1955 Formula One season

The 1955 Formula One season was the ninth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1955 World Championship of Drivers,[1] which commenced on 16 January 1955 and ended on 11 September after seven races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his second consecutive World Championship title in a season curtailed by tragedies.

The season also included several non-championship Formula One races.

This was the last championship for Mercedes until 2014.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1955 FIA World Championship.

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Driver	Rounds
Daimler Benz AG	Mercedes	W196	Mercedes M196 2.5 L8	C	Juan Manuel Fangio	1–2, 4–7
					Karl Kling	1, 4–7
					Stirling Moss	1–2, 4–7
					Hans Herrmann	1–2
					André Simon	2
					Piero Taruffi	6–7
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	625 555	Ferrari 555 2.5 L4	E	Umberto Maglioli	1, 7
					José Froilán González	1
					Maurice Trintignant	1–2, 4–7
					Harry Schell	2, 4
					Piero Taruffi	2, 4
					Paul Frère	2, 4
					Mike Hawthorn	5–7
					Eugenio Castellotti	5–7
					Giuseppe Farina	1–2, 4
	Lancia	D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8		Giuseppe Farina	7
Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	P	Jean Behra	1–2, 4–7
					Roberto Mieres	1–2, 4–7
					Sergio Mantovani	1
					Luigi Musso	1–2, 4–7
					Carlos Menditeguy	1, 7
					Clemar Bucci	1
					Harry Schell	1
					Cesare Perdisa	2, 4
					André Simon	6
					Peter Collins	7
					Horace Gould	7
Alberto Uria	Maserati	A6GCM	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	P	Alberto Uria	1
Scuderia Lancia	Lancia	D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8	P	Alberto Ascari	1–2
					Luigi Villoresi	1–2, 7
					Eugenio Castellotti	1–2, 4
					Louis Chiron	2
Equipe Gordini	Gordini	T16	Gordini 23 2.5 L6	E	Élie Bayol	1–2
					Pablo Birger	1
					Jesús Iglesias	1
					Robert Manzon	2, 5–6
					Jacques Pollet	2, 5, 7
					Hermano da Silva Ramos	5–7
					Mike Sparken	6
					Jean Lucas	7
Ecurie Rosier	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	P	Louis Rosier	2, 4–5
Vandervell Products	Vanwall	VW 55	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4	P	Mike Hawthorn	2, 4
					Ken Wharton	6–7
					Harry Schell	6–7
Stirling Moss Ltd	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D	Lance Macklin	2, 6
					Johnny Claes	4
					Peter Walker	5
					John Fitch	7
E.N. Whiteaway	HWM-Alta	53	Alta GP 2.5 L4	D	Ted Whiteaway	2
Equipe Nationale Belge	Ferrari	625	Ferrari 625 2.5 L4	E	Johnny Claes	5
Gould's Garage (Bristol)	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D	Horace Gould	5–6
Connaught Engineering	Connaught-Alta	B	Alta GP 2.5 L4	D	Kenneth McAlpine	6
Connaught Engineering	Connaught-Alta	B	Alta GP 2.5 L4	D	Jack Fairman	6
R.R.C. Walker Racing Team	Connaught-Alta	B	Alta GP 2.5 L4	D	Tony Rolt	6
R.R.C. Walker Racing Team	Connaught-Alta	B	Alta GP 2.5 L4	D	Peter Walker	6
Leslie Marr	Connaught-Alta	B	Alta GP 2.5 L4	D	Leslie Marr	6
Cooper Car Company	Cooper-Bristol	T40	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6	D	Jack Brabham	6
Owen Racing Organisation	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D	Peter Collins	6
Gilby Engineering	Maserati	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D	Roy Salvadori	6
Scuderia Volpini	Arzani-Volpini-Maserati	F1	Maserati 4CLT 2.5 L4	P	Luigi Piotti	7

Season summary

Juan Manuel Fangio in a Mercedes Benz W196, pictured at the Nurburgring in 1986. This was the car he used to win his 3rd Drivers' Championship

Mercedes drivers again dominated the championship, with Fangio taking four races and his new teammate Stirling Moss winning the British Grand Prix. Ferrari won at Monaco after all of the Mercedes cars broke down and Lancia driver Alberto Ascari crashed into the harbour. Although Ascari was apparently unscathed, the double World Champion crashed fatally at Monza while testing sportscars four days later.

The disaster at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 11 June, which killed Pierre Levegh and over 80 spectators, led to the cancellations of the French, German, Spanish, and Swiss Grands Prix.[2] The French round, which was supposed to be held at Reims between the Dutch and British rounds, on 3 July, was first rescheduled to 25 September[3] and subsequently cancelled. Then the German event, scheduled for 31 July at the Nürburgring, the Swiss round at Bremgarten, planned to take place on 21 August, and the Spanish round on 23 October at Pedralbes, followed suit.[4] Pedralbes and Bremgarten were then abandoned and never used again for racing; motor racing was banned altogether in Switzerland, and no circuit race was held in Switzerland until the 2018 Zürich ePrix. These cancellations effectively handed the Drivers' title to Fangio after he finished 2nd to Moss at the British Grand Prix. However, he was not crowned champion until well after the British Grand Prix because the German, Swiss and Spanish rounds were cancelled after the British Grand Prix took place.

