1955 Grand Prix of Argentina
| Racing data | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1st of 7 races of the 1955 Automobile World Championship | ||
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| Surname: | III Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina | |
| Date: | January 16, 1955 | |
| Place: | Buenos Aires , Argentina | |
| Course: | Autódromo Juan y Oscar Alfredo Gálvez | |
| Length: | 375.552 km in 96 laps of 3.912 km
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| Weather: | Sunny, dry, very hot | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver: |
 José Froilán González
|
 Ferrari
|
| Time: | 1: 43.1 min | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver: |
Juan Manuel Fangio
|
 Mercedes
|
| Time: | 1: 48.3 min | |
| Podium | ||
| First: |
Juan Manuel Fangio
|
Mercedes
|
| Second: |
José Froilán González Giuseppe Farina Maurice Trintignant 
|
Ferrari
|
| Third: |
Giuseppe Farina Maurice Trintignant Umberto Maglioli
|
Ferrari
|
The 1955 Grand Prix of Argentina took place on January 16, 1955 at the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Alfredo Gálvez near Buenos Aires and was the first race of the 1955 World Automobile Championship .
Reports
background
The four top teams Mercedes , Ferrari , Maserati and Lancia , as well as the French team Gordini and Uruguayan Alberto Uria, a driver in a private car, competed for the opening race of the 1955 Automobile World Championship . The drivers of the previous season, world champion Juan Manuel Fangio , Karl Kling and Hans Herrmann , started for Mercedes , a fourth car was used for Stirling Moss , who in 1954 still drove private and factory Maserati. As in the previous year, Maurice Trintignant and José Froilán González drove for Ferrari, as well as the 1950 world champions, Giuseppe Farina and Umberto Maglioli . Maserati fielded seven cars for the race, the French Jean Behra switched from Gordini to the Italian top team. Lancia also continued to rely on its previous year's drivers Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi ; The Italian Eugenio Castellotti made his debut in the team and in Formula 1 . Gordini started with the new French regular driver Élie Bayol and Pablo Birger as well as Jesús Iglesias . For both Argentine drivers, this was the last race of their Formula 1 careers. This Grand Prix was also the last for another Argentinian driver, Clemar Bucci , to race for Maserati.
It was extremely hot on the race weekend; During the race, the temperature in the shade was 37 ° C, the asphalt temperature was around 50 ° C. This not only meant a very high burden on the car, but also on the driver. There were no drinking bottles in the cockpit back then, so the drivers were forced to drink plenty of water before the race and pit stops during the race to increase fluids so as not to dehydrate. While many drivers drank large amounts of water before the race, Fangio took a different tactic. In preparation for the race, he trained to get by with very little fluids per day. This “camel tactic” paid off for him. He and his compatriot Roberto Mieres were the only two who made it through the entire race distance without swapping the cockpit. The race was characterized by many driver changes of the individual cars and a high failure rate, due to the very high temperatures and the dehydration of all drivers participating in the race. In 1955 driver changes were still allowed in the race, but this rule interpretation was used so often that up to three drivers drove in one car and that Trintignant and Farina held two podium places. A total of 16 driver changes took place at this Grand Prix. The race was probably the hottest Formula 1 race of all time, only the 1984 US Grand Prix and the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix recorded similar temperatures. The next race took place months later, so that all drivers recovered from the rigors of the Argentina Grand Prix and could contest the next races without any health problems.
training
In the 1954 Automobile World Championship , the battle for pole position was mostly a duel between Mercedes and Ferrari, which Fangio often won in the Mercedes. In training for the Argentine Grand Prix, however, the four top teams were tied and one driver from each of these teams qualified for the front row in a time window of half a second. Ferrari driver González drove the fastest lap and secured the third and final pole position of his career. Next to him, in second place, Ascari started in a Lancia, in third place reigning world champion Fangio in a Mercedes and in fourth place Jean Behra in a Maserati. Farina started the race from fifth, Moss achieved a disappointing eighth place on the grid. Trintignant, who was fourth in the drivers' standings last year, started the race from 14th position. The best Gordini driver was Birger with the ninth best training time. It started in the 4-3-4-3-4-3 system.
run
The best start was Fangio, who took the lead. Behind his Mercedes were Ascari in the Lancia, Moss in the second Mercedes and the two Ferrari drivers González and Farina. Ascari then overtook Fangio, but then lost the lead to González, who first lost several places on the first lap of the race, but then quickly fought his way back to the top. With Birger and Carlos Menditéguy, two Argentines retired on the first lap of the race due to accidents.
