German GP 1954

German GP, 1954

At home in front of a German crowd Mercedes-Benz wanted to do well and so fielded four of the new W196 chassis for Juan-Manuel Fangio, Karl Kling, Hans Herrmann and prewar star Hermann Lang. The cars were substantially modified with the aerodynamic bodywork being removed. With Farina out of action because of injury Ferrari hired Piero Taruffi to race alongside Froilan Gonzalez and Mike Hawthorn. Stirling Moss was taken under the wing of the Maserati factory team alongside Onofre Marimon, Gigi Villoresi and Roberto Mieres.

Fangio set the fastest time in practice with Hawthorn and Moss lining up alongside him on the front row of the grid but it was to be a sad session as Marimon crashed on the fast downhill section before the bridge at Adenau and was killed.

As expected there was a vast crowd on race day but Gonzalez was not going to allow Mercedes-Benz all the glory and took the lead at the start. Moss disappeared early with mechanical trouble while Kling drove through the field from the back of the grid and was soon fourth behind Gonzalez, Fangio and Lang. Fangio duly took the lead and after Lang spun off Kling moved to second and then overtook Fangio, ignoring signals from his pit. Ferrari in the meantime decided to call Gonzalez in and handed his car over to Hawthorn. Kling went out with a broken rear suspension having had his moment of glory and so Fangio won the race with Hawthorn second, while third place went to Maurice Trintignant in his Ferrari.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
18 Juan-Manuel Fangio Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 22 3h45m45.800s  
2= Froilan Gonzalez Ferrari 625   
2= Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 625 22 3h47m22.300s   
Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 625 22 3h50m54.400s  
19 Karl Kling Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 22 3h51m52.300s  23 
Sergio Mantovani Maserati 250F 22 3h54m36.300s  15 
Piero Taruffi Ferrari 625 21  13 
15 Harry Schell Maserati A6GCM 21  14 
25 Louis Rosier Ferrari 500 21  18 
24 Robert Manzon Ferrari 625 20  12 
10 Jean Behra Gordini T16 20  
14 Prince Bira Maserati 250F 18 Steering 19 
21 Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 10 Spin 11 
11 Clemar Bucci Gordini T16 Wheel Lost 16 
22 Theo Helfrich Klenk-BMW METEOR Engine 21 
20 Hans Herrmann Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 STR. Fuel Line 
10 Paul Frere Gordini T16 Wheel Lost 
Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 625 Mechanical 
Roberto Mieres Maserati 250F Fuel Tank 17 
16 Stirling Moss Maserati 250F Transmission 
12 Andre Pilette Gordini T16 Gearbox 20 
ns Onofre Marimon Maserati 250F  Fatal Accident 
ns Luigi Villoresi Maserati 250F  Withdrew 10 
ns 17 Ken Wharton Maserati 250F  Withdrew 22