86th, Speed Records Broken: José Froilán González and Ferrari Triumph in Historic British GP
The world championship might have been in its infancy, but there was still a minor stir that – Indianapolis 500 apart – Alfa Romeo had been knocked from pole position for the first time.
The manner of execution caused a greater commotion: big numbers were something to treasure in the pre-digital age and José Froilán González’s quickest practice lap was the first to break the 100mph average around Silverstone. While he and compatriot Juan Manuel Fangio tussled for supremacy, BRM was racing simply to get its cars ready. In the end its V16-engined P15s skipped practice altogether and were delivered to the circuit on Saturday morning, in time to start from the back of the grid.
Stirling Moss won the curtain-raising 500cc F3 race in his new Kieft, after which the stage was set for the main event. All four front-row qualifiers made tyre-smoking getaways, which allowed Felice Bonetto to lead from row two for Alfa, but González and Fangio soon worked their way to the front to leave rivals trailing. The pair swapped places during the event’s first half, Fangio leading from laps 10-39, but for the afternoon’s greater part González remained in control.
And control is the word. His performance is often characterised for the way in which his ample frame dominated the Ferrari 375’s cockpit, González clipping oil drums and bales as he sought extra fractions of performance, but they were exaggerated details on a day when he had but one possible equal. And he dispatched Fangio fairly and squarely to record Ferrari’s maiden world championship victory (and Alfa’s first defeat, Indy again excepted). Ferrari had been quicker than Alfa with its refuelling, but not by a margin that explained the 51sec gap separating the two Argentines after 90 laps. González had been running Ferrari’s 12-plug engine, too, rather than the newer 24.