http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWzgyeaUmlA Yeah, the video production values are hokey.
And, yeah, Senna and Schuey have better lifetime numbers. But, to "go all baseball stats on you," they did it in more dominant cars, in seasons that lasted 15+ races. Juan Manuel Fangio did it in 7 to 8 race seasons.
He started racing in Formula 1 when he was 39. In 8 seasons, he won the championship 5 times and finished 2nd twice. That's 1st or 2nd in 88% of the full seasons he contested, for those of you keeping score at home. He won twice for Mercedes-Benz and once each for Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati.
As the video gods would have it, the one above shows him in his least-favorite car and team: the Ferrari-Lancia D-50 (1956 championship). Below he's seen in his favorite car, a Maserati 250-F (1957 championship). The 250-F was also Stirling Moss's favorite GP car, and that of most racers who drove it. It was sweet-handling and forgiving: you could easily adjust your line after corner entry with the throttle and the wheel. It was fast and it didn't bite.
The picture was taken at the Nurburgring. The Nurburgring: the old, 14-mile, 10-minutes per-lap, Nordschleife. This was Fangio's most famous, come-from-behind, victory. He was 46 when he waxed Ferrari's two top guns, Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins. They were in their late 20's. In those days, Grands Prix lasted 3 hours.
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