Team · 1950–1960 · Italy
In the championship’s early years Maserati raced both as a works team and through the privateers it sold its cars to. Juan Manuel Fangio brought its first World Championship win, at Monza in 1953. The Maserati 250F, built for 1954, became one of the most successful cars of its era: in 1954 Fangio won the first two Grands Prix of the season in it, in Argentina and Belgium, although he became champion with Mercedes.
In 1957 Fangio returned to Maserati, won four races and became world champion for the fifth time. His finest drive of the year came at the Nürburgring: after a long pit stop he clawed back around fifty seconds on two Ferraris and won — the last victory of his career. After the season Maserati closed its works team, while privateers raced its cars until 1960.