1954 Spanish Grand Prix

 1954 Spanish Grand Prix

Racing data
9th of 9 races in the 1954 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	XII Gran Premio de España
Date:	October 24, 1954
Place:	Barcelona , Spain
Course:	Circuit de Pedralbes
Length:	505.28 km in 80 laps of 6.316 km
Weather:	sunny, dry
Pole position
Driver:	Alberto Ascari	Lancia
Time:	2: 18.1 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Alberto Ascari	Lancia
Time:	2: 20.4 min
Podium
First:	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari
Second:	Luigi Musso	Maserati
Third:	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes

The 1954 Spanish Grand Prix took place on October 24th at the Circuit de Pedralbes near Barcelona and was the ninth race of the 1954 World Cup .

Reports

background

The Spanish Grand Prix was held again in 1954 for the second time in Formula 1 history after a two-year break. At the 1951 Spanish Grand Prix , Fangio won his first driver's world championship. Another Grand Prix was planned for the Circuit de Pedralbes in 1955 , but was canceled as a result of the 1955 Le Mans disaster . Afterwards there was never another Formula 1 race on this racetrack. The next Spanish Grand Prix was not held again until 1967, now on the Circuito del Jarama .

At the season finale in 1954, the world championship title for Juan Manuel Fangio and the runner-up world championship for his Argentinian compatriot José Froilán González had already been decided. Only third place in the drivers' standings was still open between the British Mike Hawthorn and the French Maurice Trintignant .

Fangio has already won six of the previous eight races this season and was the favorite at the start. In the previous races the dominance of the Mercedes team , which won a large part of the races, was evident , but Ferrari and Maserati kept up well with Mercedes in the previous races, but due to their lack of reliability and the lack of top speed of their cars, none won.

The Spanish Grand Prix brought Lancia's long-awaited debut in Formula 1. The Lancia D50 differed from the other Formula 1 cars in that it had a rather simple shape and eye-catching side pods.

Lancia D50

They served as fuel tanks and as an aerodynamic aid for the constant evacuation of air between the tires. Lancia was the first team to use the side pods as an aerodynamic aid and was ahead of the Mercedes in this regard. Compared to the competition, the V8 engine of the Lancia D50 was built into the car as a load-bearing part of the overall structure, which gave the car additional stability. Former world champion Alberto Ascari and his Italian compatriot Luigi Villoresi drove for the team .

Maserati started with five vehicles, Ferrari and Gordini only had two cars each, Ferrari did not use a car for González. Furthermore, many private teams and drivers with private cars took part in the race. The Swiss Ottorino Volonterio drove his first Formula 1 race, Prince Bira and Jacques Swaters ended their Formula 1 careers after the race. The 1954 Spanish Grand Prix was the last race in which a driver from Thailand took part (as of July 8, 2013).

training

Training for the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix was dominated by the new Lancia team. Ascari drove the fastest lap in the Lancia D50 with 2: 18.1 minutes and was thus one second faster than the second-placed Fangio in the Mercedes. The first two positions on the starting grid were held by the two-time world champions of that time, which promised an exciting race. Third place went to Hawthorn in a Ferrari, fourth place to Harry Schell in a private Maserati. Schell was the only driver with a private car who achieved a good starting position. All other starting positions were occupied by the four top teams Lancia, Mercedes, Ferrari and Maserati from pole position to 13th place. Gordini disappointed again with Jacques Pollet's starting position 16 . Peter Collins in Vanwall had an accident during training and was unable to take part in the race.

run

At the start, Schell and Trintignant got away the best and won several positions. Schell fought for the lead from Hawthorn, Ascari and Trintignant and led a race for the first time in his career. However, he started the race with the tanks only half full. After just one lap, Villoresi, the first Lancia, was eliminated due to braking problems, while Ascari recaptured the lead in the second Lancia. He then led the field in a superior manner, but retired on lap nine with a damaged clutch. Schell was now leading again in front of the two Ferrari drivers Trintignant and Hawthorn. The pressure from the two faster pursuers forced Schell into a driving error a few laps later. Schell drove on, but fell back to fourth place behind Fangio. Trintignant was now in the lead, also for the first time in his career, but retired only a short time later due to technical difficulties. Stirling Moss and both Gordini drivers suffered the same fate at this stage of the race. The race had a high failure rate, of 21 cars that started only 9 made it to the finish. As in the previous races, more than half of the drivers dropped out and reliability was the key criterion when deciding on first places. One of the reasons for the high failure rate was newspapers flying around and clogging the air inlets of many cars.

