Automobile World Championship 1958
World Champion | |
Driver: | Mike Hawthorn |
Constructor: | Vanwall |
Season dates | |
---|---|
Number of races: | 11 |
<1957 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 .
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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
Individual evidence
- ↑ Werner J. Haller, Christian Eichenberger, Leopold Wieland: Big rule changes and their consequences, Motorsport aktuell , issue MSA 4/2014, page 6.