Fangio qualified on pole and that proved vital as he was able to avoid the carnage behind him.
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Juan Manuel Fangio is considered one of the greatest racers in the history of Formula 1. Fangio made his presence felt in the toughest of conditions, gaining the love and respect of the masses on the back of excellent performances. The legendary racer recorded his first triumph in the Monaco Grand Prix on this day (May 21) but in the year 1950. The win was recorded just eight days after Nino Farina’s victory in the inaugural World Championship race at Silverstone. Fangio registered a win in a race marred by a first-lap pile-up.
The reason behind the disruption and the carnage was a skid by Farina on a part of the road that had been disrupted by the sea at Tabac Corner. Eight other racers were put out due to the resulting chaos with only 9 out of the 19 drivers who started, remaining at the end of the second lap.
Fangio and Luigi Villoresi escaped the chaos. The former witnessed the waving of the yellow flags, following the debacle, and attempted his best to warn the approaching drivers.
“The spectators were not looking at me leading the race but the other way,” he said as quoted by ESPN.
Fangio was lucky enough to gently nudge one of the cars that had crashed out of the way, going on to emerge victorious in the race. Villoresi and Alberto Ascari were two of the other racers who managed to escape the track that had fuel spilling everywhere, with marshals trying to clear. Fangio finished a lap ahead of Ascari, in a race where only seven of the 15 starters finished the three-hour-13-minute race.
Fangio was however unable to enjoy the victory, due to the injuries sustained by his friends Jose Froilan Gonzalez and Alfredo Pian. Gonzalez sustained burns after the fuel cap of his car was dislodged. Pian crashed and sustained a badly broken leg.
Fangio spent three days helping his colleagues, despite having a race scheduled a week later in Monza. Not only this, he followed it up by having seats removed from his car for driving Pian to an orthopaedic hospital.
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