In the final laps of the race, Hawthorn and Fangio battled it out for victory. But Fangio had to drive more slowly because of oil penetrating into the cockpit and fell back. Hawthorn then won safely, won his second of three races and secured third place in the drivers' championship. However, he did not extend his Ferrari contract after the race and temporarily withdrew from Formula 1. He later returned and won the 1958 world championship with Ferrari.

In the final phase, Fangio had to struggle with overheating problems due to the oil loss and was overtaken by Maserati driver Luigi Musso towards the end of the race, who won the first points of his career and achieved his first podium. For Fangio, the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix was the only race of his successful career in which he finished third. Ascari drove the fastest race lap. Overall, however, the Lancia debut was disappointing, as despite a superior pole position and the fastest race lap, both drivers retired relatively quickly with defects.

The season ended with a world champion, Fangio, who won most of the races of the season, whose Mercedes dominated throughout the season but was beaten by Ferrari in a few races. Fangio is the only Formula 1 world champion who drove for two teams in one year and won the world title in the process.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Daimler-Benz AG	02	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes-Benz W 196	Mercedes-Benz 2.5 L8	C.
	04th	Karl Kling
	06th	Hans Herrmann
Maserati	08th	Stirling Moss	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
	10	Roberto Mieres
	12	Sergio Mantovani
	14th	Luigi Musso
	16	Chico Godia
B. Bira	18th	Prince Bira	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
Ecurie Rosier	20th	Robert Manzon	Ferrari 625F1	Ferrari 2.5 L4	P
	26th	Louis Rosier	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6
Emmanuel de Graffenried	22nd	Emmanuel de Graffenried	Maserati A6GCM / Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
		Ottorino Volonterio
Harry Schell	24	Harry Schell	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	P
Owen Racing Organization	28	Ken Wharton	Maserati 250F	Maserati 2.5 L6	D.
Ecurie Francorchamps	30th	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari 500 / Ferrari 625F1	Ferrari 2.5 L4	E.
Scuderia Lancia	34	Alberto Ascari	Lancia D50	Lancia 2.5 V8	P
	36	Luigi Villoresi
Scuderia Ferrari	38	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari 553 Squalo	Ferrari 2.5 L4	P
	40	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari 625F1 / Ferrari 555 Super Qualo
Vandervell Products Ltd	42	Peter Collins	Vanwall Special	Vanwall 2.4 L4	P
Equipe Gordini	46	Jean Behra	Gordini Type 16	Gordini 2.5 L6	E.
	48	Jacques Pollet

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Emmanuel de Graffenried drove the Maserati with the number 22 until the 30th lap of the race. In this, Ottorino Volonterio took over the cockpit.

