1954 Swiss Grand Prix

 1954 Swiss Grand Prix

Racing data
7th of 9 races in the 1954 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	XIV Grand Prix of Switzerland
Date:	August 22, 1954
Place:	Bern , Switzerland
Course:	Bremgarten circuit
Length:	480.48 km in 66 laps of 7.28 km
Weather:	rain
Pole position
Driver:	José Froilán González	Ferrari
Time:	2: 39.5 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Time:	2: 39.7 min
Podium
First:	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Second:	José Froilán González	Ferrari
Third:	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes

Mercedes-Benz W 196

The 1954 Swiss Grand Prix took place on August 22nd on the Bremgarten circuit near Bern and was the seventh race of the 1954 World Cup .

Reports

background

The 1954 Swiss Grand Prix was the last race on the Bremgarten circuit in Bern. After the Le Mans catastrophe in 1955 , all circuit races were banned by law in Switzerland, as a result of which there have been no Formula 1 races in Switzerland since then. A world championship run with the title Grand Prix of Switzerland was nevertheless held in 1982, but outside the country on the Circuit de Dijon-Prenois in France.

In 1954, Fangio started the race with a large lead in the drivers' championship and was able to become world champion in 1954 with a victory. The favorites for the victory were the teams Mercedes with Fangio and Ferrari with José Froilán González and Maurice Trintignant , who at this point took second and third place in the drivers' standings. Maserati , who signed Stirling Moss after Onofre Marimón's fatal accident during training for the 1954 German Grand Prix , were also given chances to win. In addition, the financially weakened Gordini team took part in the race weekend. The drivers Jacques Swaters and Ken Wharton drove in private cars.

Mercedes used the W 196 with free-standing wheels in Bern.

training

The training in which the starting grid was determined was an exciting fight between the two world championship opponents Fangio and Gonzalez. Gonzalez in the Ferrari was two tenths of a second faster than Fangio with a time of 2: 39.5 and thus achieved the second pole position of his career. Maserati newcomer Moss completed the front row, followed by Fangio's teammates Karl Kling and Hans Herrmann and Ferrari driver Mike Hawthorn . Wharton achieved a respectable success in his private Maserati with eighth place on the grid. The BRM car, which was particularly successful in the 1960s, was later developed in his Owen Racing Team . Another team whose cars were expected in Formula 1 was Lancia , but their cars were not ready for the Grand Prix in time.

Robert Manzon had an accident during training and could not take part in the race. Umberto Maglioli drove instead .

run

At the start, Fangio was able to immediately take the lead, which he kept in the further course of the race until the finish. Kling, González, Moss, Trintignant and Hawthorn followed. Kling slipped on the second lap, collided with the bales of straw and was the last to start again, two minutes behind. Gonzalez couldn't keep up with Fangio's pace and Moss overtook him on the first few laps of the race. Moss then tried to catch up with Fangio, but was attacked by Hawthorn after a short time. After a tough battle, Moss's Maserati suffered an engine failure that forced him to retire on lap 21. Hawthorn thus took second place, but later in the race he also retired with technical problems on his Ferrari. After that, Mercedes drivers Kling and Herrmann were in third and fourth positions before damage to the Kling camshaft drive stopped. In the meantime, half of the drivers had retired and Fangio won another race with superiority; he was almost a full minute ahead of second placed Gonzalez and lapped the entire field except for himself. Fangio's team-mate Herrmann finished third, the other points went to Roberto Mieres and Sergio Mantovani , each for Maserati. Wharton confirmed his strong training performance in the private Maserati and finished in sixth place. As in the previous Grand Prix, the race was characterized by many defects. It was particularly disappointing for the Gordini team, with all three drivers retiring after just eleven laps with defects.

This victory of Fangio secured him the world championship title in 1954. His compatriot Gonzalez reached second place in this race, but could not overtake Fangio in the remaining two races according to the points system at that time and the related cancellation result regulation in the drivers' championship. The preliminary title win was the beginning of Fangio's title series, in which he was able to win four drivers' titles in a row from 1954 to 1957. With his second world championship, he drew level with Alberto Ascari , the only driver before him who made it. For Mercedes it was the first Formula 1 driver title in their debut year. This success has so far only been achieved in Formula 1 history by Alfa Romeo , who achieved the driver's title with Giuseppe Farina in 1950 . It wasn't until 2009 that the Brawn GP team with driver Jenson Button managed to do this again .

