Fangio, born in 1911, was the son of an Italian immigrant who moved to Argentina. At an early age, Fangio was exposed to automobiles while working at a garage and he was always fascinated by them. In his 30s, he started competing in long-distance races in Argentina, wherein he found great success. After the second world war, in 1948, Fangio went to Europe to compete in Formula 1. He first raced for Alfa Romeo, missing out on the 1950 title due to close competition with his teammate at the time, Nino Farina, who claimed the championship by a slim margin. He won his first world championship the year after driving for the same team, at 40 years old. After certain events, he found himself racing for Maserati, then for Mercedes, winning a championship with them in 1954 and 1955. Finally, he moved to Ferrari and won two championships with them in 1956 and 1957, marking the last of his five world championship titles, a record that lasted 46 years. He retired in 1958, going back to Argentina and eventually passing away at Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1995. During his carreer, he was nicknamed "El Maestro" which means "The Master" or "The Teacher", and to this day is considered a National Hero of Argentina.
"You need great passion, because everything you do with great pleasure, you do well."
- Juan Manuel Fangio
Ayrton Senna da Silva was born in 1960, in Sao Paolo, Brazil, to a rich family who supported his passion and desire for motor racing. He started karting at the mere age of 4, and started officially competing at 13. At 17 years old, he won the South American Kart Championship. He won other championships and got the attention of numerous F1 teams. He began his F1 carreer racing for Toleman, and then moved to Lotus. He was called the "King of the Pole Position" due to his outstanding times during practice. Motivated in improving his previously poor performance in wet conditions, Senna developed a reputation of being an outstanding driver in the rain, overtaking other drivers even with an inferior car. Senna finally moved to McLaren, one of the top teams of the time, teaming up with Alain Prost, another outstanding driver. Together, they won 15 out of 16 races in 1988, and Senna claimed his first F1 title at the age of 28 in the same year. He proceeded to win two more in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. He is also known for saving F1 driver Erik Comas in 1992. He was unconscious with the engine of his vehicle still roaring at around 9000rpm. While the other drivers went past, Senna stopped his car, turned of Comas' engine, and kept his head upright until medical support arrived, saving his life. Senna died in 1994 due to a fatal crash in San Marino. His memory and legacy lives on, with McLaren even naming one of their cars after him.
“Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose.”
- Ayrton Senna
Alain Prost was born in 1955 in central France. He discovered karting at the age of 14 and it slowly became his passion; he won multiple karting championships and even left school to become a full-time racer in 1974. After racing in Formula Renault and F3, he started racing for McLaren in the big scene of F1 in 1980. He left McLaren for Renault in 1981-1983, before ultimately coming back to McLaren and winning 3 world championships with them in 1985, 1986, and 1989. For some of his years at McLaren, he was teammates with Ayrton Senna, which led to a great rivalry between the two. Finally, he won his 4th and last championship with Williams in 1993. He was nicknamed "The Professor" for his approach to racing; conservative at the beginning, and making a late, all-out lunge at the end, different from his Brazillian teammate Senna, who pushed every single opportunity. He retired in 1993 due to his rivalry with Senna which became too unfriendly for both. In his retirement, he held the record for most races won (51).
“I always say that my ideal is to get pole with the minimum effort, and to win the race at the slowest speed possible.”
- Alain Prost
Michael Schumacher, born 1969, is a German who, as a kid had a passion for go-kart racing, supported by his father. He won the German Junior Karting Championship in 1984, and became a driver for F3 (a slower version of F2, which is a slower version of F1) at only 19 years old. In 1990, he won the German F3 championship and got signed for F1 the following year, racing for Jordan. He went to Benetton the next year, and won the championships of 1994 and 1995. He then moved to Ferrari, his most successful team. After a broken leg from a crash in 1999, Schumacher won the driver's championship for Ferrari in 2000, the first of five consecutive championship victories (2000-2004), holding the record for most championships won in F1 (7) tied with Lewis Hamilton. He also used to hold the record for most race wins (91) until it was broken by Hamilton in 2020. Schumacher was nicknamed "The Red Baron" due to him racing for Ferrari (known for its distinct red colors) and his German heritage. He retired in 2006 marking one of the greatest F1 carreers ever, and instead serving as a test driver for Ferrari. He however made a comeback in 2009 when he raced for Mercedes until 2012, but not having any good results. Schumacher retired again in 2012, and in 2013 he was sent to a coma that lasts to this day due to a brain injury from skiing in France.
“Once something is a passion, the motivation is there.”
- Michael Schumacher
Growing up to be the youngest driver to win the F1 championship, Sebastian Vettel is a German born in Heppenheim, West Germany in 1987. He grew up idolizing Schumacher, another German driver who is well known for his skill and 7 world championships. Similar to many others, he started his passion from karting, in which he was sponsored by Red Bull Racing since age 12. In 2007, he made his F1 debut after being a test driver for two seasons. He wasn't a big shot from the start; in fact, he only won after a year in the Italian GP, making him the second youngest F1 driver to ever win a race at 21 years and 2 months. Such a performance got him a seat at Red Bull in 2009, and with them he placed second on the world championship. In 2010 with the same team, he won the world championship, only the first out of four consecutive world championship titles. In 2013, his last championship-winning year, he was the first F1 driver to win 9 consecutive races in a row. Vettel was called "The Finger" for his distinct one-finger salute every time he won a race or championship. He left Red Bull and joined Ferrari in 2015. He stayed with them unil 2020, where he was only able to manage 2nd place in the championship in 2017, behind Lewis Hamilton. In 2021, he signed with Aston Martin, and finally retired recently at the end of the 2022 season, being a well-loved and talented driver.
“There is no reason not to be motivated. You cannot always be the best, but you can always do your best.”
- Sebastian Vettel
Widely considered as one of, if not the greatest F1 driver ever, holding the record for most race wins, championships, pole positions, and podium finishes to name a few, Lewis Hamilton was born in England in 1985. Similar to many other hall of famers in F1, Lewis started his carreer with karting, winning championships and eventually making his way to F1. Hamilton was able to join the McLaren F1 team in 2007, and came in second in the world championship in his first F1 season, only behind by a single point. The following year, he won his first world championship at the mere age of 23, racing for Mclaren. In 2013, he moved to Mercedes, and that proved to be his greatest carreer decision ever. Together with Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas, the two went on to have some of the most dominant seasons ever, riding Mercedes' "Silver Arrows" as they were called; due to their superiority and silver color. With Mercedes, he proceeded to win the championships of the years 2014, 2015, and 2017-2020. He was dubbed as the Billion Dollar Man due to the incredibly high pay Mercedes gives him, which is understandable due to him winning 6 world championships with them, and being with the team for almost a decade. He is one of the most highly paid F1 drivers, earning himself 55 million USD for the 2022 season. Other than his outstanding performance, he is also known to be a prominent figure and advocate for Black Lives Matter.
“I don't aspire to be like other drivers; I aspire to be unique in my own way.”
- Lewis Hamilton
Official F1 Page