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Fangio And The Intrepid Cameras 'On Board': Pure Show

If you have been in an advanced driving course, you will have heard dozens of very technical terms about specific maneuvers in risky situations. The use of the brake and clutch ... The light touches in the direction that can change everything ... The right application of force on the accelerator ... Without a doubt piloting is a world full of subtle gestures in which coordination and expertise play essential roles.

However, sometimes one thinks that the secret to being a good pilot surpasses all this knowledge, entering a world of intuitions and instincts born to the heat of a natural gift. And the fact is that, although analyzing Fangio's driving, you can rationally understand the reason for these movements at the wheel ... The truth is that to handle with such naturalness a car that can reach almost the same speeds as the current Formula 1 in a straight line -but with a few brakes, safety equipment and downforce light years away from them - something is imposed that goes beyond reason.

maserati 250f F1 Fangio On Board Driving
Fangio showing off at the 1957 Nürburgring in his Maserati 250F. Source: Maserati Media.

Months ago we published another video with Fangio as the protagonist. That time he was talking to us in the first person about the particular sensations that driving his 1951 Alfetta produced him.; one of the first Formula 1 in history with which Fangio would start his successful career in the queen motor division. Today however we go with him leading car on its return to Maserati during 1957, the mythical 250F and… The story of how in these recordings it was not only Fangio who played his skin.

BEYOND EXPERTISE: FANGIO AT THE WHEEL IN VIDEO

maserati 250f F1 Fangio On Board Driving
Tempered and with steel nerves. Source: Maserati Media.

Beyond the skill behind the wheel is gambling, and to a large extent that is what happened in an epic and insecure time in motorsports: one in which the speeds did not stop increasing although the security measures remained practically the same. One of the witnesses of that time was Juan Manuel Fangio himself. And the thing is ... Look at his flimsy hull, the absence of firm grips to the driving position - forcing you to cling to the wheel like a castaway does to a wood in the middle of sinking - or the null protection against a rollover.

If to that you add that the Maserati 250F with which we have seen Fangio in the previous video has a 2-liter inline six-cylinder and more than 5 hp in its latest evolutions ... Imagine the courage you have to have to put such a machine to the limit. In fact, after what was one of his most legendary F1 races - the 1957 German GP - he himself Fangio acknowledged having really lived an experience “frightening" in which he had carried "to the limit”Both his Maserati and himself.

Years later, whenever they reminded him that legendary GP held at the Nürburgring, he remembered how after the victory he was two days without being able to sleep, still "puttingAnd wondering how he could have risked so much, how could he have gotten out alive. Perhaps the answer is simply expertise, a natural gift; as the one who led William bligh through 3618 nautical miles to East Timor in the boat where it was left adrift by mutineers, or the one that guided the Ernest Shackleton to the whaling port of Stromness to call for ransom for his crew.

NOT ONLY THE DRIVERS PLAYED IT ...

Many times it is spoken of "Formula 1 circus”. And well, it should not be taken as a negative. At the end of the day, this is how we try to underline the character of a mass spectacle that this category possesses, something that we understand better when we know that a large part of the business comes from advertising and television broadcasting rights.

What does this mean? Well, as in many other sports ... Filming the ups and downs of these athletes in the most spectacular way possible is part of the game, even before the advent of marketing. In this sense, who does not want to see what the pilot sees and get an idea of ​​what it is like to go at those speeds? To satisfy this desire, cameras began to risk their skin in the 50s with the practice of “on board".

Nowadays this is easily solved with a small camera installed anywhere in the car but… Of those, filming a pilot in "first person" It implied that the cameraman also had to go in the car, specifically on top of it. Obviously this was not done in the races themselves, but it was done in training sessions in which they risked practically the same.

Putting your life in the hands of a driver ... That this was the magnificent Juan Manuel Fangio gives some peace of mind, but still, and judging by the dangerous positions that we see in the photos of the time ... We do not know whether to admire more the legendary Argentine or the long-suffering and anonymous cameras willing to sacrifice everything in the name of the entertainment industry.

maserati 250f F1 Fangio On Board Driving
Take a good look at the truck you see on the left. The FIAT Bartoletti auctioned this year at Goodwood Revival that we made an item about two weeks ago! Source: Duke Video.

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Written by Miguel Sánchez

Through the news from La Escudería, we will travel the winding roads of Maranello listening to the roar of the Italian V12; We will travel Route66 in search of the power of the great American engines; we will get lost in the narrow English lanes tracking the elegance of their sports cars; We will speed up the braking in the curves of the Monte Carlo Rally and we will even get dusty in a garage while rescuing lost jewels.

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