Thompson.
Fifty nine years later, in July 2014, one Lewis Hamilton became the first British driver to win a British Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz to match the famous Moss’ victory back in 1955.
Since then Hamilton has won three more British Grand Prix for Mercedes in successive years 2015-2017 and, after his stirring drive through the field last weekend, only missed making it five in a row by less than three seconds.
Returning to the past and meeting up with Ruben and Oscar recalled the second occasion when their father competed at Aintree in a Maserati 250F and on a day when his former Mercedes-Benz team-mate Moss, along with Tony Brooks shared a Vanwall to win the Grand Prix of Europe (and incorporating the R.A.C. British Grand Prix) to provide Britain with its first all-British World Championship Grand Prix success, since the current series was instigated in 1950.
Fangio, who started 51 world championship races, winning 24, and achieving five World Drivers’ Championships with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati, was unable to match Moss and valve trouble forced him into retirement.
Finally, back to the present and while clearly disappointed that he had failed to secure a record sixth British Grand Prix victory, Lewis Hamilton was still the darling of the 140,000 race day crowd and his drive in the works Mercedes W09 will long remain in the memory.
There was to be no crowd surfacing on this occasion but Hamilton paid tribute to his mass following on a number of occasions during the weekend as he contemplates the remaining 11 races and the target of matching those five World Drivers’ Championship titles achieved by Juan Manuel Fangio.
At present there appears to be only one person likely to stop Hamilton attaining that goal.
And that is the winner of last Sunday’s British Grand Prix, Sebastien Vettel whose Ferrari SF71H led for 38 of the 52 laps in a well executed drive, that has extended his lead over Hamilton to eight points in the title chase.
The top ten in the race was completed by Raikkonen (Ferrari) in third, Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull-Renault), Nico Hulkenberg (Renault), Esteban Ocon (Force India-Mercedes), Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Renault), Kevin Magnussen (Haas-Ferrari) and Sergio Perez (Force India-Mercedes). Vettel, himself a four time World Drivers’ Champion (2010-2013) is also in line to match the five won by Fangio in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957.
It should be a classic second half of the season and I suspect Ruben and Oscar will be keeping a close eye on the outcome as Hamilton and Vettel prepare to renew their duel for a fifth world title at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim on Sunday week ( July 22).