Automobile World Championship 1958

Automobile World Championship 1958

World Champion
Driver:	Mike Hawthorn
Constructor:	Vanwall
Season dates
Number of races:	11
<1957 season	1959 season>

The 1958 Automobile World Championship was the 9th season of the Automobile World Championship, which is now known as the Formula 1 World Championship . Eleven races were held between January 19, 1958 and October 19, 1958 for the drivers' world championship and, for the first time, for the International Cup of Formula 1 Constructors .

The FIA honorary title Grand Prix of Europe was awarded to the Grand Prix of Belgium in 1958 .

Mike Hawthorn won the Drivers' World Championship for the first and only time. Vanwall became world constructors champions for the first and only time.

In terms of driving, the year brought the resignation of five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio . The teams Ferrari and Vanwall fought to win the 1958 World Championship . Vanwall driver Stirling Moss won four races, but apart from his victories, he hardly had any finishes to show. His rival Mike Hawthorn in the Ferrari managed only one win, but five second places in the end ensured that he was world champion by one point. Incidentally, it was a sad year for Formula 1: With Pat O'Connor , Luigi Musso , Peter Collins and Stuart Lewis-Evans , four drivers died in an accident, and world champion Hawthorn, who retired at the end of the season, only survived his title win by a few months .

Mike Hawthorn, Argentina Grand Prix, 1958

Changes in 1958

The 1958 season brought some new rules. The minimum distance for a race was shortened from three to two hours, the use of commercial fuel instead of the previously used special mixtures became a requirement, points were no longer awarded for shared places and the constructors' championship was held for the first time. As early as autumn 1958 it was decided to switch to Formula 2 vehicles again, but it was not implemented in the World Championship until the 1961 Formula 1 season .

The world championship runs

GP Argentina - Buenos Aires (January 19, 1958)

→ Main article : 1958 Argentine Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Stirling Moss	Cooper - Climax	2: 19: 33.7
2	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	+ 2.7
3	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	+ 12.6
4th	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	+ 53.0
5	Jean Behra	Maserati	+ 2 rounds

Only ten drivers took part in the season opener in Argentina . For some teams, including Vanwall, the rule changes came too early. Moss was therefore allowed to start in Rob Walker's private team, with a Cooper which , in contrast to conventional vehicles, was equipped with a mid-engine. In order not to waste time changing tires, Moss put everything on one card and drove through the race without stopping. So he was able to leave the more powerful Ferraris behind. His victory was the first victory of a mid-engined car in the Formula 1 World Championship.

GP Monaco - Monte Carlo (May 18, 1958)

→ Main article : 1958 Monaco Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper - Climax	2: 52: 27.9
2	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	+ 20.2
3	Peter Collins	Ferrari	+ 38.8
4th	Jack Brabham	Cooper - Climax	+ 3 rounds
5	Harry Schell	BRM	+ 9 rounds

One after the other, Behra led in the BRM , Moss in the Vanwall and Hawthorn in the Ferrari , but all three were eliminated. In the end, the mid-engined Cooper celebrated its second victory in a row. It was Maurice Trintignant's last victory. The race marked the debut of Lotus . The future world champion Graham Hill was able to keep the not yet competitive Lotus T12 in the race for 69 laps before retiring with a broken half-wave. The later Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone tried unsuccessfully to qualify in a Connaught . Luigi Musso took the lead in the overall standings with another second place without having won a race; only in 2007 succeeded another driver, Lewis Hamilton .

GP Netherlands - Zandvoort (May 26, 1958)

→ Main article : 1958 Dutch Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	2: 04: 49,200
2	Harry Schell	BRM	+ 47.9
3	Jean Behra	BRM	+1: 42.3
4th	Roy Salvadori	Cooper - Climax	+ 1 lap
5	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	+ 1 lap

After a year break, the Dutch GP in Zandvoort was on the agenda again. Stirling Moss celebrated an impressive victory in stormy weather . British teams finished one to four and made the competition from Italy look old.

