[Driver] The GOAT - Round Three - Fangio vs Fittipaldi.E

[crmalcolm]

The eighth match-up in Round Three sees Fangio vs Fittipaldi.E.

Fangio was victorious 12-2 in the second round, whilst Fittipaldi.E took a 12-4 victory.

So who do you vote for as the greater driver?

Juan Manuel Fangio
Fangio’s haul of five world titles stood as the record until it was eclipsed 46 years later by Michael Schumacher in 2003.

Fangio accumulated his wins at a rate never repeated again in F1 history. Among drivers who started at least 10 races, Fangio dominates most percentage statistics, including the highest win rate of 47% (24 wins in 51 starts) and the highest podium rate of 69% (35 podiums in 51 starts). Fangio scored 24 wins far faster than any other driver in history. The only driver whose trajectory is comparable to Fangio’s is Ascari’s, which tops out at 13 wins.
Among Fangio’s greatest achievements was his legendary comeback drive at Germany 1957. The race was held on the grueling 22km Nürburgring circuit over 22 laps, taking about 3.5 hours to finish. Fangio, in the Maserati, had decided to make one pit-stop for new tyres and fuel at half distance. Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, in the Ferraris, decided to run the race with no pit-stops. Fangio took the lead in the early stages and raced out to a lead of 28 seconds by the time of his pit-stop at the end of lap 12. However, a very slow pit-stop left him over 60 seconds behind the two Ferraris. In the remaining 10 laps, Fangio caught and passed both Ferraris, breaking the lap record 7 times in succession, even bettering his pole position time on 4 of those laps. Fittingly, it was Fangio’s final race win and sealed his fifth world championship title.

Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi had a meteoric beginning to his F1 career, followed by a long whimper of a finish. Fittipaldi was thrust into a team leader position when teammate Jochen Rindt was unexpectedly killed in 1970. He immediately delivered the goods, winning a race in his fourth start and winning the title just two years later. At the time, he was the youngest champion in history.

In 1971, Fittipaldi beat teammate Reine Wisell 2-1 in counting races, 5-2 in qualifying, and 12-9 in points. He then partnered David Walker in one of the most mismatched driver pairings in history. Fittipaldi took the 1972 championship in convincing fashion, winning 5 of 12 races, while Walker scored zero points, never finishing higher than 9th. In qualifying, Walker was never within 1.3 seconds of Fittipaldi.

Fittipaldi was joined by a similarly strong driver, Ronnie Peterson, in 1973, with the team now having no clear number one. Fittipaldi finished ahead 55-52 in points, but with 4 mechanical DNFs versus 6 for Peterson. Seeking another title and clearer number one status, Fittipaldi moved to McLaren for 1974. He dominated his two teammates on his way to a second title, beating Denny Hulme 8-1 in counting races, 14-1 in qualifying, and 55-20 in points, and Mike Hailwood 6-3 in counting races, 10-1 in qualifying, and 37-12 in points. Following this, he beat Jochen Mass 9-2 in counting races, 13-2 in qualifying, and 57-20 in points.

From 1976 onwards, Fittipaldi raced for his own Fittipaldi Automotive team. The team was never competitive and he scored just 37 points across 5 years — fewer than he scored in each year from 1972-1975. He was the team’s sole driver for most races. After a disappointing year in 1980, where he was outpaced by young teammate Keke Rosberg, Fittipaldi called time on his F1 career.

Although Fittipaldi took only 6 career poles, he won 14 races. Known for his extremely smooth, controlled driving style that was relatively kind on tyres, Fittipaldi came into his own in races, often gaining the lead later in the race. As a result, he averaged only 34 laps led per race win, the second lowest number in F1 history (Tony Brooks holds the record at 22 laps led per race win).

[FIRE]

Fangio

[Racing Harz]

Fangio!

[Aysedasi]

Yes, Fangio for me as well.

[Adam43]

Easily Fangio, but sad to not vote for Emmo.

[morninggents]

Me too. Fittipaldi spent too many years in the Fittipaldi car which knackers his statistics.

[S griffin]

It's got to be Fangio. Fittipaldi was a very good driver, but not an all time great. Fangio on the other hand....

[Born Racer]

Fangio was often dominant and got big results in a variety of cars. He was also shrewd with his moves to teams (part of being a great?). I’m not discounting Fittipaldi on the basis of his own team, but Fangio - major ability and results to show for it.