The 1957 German Grand Prix has passed into F1 folklore as one of the defining races in the sport's history, arguably the greatest performance ever produced by any driver.

It took place at the Nurburgring, the 14-mile track through the Eifel mountains regarded as the toughest test of a racing driver ever devised.

Fangio was on pole in his Maserati 250F, about three seconds faster than Mike Hawthorn's Ferrari. He built up half a minute's lead before making a planned pit stop and rejoined 50 seconds behind with 10 laps remaining.

For three laps, he made no real impression on Hawthorn and team-mate Peter Collins, circulating together at the front, but then he let loose.

He began lapping 15 seconds faster than the old lap record - set by himself the year before. By the end of lap 19, he was 13 seconds behind Hawthorn and Collins. The next was a new lap record, more than eight seconds faster than his pole time. By the end of it he was right with the Ferraris, and soon swept by to victory.

Talking to the journalist Nigel Roebuck in 1979, Fangio left no doubts about the magnitude of the achievement.

"Even now, these many years later, I can feel fear when I think of that race," he said. "Only I knew what I had done, the chances I had taken.

"The Nurburgring, you know, was always my favourite circuit, without any doubt. I loved it, all of it, and I think that day I conquered it. On another day, it might have conquered me, who knows? But I believe that day I took myself and the car to the limit - and perhaps a little bit more. I had never driven like that before, and I knew I never would again."

The race made him world champion for the fifth time and the end of that season effectively brought the curtain down on his career. "It was becoming work for me," he said. He took part in only two of the first five grands prix of 1958, and after finishing fourth in France he retired, aged 47.

I've really enjoyed this series, a different racer highlighted every race this season. Bit of Murray's recollections and a long bit of text.

Ok, they've not completed the list yet but it's been horribly predictable that they'd pick Senna for No.1.

Shame they had to go for the fashionable choice as so many people in the know rate Fangio as the greatest ever.

Cheers,
James


ETA: Fangio featured on radio4's excellent Great Lives series recently:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009y1t0

[Edited on 15/11/12 by James]

I was thinking the same thing.