Silverstone GP: The Numbers Become Important
13.7.01

Two sets of numbers were being being brought to the fore at the British GP: one was fact - it was 50 years since Ferrari's first championship F1 victory, but the other was ambition - would Schumacher equal the all-time F1 record of Alain Prost's 51 GP wins?

In 1951 it took Froilan Gonzales 2 hours, 42 minutes, 18.2 seconds to lap Silverstone ninety times and to score Ferrari's first championship win.

In commemoration of this great achievement Luca di Montezemolo said: “This weekend is a significant moment in our history. Fifty years ago, the 375 F1 driven by José Froilan Gonzalez brought Ferrari its first win in a Grand Prix counting towards the world championship. Since then, there have been 646 grands prix and we have won 141 of them. Along the way, we have also recorded 144 pole positions and taken a total of 20 Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships".

González was the first man to win a round of the Formula One World Championship for Ferrari. He suffered as a driver in many ways, thanks to the endless comparisons he had to endure. Any racing driver will testify that constant comparisons to their team-mates add to the pressure they face, and José had to endure comparisons with the best drivers the world has ever seen. His fellow Argentine, Juan Manuel Fangio, went on to win five World Championships, and equally great drivers such as Ascari and Villoresi were his team- mates at Ferrari. At Silverstone on 14th May 1951, José let his driving do the talking, beating the rest of the field to take the chequered flag.

“I think I was as fast as Juan (Fangio), but it is true he was more consistent as a driver,” commented González.

Having travelled over from Argentina thanks largely to Fangio’s fame and support, González pawned most of his possessions to afford the long trip to Europe and to race in the World Championship. He finished races with mixed results, further testimony to his self-confessed inconsistency, but at times his speed was unmatched. Partly this was due to his lack of a base with a solid team. In Reims, two weeks before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, González had to surrender his Ferrari 375 to full-time team member, Ascari, whose own car suffered a breakdown. Ascari went on to finish the race in second position in González’ machine.

”As I didn’t have an official contract at the time, I didn’t feel bad about that,” admits a pragmatic González, “yet immediately after Reims I signed a contract under the same conditions as Ascari and Villoresi.”

This made González a full member of the team and the confidence he found as a result of that gesture showed just two weeks later at Silverstone. “I felt I could win the race, Fangio even told me I was going to win,” says González and, indeed, as the master predicted, González beat all contenders. “When we won, there were huge celebrations. The “Commendatore” (Enzo Ferrari) bought me a gold watch and when I arrived in Maranello a few days after he had a picture of this victory in his office.”

And now it's Schumacher's turn with the numbers: can he make it his 51st win this weekend to equal Prost ? Or will the "Professor" make him wait a little longer?

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