GP: Argentina
Date: 13 January 1957
Winner: Juan Manuel Fangio - Maserati
The last world title began here with a win on home soil for Juan Manuel Fangio, who would go on to take his fifth world championship crown with Maserati.
By the end of the season he won seven races to team-mate Stirling Moss' three. In Buenos Aires, Maserati locked out the entire podium, with Jean Behra and another Argentinian, Carlos Menditeguy ensuring that the powerful Ferrari team was soundly beaten.
There were a host of stories around this Grand Prix, among them a ninth place finish for Alejandro de Tomaso making his debut in a Ferrari 500 entered by Scuderia Centro Sud. He would go on to become a flamboyant entrepreneur and founder of his own car company in Italy.
Also making his Ferrari debut was Wolfgang von Trips. Tragedy awaited Eugenio Castellotti and Alfonso De Portago and this would be their last Grand Prix, as they both died a few months later, the former during a test session in Modena on 14th March and the latter on 12th May at Cavriana di Guidizzolo in an horrific crash that also claimed the life of his co-driver Edmund Nelson along with nine spectators, which marked the end of the Mille Miglia.
These two tragedies are depicted in the 2023 film “Ferrari”.
Two unforgettable, moving and fascinating stories which embody the key ingredients of racing, namely blood, speed and noise.
In 2025 Pirelli will hit the 500 F1® Grands Prix mark during the season.
Legacy of Speed series looks back at the fifty most significant Grands Prix from Pirelli's time on the F1 World Championship trail.
