f1bits

In the 50s Juan Manuel Fangio made a name for himself in the F1 and his record figures seemed made to last. The Argentine F1 driver won 24 out of 51 races and started 48 times in the first row. Meanwhile Fangios records have been broken by Michael Schumacher, but he still remains a legend. His nickname “El Chueco” means “the bow-legged” and is one of the reasons many F1 fans still remember him well. On 24 June 2011 Juan Manuel Fangio would have celebrated his 100th birthday.

Fangios race enthusiasm awakened when he worked in an automotive workshop. After a tragic accident, in which his passenger was killed, he switched to the racetrack and came with the help of the Argentine government to Europe. 37-year-old Fangio wins his first race at the Grand Prix of San Remo in 1949. Afterwards he received a Formula 1 cockpit for Alpha Romeo and becomes vice-world champion in 1950.

In the second year of his career in the Formula 1 “El Chueco” became world champion. The following two years his success was interrupted by an accident. In 1953 Fangio joined the Mercedes team and continued to win. Between the years of 1953 and 1957 he won three more world championships and switched from Mercedes back to Maserati. During his most famous race at the Nurburgring in 1957, Fangio invented the planned pit stop. He started the race with only a half-full tank, knowing that his tires would not last the whole race. Until the pit stop he would have the lightest and fastest car, but the stop took more time as planned. Fangio risked everything trying to catch up and won the race after setting a new lap record.

The strangest chapter of Juan Manuel Fangios career happened in 1958 during a race in Cuba. Hours before the race, Fangio was kidnapped by the “26th of July Movement” and their revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. After the race he was released unharmed and claimed to have been treated very well by the rebels. This kidnapping put a spotlight on Fidel Castro and his followers.

In 1995 “El Chueco” died of kidney failure in his home in Argentina. Until today Juan Manuel Fangio remains a legend and is a hero for many Formula 1 drives and fans in Argentina.

Mark Webber was born in 1976 in Queanbeyan, Australia. At an early age he discovered his passion for driving and competing. Beginning his career as a kart driver Webbers wins his first Championship at the age of 16. After a few years of kart driving he developed a taste for adrenalin and switched to even faster vehicles. His Formula 1 career began in 1999 as a test driver for Arrows. During this year he took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in which a spectacular accident took place. Due to a mechanical problem a Mercedes car took off like a racket, causing a big mess. Webber survived the accident miraculously unhurt.

In 2002 he was welcomed as the newest member of the Minardi team. In his first race in Melbourne he was able to win fifth place, while driving the slowest car in the race. Although he could not repeat this sensation in the 2002 racing season, his successful career started. In 2003 Webber was able to score points in his Jaguar seven times, making him number ten in the championship. In 2004 his success continued and the world started to notice the young driver with the high ambitions.

Trying to continue his success and switching to Willams, Webber was stroke with bad luck in the season of 2005. Being able to be faster than his teammate Nick Heidfeld during qualifying, he was not able to keep his performance up during the races. Some unfortunate failures did the rest and the dream of his first victory started to slip away. In 2006 Webbers performance was strong and he had a few good shots at winning, but an unreliable car kept him from his victory.

In 2007 Mark Webber switched to the Red Bull team. Now his luck seemed to have changed, winning third place in the Nurburgring tournament. Only one year later he was able to win in a Formula 1 race for the first time in the same tournament. In 2010 Webber was finally able to win the Formula 1 championship. After long years of hard work and some accidents, he reached his goal.

The so called “King of Formula1” Michael Schumacher was born in 1969 in Germany. His enthusiasm for racing and winning built up at a very young age. In 1984, at the age of 15, he won the German kart championship for the first time. After this nothing seemed to be able to stop his success.

In 1991 his career in the Formula 1 began as a member of the Sauber-Mercedes junior team. After being successful in the team a lucky coincidence helped him start his successful career. Bertrand Gachot, the driver of the Jordan team, was arrested for attacking a taxi driver. Schumacher was asked to step in for him. During the race he surprised everybody with his driving skills and was able to win the seventh place. After this all eyes were on him and Benetton team boss Flavio Briatore took a special interest in him.

He took him under contract for the next race and led Schumacher to his first Grand Prix victory in 1992. Driven by the constant need to prove himself, Schumacher was able to win the Grand Prix championship in 1994 for the first time. He also was able to continue his success by winning the championship in the following year again. After this, the exceptional racer switched to the Ferrari team and was able to be even more successful then before.

After his serious accident in the 1999 Schumacher continued to take part in races and won the Grand Prix championship in the following year. All in all he was able to win five championships with the Ferrari team and with his salary of 30 Million Euro a year he never has to worry about money again. In 2006 Schumacher retired for the first time, but he was still working as a consultant for the team.

In 2009 he was already planning a comeback, which was made impossible through a motorcycle accident. After this, Schumacher was still determined to make his way back into the Formula 1. So he called one of his close friends, Ross Brawn, who was quick to agree to take him under contract for the Mercedes team.

Now Michael Schumacher is continuing to race in the Formula 1. He is the most successful driver in the history of Formula 1 and the only non-Italian, who was ever able to win the hearts of the Italian people.