1957 Pescara Grand Prix

 1957 Pescara Grand Prix

Racing data
7th of 8 races in the 1957 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	XXV Circuito di Pescara
Date:	August 18, 1957
Place:	Pescara
Course:	Circuito di Pescara
Length:	460.422 km in 18 laps of 25.579 km
Weather:	hot and dry
Spectator:	~ 200,000
Pole position
Driver:	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati
Time:	9: 44.6 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Stirling Moss	Vanwall
Time:	9: 44.6 min
Podium
First:	Stirling Moss	Vanwall
Second:	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati
Third:	Harry Schell	Maserati

The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix took place on August 18th on the country roads near Pescara, the Circuito di Pescara , and was the seventh race of the 1957 World Automobile Championship .

Reports

background

After the June races, the Belgian and Dutch Grand Prix, had been canceled due to financial difficulties, the FIA exceptionally included the “Pescara Grand Prix” in the 1957 Formula 1 World Championship calendar at short notice . The Grand Prix previously took place twice as a Formula 1 race, but was not counted for the drivers' world championship.

For safety reasons, a Formula 1 Grand Prix was held on this track for the last time, as the route on the start straight ran right next to a high cliff and the general safety standard was very low. In the event of an accident on the long straight, the driver would have crashed down the cliff and landed directly in the Mediterranean. For this reason, Enzo Ferrari refused to allow his Ferrari team to take part in the Pescara Grand Prix, as he had already lost Eugenio Castellotti and Alfonso de Portago in fatal accidents that year. Other reasons for the planned non-participation were the already won driver's world championship by Juan Manuel Fangio , the limited training opportunities on the country roads around Pescara and the investigations of the Italian judiciary due to the eleven people killed in a Ferrari accident in May 1957 in the Mille Miglia road race . Only Luigi Musso , second in the drivers' standings and with ambitions for the runner-up world championship title, convinced Ferrari to provide him with a car, with which Ferrari was registered for the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix, but with only one car instead of the usual four.

Maserati , like Vanwall, did not change its driver line-up in the last race and drove four cars for Fangio, Jean Behra , Giorgio Scarlatti and Harry Schell . Cooper was registered with a car for Roy Salvadori for the Pescara Grand Prix and then withdrew prematurely from the 1957 Drivers' Championship. Jack Brabham , who usually started for Cooper, switched back to the Rob Walker Racing Team and was the only driver to drive a private Cooper T43 .

Several teams with private vehicles, mostly Maserati 250F , took part in the Grand Prix, Scuderia Centro Sud fielded two cars with Jo Bonnier and Masten Gregory , Luigi Piotti was back at the start after a break for several races. Bruce Halford , Paco Godia and Horace Gould were also registered with private Maserati.

Just three weeks later, the 1957 Italian Grand Prix took place in Monza as usual , which was the first time that two Formula 1 World Championship races were held in one country. In addition, the Pescara Grand Prix was the grand prix with the longest distance to be covered for one lap. At 25.579 kilometers, no other route in Formula 1 history was so long.In the next few decades, those in charge of Formula 1 increasingly relied on shorter racetracks so that ambulances can quickly reach every accident point along the route and for other safety reasons.

training

The training for the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix was dominated again by Fangio, who achieved the fourth pole position in the 1957 Automobile World Championship . For Maserati it was the tenth and final pole position in their team history. Fangio was over ten seconds faster than second-placed Vanwall driver Stirling Moss and over 15 seconds faster than Musso, who competed privately for Ferrari. The second row was filled by Fangio's teammates Behra and Schell, followed by Brooks, Gregory and Evans. Gregory set the fastest time of those drivers with private cars, his team mate Bonnier started the race from ninth place. Cooper's cars were not competitive during practice and occupied the last two places on the grid, more than a minute behind pole time.

run

It was so hot on race day that the start of the race had to be brought forward to 9.30 a.m. in order to protect the driver and the material. At the start, Fangio again failed to make optimal use of the pole position, both Musso and Moss overtook him, while a mechanic in the back field left the grid too slowly and was hit by Gould. On the second lap of the race, Moss overtook Musso and took the lead, which he did not give up later in the race. While Musso kept the gap to Moss small, there were many cancellations due to the intense heat in the field. Piotti suffered an engine failure before the first lap was completed, one lap later Tony Brooks retired with engine failure. Already on lap three Salvadori gave up the race with a damaged suspension, Behras Maserati had an oil leak and Lewis-Evans was a complete lap behind because he had two punctures on his car within a short period of time. Up to the ninth lap, Bonnier, Halford and Godia were retired, all three drivers were due to technical defects due to the high temperatures.

The race decision followed on lap ten, Musso's engine smoked and he made a repair pit stop. The engine left a trail of oil on the roadway, on which Fangio skidded and hit the guardrail. The damaged bike was then repaired by Maserati and Fangio came back on the track in second position. Moss had built up an unassailable lead and used it for a safety pit stop, where he had something to drink and had the oil refilled in his car.

Musso parked his Ferrari with an oil leak on the last lap of the race, which meant that he was no longer counted for the race, although the distance he had covered would have been enough for the points. Moss scored the second victory for Vanwall and climbed several positions to second place in the drivers' championship. Two Maserati drivers, Fangio and Schell, completed the podium, Gregory scored further world championship points for Scuderia Centro Sud in fourth place, and Lewis-Evans came in fifth.

