1958 Grand Prix of Morocco

 1958 Grand Prix of Morocco

Racing data
11th of 11 races in the 1958 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	VII Grand Prix du Maroc
Date:	October 19, 1958
Place:	Casablanca , Morocco
Course:	Circuit d'Ain-Diab
Length:	403.754 km in 53 laps of 7.618 km
Weather:	sunny, dry, warm
Pole position
Driver:	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari
Time:	2: 23.1 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Stirling Moss	Vanwall
Time:	2: 22.5 (lap 21) min
Podium
First:	Stirling Moss	Vanwall
Second:	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari
Third:	Phil Hill	Ferrari

The 1958 Grand Prix of Morocco took place on October 19, 1958 on the Circuit d'Ain-Diab near Casablanca and was the eleventh race of the 1958 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

The season finale of the 1958 Formula 1 season was held in Morocco, this was the only time that a Grand Prix that counted for the World Championship took place in this country.

Mike Hawthorn and Stirling Moss still had a chance to win the drivers' title. Hawthorn was enough second place to become world champion. Moss, on the other hand, had to win the race and Hawthorn could only have finished third. The constructors' championship had already been decided before the race, Vanwall won this title.

Ferrari started with three cars. In addition to Hawthorn and Phil Hill , who established himself as a new regular driver for the team, Olivier Gendebien drove again for Scuderia Ferrari. For Hawthorn it was the last Formula 1 race of his career, he retired after the season. Competitor Vanwall also started with three cars. In addition to Moss, Tony Brooks and Stuart Lewis-Evans were also registered for the race. Since Vanwall gradually withdrew from Formula 1 after 1958 and only took part in isolated races, Moss left the team after the 1958 Grand Prix of Morocco. For Lewis Evans it was the last race of his career, as he was fatal at this Grand Prix crashed.

The midfield teams sent more vehicles into the race than usual. BRM drove in four cars, Jean Behra , Harry Schell , Jo Bonnier and Ron Flockhart were the drivers. For Behra it was the last race for BRM after a season marked by countless failures and he switched to Ferrari. Also, Cooper reported four cars for the Grand Prix of Morocco, alongside regular drivers Jack Brabham and Roy Salvadori received Bruce McLaren and Jack Fairman a cockpit. At Lotus , Cliff Allison drove for the team one last time alongside Graham Hill , and he also moved to Scuderia Ferrari the following season.

Many drivers were registered for the race in private cars. Previously this was mostly Maserati 250F , but some drivers with private Cooper T45s competed at the Grand Prix of Morocco , which displaced the Maserati among private cars in the following years. Wolfgang Seidel , Hans Herrmann and Masten Gregory drove for the last time in a Maserati, for Gerino Gerini it was the last race of his career. Maurice Trintignant , Francois Picard , André Guelfi , Tom Bridger and Robert La Caze were registered on Cooper . With the exception of Trintignant, these drivers all drove their only Formula 1 race. La Caze became known as the oldest living Formula 1 driver in 2012 after the death of Paul Pietsch .

training

The training for the 1958 Grand Prix of Morocco was a duel between the drivers' title contenders Hawthorn and Moss, which Hawthorn won one last time with a tenth of a second advantage. With a total of four best practice times, Hawthorn achieved the most pole positions of the 1958 Formula 1 season.

Half a second slower than Moss, Lewis-Evans qualified third on the grid, ahead of Behra in fourth. The BRM driver Behra was the only one to keep up with the times of the two top teams Ferrari and Maserati. Phil Hill and Gendebien started from position five and six, behind Behra, Brooks completed the leading group in position seven.

In midfield, Bonnier finished eighth on the grid in his second race for BRM, while his team-mate Schell finished tenth. Between the two was Trintignant, who was once again the best driver of those with private cars.

The best Cooper works driver was Fairman in eleventh place, closely followed by Graham Hill as the best Lotus driver. Gregory, on a Maserati, achieved 13th starting position, but the best car of the previous year was no longer competitive, the car was more than four seconds short of pole time.

run

Formula 1 World Champion 1958, Mike Hawthorn

The starting duel between the two title contenders was won by Moss, during which Phil Hill made the best start again, improving from the second row to position two behind the leader Moss. Then Phil Hill tried several times to overtake Moss, but he did not succeed. On lap three he fell behind Hawthorn and Bonnier due to a driving error. This order would make Hawthorn world champion, but Ferrari decided to let Phil Hill take the lead again. After overtaking Bonnier, Hawthorn let him pass and Phil Hill caught up with Moss again. For Moss, the driver's chances of the title increased when his team-mate Brooks first overtook Bonnier and then Hawthorn.

