The new year has begun, and in the month of January, we continue our now classic column Startnummer, this time about Ferrari and the number 12.
What earned José Froilán González his place in motorsport history? It sounds like a question from a pub quiz – in fact, that’s exactly what it is. The answer, to remember: he was the man who on July 14, 1951, gave Ferrari its first victory in the Formula 1 World Championship.
He did this with starting number 12. A seemingly insignificant number in Formula 1. But in Ferrari circles, they know all too well what that number is forever linked to: 1951, Silverstone, González.
The Argentine was good friends with the eventual racing legend Juan Manuel Fangio. But on the track in England, in 1951, on that fourteenth day of July, they were enemies for a moment. González started from pole after proving a full second faster in qualifying than his friend Fangio. The latter, driving for Alfa Romeo, could not keep up with the Ferrari 375 F1 during the race either.
González made no mistake, drove convincingly and at a high pace to Ferrari’s first F1 victory in a World Championship. The difference at the finish line was about 50 seconds compared to Fangio, in a race that lasted 90 laps. Incidentally, González also celebrated exactly that many years of life before he passed away in 2013.The memory of his achievement lives on forever, both within and outside Ferrari. The racing team had been driving the previous year with a renowned name like Alberto Ascari and Dorino Serafini. However, they never achieved victory, an honor reserved for Gonzalez in what was the fifth race of the 1951 season.
With one hand waving in the air and one hand on the wheel, he crossed the finish line at the Silverstone circuit. The photo of him seeing the flag can rightly be called iconic. Car with starting number 12, Ferrari’s first winning Formula 1 number during a race in the world championship.