500 Miles from Indianapolis - Indianapolis (May 30, 1958)

→ Main article : Indianapolis 500 1958

space	driver	team	time
1	Jimmy Bryan	Salih / Epperly - Offenhauser	3: 44: 13.80
2	George Amick	Epperly - Offenhauser	+ 27.63
3	Johnny Boyd	Kurtis - Offenhauser	+1: 09.97
4th	Tony Bettenhausen	Epperly - Offenhauser	+1: 34.81
5	Jim Rathmann	Epperly - Offenhauser	+1: 35.62

The chronological sequence alone - the race took place just four days after the Dutch GP - made it clear how little consideration Formula 1 and the Indianapolis 500 showed each other, and so there were no Europeans at the start. 14 of the 33 vehicles were involved in a starting collision in which Pat O'Connor was fatally injured. After a race with many changes in leadership, Jimmy Bryan won ahead of George Amick.

Belgian GP / European GP - Spa-Francorchamps (June 15, 1958)

→ Main article : 1958 Belgian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	1: 37: 06.3
2	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	+ 20.7
3	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Vanwall	+ 3: 00.9
4th	Cliff Allison	Lotus Climax	+ 4: 15.5
5	Harry Schell	BRM	+ 1 lap

The Vanwall of Moss was already at the start lie, and so his teammate could Tony Brooks enter a secure victory. It only got dramatic at the end of the race: Brooks' gearbox broke in the last corner and his car rolled powerlessly over the finish line. With Maria Teresa de Filippis on Maserati , a woman took part in a World Championship run for the first time, she finished the race in tenth place.

French GP - Reims (6 July 1958)

→ Main article : 1958 French Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	2: 03: 21.3
2	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	+ 24.6
3	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	+ 59.7
4th	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	+ 2: 30.6
5	Peter Collins	Ferrari	+ 5: 24.9

On the high-speed circuit in Reims , Ferrari was able to clearly exploit the advantages of its powerful engine, Hawthorn and Musso drove on and off. During the duel between the two, it came to a tragedy when Musso strayed from the track and had a fatal accident. For Juan Manuel Fangio it was the last race, after finishing fourth he announced his retirement from racing.

British GP - Silverstone (19 July 1958)

→ Main article : 1958 British Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Peter Collins	Ferrari	2: 09: 04.2
2	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	+ 24.2
3	Roy Salvadori	Cooper - Climax	+ 50.6
4th	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Vanwall	+ 50.8
5	Harry Schell	BRM	+ 2 rounds

Since Moss retired with engine failure, the race was a clear affair for Ferrari ; Collins and Hawthorn celebrated a double victory. Third place in the mid-engine Cooper for the weaker Roy Salvadori caused astonishment .

GP Germany - Nürburgring (August 3, 1958)

→ Main article : 1958 German Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	2: 21: 15.0
2	Roy Salvadori	Cooper - Climax	+ 3: 29.7
3	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper - Climax	+ 5: 11.2
4th	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	+ 6: 16.3
5	Bruce McLaren	Cooper - Climax	+ 6: 26.3

Two weeks after his victory at Silverstone, Peter Collins was again leading a GP when he went off the track on the tenth lap in the Pflanzgarten section and was thrown into a tree. In the evening he died in a hospital in Bonn . With Moss and Hawthorn also eliminated, Tony Brooks' victory was not in danger. The Cooper took second and three top positions.

GP Portugal - Porto (August 24, 1958)

→ Main article : 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	2: 11: 27.8
2	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	+ 5: 12.750
3	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Vanwall	+ 1 lap
4th	Jean Behra	BRM	+ 1 lap
5	Wolfgang von Trips	Ferrari	+ 1 lap

For the first time a World Championship run was held in the Portuguese city ​​of Porto ; the route led partly over cobblestones and tram tracks. Moss was leading the race when Hawthorn spun in the closing stages. He let his Ferrari roll against the direction of travel. Hawthorn should be disqualified for this maneuver, but Moss stood up for him, so that he stayed in the classification and finished second. It is the race of Moss' legendary reading error that may have cost him the title: Hawthorn had achieved the fastest lap for which there was an extra point at the time, and his box signaled Moss "Hawthorn Rec." (= Record); Moss, however, read “Hawthorn Reg.” (= Regular) and stopped pushing towards the end. So the point for the fastest lap went to Hawthorn, and in the end he became world champion by one point.

