Automobile World Championship 1955

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Automobile World Championship 1955
World Champion
Driver: ArgentinaArgentina Juan Manuel Fangio
Season dates
Number of races: 7th
<1954 season

1956 season>

The 1955 Automobile World Championship was the 6th season of the Automobile World Championship, which is now known as the Formula 1 World Championship . The drivers' world championship was supposed to be held within eleven races from January 16 to September 11, 1955, but four grand prizes were canceled due to the accident at the Le Mans 24-hour race .

The FIA title of honor European Grand Prix was awarded to the Monaco Grand Prix in 1955 .

Like the previous season, the 1955 season was marked by the dominance of the Mercedes team, which, in addition to the superstar Juan Manuel Fangio , had signed another top driver in the form of the Briton Stirling Moss . High hopes were placed in the new Lancia team, for which double world champion Alberto Ascari drove. However, the season developed into the year of disasters in Formula 1 . Four days after an accident at the Monaco Grand Prix, Ascari had a fatal accident during private test drives with a sports car at the end of May, whereupon Lancia declared its Formula 1 involvement over. Another four days later, two-time Indy winner Bill Vukovich had a fatal accident. And on June 11, the greatest tragedy in the history of motorsport killed a driver and over 80 spectators in an accident during the Le Mans 24-hour race . As a result, the Grand Prix of Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland were canceled. As a result, a law was passed in Switzerland that bans circuit racing and is still in force today.

The world championship runs

GP Argentina - Buenos Aires (January 16, 1955)

space driver team time
1 Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes Benz 3: 00: 38.6
2 González / Farina / Trintignant Ferrari +1: 29.6
3 Farina / Maglioli / Trintignant Ferrari + 2 rounds
4th Herrmann / Kling / Moss Mercedes Benz + 2 rounds
5 Roberto Mières Maserati + 5 rounds

The Grand Prix went down in Formula 1 history as the “heat battle” . With 37 degrees in the shade and 50 degrees asphalt temperature , man and machine were equally challenged. Juan Manuel Fangio's “ camel tactics” led to success in the era when there was no drinking bottle to be carried . While everyone else consumed a lot of fluids beforehand, he had trained himself to be celibate. Thanks to his mental strength, he was almost the only driver to hold out alone at the steering wheel. Some of the opposing monopostos were driven by three, one Ferrari even by five drivers who took turns due to exhaustion. A Ferrari was technically completely intact in the pits for two laps, as none of the crew was ready to drive it until JF González drove on and drove the car to second place. Only the local hero Mières , who, as an accomplished sports car driver, was used to similar endurance performances, also had to endure alone at the steering wheel in the absence of greater team support, but only crossed the finish line five laps later. Almost parched, Fangio realized that he didn't want to go through something similar again.

GP Monte Carlo / GP Europe - Monaco (May 22, 1955)

space driver team time
1 Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 2: 58: 09.7
2 Eugenio Castellotti Lancia + 20.3
3 J.Behra / C.Perdisa Maserati + 1 lap
4th Giuseppe Farina Ferrari + 1 lap
5 Luigi Villoresi Lancia + 1 lap

During training, Hans Herrmann suffered an accident on a harbor wall and was eliminated for the rest of the season due to the injuries. In the race everything looked like a safe Mercedes one- two victory, as Fangio and Moss were undisputed in the lead until halfway through the race. A rear axle damage stopped Fangio, at Moss it was a serious engine damage and replacement driver André Simon was out with valve damage .

Since the technology of all "Silver Arrows" failed for the first time, Alberto Ascari in the Lancia seemed a sure winner. But soon afterwards he got off the track in the harbor chicane and fell into the sea, from which the crew of the luxury yacht of the Greek shipowner Onassis immediately salvaged him with minor injuries. Maurice Trintignant won the race. It was the only win that Ferrari achieved that year. The 55-year-old Louis Chiron said goodbye to motorsport with a Lancia and a sixth place for which there were no world championship points at the time . Alberto Ascari died a few days after the GP during test drives in Monza.

500 Miles from Indianapolis - Indianapolis (May 30, 1955)

space driver team time
1 Bob Sweikert Kurtis - Offenhauser 3: 53: 59.53
2 T. Bettenhausen / P. Russo Kurtis - Offenhauser + 2: 43.56
3 Jimmy Davies Kuzma - Offenhauser + 3: 32.36
4th Johnny Thomson Kuzma - Offenhauser + 3: 38.91
5 W. Faulkner / B. Homeier Kurtis - Offenhauser + 5: 17.17

The race, which took place under changeable conditions, was overshadowed by the fatal accident of the fastest in training, Bill Vukovich , whose car collided with the vehicle of his opponent Al Keller and caught fire after a rollover.

Belgian GP - Spa-Francorchamps (June 5, 1955)

space driver team time
1 Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes Benz 2: 39: 29.0
2 Stirling Moss Mercedes Benz + 8.1
3 Giuseppe Farina Ferrari +1: 40.5
4th Paul Brother Ferrari + 3: 25.5
5 R. Mières / J. Behra Maserati + 1 lap

At the Belgian Grand Prix , the factory team entered Lancia not after his first driver Alberto Ascari on May 26 had come from private testing after his Monaco accident. The team owner withdrew from motorsport. However, Eugenio Castellotti convinced the owner of the car to let him start at his own risk and made people sit up and take notice with the pole position . After a gearbox defect , however, he had to give up halfway through the race, so that Fangio and Moss were able to clinch a one-two victory.