Trintignant retired on lap nine with engine failure, on lap 15 Flockhart suffered the same fate and Behra also retired in his last race for BRM as in so many races before due to technology. On lap 15, Moss drove into the rear of Seidel while lapping and damaged his car. For Seidel, the race was over with this accident. Since there was a point for the fastest race lap, and this could be decisive, Moss drove the fastest lap of the race shortly after the accident and continued to lead the same. Behind him, Hawthorn and Brooks dueled for third place, which Hawthorn claimed after Brooks retired on lap 29 with engine failure. Since Phil Hill could not get close to the leader Moss, Ferrari renounced the victory and decided instead to direct the stables. Phil Hill, according to instructions from Scuderia Ferrari, let Hawthorn pass, giving Hawthorn second place, which would be enough for him for the driver's title.

The second half of the race was overshadowed by several accidents. Gendebien, Bridger and Picard were eliminated. On lap 41, Lewis-Evans came across a pool of oil and slipped off the track. He collided with several trees, breaking a fuel line on his car and catching fire. Lewis-Evans escaped from the cockpit but ran away from the auxiliaries and marshalls in confusion and shock. He died six days later as a result of the severe burns. Vanwall's team boss, Tony Vandervell , seriously ill at the time, withdrew from motorsport in response. His team only took part in two races in the following two years. Lewis-Evans was catching up with Phil Hill and Hawthorn before his accident. Moss won ahead of Hawthorn and Phil Hill. This decided the drivers' world championship by one point in favor of Hawthorn, which was one of the tightest world championship decisions in Formula 1 history. After the race, Moss congratulated Hawthorn with the words “So you got it you old so-and-so”. Hawthorn announced to Enzo Ferrari that he will be stepping down from motorsport. There was no official announcement of the resignation, however, as Hawthorn died in a private car accident a few weeks after the end of the season. Hawthorn was the first British Formula 1 world champion, for this reason the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy has been awarded every year since 1959, with which the best driver from Great Britain or the Commonwealth is honored.

With fourth place Bonnier reached the points for the first time in his career, Schell was fifth ahead of Gregory and Salvadori. Brooks came third in the drivers' standings, ahead of Salvadori and Peter Collins . The constructors' championship had already been decided one race before, Vanwall achieved the maximum possible number of points with 48 points. Even in terms of absolute points, Vanwall would have become world champion, the designer, like Ferrari, had 57 total points, but achieved more victories. Cooper came in third, ahead of BRM and Maserati. Both the driver's title and the constructor's title were the last world championships for a front-engined car.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Scuderia Ferrari	02	Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari Dino 246F1	Ferrari 2.4 V6	E.
	04th	Phil Hill
	06th	Mike Hawthorn
Vandervell Products Ltd	08th	Stirling Moss	Vanwall VW57	Vanwall 2.5 L4	D.
	10	Tony Brooks
	12	Stuart Lewis-Evans
Owen Racing Organization	14th	Jean Behra	BRM P25	BRM 2.5 L4	D.
	16	Harry Schell
	18th	Jo Bonnier
	20th	Ron Flockhart
Temple Buell	22nd	Masts Gregory	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
Scuderia Centro Sud	24	Wolfgang Seidel	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
	26th	Gerino Gerini
Cooper Car Company	28	Roy Salvadori	Cooper T45	Climax 2.2 L4	D.
	30th	Jack Fairman		Climax 2.0 L4
	50	Jack Brabham		Climax 1.5 L4
	52	Bruce McLaren
Team Lotus	32	Graham Hill	Lotus 16	Climax 2.0 L4	D.
	34	Cliff Allison	Lotus 12
Rob Walker Racing Team	36	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper T45	Climax 2.2 L4	D.
	54	Francois Picard	Cooper T43	Climax 1.5 L4
Jo Bonnier	38	Hans Herrmann	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
André Guelfi	48	André Guelfi	Cooper T45	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
British Racing Partnership	56	Tom Bridger	Cooper T45	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
Robert La Caze	58	Robert La Caze	Cooper T45	Climax 1.5 L4	D.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	2: 23.1	191.65 km / h	01
02	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	2: 23.2	191.51 km / h	02
03	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Vanwall	2: 23.7	190.85 km / h	03
04th	Jean Behra	BRM	2: 23.8	190.71 km / h	04th
05	Phil Hill	Ferrari	2: 24.1	190.32 km / h	05
06th	Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari	2: 24.3	190.05 km / h	06th
07th	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	2: 24.4	189.92 km / h	07th
08th	Jo Bonnier	BRM	2: 24.9	189.27 km / h	08th
09	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Climax	2: 26.0	187.84 km / h	09
10	Harry Schell	BRM	2: 26.4	187.33 km / h	10
11	Jack Fairman	Cooper-Climax	2: 27.0	186.56 km / h	11
12	Graham Hill	Lotus Climax	2: 27.1	186.44 km / h	12
13	Masts Gregory	Maserati	2: 27.6	185.80 km / h	13
14th	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	2: 28.6	184.55 km / h	14th
15th	Ron Flockhart	BRM	2: 29.8	183.08 km / h	15th
16	Cliff Allison	Lotus Climax	2: 33.7	178.43 km / h	16
17th	Gerino Gerini	Maserati	2: 35.1	176.82 km / h	17th
18th	Hans Herrmann	Maserati	2: 35.1	176.82 km / h	18th
19th	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	2: 36.6	175.13 km / h	19th
20th	Wolfgang Seidel	Maserati	2: 38.2	173.36 km / h	20th
21st	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	2: 41.2	170.13 km / h	21st
22nd	Tom Bridger	Cooper-Climax	2: 42.5	168.77 km / h	22nd
23	Robert La Caze	Cooper-Climax	2: 43.1	168.15 km / h	23
24	Francois Picard	Cooper-Climax	2: 46.6	164.61 km / h	24
25th	André Guelfi	Cooper-Climax	2: 47.0	164.22 km / h	25th

