This  image was taken during the 1954 Grand Prix of France which was ridden on the circuit of Reims-Gueux on the 4TH of July, 1954. We see the absolutely legendary Juan Manuel Fangio in WINNING action with the amazing fuel injected desmodromic Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Formula One race car. Fangio would  WIN  the race with the nr. 18 car!

Interestingly, during this race, the new Mercedes-Benz W196 R DEBUTED.

Fangio also would be the fastest in practice. His Mercedes-Benz teammate Karl Kling would finish the race in second position, it also was his debut in Formula 1. Both men rode the newly constructed Mercedes-Benz W 196 R Formula 1 race car and gave it a wonderful 1–2 victory during its debut!

We have more images available of the Mercedes-Benz W 196 R with Fangio, Kling and Herrmann during this race.

The Mercedes-Benz W 196 was the Formula 1 entry of Mercedes-Benz in the 1954 Formula One season and 1955 Formula One season, winning 9 of 12 races at the hands of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss. Its delayed debut on the 1954 French Grand Prix brought the streamlined "Type Monza" body for the high speed track at Reims-Gueux (and later Monza), and scored a 1-2 victory with Fangio (SEE PHOTO) and Karl Kling plus a fastest lap with youngster Hans Herrmann.

Another remarkable first was the use of Desmodromic valves and fuel injection, based on previous experience collected with the engines of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. As the streamlined body was not situable for twistier tracks, causing a defeat at its second race at Silverstone, a proper open-wheel-version was introduced at the Nürburgring. Fangio, who had already won the first two GPs of 1954 with a Maserati, won this and the two following GPs, securing his 2nd World Championship. In late October, at the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix, the low-mounted Mercedes air-intake was clogged with leaves. The race was lost, and the air-intake moved to the top of the hood.

In the 1955 Formula One season, which was shortened after the 1955 Le Mans disaster, the Mercedes managed to win all but one race, the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix, were Hans Herrmann crashed in practice, and the other 3 cars did not finish. At his 1955 British Grand Prix home event, Stirling Moss finished 0.2 seconds ahead of Fangio for his first GP win. For sportscar races of the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR was derived from it.

After winning all world championships it competed in, Mercedes withdrew from motorsport at the end of the 1955 season as a result of the 1955 Le Mans disaster.

Argentinean Juan Manuel Fangio dominated the first decade of Formula One racing.  He won five World Championship titles — a record which stood for 46 years.  During his career he rode for 4 different teams: Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati.  This was a feat that has not been repeated since. For these achievements, and because of the time they were accomplished, he is considered by many as the "greatest driver of all time". Fangio was born on San Juan's day in 1911 in Balcarce, Argentina to Italian parents from the small central Italian village of Castiglione Messer Marino, near Chieti. He began his racing career in Argentina in 1934, driving a Ford Model T, which he had rebuilt. During his time racing in Argentina, he drove Chevrolet cars and was Argentine National Champion in 1940 and 1941. He first came to Europe to race in 1949, funded by the Argentinean Automobile Club and the Argentinean government. Juan Manuel Fangio, unlike most later Formula One drivers, started his racing career at a mature age and was the oldest driver in many of his races. During his career, drivers raced almost without protective equipment. The notable rivals he had to face consisted of the likes of Alberto Ascari, Giuseppe Farina and Stirling Moss. Initially Fangio was not particularly successful until racing an Alfa Romeo in 1950. He finished second in the world championship in 1950 and won his first title in 1951. He was competing well in 1952 in a Maserati until a serious accident at Monza, Italy ended his season with a neck injury. Fangio soon returned to win La Carrera Panamericana, the 2000-mile Mexican road race the following year in a Lancia D24. In 1954 he raced with Maserati until Mercedes-Benz entered competition in mid-season. Winning eight out of twelve races (six out of eight in the championship) in that year, he continued to race again with Mercedes—driving the superb W196 Monoposto—in 1955 (in a dream team that included Stirling Moss). At the end of the second successful season (which was overshadowed by the 1955 Le Mans disaster in which more than 80 spectators were killed) Mercedes withdrew from racing. In 1956 Fangio moved to Ferrari, replacing Alberto Ascari, who had been killed in an accident, to win his fourth title. He finished first in three races and second in all the other championship races. In 1957 he returned to Maserati and won his fifth title, notable for an extraordinary performance to secure his final win at the Nürburgring in Germany. After his series of back-to-back championships he retired in 1958, following the French Grand Prix. He won 24 World Championship Grands Prix from 51 starts, the best winning percentage in the sport's history. In 1990, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. According to the official Formula One website, "Many consider him to be the greatest driver of all time." Many later drivers, such as Jim Clark, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, have been compared with Fangio.

This is a very nice and very rare photo that reflects a wonderful era of Mercedes ‘s automotive history in a wonderful way.  This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it has a nice large format of ca. 8" x 10" (ca. 20 x 28 cm).  It makes it perfectly suitable for framing.