The 1955 season would be the final for Mercedes Benz as a constructor until the team's revival in 2010. It would also mark the final win for Mercedes until the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix.

Aside from Ascari's death this year, Italian Mario Alborghetti died at the non-championship Pau Grand Prix in France driving a Maserati and two drivers were killed in the Indy 500, Manny Ayulo in practice, and previous race winner Bill Vukovich during the race two weeks later.

Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	Argentine Grand Prix	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires	16 January
2	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	22 May
3	Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway	30 May[lower-alpha 1]
4	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	5 June
5	Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort	19 June
6	British Grand Prix	Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, Merseyside	16 July
7	Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	11 September

The following rounds were included on the provisional calendars published but were cancelled:

Grand Prix	Circuit	Original date
French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux, Gueux	3 July
German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	31 July
Swiss Grand Prix	Circuit Bremgarten, Bern	21 August
Spanish Grand Prix	Pedralbes Circuit, Barcelona	23 October

Calendar changes

The Monaco Grand Prix returned to the calendar after a five year absence.

The Dutch Grand Prix returned to the calendar after a year absence.

The British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone Circuit to Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.

The French Grand Prix was supposed to have been held on July 3 but was cancelled.

The German Grand Prix was supposed to have been held on July 31 but was cancelled.

The Swiss Grand Prix was supposed to have been held on August 21 but was cancelled.

The Spanish Grand Prix was supposed to have been held on October 23 but was cancelled.

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Round	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning constructor	Tyre	Report
1	Argentine Grand Prix	José Froilán González	Juan Manuel Fangio	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	C	Report
2	Monaco Grand Prix	Juan Manuel Fangio	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	E	Report
3	Indianapolis 500	Jerry Hoyt	Bill Vukovich	Bob Sweikert	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	F	Report
4	Belgian Grand Prix	Eugenio Castellotti	Juan Manuel Fangio	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	C	Report
5	Dutch Grand Prix	Juan Manuel Fangio	Roberto Mieres	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	C	Report
6	British Grand Prix	Stirling Moss	Stirling Moss	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	C	Report
7	Italian Grand Prix	Juan Manuel Fangio	Stirling Moss	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	C	Report

World Championship of Drivers standings

Championship points were awarded on an 8–6–4–3–2 basis for the first five places at each race. One point was awarded for the fastest race lap at each race. Only the best five results counted towards the championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

Pos.	Driver	ARG	MON	500	BEL	NED	GBR	ITA	Pts.
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	1	(Ret)		1	1	2	1	40 (41)
2	Stirling Moss	4† / Ret	9		2	2	1	Ret	23
3	Eugenio Castellotti	Ret†	2		Ret	5	6† / Ret	3	12
4	Maurice Trintignant	2† / 3† / Ret	1		6	Ret	Ret	8	11 1⁄3
5	Nino Farina	2† / 3†	4		3			DNS	10 1⁄3
6	Piero Taruffi		8†		DNS		4	2	9
7	Bob Sweikert			1					8
8	Roberto Mieres	5	Ret		5†	4	Ret	7	7
9	Jean Behra	6† / Ret† / Ret	3† / Ret†		5† / Ret	6	Ret	4	6
10	Luigi Musso	7† / Ret†	Ret		7	3	5	Ret	6
11	Karl Kling	4† / Ret			Ret	Ret	3	Ret	5
12	Jimmy Davies			3					4
13	Tony Bettenhausen			2†					3
14	Paul Russo			2†					3
15	Paul Frère		8†		4				3
16	Johnny Thomson			4					3
17	José Froilán González	2†							2
18	Cesare Perdisa		3† / Ret†		8				2
19	Luigi Villoresi	Ret† / Ret	5					DNS	2
20	Carlos Menditeguy	Ret† / Ret						5	2
21	Umberto Maglioli	3†						6	1 1⁄3
22	Hans Herrmann	4†	DNQ						1
23	Walt Faulkner			5†					1
24	Bill Homeier			5†					1
25	Bill Vukovich			Ret					1
—	Mike Hawthorn		Ret		Ret	7	6†	10	0
—	Harry Schell	6† / 7† / Ret†	Ret		DNS		9† / Ret	Ret	0
—	Louis Chiron		6						0
—	Andy Linden			6					0
—	Jacques Pollet		7			10		Ret	0
—	Al Herman			7					0
—	Mike Sparken						7		0
—	Sergio Mantovani	7† / Ret†							0
—	Hermano da Silva Ramos					8	Ret	Ret	0
—	Lance Macklin		DNQ				8		0
—	Pat O'Connor			8					0
—	Louis Rosier		Ret		9	9			0
—	Ken Wharton						9†	Ret	0
—	Jimmy Daywalt			9					0
—	John Fitch							9	0
—	Pat Flaherty			10					0
—	Duane Carter			11					0
—	Johnny Claes				DNS	11			0
—	Chuck Weyant			12					0
—	Eddie Johnson			13					0
—	Jim Rathmann			14					0
—	Robert Manzon		Ret			Ret	Ret		0
—	Horace Gould					Ret	Ret	Ret	0
—	Alberto Ascari	Ret	Ret						0
—	Élie Bayol	Ret	Ret						0
—	André Simon		Ret				Ret		0
—	Peter Collins						Ret	Ret	0
—	Peter Walker					Ret	Ret†		0
—	Jesus Iglesias	Ret							0
—	Pablo Birger	Ret							0
—	Alberto Uria	Ret							0
—	Don Freeland			Ret					0
—	Cal Niday			Ret					0
—	Art Cross			Ret					0
—	Shorty Templeman			Ret					0
—	Sam Hanks			Ret					0
—	Keith Andrews			Ret					0
—	Johnnie Parsons			Ret					0
—	Eddie Russo			Ret					0
—	Ray Crawford			Ret					0
—	Jimmy Bryan			Ret					0
—	Jack McGrath			Ret					0
—	Al Keller			Ret					0
—	Johnny Boyd			Ret					0
—	Ed Elisian			Ret					0
—	Rodger Ward			Ret					0
—	Jerry Hoyt			Ret					0
—	Jimmy Reece			Ret					0
—	Fred Agabashian			Ret					0
—	Kenneth McAlpine						Ret		0
—	Jack Brabham						Ret		0
—	Roy Salvadori						Ret		0
—	Leslie Marr						Ret		0
—	Jean Lucas							Ret	0
—	Clemar Bucci	Ret†							0
—	Tony Rolt						Ret†		0
—	Ted Whiteaway		DNQ						0
—	Jack Fairman						DNS		0
—	Luigi Piotti							DNS	0
Pos.	Driver	ARG	MON	500	BEL	NED	GBR	ITA	Pts.

