1954 British Grand Prix

 1954 British Grand Prix

Racing data
5th of 9 races of the 1954 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	VII RAC British Grand Prix
Date:	17th July 1954
Place:	Silverstone
Course:	Silverstone Circuit
Length:	423.945 km in 90 laps of 4.7105 km
Weather:	cold, wet
Pole position
Driver:	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Time:	1: 45.0 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Alberto Ascari Jean Behra Juan Manuel Fangio José Froilán González Mike Hawthorn Onofre Marimón Stirling Moss	Maserati Gordini Mercedes Ferrari Ferrari Maserati Maserati
Time:	1: 50.0 min
Podium
First:	José Froilán González	Ferrari
Second:	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari
Third:	Onofre Marimón	Maserati

Maserati 250 F at the 1977 Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring

Four cylinder engine of the Ferrari 625 F1

The 1954 British Grand Prix took place on July 17th at the Silverstone Circuit near Silverstone and was the 5th race of the 1954 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

After the superior double victory for Mercedes at the French Grand Prix two weeks earlier, the dominance of Mercedes-Benz was also expected to continue in Great Britain. The 4.8 kilometer long course, set out at an airfield, with eight curves and only short straights, did not meet the streamlined cars. With Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling , the team only fielded two cars on this race weekend. Ferrari entered with three cars and the experienced drivers Mike Hawthorn , Maurice Trintignant and José Froilán González , while Maserati was represented with nine cars.

The British team Vanwall took part in its first Formula 1 Grand Prix with British driver Peter Collins . However, the car was still unreliable and forced Collins to give up the race on lap 16 due to an engine failure. Vanwall rose to one of the top teams in Formula 1 in the following years and became the first constructors' world champion in history in 1958 .

As in previous years, many drivers tried to qualify with their private Cooper and Connaught . The official entry list included 16 Britons, so that more than half of the field came from Great Britain, a record since then.

The drivers Alan Brown , Reg Parnell and Peter Whitehead took part in a Formula 1 Grand Prix for the last time.

training

The rough time measurement on the racetrack was already evident during training, the lap times were only accurate to the second, but not to the tenth of a second. Fangio again achieved the best training time in the Mercedes and took pole position. The two Ferrari drivers Gonzalez and Hawthorn as well as the Maserati driver Moss started the race next to him on row 1. As a result of poor organization, nine cars from the official Maserati team (Moss drove a private car) did not participate in the training and were therefore placed at the end of the grid.

run

At the start of the race, the track, which was still littered with puddles of water in the morning, gradually dried up before it began to rain again after about a third of the race and made the road surface dangerously smooth with a mixture of water and oil lost during training. Under these conditions and above all due to the poor visibility of the fully clad car, the dominance of the Mercedes team in Silverstone was not continued. Streamlining was an advantage on the high-speed Reims circuit, but Mercedes was inferior to the other teams on the twisty Silverstone Circuit. Fangio had significant problems approaching the corners and came off the wet track several times during the race.

At the start the Ferrari driver José Froilán González took the lead and did not give up this lead until the end of the race. He was followed by Mike Hawthorn and Stirling Moss , then Fangio, Jean Behra on Gordini and Onofre Marimón on Maserati. Karl Kling , the second Mercedes driver, was in seventh place. Fangio was initially able to overtake Hawthorn and Moss and fight his way to second place, but then fell back to fourth place by leaving the track several times. His car was badly damaged in three collisions with the track barriers. Moss with his private Maserati gave up the race with a rear axle damage ten laps before the end. Karl Kling fell further and further behind on Mercedes, possibly also due to a health impairment, but still crossed the finish line in seventh place.

Ron Flockhart had a spectacular accident . In a right turn on the smooth course, his Maserati turned sideways and overturned directly in front of the crowded spectators. Flockhart was thrown out as the car spun in the air above him and stopped about 15 meters with the wheels up. Flockhart survived the accident unharmed.

González won the second and last Grand Prix of his Formula 1 career after he had clinched his first win for Ferrari at Silverstone in 1951. Hawthorn made the double victory for Ferrari in second place, while Onofre Marimón completed the podium positions . Marimón reached a place on the podium for the first time in his career and surprised with a unique performance in lap 1. Starting from position 28, he overtook 22 vehicles on the first lap. In the drivers' championship, Fangio continued to lead by a comfortable margin after the race, Gonzalez moved up to second place.