Italian GP - Monza (September 7, 1958)

→ Main article : 1958 Italian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	2: 03: 47.8
2	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	+ 24.2
3	Phil Hill	Ferrari	+ 28.3
4th	M.Gregory / C.Shelby	Maserati	+ 1 lap
5	Roy Salvadori	Cooper - Climax	+ 8 rounds

The duel between Moss and Hawthorn continued, but Moss had to retire with gear damage. Teammate Tony Brooks , however, relegated the Ferrari drivers to their places. For the fourth placed Gregory and Shelby there were no more points according to the new regulations, which forbade driver swapping.

GP Morocco - Ain Diab (October 19, 1958)

→ Main article : 1958 Grand Prix of Morocco

space	driver	team	time
1	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	2: 09: 15.1
2	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	+1: 24.7
3	Phil Hill	Ferrari	+1: 25.5
4th	Joakim Bonnier	BRM	+1: 46.7
5	Harry Schell	BRM	+ 2: 33.7

For the only time, a World Cup was held in Morocco . The 7.7 km long route was in Ain-Diab , a suburb of Casablanca . The starting position was clear: if Moss had won, Hawthorn had to finish second, then the Vanwall driver would have been world champion. Moss led away from the start and Hawthorn was only in fourth place when Brooks , who was ahead of him, was eliminated. Hawthorn was now third when the Ferrari stable order came into effect: Phil Hill , who placed second , had Hawthorn overtaken and thus secured the title for his team-mate. Another fatality occurred: the young Vanwall driver Stuart Lewis-Evans spun on a pool of oil and his car caught fire. Six days later, he died from burn injuries.

For Vanwall at least the first constructors title remained, but the team, just like world champion Hawthorn, withdrew at the end of the season.

World championship ratings

Driver ranking

1	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	42 (49)
2	Stirling Moss	Cooper - Climax / Vanwall	41
3	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	24
4th	Roy Salvadori	Cooper - Climax	15th
5	Peter Collins †	Ferrari	14th
6th	Harry Schell	BRM	14th
7th	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper - Climax	12
8th	Luigi Musso †	Ferrari	12
9	Stuart Lewis-Evans †	Vanwall	11
10	Phil Hill	Ferrari	9
11	Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips	Ferrari	9
12	Jean Behra	BRM	9
13	Jimmy Bryan	Salih / Epperly - Offenhauser	8th
14th	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	7th
15th	George Amick	Epperly - Offenhauser	6th
16	Johnny Boyd	Kurtis - Offenhauser	4th
17th	Tony Bettenhausen	Epperly - Offenhauser	4th
18th	Jack Brabham	Cooper - Climax	3
19th	Cliff Allison	Lotus - Climax	3
20th	Joakim Bonnier	BRM	3
21st	Jim Rathmann	Epperly - Offenhauser	2

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 six results from a total of 11 races were counted.

During the season, Peter Collins, Pat O'Connor and Luigi Musso died. Stuart Lewis-Evans died after the last race.

Constructors' championship

1	Vanwall	48 (57)
2	Ferrari	40 (57)
3	Cooper - Climax	31
4th	BRM	18th
5	Maserati	6th
6th	Lotus Climax	3

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 six results were evaluated. Points were only awarded to the best-ranked driver of each team.

Web links

Commons : 1958 World Automobile Championship  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official Formula 1 website Results Season 1958 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Werner J. Haller, Christian Eichenberger, Leopold Wieland: Big rule changes and their consequences, Motorsport aktuell , issue MSA 4/2014, page 6.