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This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first of Fangio's
five world championships with four different constructors.
"I'm carrying his remains to his racing car collection. He was
the greatest driver of all time," Stewart said at the weekend's
Mexico City Grand Prix.
The Scot presented Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas with a
replica of Fangio's 1950s helmet and goggles for taking pole
position.
Stewart, 82, was one of six pallbearers who carried the
84-year-old's coffin to the cemetery at the 1995 funeral in the
Argentine city of Balcarce, to the west of Mar del Plata.
The other five, who included Fangio's former team mate Stirling
Moss and Argentine racers Carlos Reutemann and Jose Froilan
Gonzalez, have since died.
The procession around Balcarce on Wednesday, ahead of next
weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, will feature cars from the
museum and local clubs.
"I'll never forget what happened that day," Stewart recalled of
the funeral in Gerald Donaldson's biography of the man whose
five titles have been surpassed only by the seven of Michael
Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
"There must have been 10,000 people gathered outside in the
square, standing there in total silence. Absolutely amazing. And
suddenly they just started to clap -- 10,000 people clapping in
slow motion.
"They were all in tears -- 10,000 people in tears -- and they
all just wanted to touch the coffin of Fangio... it was one of
the most important things I have ever done in my life. I was an
enormous fan of his.
"More than a fan, a great admirer of the manner in which he
conducted his life, presented himself and represented the
sport."
Fangio dominated the first decade of grand prix racing and won
the 1951 and 1954-57 world championships before retiring in
1958.
A new mausoleum has been built at the museum a few blocks away
from where he was born in 1911.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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