July 14, 1956: Reigning world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, driving a Ferrari, wins the British Grand Prix at Silverstone by more than one lap. See El Maestro at work in this stirring period newsreel. 

To this day, Juan Manuel Fangio is, often as not, named as the greatest driver in Formula 1 history. Though drivers in more recent times—with the benefit of longer careers and more durable equipment—have amassed greater overall statistics, veteran observers point to Fangio’s amazing winning percentage. Though he started only 52 races, he won 24 of them, a victory rate of more than 46 percent.

For the 1956 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, 28 cars appeared on the grid, a season high mark, with Stirling Moss on pole in a Maserati and Fangio’s Ferrari second. Moss, Fangio, and Mike Hawthorn in a BRM battled for the lead over the early laps until the BRM fell out with transmission trouble. Moss then led for 53 laps until the final stages when the works Maserati’s rear axle gave up. Fangio once again charged to victory, well on his way to the fourth of his five World Championship driver titles. See El Maestro’s winning ways, inside the cockpit and out, in this awesome old newsreel.