Classifications

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Ø speed	begin
01	Alberto Ascari	Lancia	2: 18.1	164.65 km / h	01
02	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	2: 19.1	163.46 km / h	02
03	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	2: 20.6	161.72 km / h	03
04th	Harry Schell	Maserati	2: 20.6	161.72 km / h	04th
05	Luigi Villoresi	Lancia	2: 21.0	161.26 km / h	05
06th	Stirling Moss	Maserati	2: 21.2	161.03 km / h	06th
07th	Luigi Musso	Maserati	2: 21.5	160.69 km / h	07th
08th	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	2: 01.4	186.82 km / h	08th
09	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes	2: 21.9	160.24 km / h	09
10	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati	2: 22.0	160.12 km / h	10
11	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	2: 22.3	159.79 km / h	11
12	Karl Kling	Mercedes	2: 23.4	158.56 km / h	12
13	Chico Godia	Maserati	2: 24.2	157.68 km / h	13
14th	Ken Wharton	Maserati	2: 25.7	156.06 km / h	14th
15th	Prince Bira	Maserati	2: 26.1	155.63 km / h	15th
16	Jacques Pollet	Gordini	2: 27.4	154.26 km / h	16
17th	Robert Manzon	Ferrari	2: 27.5	154.15 km / h	17th
18th	Jean Behra	Gordini	2: 27.8	153.84 km / h	18th
19th	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	2: 28.0	153.63 km / h	19th
20th	Louis Rosier	Maserati	2: 29.8	151.79 km / h	20th
21st	Emmanuel de Graffenried	Maserati	2: 29.8	151.79 km / h	21st

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason
01	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	80		3: 13: 52.1	03
02	Luigi Musso	Maserati	80		+1: 13.2	07th
03	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	79		+ 1 lap	02
04th	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	79		+ 1 lap	11
05	Karl Kling	Mercedes	79		+ 1 lap	12
06th	Chico Godia	Maserati	76		+ 4 rounds	13
07th	Louis Rosier	Maserati	74		+ 6 rounds	20th
08th	Ken Wharton	Maserati	74		+ 6 rounds	14th
09	Prince Bira	Maserati	68		+ 12 rounds	15th
-	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati	58		DNF	10		Brakes / accident
-	Ottorino Volonterio	Maserati	57		DNF	21st		Engine failure
-	Emmanuel de Graffenried Ottorino Volonterio	Ferrari	57		DNF	21st		Engine failure
-	Harry Schell	Maserati	52		DNF	04th		Power transmission
-	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes	50		DNF	09		injection
-	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	47		DNF	08th		transmission
-	Jacques Pollet	Gordini	37		DNF	16		Power transmission
-	Stirling Moss	Maserati	19th		DNF	06th		Oil pump
-	Jean Behra	Gordini	16		DNF	18th		Brakes
-	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	15th		DNF	19th		Engine failure
-	Alberto Ascari	Lancia	09		DNF	01		coupling
-	Robert Manzon	Ferrari	01		DNF	17th		Engine failure
-	Luigi Villoresi	Lancia	01		DNF	05		Brakes
-	Peter Collins	Vanwall	00		DNS			Accident in training

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 *)	8th	9 *	(8th)	(4)	42 (57.14)
2.	José Froilán González	Ferrari	5 *		(1.5)		8.14 *	3	6th	3 *		25.14 (26.64)
3.	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari			1.5		6.14 *	3		6th	8th	24.64
4th	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	3		6th		2	4th		2		17th
5.	Karl Kling	Mercedes				6th		4 *			2	12
6th	Bill Vukovich	Kurti's power		8th								8th
	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes				1*			4th	3		8th
8th.	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	6th									6th
	Jimmy Bryan	Kuzma		6th								6th
	Luigi Musso	Maserati									6th	6th
	Roberto Mieres	Maserati							3		3	6th
12.	Stirling Moss	Maserati			4th		0.14 *					4.14
	Onofre Marimon	Maserati					4.14 *					4.14
14th	Jack McGrath	Kurtis power		4th								4th
	Robert Manzon	Ferrari				4th						4th
	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati						2	2			4th
17th	Prince Bira	Maserati				3						3
18th	Elie Bayol	Gordini	2									2
	Mike Nazaruk	Kurtis power		2								2
	André Pilette	Gordini			2							2
	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati				2						2
	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari								2		2
23.	Troy Ruttman	Kurti's power		1.5								1.5
	Duane Carter	Kurti's power		1.5								1.5
25th	Alberto Ascari	Maserati / Lancia					0.14 *				1*	1.14
26th	Sam Hanks	Kurti's power		1*								1
27.	Jean Behra	Maserati					0.14 *					0.14

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lancia D50. In: grandprixhistory.org , accessed July 16, 2013.

Web links

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