In the drivers' championship, the world championship had already been decided, but in the last race of the Formula 1 season in 1957, the 1957 Italian Grand Prix, several drivers were still able to become vice world champions.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Officine Alfieri Maserati	02	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
				Maserati 2.5 V12
	04th	Jean Behra		Maserati 2.5 L6
	06th	Harry Schell
	08th	Giorgio Scarlatti
Francisco Godia-Sales	10	Paco Godia	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
Luigi Piotti	12	Luigi Piotti	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
Scuderia Centro Sud	14th	Masts Gregory	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
	16	Jo Bonnier
HH Gould	18th	Horace Gould	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
Bruce Halford	20th	Bruce Halford	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
Cooper Car Co.	22nd	Roy Salvadori	Cooper T43	Climax 1.5 L4	D.
	24	Jack Brabham
Vandervell Products Ltd	26th	Stirling Moss	Vanwall VW57	Vanwall 2.5 L4	P
	28	Tony Brooks
	30th	Stuart Lewis-Evans
Scuderia Ferrari	34	Luigi Musso	Ferrari 801	Ferrari 2.5 V8	E.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	9: 44.6	157.52 km / h	01
02	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	9: 54.7	154.84 km / h	02
03	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	10: 00.0	153.47 km / h	03
04th	Jean Behra	Maserati	10: 03.1	152.69 km / h	04th
05	Harry Schell	Maserati	10: 04.6	152.31 km / h	05
06th	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	10: 08.8	151.26 km / h	06th
07th	Masts Gregory	Maserati	10: 26.1	147.08 km / h	07th
08th	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Vanwall	10: 29.6	146.26 km / h	08th
09	Jo Bonnier	Maserati	10: 28.7	146.47 km / h	09
10	Giorgio Scarlatti	Maserati	10: 36.6	144.65 km / h	10
11	Horace Gould	Maserati	10: 49.6	141.76 km / h	11
12	Paco Godia	Maserati	11: 09.8	137.48 km / h	12
13	Luigi Piotti	Maserati	11: 10.6	137.32 km / h	13
14th	Bruce Halford	Maserati	11: 16.3	136.16 km / h	14th
15th	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	11: 24.2	134.59 km / h	15th
16	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	11: 35.2	132.46 km / h	16

3 Luigi Musso Ferrari

2 Stirling Moss Vanwall

1 Juan Manuel Fangio Maserati

5 Harry Schell Maserati

4 Jean Behra Maserati

8 Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall

7 masts Gregory Maserati

6 Tony Brooks Vanwall

10 Giorgio Scarlatti Maserati

9 Joakim Bonnier Maserati

13 Luigi Piotti Maserati

12 Paco Godia Maserati

11 Horace Gould Maserati

15 Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax

14 Bruce Halford Maserati

16 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	18th		2: 59: 22.7	02
02	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	18th		+ 3: 13.9	01
03	Harry Schell	Maserati	18th		+ 6: 46.8	05
04th	Masts Gregory	Maserati	18th		+ 8: 16.5	07th
05	Stuart Lewis-Evans	Vanwall	17th		+ 1 lap	08th
06th	Giorgio Scarlatti	Maserati	17th		+ 1 lap	10
07th	Jack Brabham	Cooper-Climax	15th		+ 3 rounds	16
-	Luigi Musso	Ferrari	18th		DNF	03		Oil leak
-	Paco Godia	Maserati	09		DNF	12		Engine failure
-	Bruce Halford	Maserati	09		DNF	14th		differential
-	Jo Bonnier	Maserati	07th		DNF	09		Overheating
-	Jean Behra	Maserati	03		DNF	04th		Oil leak
-	Roy Salvadori	Cooper-Climax	03		DNF	15th		suspension
-	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	01		DNF	06th		Engine failure
-	Horace Gould	Maserati	00		DNF	11		accident
-	Luigi Piotti	Maserati	00		DNF	13		Engine failure

World Cup stand 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 five best results from eight races counted.

Item driver constructor Points 01  Juan Manuel Fangio Maserati 40 02  Stirling Moss Maserati / Vanwall 17th 03  Luigi Musso Ferrari 16 04th  Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 13 05  Tony Brooks Vanwall 10 06th  Harry Schell Maserati 9 07th  Sam Hanks Epperly-Offenhauser 8th 08th  Peter Collins Ferrari 8th 09  Jim Rathmann Epperly-Offenhauser 7th 10  Masts Gregory Maserati 7th

Item driver constructor Points 11  Jean Behra Maserati 6th 12  Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 5 13  Stuart Lewis-Evans Connaught-Alta / Vanwall 5 14th  Carlos Menditeguy Maserati 4th 15th  Jimmy Bryan Kuzma-Offenhauser 4th 16  Paul Russo Kurtis Kraft-Novi 3 17th  Andy Linden Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser 2 18th  Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 2 19th  Alfonso de Portago Ferrari 1 20th  José Froilán González Ferrari 1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ GP Stories - The races of 1957 In: motorsport-magazin.com , accessed on October 23, 2013.

Web links

• Results at motorsportarchiv.de
• Photos at f1-facts.com
• GRAND PRIX RESULTS: PESCARA GP, 1957 at grandprix.com