Top ten F1 drivers: Juan Manuel Fangio.

Like Michael Schumacher, the next person in the Crash.net poll is someone who can not be ignored when discussing the greatest F1 drivers of all time.

In terms of success, he is the man closest to the current world champion, although he competed at a time when things were very very different, Juan Manuel Fangio...

Debate rages as to whether Schumacher or Juan Manuel Fangio is the greatest F1 driver of all time, but it is hard to compare the two as they figured at completely opposite ends of the championship timeline.

His love of cars founded by working in a garage from a young age, and fuelled by competition in his adopted homeland, Fangio competed right from the very start of the world championship, racing in the first counting GP at Silverstone in May 1950, and taking the first of his 24 victories a matter of weeks later in Monaco.

Although he missed out on the inaugural title by just three points to Guiseppe Farina, the Argentine would claim the title in 1951, with victories in Switzerland, France and Spain helping him to beat Alberto Ascari to the title.

Having missed the 1952 season after being injured - and almost killed - in an accident at Monza, Fangio returned in 1953 to again finish second in the standings, before dominating the 1954 season. After winning in Argentina and Belgium for Maserati, Fangio switched to Mercedes for the French Grand Prix, and went on to win another four races.

Despite being the old man of the grid, another four wins, and another title, followed in 1955, before Mercedes withdrew from motorsport following the Le Mans disaster. Without a team - but not short of suitors - Fangio joined Ferrari for 1956, replacing Ascari, who had died during testing at Monza during the '55 season.

Once again, he appeared to be in the right place at the right time, displaying a knack for knowing which car would be the one to have, and duly landed a fourth crown before heading back to Maserati for 1957.

A fifth title, and a fourth in succession, followed with the venerable Maserati 250F, built on the back of four race wins. The last of these, at the fearsome Nurburgring, is still regarded as perhaps the best of Fangio's career, as he bounced back from a planned pit-stop for tyres to overhaul a gap approaching one minute that separated him from British pairing Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn.

He retired in 1958, with a wins-to-starts ratio that even Schumacher cannot beat.

Fact File:
59 races
24 victories
5 world titles (1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957)

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