JUAN Fangio was sponsored by Juan Peron for the whole of his spectacular career. For younger readers, Juan was the husband of blonde actress Eva, who Andy Webber (no relation to Mark) and Tim Rice, made the star of the musical Evita. Juan Fangio (every male is called Juan in Argentina) was voted the No 3 greatest F1 wheelperson of all time by an Autosport panel of 217 drivers.
A few dodgy rulers like Juan and his mates Mr A. Hitler and Mr B. Mussolini used car racing as a propaganda tool. In his book Juan Fangio — Motor Racing's Grand Master, Karl Ludvigsen points out that Peron wanted to make Argentina self-sufficient as a car producer, no longer relying on the American plutocrats for Fords and Chevrolets. Hmm. That must be what happened to the Australian car industry.
Anyway, this year is the 80th anniversary of Fangio's first race in an American plutocrat's Ford Model A and it's the four-month anniversary of Daniel Ricciardo's first F1 win at the Canadian Grand Prix. Dan has the potential to be the next Fangio. He is very talented, intelligent and has a feel for the mechanicals. But as in the rest of life, in motor sport talent is not enough. You need money as well.