Alonso takes 375 F1 for a spin

Alonso gets acquainted with Ferrari's first F1 winning car

14 July 2011

Today is the 60th anniversary of José Froilán González first Formula 1 World Championship victory, on 14th July 1951 he drove his 375 F1 and gave Ferrari it's first ever win and proceeded to go on and win more than 200 races in 16 contructors' championship. He later became known as El Cabezón 'The Wild One' in his home country, Argentina. Skip to present day, infact more specifically the day before the British Grand Prix race and Fernando Alonso was given the opportunity to relive a part of his teams F1 history by driving the 375 F1 car himself at the Silverstone circuit. Taking to his own personal blog, Alonso explains how it took a lot of getting used to with the very different pedal arrangement, with the accelerator on the left and the brake on the right. Just looking at that car really highlights how far safety has come in the last 60 years, as much as it is a beautiful car, there is simply no way the car nor driver would be able to survive, or at best, escape without injury with some of the crashes that the drivers have today. Of course this is a sport where it'll never be completely safe, but you can see the measures that have been taken over the years to ensure better safety of the cars. A spooky coincidence or not, but its great to see that Ferrari achieved another victory on their special anniversary.