The 1958 Formula One season was the 12th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 9th World Championship of Drivers, the first International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and five non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship was contested over eleven races between 19 January and 19 October 1958. The Indianapolis 500 counted towards the Drivers' Championship but not the Manufacturers' Cup.
British driver Mike Hawthorn driving for Ferrari won his first and only Drivers' Championship after a close battle with compatriot Stirling Moss.[1] Following the Portuguese Grand Prix, Hawthorn faced a penalty, but Moss sportingly spoke up for him. Moss would go on to win four races over Hawthorn's one, but the points from the Portuguese round enabled Hawthorn to claim the title.[2] It was the first of only two occasions in Formula One history where a driver won the championship, having won only one race in the season, the other being Keke Rosberg in .[3] Vanwall won the inaugural Manufacturers' Cup.[4]
Four drivers died during the season: American Pat O'Connor during the Indianapolis 500, Italian Luigi Musso (Ferrari) during the French Grand Prix, his British teammate Peter Collins during the German Grand Prix, and Brit Stuart Lewis-Evans (Vanwall) during the Moroccan Grand Prix. After Collins' accident, Hawthorn had decided to retire from racing at the end of the season. So he did, but then, tragically, lost his life in a road accident three months later.
Since the early 1900s, Grand Prix racing had been dominated by front-engined cars, but this was the last championship to be won by one. From on, mid-engined cars, with their better road holding, increased driving comfort, lighter weight, and ease on tires and mechanical components (particularly brakes), would have the upper hand.
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1958 FIA World Championship.
| Round | Grand Prix | Circuit | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Argentine Grand Prix | Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires | 19 January |
| 2 |  Monaco Grand Prix | Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo | 18 May |
| 3 |  Dutch Grand Prix | Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort | 26 May |
| 4 |  Indianapolis 500 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway | 30 May |
| 5 |  Belgian Grand Prix | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot | 15 June |
| 6 |  French Grand Prix | Reims-Gueux, Gueux | 6 July |
| 7 |  British Grand Prix | Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone | 19 July |
| 8 | German Grand Prix | Nürburgring, Nürburg | 3 August |
| 9 |  Portuguese Grand Prix | Circuito da Boavista, Porto | 24 August |
| 10 |  Italian Grand Prix | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza | 7 September |
| 11 |  Moroccan Grand Prix | Ain-Diab Circuit, Casablanca | 19 October |
Because the new regulations around fuel were drawn up late, many of the British teams were not ready in time for the season opener, the Argentine Grand Prix, and the race had just ten entrants, the lowest ever: three from Scuderia Ferrari, six private Maseratis and Stirling Moss in a Cooper from Rob Walker Racing, 1958 being the team's first full season. Five-time and reigning champion Juan Manuel Fangio qualified on pole position in one of the Maseratis he took over from the works team, ahead of the Ferraris of Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins. At the start, Collins immediately broke a drive shaft. Hawthorn shot into the lead but was quickly repassed by Fangio. Around half distance, however, the Argentinian had to pit for fresh rear tyres. Moss took the lead and gambled on not needing a pit stop. The canvas was showing on both wheels, but he held on to win, just ahead of the Ferrari duo of Luigi Musso and Mike Hawthorn.[11]
A full four months later, the Monaco Grand Prix saw no less than 30 drivers trying to qualify for 16 places on the starting grid. The British teams were present and quick off the mark: Tony Brooks qualified on pole for Vanwall, ahead of Jean Behra for BRM and the Cooper duo of Jack Brabham and Roy Salvadori. The latter had the best start, arriving at the first corner in the lead, but he braked too late and bent his steering column. Behra and Brooks drew away but Hawthorn was the fastest man on track. He passed the Vanwall on lap 18, which retired shortly after with a loose spark plug, and took the lead on lap 27, when Behra's brakes seemed to fade. In the next phase, Stirling Moss, who was back at Vanwall, was fastest and briefly took the lead, before his engine started misfiring and he, too, retired. Veteran racer Maurice Trintignant, who had taken Moss' place at Rob Walker Racing, had started fifth but took advantage of his rivals' misfortune, including, on lap 46, that of Hawthorn, whose Ferrari had shaken its fuel pump loose. Trintignant completed the 100 laps to take victory, ahead of Musso and Collins. Rob Walker Racing had taken a second win in a row ahead of two Ferraris.[12]
The front row for the Dutch Grand Prix was occupied by Vanwalls: Lewis-Evans, Moss and Brooks. Moss took the lead at the start, ahead of Lewis-Evans, while seventh-starting Harry Schell in the BRM got up to third and then took second place on lap 12. Moss kept out of trouble and took the win, while his teammates both retired. The BRM duo of Schell and Behra completed the podium, while Hawthorn was the first Ferrari in fifth place. [13]
A couple of days later, the Indianapolis 500 was run. Fangio had skipped the Dutch GP and tried to race in the Indy 500 but failed to qualify. Pat O'Connor died in a spectacular first-lap pileup, while reigning champion Jimmy Bryan won the race.