Key
Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Other points position
Blue	Other classified position
Blue	Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple	Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
White	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Excluded (EX)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Withdrawn (WD)
	Did not enter (cell empty)
Text formatting	Meaning
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Fastest lap

Italics indicates the fastest lap (1 point awarded – point shared equally between drivers sharing fastest lap)
Bold indicates pole position
† = Car driven by more than one driver

Non-championship races

Other Formula One races were also held in 1955, which did not count towards the World Championship.

Race name	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
VII Gran Premio del Valentino	Valentino Park	27 March	Alberto Ascari	Lancia	Report
XVI Pau Grand Prix	Pau	11 April	Jean Behra	Maserati	Report
III Glover Trophy	Goodwood	11 April	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	Report
IV Grand Prix de Bordeaux	Bordeaux	25 April	Jean Behra	Maserati	Report
VII BRDC International Trophy	Silverstone	7 May	Peter Collins	Maserati	Report
VIII Gran Premio di Napoli	Posillipo	8 May	Alberto Ascari	Lancia	Report
XVII Grand Prix d'Albi	Albi (Les Planques)	29 May	André Simon	Maserati	Report
III Curtis Trophy	Snetterton	29 May	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	Report
III Cornwall MRC Formula 1 Race	Davidstow	30 May	Leslie Marr	Connaught-Alta	Report
III London Trophy	Crystal Palace	30 July	Mike Hawthorn	Maserati	Report
III Daily Record Trophy	Charterhall	6 August	Bob Gerard	Maserati	Report
III RedeX Trophy	Snetterton	13 August	Harry Schell	Vanwall	Report
II Daily Telegraph Trophy	Aintree	3 September	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	Report
II International Gold Cup	Oulton Park	24 September	Stirling Moss	Maserati	Report
I Avon Trophy	Castle Combe	1 October	Harry Schell	Vanwall	Report
V Gran Premio di Siracusa	Syracuse	23 October	Tony Brooks	Connaught-Alta	Report

Notes

The Indianapolis 500 also counted towards the 1955 AAA Championship Car season, and was run for AAA Championship cars, but was not run to Formula One regulations.

References

1974 FIA Yearbook, Grey Section, Previous FIA Championship winners, page 118
Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 82. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.
"Matters of Moment | Motor Sport Magazine Archive". Motor Sport Magazine. 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
"The Autocar". The Autocar. 1955-04-22. Retrieved 2019-07-03.

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[5] The Indianapolis 500 also counted towards the 1955 AAA Championship Car season, and was run for AAA Championship cars, but was not run to Formula One regulations.

[1] 1974 FIA Yearbook, Grey Section, Previous FIA Championship winners, page 118

[2] Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 82. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.

[3] "Matters of Moment | Motor Sport Magazine Archive". Motor Sport Magazine. 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2019-07-03.

[4] "The Autocar". The Autocar. 1955-04-22. Retrieved 2019-07-03.