I just love how I stumble across things of interest on the Internet. I can't remember what driver I was looking up images of when I came across this photo.
round him seems to be so happy that it appears he just won his race. He's even getting a kiss on the cheek. And yet he seems to be so nonplussed by the whole thing. I just had to find out more and since his name was part of the file name he was easy to Google. José Froilan Gonzalez. I had never heard of him before but right away I was interested in his story. The first thing I learned was that he is best-known for obtaining Ferrari's very first Grand Prix World Championship victory. Which is in and of itself quite a distinction.
I just loved it right away. It was obviously from the 50s and I found it so intriguing and amusing that the driver was so completely the opposite of what a Grand Prix driver is today. He's way too old and well, shall we say, big. Large around the middle. Everyone around him seems to be so happy that it appears he just won his race. He's even getting a kiss on the cheek. And yet he seems to be so nonplussed by the whole thing. I just had to find out more and since his name was part of the file name he was easy to Google. José Froilan Gonzalez. I had never heard of him before but right away I was interested in his story. The first thing I learned was that he is best-known for obtaining Ferrari's very first Grand Prix World Championship victory. Which is in and of itself quite a distinction.
José was from Argentina and in 1951 when he won Ferraris first race, the British Grand Prix, he was 29 years old and had started racing Grand Prix only the year before at Monaco.
His nicknames were The Pampas Bull to his English-speaking fans and El Cabezon (Fat Head), to his Latin friends and colleagues. According to his profile on the official Ferrari website he was called The Pampas Bull "due to his extremely determined driving style and his impressive physique". The reason for his other nickname seems rather obvious. They say that he was a chubby baby. And he grew into A chubby man but he was anything but unfit. In fact he was quite an all-around athlete and had very good endurance. An attribute needed to manhandle the cars of that era.
He is considered to have had a rather brief Formula One career. His last race was in 1960 and he competed in 26 Formula One races in nine seasons (1950 - 1957 and 1960). He scored two victories, the aforementioned 1951 British Grand Prix and the 1954 British Grand Prix as well. He had seven 2nd place finishes, six third-place finishes, three pole positions and six fastest laps.
He also had the distinction of winning the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans with his co-driver Maurice Trintignant.
He had quite a cult following in Argentina and there are numerous videos of him on YouTube. Unfortunately the majority of them are in Spanish.
José was from Argentina and in 1951 when he won Ferraris first race, the British Grand Prix, he was 29 years old and had started racing Grand Prix only the year before at Monaco.
His nicknames were The Pampas Bull to his English-speaking fans and El Cabezon (Fat Head), to his Latin friends and colleagues. According to his profile on the official Ferrari website he was called The Pampas Bull "due to his extremely determined driving style and his impressive physique". The reason for his other nickname seems rather obvious. They say that he was a chubby baby. And he grew into A chubby man but he was anything but unfit. In fact he was quite an all-around athlete and had very good endurance. An attribute needed to manhandle the cars of that era.
He is considered to have had a rather brief Formula One career. His last race was in 1960 and he competed in 26 Formula One races in nine seasons (1950 - 1957 and 1960). He scored two victories, the aforementioned 1951 British Grand Prix and the 1954 British Grand Prix as well. He had seven 2nd place finishes, six third-place finishes, three pole positions and six fastest laps.
He also had the distinction of winning the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans with his co-driver Maurice Trintignant.
He had quite a cult following in Argentina and there are numerous videos of him on YouTube. Unfortunately the majority of them are in Spanish.
José passed away just last June (2013) at the age of 90. He did live long enough to take part in the celebration by Ferrari of the 60th anniversary of his historic victory at Silverstone.
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| Maserati team-mates Jose Froilan Gonzalez and Juan Manuel Fangio British Grand Prix, Silverstone, July 18, 1953 |
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