1955 British Grand Prix

The 1955 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Aintree on 16 July 1955. It was race 6 of 7 in the 1955 World Championship of Drivers. British driver Stirling Moss led a Mercedes 1–2–3–4 domination of the race, to win his first Formula One race narrowly ahead of his illustrious Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. Several people, including Moss, believed that the Argentine allowed his British protégé to claim his debut win in front of his home crowd. This was, however, at Moss' inquiry, consistently denied by Fangio, who claimed that Moss "was simply faster that day."

1955 British Grand Prix
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Race details
Date 16 July 1955
Official name 8th RAC British Grand Prix
Location Aintree Circuit, Liverpool, England
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.828 km (3.000 miles)
Distance 90 laps, 434.52 km (270.00 miles)
Weather Hot, dry.[1]
Attendance 75,000-100,000[1]
Pole position
Driver Mercedes
Time 2:00.4
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Stirling Moss Mercedes
Time 2:00.4
Podium
First Mercedes
Second Mercedes
Third Mercedes
Lap leaders

Subsequent to the race, the German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix were cancelled, in the wake of the Le Mans disaster. With only one Championship round therefore remaining (the Italian Grand Prix some 2 months later), Fangio's points advantage over Moss was sufficient to secure his third World Drivers' Championship.

This was the last all-Mercedes-powered podium until the 2014 Italian Grand Prix.

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 12   Stirling Moss Mercedes 2:00.4
2 10   Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes 2:00.6 +0.2
3 2   Jean Behra Maserati 2:01.4 +1.0
4 14   Karl Kling Mercedes 2:02.0 +1.6
5 50   Piero Taruffi Mercedes 2:03.0 +2.6
6 6   Roberto Mieres Maserati 2:03.2 +2.8
7 30   Harry Schell Vanwall 2:03.8 +3.4
8 8   André Simon Maserati 2:04.0 +3.6
9 4   Luigi Musso Maserati 2:04.2 +3.8
10 20   Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari 2:05.0 +4.6
11 22   Robert Manzon Gordini 2:05.0 +4.6
12 16   Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 2:05.4 +5.0
13 18   Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 2:05.4 +5.0
14 36   Tony Rolt Connaught-Alta 2:06.6 +6.2
15 28   Ken Wharton Vanwall 2:08.4 +8.0
16 46   Lance Macklin Maserati 2:08.4 +8.0
17 32   Kenneth McAlpine Connaught-Alta 2:09.6 +9.2
18 24   Hermano da Silva Ramos Gordini 2:10.6 +10.2
19 38   Leslie Marr Connaught-Alta 2:11.6 +11.2
20 44   Roy Salvadori Maserati 2:11.6 +11.2
21 34   Jack Fairman Connaught-Alta 2:11.6 +11.2
22 48   Horace Gould Maserati 2:11.8 +11.4
23 26   Mike Sparken Gordini 2:12.6 +12.2
24 42   Peter Collins Maserati 2:13.4 +13.0
25 40   Jack Brabham Cooper-Bristol 2:27.4 +27.0
Source:[2]

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 12   Stirling Moss Mercedes 90 3:07:21.2 1 91
2 10   Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes 90 +0.2 2 6
3 14   Karl Kling Mercedes 90 +1:11.8[3] 4 4
4 50   Piero Taruffi Mercedes 89 +1 Lap 5 3
5 4   Luigi Musso Maserati 89 +1 Lap 9 2
6 16   Mike Hawthorn
  Eugenio Castellotti
Ferrari 87 +3 Laps 12
7 26   Mike Sparken Gordini 81 +9 Laps 23
8 46   Lance Macklin Maserati 79 +11 Laps 16
9 28   Ken Wharton
  Harry Schell
Vanwall 72 +18 Laps 15
Ret 18   Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 59 Overheating 13
Ret 6   Roberto Mieres Maserati 47 Engine 6
Ret 40   Jack Brabham Cooper-Bristol 30 Engine 25
Ret 32   Kenneth McAlpine Connaught-Alta 30 Oil Pressure 17
Ret 42   Peter Collins Maserati 28 Clutch 24
Ret 24   Hermano da Silva Ramos Gordini 26 Oil Pressure 18
Ret 44   Roy Salvadori Maserati 23 Gearbox 20
Ret 48   Horace Gould Maserati 22 Brakes 22
Ret 30   Harry Schell Vanwall 20 Throttle 7
Ret 36   Tony Rolt
  Peter Walker
Connaught-Alta 19 Transmission 14
Ret 38   Leslie Marr Connaught-Alta 18 Brakes 19
Ret 20   Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari 16 Transmission 10
Ret 8   André Simon Maserati 9 Gearbox 8
Ret 2   Jean Behra Maserati 9 Oil Leak 3
Ret 22   Robert Manzon Gordini 4 Transmission 11
DNS 34   Jack Fairman Connaught-Alta Engine 21
Source:[4]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drives

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Notes

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  • This was the Formula One debut of future triple world champion Jack Brabham.
  • This was only the second time a Ferrari (powered-car) did not finish in a points position (be it through the classification or a fastest lap). It ended a 37-race streak since the 1950 Belgian Grand Prix of a Ferrari ending a race with at least one point.

Championship standings after the race

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Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
  1   Juan Manuel Fangio 33
  2   Stirling Moss 22
  3   Maurice Trintignant 11 13
  4   Nino Farina 10 13
  5   Bob Sweikert 8
Source:[5]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

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  1. ^ a b "100,000 at British Grand Prix". Liverpool Echo. 16 July 1955. Retrieved 9 July 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ "1955 British GP Qualification". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  3. ^ Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 90. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.
  4. ^ "1955 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Britain 1955 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.


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