Italian GP 1958

Italian GP, 1958

The battle between Ferrari and Vanwall continued at Monza with both teams trying new developments. Ferrari had four cars for Mike Hawthorn, Wolfgang Von Trips, Olivier Gendebien and promoted Formula 2 driver Phil Hill. Vanwall ran the usual trio of Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks and Stuart Lewis-Evans while BRM expanded to three cars for the occasion with Jo Bonnier joining regular drivers Jean Behra and Harry Schell. The Coopers, Maseratis and Lotuses were not competitive on the fast Monza circuit.

Moss was fastest in practice with Brooks, Hawthorn and Lewis-Evans alongside him on the front row. Behind them came Gendebien, Von Trips and Phil Hill, while all three BRMs were on row three alongside the Maserati 250F of Masten Gregory.

The race saw Phil Hill grab second place behind Moss at the first corner and later in the lap he took the lead. Further back Von Trips tangled with Schell and the Ferrari flew into the air and crashed. Von Trips was thrown out and suffered a broken leg. Schell's car also had a spectacular accident but the American was not hurt.

Hill continued to lead until the fifth lap when Hawthorn overtook him, having passed Lewis-Evans and Moss. Hill also slipped behind Moss and slipped backwards with tire trouble while Moss and Hawthorn fought for the lead. The battle was not settled until Moss had gearbox trouble and began to drop away, leaving Hawthorn in control. Behra was second with Lewis-Evans behind him but Brooks was beginning to move up after an early stop to have his oil checked. There was a high rate of attrition with Behra, Lewis-Evans and Maurice Trintignant (Cooper) also going out and when Hawthorn stopped for new tire Phil Hill went back into the lead. He soon stopped for tires and so Hawthorn was back in the lead but now Brooks was second and closing in fast, With 10 laps to go the Vanwall driver slipstreamed into the lead and went on to win. Hawthorn was second, consolidating his lead in the World Championship, while Hill come home a creditable third.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
28 Tony Brooks Vanwall VW (57) 70 2h03m47.800s  
14 Mike Hawthorn Ferrari D246 70 2h04m12.000s  
18 Phil Hill Ferrari D246 70  
4= 32 Masten Gregory Maserati 250F   11 
4= 32 Carroll Shelby Maserati 250F 69   
Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax T45 62  14 
38 Graham Hill Lotus-Climax 16 62  12 
36 Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax 12 61  16 
42 Maria Teresa de Fillipis Maserati 250F 57 Engine 21 
22 Giulio Cabianca Maserati 250F 51 Engine 20 
Jean Behra BRM P25 42 Brakes 
24 Hans Herrmann Maserati 250F 32 Engine 18 
30 Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall VW (57) 30 Overheating 
Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax T45 24 Gearbox 13 
26 Stirling Moss Vanwall VW (57) 17 Gearbox 
12 Jo Bonnier BRM P25 14 Transmission 10 
20 Olivier Gendebien Ferrari D246 Mechanical 
40 Gerino Gerini Maserati 250F Accident 19 
34 Carroll Shelby Maserati 250F Engine 17 
10 Harry Schell BRM P25 Accident 
16 Wolfgang von Trips Ferrari D246 Accident 
Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax T45 Accident 15