“Probablythat was my most spectacularrace – it ra ined fo r 17
of the 24 hours,and I drove something like 4000kmson myown.
Itwasafight withthe Jaguars. Inthewet the Jaguar was betterthan
the Ferrari, but we had more power, and wereahead tow ards the
end when there wa s a storm. With half an hour left, we made our
last stop, for a bit of fue l – and the engine wouldn’trestart because
the ignition wassoaked! Finally, after sevenminutes, they gotit
going, and we wereable to win – by le ss than four kilometres...”
A few w eeks later, though, came the tragedy that was to end
Gonzáles’s racing careerin Eur ope. In practicefor the German
Grand Prix his close friend, and fellow countryman,Onofre
Marimón crashed his Maserati, and was killed.
“We never thought abou t safety then. Today, if a driverdies,
it’s a bigtragedy, but in thosedays you hadabout a 50% chance
of surviving. Atcircuits likethe Nürburgring there was no safety
whatsoever. Onofre went off,hit the trees, andthat was it.
His parentswere there, and mine, too. It was a nightmare...”
A grief-stricken Gonzáles drovein the race, leading for a while
before handingover to Mike Hawthorn. “I finishedthe season, but
because of Marimón’s accident Istarted to have problemswith my
wife, andmy parents alsoput pressure on meto stop. Afterleaving
Europe,I carried on inSout h America,with a Ferrari, and wontwo
championships. The carwas given t o me by theCommendatore–
I mean, Iboughtit fromhim, but it wascheap. A friend of mine had
a Ferrari, and brokethe engine,so I gave him theone from mine,
but keptthe car, and put aChevroletengine init! In those days we
used what ever was available,and actuallyit went prettywell.”
After one finalF1 ap pearance,for Ferrariin the 1960 Argentine
GP, Gonzáles called time on his racing career, anda long and happy
retirement awaited. He died in BuenosAires in 2013,his 91st
birthday beckoning.I was fifth, but on the second lap Ipassed
Bonetto for the lead,and Fangio got into
second place. It was a fightall the way.”
Photographs of Gonzálesthat day, always
apparentlyon opposite lock, chime withme
like those of Fangio’s Maserati250F
at Rouen in 1957. “Of course therewere no
barriersin those days, soit was easyfor
spectatorsto see the drivers...”
At the en d of 1951Alfa Romeowithdrew,
and Fangio signedfor Maserati,persuading
Gonzálesto join him. “Ididn’t want to leave
Ferrari, but Maserati paidbetter, and a bit
more moneywas important inthose days.”
The next two seasons were desultoryif
you were nota Ferrari drive r,but Gonzáles
supplementedhis income byalso driving
the BRM V16 in selected races.
“BRM gave Fangioand myself £1,000 to
do the testin g for oneyear, and we divided
it betweenus. There weremany problems
with that car– when you star ted to brake,
and wanted to turn in...you went in another direction! At Albi in’53
I finished second, but the big problem was always tyres.Wec ould
pass the Ferra ris on the straight as if they were standing still, butwe
had to bevery careful becausethe tyres keptcoming off the rims.
I remember a hugepiece oftread hitting the side of my helmet.
Oh, therewere many stories withthat car...”
For 1954 Gonzáles returned to Ferrari, winningat Silverstone
(in both th e British GP andInt ernationalTrophy), an d also taking
a magnificent victory,withMaur ice Trintignant, atLe Mans.Gonzáles at the 1954 German GP. It was the death of his friend Onofre Marimón,
in practicefor this race, that precipitated the effective end of his F1 careerI FINISHED THE
SEASON, BUT
BECAUSE OF
MARIMÓN’S
ACCIDENT I STARTED
TO HAVE PROBLEMS
WITH MY WIFE, AND
MY PARENTS ALSO
PUT PRESSURE ON
ME TO STOP
“
”
“Probablythat was my most spectacularrace – it ra ined fo r 17
of the 24 hours,and I drove something like 4000kmson myown.
Itwasafight withthe Jaguars. Inthewet the Jaguar was betterthan
the Ferrari, but we had more power, and wereahead tow ards the
end when there wa s a storm. With half an hour left, we made our
last stop, for a bit of fue l – and the engine wouldn’trestart because
the ignition wassoaked! Finally, after sevenminutes, they gotit
going, and we wereable to win – by le ss than four kilometres...”
A few w eeks later, though, came the tragedy that was to end
Gonzáles’s racing careerin Eur ope. In practicefor the German
Grand Prix his close friend, and fellow countryman,Onofre
Marimón crashed his Maserati, and was killed.
“We never thought abou t safety then. Today, if a driverdies,
it’s a bigtragedy, but in thosedays you hadabout a 50% chance
of surviving. Atcircuits likethe Nürburgring there was no safety
whatsoever. Onofre went off,hit the trees, andthat was it.
His parentswere there, and mine, too. It was a nightmare...”
A grief-stricken Gonzáles drovein the race, leading for a while
before handingover to Mike Hawthorn. “I finishedthe season, but
because of Marimón’s accident Istarted to have problemswith my
wife, andmy parents alsoput pressure on meto stop. Afterleaving
Europe,I carried on inSout h America,with a Ferrari, and wontwo
championships. The carwas given t o me by theCommendatore–
I mean, Iboughtit fromhim, but it wascheap. A friend of mine had
a Ferrari, and brokethe engine,so I gave him theone from mine,
but keptthe car, and put aChevroletengine init! In those days we
used what ever was available,and actuallyit went prettywell.”
After one finalF1 ap pearance,for Ferrariin the 1960 Argentine
GP, Gonzáles called time on his racing career, anda long and happy
retirement awaited. He died in BuenosAires in 2013,his 91st
birthday beckoning.I was fifth, but on the second lap Ipassed
Bonetto for the lead,and Fangio got into
second place. It was a fightall the way.”
Photographs of Gonzálesthat day, always
apparentlyon opposite lock, chime withme
like those of Fangio’s Maserati250F
at Rouen in 1957. “Of course therewere no
barriersin those days, soit was easyfor
spectatorsto see the drivers...”
At the en d of 1951Alfa Romeowithdrew,
and Fangio signedfor Maserati,persuading
Gonzálesto join him. “Ididn’t want to leave
Ferrari, but Maserati paidbetter, and a bit
more moneywas important inthose days.”
The next two seasons were desultoryif
you were nota Ferrari drive r,but Gonzáles
supplementedhis income byalso driving
the BRM V16 in selected races.
“BRM gave Fangioand myself £1,000 to
do the testin g for oneyear, and we divided
it betweenus. There weremany problems
with that car– when you star ted to brake,
and wanted to turn in...you went in another direction! At Albi in’53
I finished second, but the big problem was always tyres.Wec ould
pass the Ferra ris on the straight as if they were standing still, butwe
had to bevery careful becausethe tyres keptcoming off the rims.
I remember a hugepiece oftread hitting the side of my helmet.
Oh, therewere many stories withthat car...”
For 1954 Gonzáles returned to Ferrari, winningat Silverstone
(in both th e British GP andInt ernationalTrophy), an d also taking
a magnificent victory,withMaur ice Trintignant, atLe Mans.
Gonzáles at the 1954 German GP. It was the death of his friend Onofre Marimón,
in practicefor this race, that precipitated the effective end of his F1 careerI FINISHED THE
SEASON, BUT
BECAUSE OF
MARIMÓN’S
ACCIDENT I STARTED
TO HAVE PROBLEMS
WITH MY WIFE, AND
MY PARENTS ALSO
PUT PRESSURE ON
ME TO STOP
“
”