Wednesday July 14, 2021
First victory in Formula 1
When Ferrari becomes the improbable hero
Exactly 70 years ago today, Ferrari rings in the changing of the guard in Formula 1. The racing team wins a Grand Prix for the first time ever and beats its Italian brother Alfa Romeo. The great Enzo Ferrari feels like “I killed my mother”.
Jose Froilan Gonzalez wasn’t a legend. Not an icon of Formula 1 like the world champions Juan Manuel Fangio or Alberto Ascari. This stocky man from Argentina never won the title, and he may have been smiled at for his appearance. “El Cabezon” called him his compatriots, the water head. The large, round skull swung noticeably through the cockpit as it turned, and Gonzalez always clung to the top half of the steering wheel in a strange way.
Jose Froilan Gonzalez may not be one of the greats in motorsport, but he still has his place in the history books forever. July 14th in 1951 will remain his day. The Scuderia Ferrari was not yet a winning team, the dominance of its big Italian brother Alfa Romeo was downright overwhelming. Since the start of the Formula 1 World Cup in 1950, every victory and every pole position had gone to the Alfas.
“I killed my mother that day”
But on that summer day at Silverstone, that changed, Gonzalez took first place on the grid and then won the British Grand Prix by a clear margin – and he was a completely unlikely hero. The star of the team was actually the Italian Ascari, and Gonzalez was also on the road in the inferior model: With just one carburetor, his Ferrari was missing around 30 hp. And yet it was the Argentine who made history.
“I cried tears of joy,” the great Enzo Ferrari later recalled, “but there were also tears of pain. I killed my mother that day.” Under the umbrella of his mother Alfa Romeo, his own racing ambitions had once grown, now the changing of the guard had heralded.
Gonzalez ‘victory was followed by more than 200 more Ferrari, 15 drivers’ and 16 constructors’ world championships won the Reds in the premier class. Ferrari became a myth, and it all goes back to Jose Froilan Gonzalez. In Europe, by the way, he was given a more flattering nickname: “Bull from the Pampas” was called him above all in England. Where he made himself immortal.
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