1955 British Grand Prix Explained

Type:	F1
Country:	United Kingdom
Grand Prix:	British
Official Name:	8th RAC British Grand Prix
Date:	16 July
Year:	1955
Previous Round:	1955 Dutch Grand Prix
Next Round:	1955 Italian Grand Prix
Location:	Aintree Circuit, Liverpool, England
Course:	Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:	3.000
Course Km:	4.828
Distance Laps:	90
Distance Mi:	270.00
Distance Km:	434.52
Weather:	Hot, dry.^[1]
Attendance:	75,000-100,000
Pole Driver:	Stirling Moss
Pole Team:	Mercedes
Pole Time:	2:00.4
Pole Country:	UK
Fast Driver:	Stirling Moss
Fast Team:	Mercedes
Fast Time:	2:00.4
Fast Country:	UK
First Driver:	Stirling Moss
First Team:	Mercedes
First Country:	UK
Second Driver:	Juan Manuel Fangio
Second Team:	Mercedes
Second Country:	Argentina
Third Driver:	Karl Kling
Third Team:	Mercedes
Third Country:	Germany

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."

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

Qualifying

!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	16	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

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	90	3:07:21.2	1	9
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

Notes

– Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drives

Car #16: Mike Hawthorn (60 laps) and Eugenio Castellotti (27 laps).
Car #28: Ken Wharton (50 laps) and Harry Schell (22 laps).
Car #36: Tony Rolt (10 laps) and Peter Walker (9 laps).

Notes

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

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	33
	2		22
	3	Maurice Trintignant	11
	4	Nino Farina	10
	5	Bob Sweikert	8
Source:^[4]

Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Notes and References

News: 100,000 at British Grand Prix. Liverpool Echo. 16 July 1955. 9 July 2020. British Newspaper Archive. subscription.
Web site: 1955 British GP Qualification. chicanef1.com. 14 July 2020.
Book: Lang, Mike . Grand Prix! Vol 1 . Haynes Publishing Group . 1981 . 0-85429-276-4 . 90 .
Web site: Britain 1955 - Championship • STATS F1. statsf1.com. 13 March 2019.