GP Netherlands - Zandvoort (June 19, 1955)

space driver team time
1 Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes Benz 2: 54: 23.8
2 Stirling Moss Mercedes Benz + 0.3
3 Luigi Musso Maserati + 57.1
4th Roberto Mières Maserati + 1 lap
5 Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari + 3 rounds

The Dutch Grand Prix took place just a few days after the devastating accident at the 24 Hours of Le Mans , in which, in addition to the driver Pierre Levegh, over 80 spectators were killed. The Swiss Grand Prix in Bremgarten had already been canceled by the organizers and car races should remain banned in Switzerland in the future . Here, however, the Mercedes Armada met with little resistance after the factory withdrawal from Lancia . The most interesting thing about the race was the way Roberto Mières fought his way up the field to fourth place against tough competition. At the end of the race it began to rain, so that Luigi Musso spun without losing his third place.

British GP - Aintree (July 16, 1955)

space driver team time
1 Stirling Moss Mercedes Benz 3: 07: 21.2
2 Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes Benz + 0.2
3 Karl Kling Mercedes Benz +1: 11.8
4th Piero Taruffi Mercedes Benz + 1 lap
5 Luigi Musso Maserati + 1 lap

The race in Aintree saw a very close finish for the time: Only two tenths of a second separated the winner Moss from Fangio, so that the question was discussed whether Fangio only let him win in the race dominated by Mercedes-Benz because he was second Place was enough to win the title. For the first time Jack Brabham started in Formula 1 with a Cooper - Bristol , which had a streamlined body and a mid-engine ; but after 31 laps the car went on strike.

Italian GP - Monza (September 11, 1955)

space driver team time
1 Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes Benz 2: 25: 04.0
2 Piero Taruffi Mercedes Benz + 0.7
3 Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari + 46.2
4th Jean Behra Maserati + 2: 56.0
5 Carlos Menditéguy Maserati + 1 lap

Many races were canceled because of the Le Mans catastrophe . The last race of the season took place in Italy . After the extensive renovation of the old Monza circuit from 1922, an additional high-speed oval was driven on the approximately 10 km long circuit, which had curves that were 38 degrees excessively high. Moss, who had achieved pole position , and Fangio fought a spirited duel for victory, which was stopped by an involuntary pit stop due to a broken windshield and another engine failure of the Briton. The fastest lap, for which there was a point at the time, was enough for Moss to win his first runner-up in the world championship.

Driver ranking

  • The first five of each race got 8, 6, 4, 3 and 2 points, respectively; there was another point for the fastest race lap.
  • The best five results were evaluated.
Item driver constructor Flag of Argentina.svg Flag of Monaco.svg Flag of the United States (1912-1959) .svg Flag of Belgium (civil) .svg Flag of the Netherlands.svg Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Italy.svg Points 1
01 ArgentinaArgentina Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes Benz 1 DNF 1 1 2 1 40
02 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Stirling Moss Mercedes Benz 4 / DNF 9 2 2 1 DNF 23
03 ItalyItaly Eugenio Castellotti Lancia / Ferrari DNF 2 DNF 5 6 / DNF 3 12
04th FranceFrance Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 2/3 / DNF 1    6th DNF DNF 8th 11.3
05 ItalyItaly Giuseppe Farina Ferrari 2/3 4th 3 DNS 10.3
06th ItalyItaly Piero Taruffi Mercedes Benz 8th 4th 2 9
07th United States 48United States Bob Sweikert Kurtis - Offenhauser 1 8th
08th ArgentinaArgentina Roberto Mières Maserati 5 DNF 5 4th DNF 7th 7th
09 ItalyItaly Luigi Musso Mercedes Benz 7 / DNF DNF 7th 3 5 DNF 6th
10 FranceFrance Jean Behra Maserati 6 / DNF / DNF 3 / DNF 5 / DNF 6th DNF 4th 6th
11 Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany Karl Kling Mercedes Benz 4th DNF DNF 3 DNF 5
12 United States 48United States Jimmy Davies Kurtis - Offenhauser 3 4th
13 United States 48United States Tony Bettenhausen Kurtis - Offenhauser 2 3
14th United States 48United States Johnny Thomson Kurtis - Offenhauser 4th 3
15th BelgiumBelgium Paul Brother Ferrari 8th 4th 3
16 United States 48United States Paul Russo Kurtis Kraft - Offenhauser 2 3
17th ArgentinaArgentina José Froilán González Ferrari 2 2
18th ArgentinaArgentina Cesare Perdisa Maserati 3 / DNF 8th 2
19th ItalyItaly Luigi Villoresi Lancia DNF / DNF 5 DNS 2
20th ArgentinaArgentina Carlos Menditéguy Maserati DNF / DNF 5 2
21st ItalyItaly Umberto Maglioli Ferrari 3 6th 1.3
22nd Germany Federal RepublicFederal Republic of Germany Hans Herrmann Mercedes Benz 4th DNQ 1
23 United States 48United States Walt Faulkner Kurtis - Offenhauser 5 1
24 United States 48United States Bill Vukovich Kurtis - Offenhauser DNF 1
25th United States 48United States Bill Homeier Kurtis - Offenhauser 5 1
1The 0.3 points come from the fact that up to three drivers took turns in most of the cars in the “heat battle” in Argentina .
Legend
colour abbreviation meaning
gold - victory
silver - 2nd place
bronze - 3rd place
green - Placement in the points
blue - Classified outside the point ranks
violet DNF Race not finished (did not finish)
NC not classified
red DNQ did not qualify
DNPQ failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black DSQ disqualified
White DNS not at the start (did not start)
WD withdrawn
Light Blue PO only participated in the training (practiced only)
TD Friday test driver
without DNP did not participate in the training (did not practice)
INJ injured or sick
EX excluded
DNA did not arrive
C. Race canceled
  no participation in the World Cup
other P / bold Pole position
SR / italic Fastest race lap
* not at the finish,
but counted due to the distance covered
() Streak results
underlined Leader in the overall standings

Web links

Commons : 1955 Automobile World Championship  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files