5. The breakthrough win – 1951 British Grand Prix
Ferrari had won races for F1 cars before, but it wasn’t until its ninth appearance since the inauguration of the world championship that it took the first of what now stands at 245 victories. It came from an unexpected source.
Alberto Ascari was Ferrari team leader, but it was Jose Froilan Gonzalez who stunned with his speed, breaking the lap record on his way to the marque’s first world championship pole position despite running the older 12-valve version of the V12 engine.
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This was only Gonzalez’s second outing for Ferrari, having grabbed Enzo’s attention by beating the returning Mercedes W154s in the Buenos Aires Grand Prix in February driving the little-known Ferrari 166 FL. On debut, at Reims, he’d been called in to hand his car over to Ascari and it seemed the same would happen at Silverstone.
Gonzalez took the lead from Alfa Romeo’s Juan Manuel Fangio, on his way to a first world championship, on lap 39 and was well on his way to victory when Ascari’s Ferrari 375 suffered a gearbox failure. Ascari was offered his car, but rejected it on the basis Gonzalez had driven so well.
It was one of only two wins for Gonzalez at this level, the other coming at Silverstone in 1954. The high-speed airfield circuit proved ideal for this very physical driver’s strengths – he was not nicknamed ‘El Cabezón’, or ‘fat head’, by his home fans for nothing.
By taking Ferrari’s landmark victory, the Argentinian established himself as a foundational figure in the Scuderia’s story.
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Publish date : 2024-08-14 14:49:46
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