Kling and Behra had an accident one lap later, and Villoresi had to park his Lancia again early in the race due to technical problems. After Birger's accident, the second of three Gordini cars retired on lap seven. Villoresi was able to intervene in the race again, however, as his teammate Castellotti was instructed on lap 20 to give him his car. This was the first of a total of 16 driver changes; the heat now began to decisively influence the course of the race. Villoresi's team-mate Ascari had an accident one lap later, leaving Lancia with only one car in the race. On lap 22, Uria stopped in his private Maserati because he ran out of fuel. On lap 29, Moss parked his car due to technical problems and took over Herrmann's Mercedes.
The following racing phase was determined by driver changes due to the onset of dehydration. Mantovani needed a break and handed over his Maserati to Behra, on lap 26 Bucci handed over his Maserati to Menditeguy. Villoresi had an accident on lap 35, so that all Lancias were eliminated in the team's second race.
In the meantime, the great heat not only damaged the drivers, but also put a lot of strain on the cars. Trintignant parked his Ferrari with an engine failure, Iglesias the last remaining Gordini with a gearbox failure. Behra gave the Maserati back to Mantovani over the next few laps, recovered from the heat and took over Harry Schell's car a few laps later . With this he then drove the race to the end and with sixth place just missed the points.
The chaos in the pit lane increased, Musso and Mantovani exchanged their cars, Menditeguy passed his car on to Schell. Maglioli then took a short break and let Trintignant drive his car a few laps. After the break, Maglioli reached the finish and third place without any further stops or driver swaps. He shared this podium with Trintignant and Farina, who also drove the car for a while in the race. On lap 54 there were two more heat-related failures, Musso and Schell were forced to park their cars. Meanwhile, Moss took a short break to recover. Paramedics wanted to treat him because they feared he would suffer from heat stroke. Moss was just dehydrated and was able to continue the race for the time being, but gave up on lap 64 and left his Mercedes to Kling. This finished the race in fourth place. Mantovani also gave up the race and left the wheel of his Maserati to Schell until the end of the race.
Most of the driver changes took place at González 'Ferrari. In the lead at the beginning of the race, he handed the car over to Farina. After the subsequent driver change, Trintignant drove the car before the Ferrari was finally driven again by González. During this driver change, the car stood in the pits for several laps without any technical difficulties, but the Ferrari team could not find a driver who was able to drive the car. When González felt healthy enough to resume the race, he was able to catch up on leading Fangio. González did not reach the finish either, he damaged the car in an accident and gave it back to Farina, who still drove the Ferrari in second place, after five driver changes on this car. With that, both Farina and Trintignant finished second and third, as they had driven at least once in both Ferraris placed for the podium.
Fangio won the chaotic race with superiority as he did not need any major breaks. Only Roberto Mieres drove through the race without changing drivers and achieved a place in the points with position five. He was five laps behind Fangio. Fangio was severely dehydrated after the race and burned his leg. It took him three months to recover from this injury; the burn scar was still visible decades after this race. Fangio won the Argentine home race for the second time in a row and built that streak to four consecutive wins at the Argentine Grand Prix in the years that followed . Mercedes won another race and continued the dominance of the previous year. The many changes prevented all drivers from collapsing in the cockpit, only Castellotti had to be treated for heat stroke.
Fangio took a clear lead in the drivers' championship, as he received eight points for the race win and one more point for the fastest race lap. Thus led with nine points ahead of Farina and Trintignant with 3.33 points each. No other driver scored more than two points for a single placement in this race, as the points for places two to four were shared among three drivers. However, Farina and Trintignant could score twice as they were second and third respectively. Mieres, who crossed the finish line without changing drivers, received two points in fifth place, exactly as many as the runner-up and more than the third and fourth place finishers. A total of nine different drivers received points in this race.
Registration list
- Remarks
- ↑ a b c Herrmann drove the Mercedes with the number 8 in the training sessions and started the race with it. Kling and Moss took over the vehicle during the race.
- ↑ a b c Maglioli and Farina drove the Ferrari with the number 10 in the training sessions and started the race with it. Trintignant took over the vehicle during the race.