The fastest lap of the race was awarded to seven drivers with 1:50 minutes due to the lack of precise measurement options.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Daimler-Benz AG	01	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes-Benz W 196	Mercedes-Benz 2.5 L8	C.
	02	Karl Kling
Harry Schell	03	Harry Schell	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
Roberto Mieres	04th	Roberto Mieres	Maserati 250F / Maserati A6GCM	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
Gilby Engineering	05	Roy Salvadori	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
B. Bira	06th	Prince Bira	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
		Ron Flockhart
AE Moss	07th	Stirling Moss	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
Owen Racing Organization	08th	Ken Wharton	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
Scuderia Ferrari	09	José Froilán González	Ferrari 625F1	Ferrari 2.5 L4	P
	10	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari 625F1 / Ferrari 555 Super Qualo
	11	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari 553 Squalo / Ferrari 555 Super Qualo
Scuderia Ambrosiana	12	Reg Parnell	Ferrari 500 / Ferrari 625F1	Ferrari 2.5 L4	A.
Ecurie Rosier	14th	Robert Manzon	Ferrari 625F1	Ferrari 2.5 L4	P
	15th	Louis Rosier	Ferrari 500 / Ferrari 625F1		D.
Equipe Gordini	17th	Jean Behra	Gordini Type 16	Gordini 2.5 L6	E.
	18th	Clemar Bucci
	19th	André Pilette
GA Vandervell	20th	Peter Collins	Vanwall Special	Vanwall 2.3 L4	P
Peter Whitehead	21st	Peter Whitehead	Cooper T24	Alta 2.5 L4	D.
WJ Whitehouse	22nd	Bill Whitehouse	Connaught Type A	Lea-Francis 2.0 L4	D.
Leslie Marr	23	Leslie Marr	Connaught Type A	Lea-Francis 2.0 L4	D.
Rob Walker Racing Team	24	John Riseley-Prichard	Connaught Type A	Lea-Francis 2.0 L4	D.
Sir Jeremy Boles	25th	Don Beauman	Connaught Type A	Lea-Francis 2.0 L4	D.
Ecurie Ecosse	26th	Leslie Thorne	Connaught Type A	Lea-Francis 2.0 L4	D.
Equipe Anglaise	27	Alan Brown	Cooper T23	Bristol 2.0 L6	D.
Goulds' garage	28	Horace Gould	Cooper T23	Bristol 2.0 L6	D.
FR Gerard	29	Bob Gerard	Cooper T23	Bristol 2.0 L6	D.
Ecurie Richmond	30th	Rodney Nuckey	Cooper T23	Bristol 2.0 L6	D.
		Eric Brandon
Officine Alfieri Maserati	31	Alberto Ascari	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
	32	Luigi Villoresi
	33	Onofre Marimón

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	1: 45.0	161.50 km / h	01
02	José Froilán González	Ferrari	1: 46.0	159.98 km / h	02
03	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	1: 46.0	159.98 km / h	03
04th	Stirling Moss	Maserati	1: 47.0	158.48 km / h	04th
05	Jean Behra	Gordini	1: 48.0	157.02 km / h	05
06th	Karl Kling	Mercedes	1: 48.0	157.02 km / h	06th
07th	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	1: 48.0	157.02 km / h	07th
08th	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	1: 48.0	157.02 km / h	08th
09	Ken Wharton	Maserati	1: 49.0	155.58 km / h	09
10	Prince Bira	Maserati	1: 49.0	155.58 km / h	10
11	Peter Collins	Vanwall	1: 50.0	154.16 km / h	11
12	André Pilette	Gordini	1: 51.0	152.77 km / h	12
13	Clemar Bucci	Gordini	1: 52.0	151.41 km / h	13
14th	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	1: 52.0	151.41 km / h	14th
15th	Robert Manzon	Ferrari	1: 52.0	151.41 km / h	15th
16	Harry Schell	Maserati	1: 52.0	151.41 km / h	16
17th	Don Beauman	Connaught	1: 55.0	147.76 km / h	17th
18th	Bob Gerard	cooper	1: 55.0	147.76 km / h	18th
19th	Bill Whitehouse	Connaught	1: 56.0	146.19 km / h	19th
20th	Horace Gould	cooper	1: 56.0	146.19 km / h	20th
21st	John Riseley-Prichard	Connaught	1: 58.0	143.71 km / h	21st
22nd	Leslie Marr	Connaught	1: 58.0	143.71 km / h	22nd
23	Leslie Thorne	Connaught	1: 59.0	142.50 km / h	23
24	Peter Whitehead	cooper	2: 00.0	141.32 km / h	24
25th	Eric Brandon	cooper	2: 05.0	135.66 km / h	25th
26th	Alan Brown	cooper	2: 12.0	128.47 km / h	26th
27	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	no time		27
28	Onofre Marimon	Maserati	no time		28
30th	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	no time		30th
31	Alberto Ascari	Maserati	no time		31
32	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	no time		32

