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José Froilán González (October 5, 1922 in Arrecifes, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina – June 15, 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was an Argentine Formula One driver who raced during the championship's early years. He is most notable for scoring Ferrari's first win in Formula One, at the 1951 British Grand Prix.

He made his début at the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix. He moved to Ferrari mid-way through 1951, scoring five consecutive podiums, including winning the British Grand Prix. After two years driving for Maserati, González moved to Ferrari once again in 1954, getting another five podiums, including another British GP win and coming second in the championship in the process. González's appearances at Championship Grands Prix became rare, making only five starts from 1955 to 1960. His last appearance was the 1960 Argentine Grand Prix.

González was sometimes referred to by English fans of the time as "The Pampas Bull" for his driving style whilst colleagues referred to him as El Cabezón meaning fat head. His close friends and family called him "Pepe".

He died on 15 June 2013 at the age of 90 in Buenos Aires of respiratory failure.


Before Formula 1 World Championship[]

1949 Gonzalez

Gonzalez 1949 Ferrari 166

González was a large man but surprisingly good sportsman and was adept at Soccer, Swimming and Cycling and began his motorsports career on Motorbikes.

Spotted by Juan Manuel Fangio, González was first noticed driving a Maserati that Fangio had found for him in 1949 and he also drove a Ferrari 166 that the Argentine Automobile Club had part funded with the Government, much the same way as Juan Manuel Fangio had made it to European racing.

Formula One Career[]

1950[]

In 1950, González, racing a Maserati 4CLT/48 would qualify an incredible third on his World Championship debut at Monaco, splitting the dominant Alfa Romeos. At the start, he was in third as the cars entered the Tabac corner for the first time. When they arrived they found it had been flooded by a rogue wave, and although Juan Manuel Fangio made it through, second placed Giuseppe Farina spun his Alfa Romeo 158 in front of González who rammed him. González was rammed in turn by Luigi Fagioli and in 10 cars retired from the incident. González would receive burns caused by fuel on his skin.

González would return for the French GP, qualifying 8th. But, like most of the Maserati runners in the race, he retired with engine trouble.

Formula One Statistical Overview[]

Formula One Record[]

Year Entrant Team WDC Points WDC Pos. Report
1950 Scuderia Achille Varzi Maserati 0 NC Report
1951 José Froilán González Talbot-Lago-Talbot 24 (27) 3rd Report
Enrico Platé Maserati
Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari
1952 Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 6.5 9th Report
1953 Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 13.5 (14.5) 6th Report
1954 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 25.143 (26.643) 2nd Report
1955 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 2 17th Report
1956 Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 0 NC Report
Vandervell Products Ltd. Vanwall
1957 Scuderia Ferrari Lancia-Ferrari 1 21st Report
1958 José Froilán González Maserati 0 NC Report
1959: Did not compete
1960 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 0 NC Report

Career Statistics[]

Entries 30
Starts 29
Pole Positions 3
Sprint Poles 0
Front Row Starts 12
Race Wins 2
Sprint Wins 0
Podiums 15
Sprint Podiums 0
Fastest Laps 6
Sprint Fastest Laps 0
Points 78.643
Laps Raced 1266
Distance Raced 7,593 km (4,718 mi)
Races Led 9
Laps Led 271
Distance Led 1,521 km (945 mi)
Doubles 1

Race Wins[]

Win Number Grand Prix
1 1951 British Grand Prix
2 1954 British Grand Prix

Career Results[]

Complete Formula One Results
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts Pos
1950 Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of Switzerland Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of Italy 0 NC
Ret Ret
1951 Flag of Switzerland 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Italy Flag of Spain 1945 1977 24 (27) 3rd
Ret DNA 2nd[1] 1st 3rd 2nd 2nd
1952 Flag of Switzerland 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Italy 6.5 9th
DNP 2nd
1953 Flag of Argentina 48-star U S flag Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Switzerland Flag of Italy 13.5 (14.5) 6th
3rd 3rd[1] Ret 3rd 4th DNP
1954 Flag of Argentina 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Switzerland Flag of Italy Flag of Spain 1945 1977 25.143 (26.643) 2nd
3rd 4th[1] Ret 1st 2nd[1] 2nd 3rd[1]
1955 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of the Netherlands Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Switzerland Flag of Italy Flag of Spain 1945 1977 2 17th
2nd[1] C C C C
1956 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Italy 0 NC
Ret Ret
1957 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Abruzzo bandiera Flag of Italy 1 21st
5th[1]
1958 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco Flag of the Netherlands 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Portugal Flag of Italy Flag of Morocco 0 NC
DNP
1959: Did not compete
1960 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco US flag 49 stars Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Portugal Flag of Italy Flag of the United States 0 NC
10th
Key
Symbol Meaning Symbol Meaning
1st Winner Ret Retired
2nd Podium finish DSQ Disqualified
3rd DNQ Did not qualify
5th Points finish DNPQ Did not pre-qualify
14th Non-points finish TD Test driver
Italics Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap DNS Did not start
18th Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) NC Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4thP Qualified for pole position [+] More Symbols

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Shared a drive with another driver.

External links[]

V T E List of World Drivers' Championship runners-up
1950: Juan Manuel Fangio
1951: Alberto Ascari
1952: Giuseppe Farina
1953: Juan Manuel Fangio
1954: José Froilán González
1955: Stirling Moss
1956: Stirling Moss
1957: Stirling Moss
1958: Stirling Moss
1959: Tony Brooks
1960: Bruce McLaren
1961: Wolfgang von Trips
1962: Jim Clark
1963: Graham Hill
1964: Graham Hill
1965: Graham Hill
1966: John Surtees
1967: Jack Brabham
1968: Jackie Stewart
1969: Jacky Ickx
1970: Jacky Ickx
1971: Ronnie Peterson
1972: Jackie Stewart
1973: Emerson Fittipaldi
1974: Clay Regazzoni
1975: Emerson Fittipaldi
1976: Niki Lauda
1977: Jody Scheckter
1978: Ronnie Peterson
1979: Gilles Villeneuve
1980: Nelson Piquet
1981: Carlos Reutemann
1982: Didier Pironi
1983: Alain Prost
1984: Alain Prost
1985: Michele Alboreto
1986: Nigel Mansell
1987: Nigel Mansell
1988: Alain Prost
1989: Ayrton Senna
1990: Alain Prost
1991: Nigel Mansell
1992: Riccardo Patrese
1993: Ayrton Senna
1994: Damon Hill
1995: Damon Hill
1996: Jacques Villeneuve
1997: Heinz-Harald Frentzen*
1998: Michael Schumacher
1999: Eddie Irvine
2000: Mika Häkkinen
2001: David Coulthard
2002: Rubens Barrichello
2003: Kimi Räikkönen
2004: Rubens Barrichello
2005: Kimi Räikkönen
2006: Michael Schumacher
2007: Lewis Hamilton
2008: Felipe Massa
2009: Sebastian Vettel
2010: Fernando Alonso
2011: Jenson Button
2012: Fernando Alonso
2013: Fernando Alonso
2014: Nico Rosberg
2015: Nico Rosberg
2016: Lewis Hamilton
2017: Sebastian Vettel
2018: Sebastian Vettel
2019: Valtteri Bottas
2020: Valtteri Bottas
2021: Lewis Hamilton
2022: Charles Leclerc
2023: Sergio Pérez
* Michael Schumacher was disqualified from the 1997 championship.


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