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	53		2: 09: 15.1	02	2: 22.5
02	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	53		+1: 24.7	01
03	Phil Hill	Ferrari	53		+1: 25.5	05
04th	Jo Bonnier	BRM	53		+1: 46.7	08th
05	Harry Schell	BRM	53		+ 2: 33.7	10
06th	Masts Gregory	Maserati	52		+ 1 lap	13
07th	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	51		+ 2 rounds	14th
08th	Jack Fairman	Cooper-Climax	50		+ 3 rounds	11
09	Hans Herrmann	Maserati	50		+ 3 rounds	18th
10	Cliff Allison	Lotus Climax	49		+ 4 rounds	16
11	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	49		+ 4 rounds	19th
12	Gerino Gerini	Maserati	48		+ 5 rounds	17th
13	Bruce McLaren	Cooper-Climax	48		+ 5 rounds	21st
14th	Robert La Caze	Cooper-Climax	48		+ 5 rounds	23
15th	André Guelfi	Cooper-Climax	48		+ 5 rounds	25th
16	Graham Hill	Lotus Climax	46		+ 7 rounds	12
-	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Vanwall	41		DNF	03		Deadly accident
-	Francois Picard	Cooper-Climax	31		DNF	24		accident
-	Tom Bridger	Cooper-Climax	30th		DNF	22nd		accident
-	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	29		DNF	07th		Engine failure
-	Olivier Gendebien	Ferrari	29		DNF	06th		accident
-	Jean Behra	BRM	26th		DNF	04th		Engine failure
-	Ron Flockhart	BRM	15th		DNF	15th		Engine failure
-	Wolfgang Seidel	Maserati	15th		DNF	20th		accident
-	Maurice Trintignant	Cooper-Climax	09		DNF	09		Engine failure

World Cup stands after the race

The first five of the race got 8, 6, 4, 3, 2 points. The driver with the fastest race lap received an additional 1 point. Only the six best results from eleven races counted. Only the points of the best placed driver on a team counted in the constructors' championship.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 42 (49) 02  Stirling Moss Cooper-Climax / Vanwall 41 03  Tony Brooks Vanwall 24 04th  Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 15th 05  Peter Collins Ferrari 14th 06th  Harry Schell BRM 14th 07th  Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax 12 08th  Luigi Musso Ferrari 12 09  Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall 11 10  Phil Hill Ferrari 9 11  Jean Behra Maserati / BRM 9

Item driver constructor Points 12  Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips Ferrari 9 13  Jimmy Bryan Epperly-Offenhauser 8th 14th  Juan Manuel Fangio Maserati 7th 15th  George Amick Epperly-Offenhauser 6th 16  Johnny Boyd Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 4th 17th  Tony Bettenhausen Epperly-Offenhauser 4th 18th  Cliff Allison Lotus Climax 3 19th  Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 3 20th  Jo Bonnier BRM 3 21st  Jim Rathmann Epperly-Offenhauser 2

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Vanwall 48 (57) 02  Ferrari 40 (57) 03  Cooper-Climax 31 04th  BRM 18th 05  Maserati 6th 06th  lotus 3

Web links

• Results at motorsportarchiv.de
• Photos at f1-facts.com
• Hawthorn's title on another day of tragedy at espn1.com
• Grand Prix Results: Morocco GP, 1958 at grandprix.com