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	José Froilán González	Ferrari	90		2: 56: 14.0	02
02	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	90		+ 70 s	03
03	Onofre Marimón	Maserati	89		+ 1 lap	28
04th	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	89		+1 lap	01
05	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	87		+ 3 rounds	8th
06th	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	87		+ 3 rounds	32
07th	Karl Kling	Mercedes	87		+ 3 rounds	06th
08th	Ken Wharton	Maserati	86		+ 4 rounds	09
09	André Pilette	Gordini	86		+ 4 rounds	12
10	Bob Gerard	cooper	85		+ 5 rounds	18th
11	Don Beauman	Connaught	84		+ 6 rounds	17th
12	Harry Schell	Maserati	83		+ 7 rounds	16
13	Leslie Marr	Connaught	82		+ 8 rounds	22nd
14th	Leslie Thorne	Connaught	78		+ 12 rounds	23
15th	Horace Gould	cooper	44		+ 46 laps	20th
-	Stirling Moss	Maserati	80		DNF	04th		Rear axle
-	Bill Whitehouse	Connaught	64		DNF	19th		Engine failure
-	Jean Behra	Gordini	55		DNF	05		suspension
-	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	53		DNF	07th		Power transmission
-	Ron Flockhart / Prince Bira	Maserati	44		DNF	10		accident
-	Luigi Villoresi / Alberto Ascari	Maserati	40		DNF	27		Engine failure
-	John Riseley-Prichard	Connaught	40		DNF	21st		accident
-	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	25th		DNF	14th		Engine failure
-	Alberto Ascari	Maserati	21st		DNF	31		Engine failure
-	Clemar Bucci	Gordini	18th		DNF	13		accident
-	Peter Collins	Vanwall	17th		DNF	11		Cylinder head gasket
-	Robert Manzon	Ferrari	16		DNF	15th		Engine failure
-	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	03		DNF	30th		Engine failure
-	Peter Whitehead	cooper	03		DNF	24		Engine failure
-	Eric Brandon	cooper	02		DNF	25th		Engine failure
-	Alan Brown	cooper			DNS
-	Rodney Nuckey	cooper			DNS

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 *					28.14
2.	José Froilán González	Ferrari	5 *		1.5		8.14 *					14.64
3.	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	3		6th		2					11
4th	Bill Vukovich	Kurti's power		8th								8th
5.	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari			1.5		6.14 *					7.64
6th	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	6th									6th
	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma		6th								6th
	Karl Kling	Mercedes				6th						6th
9.	Stirling Moss	Maserati			4th		0.14 *					4.14
	Onofre Marimon	Maserati					4.14 *					4.14
11.	Jack McGrath	Kurtis power		4th								4th
	Robert Manzon	Ferrari				4th						4th
13.	Prince Bira	Maserati				3						3
14th	Elie Bayol	Gordini	2									2
	Mike Nazaruk	Kurtis power		2								2
	André Pilette	Gordini			2							2
	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati				2						2
18th	Troy Ruttman	Kurti's power		1.5								1.5
	Duane Carter	Kurti's power		1.5								1.5
20th	Sam Hanks	Kurti's power		1*								1
	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes				1*						1
22nd	Alberto Ascari	Maserati					0.14 *					0.14
	Jean Behra	Maserati					0.14 *					0.14

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Rainer Günzler in International Motorsport . Yearbook 1954. Edited by ADAC and AvD, Europa-Contact Verlags GmbH, Döffingen 1954, p. 170 u. 171, pp. 175-179.
2. ↑ "GP Stories - The Races of 1954" (www.motorsport-magazin.com on January 14, 2013)