Automobile World Championship 1957

Automobile World Championship 1957

World Champion
Driver:	Juan Manuel Fangio
Season dates
Number of races:	8th
<1956 season	1958 season>

The 1957 automobile world championship was the 8th season of the automobile world championship, which is now known as the Formula 1 world championship . The drivers' world championship was held within eight races from January 13, 1957 to September 8, 1957. Juan Manuel Fangio won the drivers' world championship for the fifth time.

The FIA honorary title Grand Prix of Europe was awarded to the Grand Prix of Great Britain in 1957 .

The season was an almost equal three-way battle between the Maserati , Vanwall and Ferrari teams for the drivers' championship. Since Fangio felt uncomfortable despite his previous success at Ferrari, he switched to Maserati. Their model 250 F now seemed so mature that it should be enough to win the title. Vanwall was competitive as the third team, but ultimately failed due to the changing form of the day, technical defects and sick pilots.

For the first time Formula 1 saw a boycott of a Grand Prix or the cancellation of two races by the FIA ​​due to financial difficulties. The big loser this year is Peter Collins , who was considered a World Cup favorite before the start of the season.

The Maserati factory team before the start of the Great Britain GP, ​​Aintree 1957

The world championship runs

GP Argentina - Buenos Aires (January 13, 1957)

→ Main article : 1957 Argentine Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	3: 00: 55.6
2	Jean Behra	Maserati	+ 18.3
3	Carlos Menditéguy	Maserati	+ 1 lap
4th	Harry Schell	Maserati	+ 2 rounds
5	JF González / A. de Portago	Ferrari	+ 2 rounds

In view of the very early start of the season, all teams drove last year's cars with minor revisions. The whole race was a bitter argument between the two Italian manufacturers Ferrari and Maserati . Moss , who was doing one more race for Maserati here, could not achieve the desired success from his pole position , as he misaligned himself extremely at the start, so that his transmission was seriously damaged. In addition to Behra , Castellotti also had a good chance of victory, but a spin made him fall far behind until he had to retire due to a mechanical defect. (Two months later, Eugenio Castellotti died during test drives in Monza .) After the only Ferrari driver with a real chance of victory was eliminated, Fangio was able to celebrate his victory and the almost complete triumph of Maserati.

GP Monte Carlo - Monaco (May 19, 1957)

→ Main article : 1957 Monaco Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	3: 10: 12.8
2	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	+ 25.2
3	Masts Gregory	Maserati	+ 2 rounds
4th	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Connaught - Alta	+ 3 rounds
5	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	+ 5 rounds

For the first and only time, the Monaco Grand Prix was held over 105 instead of the usual 100 laps. Moss , who drove for Vanwall from now on , was in the lead after the start, but hit the guard rails after just four laps; his pursuers Collins and Hawthorn could no longer evade and were also eliminated. Fangio's victory in the second race in a row was therefore safe. In Monte Carlo , Jack Brabham drove the new, consistently lightweight Cooper T43 for the first time . He suggested an excellent and, at the mid-engine - seater in third place when he ran out of fuel. Without hesitation, Brabham pushed the car over the finish line, where he was classified in sixth.

500 Miles from Indianapolis - Indianapolis (May 30, 1957)

→ Main article : Indianapolis 500 1957

space	driver	team	time
1	Sam Hanks	Salih-Epperly - Offenhauser	3: 41: 14.25
2	Jim Rathmann	Epperly - Offenhauser	+ 21.46
3	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma - Offenhauser	+ 2: 13.97
4th	Paul Russo	Kurtis - Novi	+ 2: 56.86
5	Andy Linden	Kurtis Kraft - Offenhauser	+ 3: 14.27

Sam Hanks , one of the most successful American drivers of the 1950s, celebrated his by George Salih modified Epperly - chassis with extremely low center of gravity thanks to the horizontally installed four-cylinder an unchallenged victory. During the winner's interview, he tearfully announced his retirement from racing. Europeans were not at the start after Giuseppe Farina abandoned his plans after the fatal accident of test driver Keith Andrews, in which the car was also destroyed.

French GP - Rouen (7 July 1957)

→ Main article : 1957 French Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	3: 07: 46.4
2	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	+ 50.8
3	Peter Collins	Ferrari	+ 2: 06.6
4th	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	+ 1 lap
5	Harry Schell	Maserati	+ 7 rounds

After the GP of the Netherlands and Belgium , which was scheduled for June 2nd and 16th, was canceled due to financial disagreements, there was a six-week racing break before the GP of the Automobile Club of France, which was held for the second time in Rouen-les-Essarts was carried out. Moss was absent due to an infection and Brooks was still suffering from injuries in his Le Mans accident , so Roy Salvadori moved from BRM to Vanwall . For his part, he was replaced by the American Herbert MacKay-Fraser , who initially caused the surprise in the race. Fangio could not implement the pole position directly and was taken by surprise by the quick starters Musso and Behra . Behind Collins and Schell , MacKay-Fraser had already catapulted himself forward from 12th on the grid. It looked surprisingly good for BRM, but a “high-speed crash” by his colleague Flockhart , in which the pilot was uninjured, and the shearing of the drive shaft at MacKay-Fraser once again gave the team a “pause for thought”. From the fourth lap onwards, Fangio could no longer take victory, while Collins was able to overtake most of the others. MacKay-Fraser died just days after the French GP in a Formula 2 race on a Lotus in Reims .

