Worth the wait

Sir,

I was extremely interested to read the recent article relating to Fangio’s Maserati 250F and its return to the Nurburgring.

I well remember attending Aintree, as a 16-year-old enthusiast, for the 1957 British Grand Prix and cheekily sitting in the great man’s car while a photograph was taken by a friend (above).

I can confirm that Fangio was not feeling too well that day; when I asked him for his autograph, he said, somewhat abruptly in Spanish, “Later, when I feel better.”

Following the race, which his team-mate Jean Behra had led for many laps, Fangio was nowhere to be seen — hence I did not manage to obtain his autograph that day.

However, I contacted him in 1991 through his Mercedes-Benz dealership in Buenos Aires and related those events of 1957.

A couple of weeks later I received a wonderful signed photograph of him. He even remembered the photograph of me being taken in his car all those years before, and apologised for the fact that it had taken a further 34 years to obtain his autograph.

What a man! In my opinion, the greatest grand prix driver of them all.

I am, yours etc, Dr James Edwards, Knutsford, Cheshire