- ↑ a b c González drove the Ferrari with the number 12 in the training sessions and started the race with it. Farina and Trintignant took over the vehicle during the race.
- ↑ a b Musso drove the Maserati with the number 20 in the practice sessions and started the race with it. Schell took over the vehicle during the race.
- ↑ a b c Mantovani drove the Maserati with the number 22 in the practice sessions and started the race with it. Musso and Behra took over the vehicle during the race.
- ↑ a b c Bucci drove the Maserati with the number 26 in the practice sessions and started the race with it. Menditeguy and Schell took over the vehicle during the race.
- ↑ a b Castellotti drove the Lancia with the number 36 in the training sessions and started the race with it. Villoresi took over the vehicle during the race.
Classifications
Starting grid
| Item | driver | constructor | time | Ø speed | begin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
José Froilán González
|
Ferrari
|
1: 43.1 | 136.60 km / h | 1 |
| 2 |
Alberto Ascari
|
Lancia
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1: 43.6 | 135.94 km / h | 2 |
| 3 |
Juan Manuel Fangio
|
Mercedes
|
1: 43.6 | 135.94 km / h | 3 |
| 4th |
Jean Behra
|
Maserati
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1: 43.8 | 135.68 km / h | 4th |
| 5 |
Giuseppe Farina
|
Ferrari
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1: 43.8 | 135.68 km / h | 5 |
| 6th |
Karl Kling
|
Mercedes
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1: 44.1 | 135.29 km / h | 6th |
| 7th |
 Harry Schell
|
Maserati
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1: 44.3 | 135.03 km / h | 7th |
| 8th |
 Stirling Moss
|
Mercedes
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1: 44.4 | 134.90 km / h | 8th |
| 9 |
Pablo Birger
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Gordini
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1: 44.8 | 134.38 km / h | 9 |
| 10 |
Hans Herrmann
|
Mercedes
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1: 44.8 | 134.38 km / h | 10 |
| 11 |
Luigi Villoresi
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Lancia
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1: 45.2 | 133.87 km / h | 11 |
| 12 |
Eugenio Castellotti
|
Lancia
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1: 45.3 | 133.74 km / h | 12 |
| 13 |
Carlos Menditeguy
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Maserati
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1: 45.4 | 133.62 km / h | 13 |
| 14th |
Maurice Trintignant
|
Ferrari
|
1: 45.8 | 133.11 km / h | 14th |
| 15th |
Élie Bayol
|
Gordini
|
1: 46.1 | 155.63 km / h | 15th |
| 16 |
Roberto Mieres
|
Maserati
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1: 46.3 | 132.49 km / h | 16 |
| 17th |
Jésus Iglesias
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Gordini
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1: 46.4 | 132.36 km / h | 17th |
| 18th |
Luigi Musso
|
Maserati
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1: 46.5 | 132.24 km / h | 18th |
| 19th |
Sergio Mantovani
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Maserati
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1: 47.6 | 130.88 km / h | 19th |
| 20th |
Clemar Bucci
|
Maserati
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1: 48.8 | 129.44 km / h | 20th |
| 21st |
 Alberto Uria
|
Maserati
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1: 51.2 | 126.65 km / h | 21st |
run
World Cup stand after the race
In 1955, 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 seven 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 |
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Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Juan Manuel Fangio
|
Mercedes | 9 * | 9 * | ||||||
| 2. |
 Maurice Trintignant
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Ferrari | 3.3 | 3.3 | ||||||
|
Giuseppe Farina
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Ferrari | 3.3 | 3.3 | |||||||
| 4th |
Roberto Mieres
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Maserati | 2 | 2 | ||||||
|
José Froilán González
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Ferrari | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| 6th |
Umberto Maglioli
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Ferrari | 1.3 | 1.3 | ||||||
| 7th |
Stirling Moss
|
Mercedes | 1 | 1 | ||||||
|
Karl Kling
|
Mercedes | 1 | 1 | |||||||
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Hans Herrmann
|
Mercedes | 1 | 1 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ "GP Stories - The Races of 1955" (www.motorsport-magazin.com on July 16, 2013)
- ^ The 1955 Argentine Grand Prix. In: ianbushnell.co.uk , accessed July 17, 2013.
Web links
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