"the best pilot of all time," words by Jackie Stewart, the man who flew above all podiums. The biggest legend of the car. Before Messi or Maradona, the Argentines had an unquestionable idol, Juan Manuel Fangio. The great Argentine pilot who marked an era. The world will celebrate a hundred years of its birth in 2021 and its memory is very much alive.

Born in Balcarce, son of Italian parents, as a child he had a passion for cars. There are many formula one runners, some brilliant, but very few geniuses, one of them is Fangio. He won five formula one world championships in the 1950s. He drove any type of car with amazing skill, won races with Chevrolet, Talbot, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati, Alfa Romeo or Ferrari. In 1938 he debuted as a pilot and the people of his land began to follow him.

During the Pan American Race in Peru in 1948 he had an accident with his partner, friend and co-pilot Diego Urrutia. This event marks his life and discovers that death haunts him closely. He dazzled on the tracks of Europe, from 1947 to 1958 he won 24 victories and 35 podiums. He is the only driver to win five formula one prizes with four different squads. Unaffordable to the disillusionment, after a serious accident in Monza in 1952 that drove him away from the circuits, he returned in 1954 to be champion. Fangio and his legend were, no doubt, back.

They say he drove as few, elegant, seemed to do it in slow motion, made no mistakes, always used intelligence and concentration. They called him "the chueco" by his arched legs. He had a hard time leaving the wheel, ran the Pan American Race and won it, with Lancia. He was a champion at 46 years old. Netflix premiered documentary about his figure, the man who tamed the machine. And he's pointed out as the best pilot of all time. But Fangio also stood out for his elegance, class and companionship.

One of the anecdotes that this documentary tells is the 1956 Monza race in which Peter Collins, his partner in Ferrari, left his car to finish the race (then one could), when they competed for the world championship, as a thank you for the deal Fangio always gave him. That's how he won his fourth championship. The most complicated moment in Fangio's life was his abduction in 1958 by the Cuban Revolution during a career in Havana, in Batista's time by Fidel Castro's men.

Helmet, glasses and gloves, all his equipment went into a woman's hat. In Argentina children collect the replica of their cars and have a car museum in Balcarce. They say that, at the World Championship in Brazil, Ayrton Senna, whom he loved as a son, at the top of the podium saw Fangio and went up with him, "nobody can be above you," said the Brazilian pilot. The humble champion said, "I tried to be the best but never believed me the best. There's always something to learn. "