1955 Belgian Grand Prix

 1955 Belgian Grand Prix

Racing data
4th of 7 races in the 1955 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	XVII GROTE PRIJS VAN BELGIE
Date:	5th June 1955
Place:	Spa-Francorchamps , Belgium
Course:	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Length:	508.32 km in 36 laps of 14.12 km
Weather:	sunny, dry
Pole position
Driver:	Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia
Time:	4: 18.1 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Time:	4: 20.6 min
Podium
First:	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Second:	Stirling Moss	Mercedes
Third:	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari

The 1955 Belgian Grand Prix took place on June 5, 1955 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps near Spa-Francorchamps and was the fourth race of the 1955 World Cup .

Reports

background

After the fatal accident of the former two-time world champion Alberto Ascari during private sports car test drives, the Lancia team withdrew from Formula 1 due to financial problems and lack of interest from the new Lancia owner. Eugenio Castellotti , who finished second in the second race of the season in Monaco, nevertheless took part in the race in a private Lancia. Mercedes and Ferrari each won a race before this Grand Prix. The Indianapolis 500 as the third race of the season was perceived by all European teams as a cancellation result and they stayed away from participation.

The French Gordini team did not take part in the race, so only the four teams Ferrari, Mercedes, Maserati and Vanwall started, as well as Castellotti, Louis Rosier and Johnny Claes in private cars. Only 13 drivers were registered for the race.

In the drivers' world championship, Ferrari driver Maurice Trintignant led ahead of Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio and Bob Sweikert , who did not take part in any other Grand Prix apart from the Indianapolis 500.

For Giuseppe Farina this was the last race. He was registered for two other Grand Prix, but did not take part in the race.

training

The training for the Belgian Grand Prix in 1955 was dominated by Castellotti in the Lancia and with a time of 4: 18.1 he was half a second faster than the second-placed Fangio in the Mercedes. Fangio's team-mate Stirling Moss qualified third in the front row in the second Mercedes, followed by Farina's Ferrari and Jean Behra's Maserati . Mike Hawthorn in Vanwall started the race from ninth place, Monaco winner Trintignant started from tenth place after he did not participate in practice and drove Harry Schell's car, which qualified in tenth place .

This was the only pole position in Castellotti's career and the last for a Lancia D50 .

run

Schell did not take part in the race because he had to leave his car to Trintignant. Claes also gave up before the race due to engine problems on his private Maserati.

Fangio won the starting duel and secured the lead, while his team-mate Moss was able to overtake Castellotti on the first laps of the race. From then on, Fangio and Moss controlled the race and continuously expanded Mercedes' one-two lead over the competition. Karl Kling's third Mercedes was battling Jean Behra and Paul Frère for fourth place when Behra spun off the track on the third lap at La Source and seriously damaged his car. Behra was uninjured and later continued the race in Roberto Mieres' Maserati .

Hawthorn retired on lap eight due to a gearbox failure, so Vanwall again failed to finish. Farina fought a duel with Castellotti, which, however, cost him a lot of time in the long-range fight with Fangio and Moss. Farina only got past Castellotti when he gave up the race on lap 16 with a gearbox failure. Kling in the third Mercedes followed just five laps later, his car had an oil leak.

As a result, Farina moved up to third, behind the two Mercedes, but their lead over him was too big. Nothing changed in the points positions until the finish line, Mercedes won with a superior one-two victory over Farina in the Ferrari. Local hero Frère secured fourth place, Behra finished fifth in Mieres' car. Trintignant just missed the points.

With the race win, Fangio regained the lead in the world championship. He received eight points for the victory and an additional point for the fastest race lap, while Trintignant remained without points in this race. It was his third and last victory in the Belgian Grand Prix . Farina was one point behind Trintignant in the drivers' standings after the race, while Moss moved up to fifth.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Scuderia Ferrari	02	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari 555 Super Qualo	Ferrari 2.5 L4	E.
	04th	Maurice Trintignant
		Harry Schell
	06th	Paul Brother
Daimler-Benz AG	10	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes-Benz W 196	Mercedes-Benz 2.5 L8	C.
	12	Karl Kling
	14th	Stirling Moss
Officine Alfieri Maserati	20th	Jean Behra	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	E.
	22nd	Luigi Musso			P
	24	Roberto Mieres
		Jean Behra
	40	Cesare Perdisa
Ecurie Rosier	28	Louis Rosier	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
Scuderia Lancia	30th	Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia D50	Lancia 2.5 V8	P
Stirling Moss Ltd.	38	Johnny Claes	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
Vandervell Products Ltd	40	Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall VW 55	Vanwall 2.5 L4	P

Remarks

1. ↑ Harry Schell drove the car in training, Maurice Trintignant in the race.
2. ↑ Roberto Mieres drove the car 10 laps, Jean Behra 25 laps.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia	4: 18.1	196.95 km / h	01
02	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	4: 18.6	196.57 km / h	02
03	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	4: 19.2	196.11 km / h	03
04th	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	4: 20.9	194.83 km / h	04th
05	Jean Behra	Maserati	4: 23.6	192.84 km / h	05
06th	Karl Kling	Mercedes	4: 24.0	192.55 km / h	06th
07th	Luigi Musso	Maserati	4: 26.4	190.81 km / h	07th
08th	Paul Brother	Ferrari	4: 29.7	188.48 km / h	08th
09	Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall	4: 33.0	186.20 km / h	09
10	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	4: 33.2	186.06 km / h	10
11	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati	4: 50.9	174.74 km / h	11
12	Louis Rosier	Maserati	4: 55.4	172.08 km / h	12
13	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	5: 09.0	164.50 km / h	13

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	36		2: 39: 29.0	02
02	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	36		+ 8.1	03
03	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	36		+1: 40.5	04th
04th	Paul Brother	Ferrari	36		+ 3: 25.5	08th
05	Roberto Mieres Jean Behra	Maserati	35		+ 1 lap	13
06th	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	35		+ 1 lap	10
07th	Luigi Musso	Maserati	34		+ 2 rounds	07th
08th	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati	33		+ 3 rounds	11
09	Louis Rosier	Maserati	33		+ 3 rounds	12
-	Karl Kling	Mercedes	21st		DNF	06th		Oil leak
-	Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia	16		DNF	01		transmission
-	Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall	08th		DNF	09		transmission
-	Jean Behra	Maserati	03		DNF	06th		Lathe operator / accident
-	Johnny Claes	Maserati	00		DNS			Engine problems
-	Harry Schell	Ferrari	{0} 0		DNS			Trintignant drove a car

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								Points
1.	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	9 *	1*		9 *				19th
2.	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	3.3	8th						11.3
3.	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	3.3	3		4th				10.3
4th	Bob Sweikert	Kurtis power			8th					8th
5.	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	1			6th				7th
6th	Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia		6th						6th
7th	Jimmy Davies	Kurtis power			4th					4th
8th.	Johnny Thomson	Kuzma			3					3
	Tony Bettenhausen	Kurtis power			3					3
	Paul Russo	Kurtis power			3					3
	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	2			1				3
	Jean Behra	Maserati		2		1				3
	Paul Brother	Ferrari				3				3
14th	José Froilán González	Ferrari	2							2
	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati		2						2
	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari Lancia		2						2
17th	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari	1.3							1.3
18th	Karl Kling	Mercedes	1							1
	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes	1							1
	Walt Faulkner	Kurtis power			1					1
	Bill Homeier	Kurtis power			1					1
	Bill Vukovich	Kurtis power			1*					1

Web links

• Results at motorsportarchiv.de
• Photos at f1-facts.com
• Presentation of the track and race report