5 How Fangio embarrassed the Mon Ami Mates
For our final entry this week we head all the way back to 1957 and one of the most famous races in history at the Nürburgring.
Is it harsh to include this one, when Juan Manuel Fangio’s Maserati 250F reeled in the Ferraris of best friends Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins to score the Maestro’s greatest victory? Perhaps. After all, this was a day when even Fangio admitted he’d driven to a different level.
The fact remains that following a slow pitstop, the Maserati was 48 seconds down on the Ferraris. He broke the lap record at the fearsome 14-mile track nine times during his chase in a performance that shall never be forgotten.
But had it been Stirling Moss or the late Alberto Ascari in one of those Ferraris, would he still have won? Given his performance, perhaps – but probably not.
Like Hawthorn and Collins that day, what Vettel can take as a sliver of solace is that he was beaten on Sunday by a driver performing at his personal highest level. Then again, admitting that he was beaten by the better man might only rub further salt into an already open wound.
It might take some getting over.