In 1950, Juan Manuel Fangio was hired by Alfa Romeo and entered the competition for the first Formula One World Championship. The press did not comment very favourably on his agreement with Alfa. Many people wondered why the Milanese company had hired a foreign driver. The truth was that Alfa hadn't done matters of country life but had only wanted the best ones.
It was perhaps to dampen the controversy that the general manager, Eng. Antonio Alessio, after Fangio's first victory in Sanremo, gave this speech on the Argentine radio: "I am pleased to bring Alfa Romeo's greeting to the Argentine sportsmen and women on the day your champion Manuel Fangio takes over the driving of our cars on the racetracks of Europe for the first time. This union between the great Argentinean driver and the avant-garde Italian car production, however, goes beyond the sporting and mechanical event to reaffirm, through the oceans that divide us less and less, the indissoluble bonds of fraternity between our two peoples. And thinking of Manuel Fangio's origins, I am proud that it is the turn of a son of Italians, expressed by your generous land, to defend in Europe the colours of Alfa Romeo, the forerunner in the Italian working world. From the enchanting Ligurian Riviera that gave birth to the one who first marked the way to the new Americas, and from where so many of our children set off to fertilise your land with their work, go, in this happy hour of good wishes and victorious promises, the greeting of Alfa Romeo to the glorious Nation of Argentina".

In every race of these two sports years that saw him antagonistic to Farina, there were important aspects, more or less unusual and even controversial. During the course of the first world championship, the Italian press mentioned Fangio as a possible winner but went on to show that it would not have been impossible for Farina to overcome the Argentine ace, underlining that, being Alfa Romeo cars of Italian manufacture, it would have been "morally right" the victory of an Italian champion. The Argentinean newspapers and the European press were not of the same opinion and showed, with classification in hand, that Fangio would win. It was also insinuated that since the public opinion demanded an Italian winner, Alfa's sports management would resort to some expedient to meet the wishes of Italian sportsmen and women. Farina won and won deservedly because no trick can make those who do not have the makings and merits become champions.

Fangio took his revenge on 28 October 1951 on the Pena Rhin circuit in Barcelona. "Campeon del Mundo!" shouted the three hundred thousand spectators at his lap of honor. They acclaimed him in Spanish, his mother tongue, and he felt at home. It was an unforgettable day that ended among the "olè", the mantillas and toreadors of Barcelona. The victory of two consecutive world titles was a source of joy and great pride for all the Portello workers; not only for the technicians and mechanics who had worked tirelessly alongside the drivers, but also for the others, those who had only seen the big ash-grey trucks leave the factory in Via Traiano.