Argentina bulls

Two confident Argentinians, Juan Manuel Fangio (born 24 June 1961) and José Froilán Gonzalez, seem ready for the battle, in their Maserati A6, at the 1953 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps (picture above).

Fangio started the race from pole position (2 seconds faster than Ascari and González), but was forced to retire on lap 13 with a broken engine, while fellow Argentinian González had to retire on lap 11, with throttle problems.

It was race 4 of 9 in the 1953 World Championship for drivers, run to Formula 2 rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the F1 regulations normally used. The 36-lap race, on the 14 km Spa-Francorchamps circuit, was won by Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari with team mate Luigi Villoresi second and Maserati driver, Argentinian Onofre Marimón in third (picture below).