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Ecurie Francorchamps	02	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari 500 / Ferrari 625F1	Ferrari 2.5 L4	E.
Daimler-Benz AG	04th	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes-Benz W 196	Mercedes-Benz 2.5 L8	C.
	06th	Hans Herrmann
	08th	Karl Kling
Equipe Gordini	10	Jean Behra	Gordini Type 16	Gordini 2.5 L6	E.
	12	Clemar Bucci
	14th	Fred Wacker
Owen Racing Organization	18th	Ken Wharton	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
Scuderia Ferrari	20th	José Froilán González	Ferrari 625F1	Ferrari 2.5 L4	P
	22nd	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari 625F1 / Ferrari 555 Super Qualo
	24	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari 553 Squalo
	24	Robert Manzon	Ferrari 553 Squalo
	26th	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari 625F1 / Ferrari 555 Super Qualo
Officine Alfieri Maserati	28	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
	30th	Roberto Mieres
	32	Stirling Moss
	34	Harry Schell

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	José Froilán González	Ferrari	2: 39.5	164.31 km / h	01
02	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	2: 39.7	164.11 km / h	02
03	Stirling Moss	Maserati	2: 41.4	162.38 km / h	03
04th	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	2: 41.7	162.08 km / h	04th
05	Karl Kling	Mercedes	2: 41.9	161.88 km / h	05
06th	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	2: 43.2	160.59 km / h	06th
07th	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes	2: 45.0	158.84 km / h	07th
08th	Ken Wharton	Maserati	2: 46.2	157.69 km / h	08th
09	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati	2: 56.9	148.15 km / h	09
10	Clemar Bucci	Gordini	3: 04.1	142.36 km / h	10
11	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari	3: 08.2	139.26 km / h	11
12	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	3: 09.3	138.45 km / h	12
13	Harry Schell	Maserati	3: 12.1	136.43 km / h	13
14th	Jean Behra	Gordini	3: 16.4	133.44 km / h	14th
15th	Fred Wacker	Gordini	3: 20.3	130.84 km / h	15th
16	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	3: 20.4	130.78 km / h	16

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	66		3: 00: 34.5	02
02	José Froilán González	Ferrari	66		+ 57.8	01
03	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes	65		+ 1 lap	07th
04th	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	64		+ 2 rounds	12
05	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati	64		+ 2 rounds	09
06th	Ken Wharton	Maserati	64		+ 2 rounds	08th
07th	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari	62		+ 4 rounds	11
08th	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	58		+ 8 rounds	16
-	Karl Kling	Mercedes	39		DNF	05		Fuel system
-	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	34		DNF	04th		Engine failure
-	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	30th		DNF	06th		Fuel pump
-	Harry Schell	Maserati	24		DNF	13		oil pressure
-	Stirling Moss	Maserati	22nd		DNF	03		oil pressure
-	Fred Wacker	Gordini	11		DNF	15th		Power transmission
-	Jean Behra	Gordini	09		DNF	14th		coupling
-	Clemar Bucci	Gordini	09		DNF	10		Fuel pump
-	Robert Manzon	Ferrari	00		DNS			Training accident

World Cup stand after the race

In 1954, points were awarded according to the following scheme:

1st place	place 2	place 3	4th place	5th place	Fastest lap
8th	6th	4th	3	2	1

• Only the five best results from nine races counted. Deleted results are shown in brackets.
• The numbers marked with * include the point for the fastest lap.
• Fields marked in the same color indicate shared vehicles.

Item	driver	constructor										Points
1.	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati / Mercedes	8th		9 *	8th	(3.14 *)	8th	9 *			42 (45.14)
2.	José Froilán González	Ferrari	5 *		1.5		8.14 *	3	6th			23.64
3.	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	3		6th		2	4th				15th
4th	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari			1.5		6.14 *	3				10.64
5.	Karl Kling	Mercedes				6th		4 *				10
6th	Bill Vukovich	Kurti's power		8th								8th
7th	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	6th									6th
	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma		6th								6th
9.	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes				1*			4th			5
10.	Stirling Moss	Maserati			4th		0.14 *					4.14
	Onofre Marimon	Maserati					4.14 *					4.14
12.	Jack McGrath	Kurtis power		4th								4th
	Robert Manzon	Ferrari				4th						4th
	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati						2	2			4th
15th	Prince Bira	Maserati				3						3
	Roberto Mieres	Maserati							3			3
17th	Elie Bayol	Gordini	2									2
	Mike Nazaruk	Kurtis power		2								2
	André Pilette	Gordini			2							2
	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati				2						2
21st	Troy Ruttman	Kurti's power		1.5								1.5
	Duane Carter	Kurti's power		1.5								1.5
23.	Sam Hanks	Kurti's power		1*								1
24.	Alberto Ascari	Maserati					0.14 *					0.14
	Jean Behra	Maserati					0.14 *					0.14

Individual evidence

1. ↑ GP Stories - The races of 1954 (www.motorsport-magazin.com on January 14, 2013)
2. ^ Paul Schweder in: Internationaler Motorsport , yearbook 1954. Edited by ADAC and AvD, Europa-Contact Verlags-GmbH, Döffingen 1954, pp. 233-240.

Web links

• Results at motorsportarchiv.de
• Photos at f1-facts.com