British GP 1955

British GP, 1955

The aftermath of the Le Mans disaster resulted in the cancellation of the French GP, which had been scheduled for July 3, and so the British Grand Prix became the sixth round of the World Championship. The race had always been held at Silverstone but for the 1955 season the Royal Automobile Club decided that the race would be held at the Aintree racecourse in the outskirts of Liverpool. The Mercedes-Benz team was the favorite for success but the Maserati 250Fs were competitive even if Ferrari was struggling. Vanwall, Gordini, Connaught and Cooper (with Jack Brabham making his World Championship debut) were all represented but Mercedes-Benz was dominant with Stirling Moss fastest by two-tenths from his team mate Juan-Manuel Fangio. The Mercedes-Benz team was running four cars with third Karl Kling being joined by Piero Taruffi but both men were beaten in practice by Jean Behra's Maserati. The third row of the grid featured the Maseratis of Roberto Mieres and Andre Simon split by Harry Schell in the fastest Vanwall. The fastest of the Ferraris was that of Eugenio Castellotti in 10th position.

Moss took the lead at the start but Fangio quickly moved ahead only to see Moss win back the position on lap 3. Behind the two Mercedes Behra fought back after a poor start to get ahead of Kling and Taruffi. Taruffi then dropped behind Mieres. Behra retired on lap 10 after an oil pipe broke while the two leaders switched places again: Fangio leading for a few laps and then Moss surging ahead again. The two continued to lap nose-to-tail for the rest of the afternoon but at the finish it was Moss who took the flag first - to the delight of the huge crowd. It has often been said that Fangio allowed Moss to win but Fangio never admitted to it.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
12 Stirling Moss Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 90 3h07m21.200s  
10 Juan-Manuel Fangio Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 90 3h07m21.400s  
14 Karl Kling Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 90 3h08m33.000s  
50 Piero Taruffi Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 89  
Luigi Musso Maserati 250F 89  
6= 16 Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 625   12 
6= 16 Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari 625 87   
26 Mike Sparken Gordini T16 81  23 
46 Lance Macklin Maserati 250F 79  16 
9= 28 Ken Wharton Vanwall VW (55)   15 
9= 28 Harry Schell Vanwall VW (55) 72   
18 Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 625 59 Overheating 13 
Roberto Mieres Maserati 250F 47 Engine 
40 Jack Brabham Cooper-Bristol T40 30 Engine 25 
32 Kenneth McAlpine Connaught-Alta B STR. 30 Mechanical 17 
42 Peter Collins Maserati 250F 28 Clutch 24 
24 Hernando da Silva Ramos Gordini T16 26 Engine 18 
44 Roy Salvadori Maserati 250F 23 Gearbox 20 
48 Horace Gould Maserati 250F 22 Brakes 22 
30 Harry Schell Vanwall VW (55) 20 Throttle 
r= 36 Tony Rolt Connaught-Alta B   14 
r= 36 Peter Walker Connaught-Alta B 19 Throttle  
38 Leslie Marr Connaught-Alta B STR. 18 Brakes/ Accident 19 
20 Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari 625 16 Transmission 10 
Andre Simon Maserati 250F Gearbox 
Jean Behra Maserati 250F Mechanical 
22 Robert Manzon Gordini T16 Transmission 11 
ns 34 Jack Fairman Connaught-Alta B  Engine 21