British GP / European GP - Aintree (July 20th 1957)

→ Main article : 1957 British Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	T. Brooks / S. Moss	Vanwall	3: 06: 37.8
2	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	+ 25.6
3	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	+ 42.8
4th	M. Trintignant / P. Collins	Ferrari	+ 2 rounds
5	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	+ 5 rounds

Both Vanwall regular drivers returned to the season with a lot of furore. While they achieved good starting positions with first ( Moss ) and third ( Brooks ) starting positions, Fangio and the Maseratis were weakening in an unusual way. At times, four British pilots were in the top five, to the delight of the domestic audience. Behra , who even led at the beginning, was eliminated like Fangio due to a technical defect. As a result, Moss, who had taken over Brooks' car after a misfire , won a world championship race as the first British driver on a domestic monoposto . In addition, it was a little lost that Salvadori had scored the first points for the new Cooper-Climax .

GP Germany - Nürburgring (August 4, 1957)

→ Main article : 1957 German Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	3: 30: 38.3
2	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	+ 3.6
3	Peter Collins	Ferrari	+ 35.6
4th	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	+ 3: 37.6
5	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	+ 4: 37.5

Some racing historians and journalists describe this race as "the greatest of all time". If the Vanwall pilots had their chance in Aintree , the Ferrari and Maserati pilots got their revenge here. They were all better placed on the grid. Fangio fought for pole position and fought with Hawthorn and Collins for the lead, which he maintained until the middle of the race. Then he made a necessary pit stop because the fuel in the Maserati was not enough for the entire race distance. The rear tires were changed. Perhaps by deliberately delaying he lulled the Ferrari crew into safety; "... he didn't seem to want to intervene in the top fight anymore," says Richard von Frankenberg in his book The Great Drivers of Our Time . After two laps in which he set a rather moderate pace, he now drove one record lap after the other. Fangio later admitted that he would never take such a risk again. After overtaking Collins for the first time, at the end of the back straight, he turned the car across to reduce speed and slid to the edge of the track, but stayed on the track. Collins was able to overtake Fangio again on the inside. But in the first corners of the Hatzenbach, Fangio finally drove up. In the final lap he overtook Hawthorn and won his fifth world championship.

GP Pescara - Pescara (August 18, 1957)

→ Main article : 1957 Pescara Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	2: 59: 22.7
2	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	+ 3: 13.9
3	Harry Schell	Maserati	+ 6: 46.8
4th	Masts Gregory	Maserati	+ 8: 16.5
5	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Vanwall	+ 1 lap

After the Belgian and Dutch Grand Prix were canceled, the FIA exceptionally added the Pescara Grand Prix to the world championship calendar. On the more than 25 km long and demanding course through Pescara and the surrounding communities, GP races had taken place since 1924. Since Ferrari was being investigated because of the Mille Miglia tragedy, a trial training on the country roads was difficult and the world championship had already been awarded, Enzo Ferrari refused to officially participate in Scuderia Ferrari . With great effort, Musso convinced him to at least be allowed to start as a privateer in a Ferrari. In third place he was quickly in the lead, but like many had to give up due to the high temperatures with a technical defect, so that Moss was able to win by a large margin. Out of 16 participants only 7 made it to the finish. During the starting phase, there was an accident when the privateer Horace Gould drove to a mechanic who had not disappeared from the grid quickly enough.

Italian GP - Monza (September 8, 1957)

→ Main article : 1957 Italian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	2: 35: 03.9
2	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	+ 41.2
3	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips	Ferrari	+ 2 rounds
4th	Masts Gregory	Maserati	+ 2 rounds
5	G. Scarlatti / H. Schell	Maserati	+ 3 rounds

The elevated steep walls were closed to the race in Monza in 1957, so the course of the route was similar to that of today. After Ferrari's boycott of Pescara, all three big teams had started again. However, only British drivers presented themselves on Vanwall in the first three starting positions : Lewis-Evans , Moss and Brooks . Fangio, on the other hand, was on the third row. In the race, the Monza-typical developed slipstream - duel with changing guides. Brooks and Lewis-Evans ran into technical problems so victory was within reach for Moss. Berghe von Trips, on the other hand, “inherited” third place from his team mates Collins and Hawthorn , who both failed with engine and oil pump problems .

Driver ranking

1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	40 (46)
2	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	25th
3	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	16
4th	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	13
5	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	11
6th	Masts Gregory	Maserati	10
7th	Harry Schell	Maserati	10
8th	Sam Hanks	Salih-Epperly - Offenhauser	8th
9	Peter Collins	Ferrari	8th
10	Jim Rathmann	Epperly - Offenhauser	7th
11	Jean Behra	Maserati	6th
12	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Vanwall / Connaught - Alta	5
13	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	5
14th	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips	Ferrari	4th
15th	Carlos Menditéguy	Maserati	4th
16	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma - Offenhauser	4th
17th	Paul Russo	Kurtis - Novi	3
18th	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	2
19th	Andy Linden	Kurtis - Offenhauser	2
20th	Giorgio Scarlatti	Maserati	1
21st	Alfonso de Portago	Ferrari	1
22nd	José Froilán González	Ferrari	1

The first five of each race received 8, 6, 4, 3 and 2 points, respectively, and another point was awarded for the fastest race lap. The best five results of the eight races were counted.

Web links

Commons : 1957 Automobile World Championship  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official Formula 1 website Results Season 1957 (English)