In the F1 Drivers' Championship, Stirling Moss (Vanwall) was leading with 17 points, ahead of Luigi Musso (Ferrari) and Maurice Trintignant (Cooper). The Manufacturers' Championship saw Cooper take the lead with 19 points, ahead of Ferrari (14) and Vanwall (8).
The Belgian Grand Prix had been given the honorary title of European Grand Prix and marked the first start by a female driver, Maria Teresa de Filippis. The high-speed nature of Spa-Francorchamps saw the three Ferraris start in the top five, with Mike Hawthorn and Luigi Musso at the top, but the quick-starting Vanwalls of Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks formed the leading duo after the first corner. Before the first lap was over, however, Moss made a erroneous gear change and destroyed his engine. Brooks took over the lead but was overtaken by Peter Collins. The lead changed hands a couple of times, before the Ferrari overheated and had to be retired. Brooks won the race, twenty seconds ahead of Hawthorn and three minutes ahead of teammate Lewis-Evans. Dramatically, all three cars broke down coming out of the last corners, but managed to coast over the finish line, so would the race have been one lap longer, the result would have been very different.[14]
Like in Belgium, Ferrari's Hawthorn and Musso qualified on top for the French Grand Prix, ahead of Harry Schell (BRM), who managed to take the lead at the start but fell back to seventh on lap 2. Hawthorn was the fastest man on track, while Musso tried hard to keep him in view, until on lap 10, the Italian pushed too hard and ran wide. His car struck a ditch and somersaulted. Musso was airlifted to hospital with critical head injuries and would pass away later that day.[5] [6] Hawthorn won the race, ahead of championship rival Moss and teammate Von Trips.[15]
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone saw three different British teams on the front row: Moss for Vanwall, Schell for BRM and Salvadori for Cooper. But Ferrari drivers Collins and Hawthorn were lying first and third after the first lap. Moss held on to second place until, on lap 26, his engine blew up. Ferrari scored a 1-2, ahead of Salvadori achieving his first career podium. Five-time champion and reigning Juan Manuel Fangio retired after this race.[16]
Championship leader Hawthorn started on pole position for the German Grand Prix, ahead of Brooks and Moss. The latter snatched the lead and set multiple lap records in the early phase. He had a lead of 17 seconds over Collins and Hawthorn when his ignition failed and he coasted to a halt. The Ferrari duo seemed free to fight for the win, until Brooks caught up and used his Vanwall's agility to take the lead through the twisty sections. On lap 11, Collins went off the road, struck a ditch and flipped into the air. He was thrown out and struck a tree, suffering critical head injuries. He would pass away in hospital later that day.[7] Hawthorn retired with clutch issues on the next lap, handing Brooks the win, with a lead of several minutes over the Coopers of Salvadori and Trintignant.[17]
In the Drivers' Championship, Mike Hawthorn (Ferrari) was leading with 30 points, ahead of Stirling Moss (Vanwall) with 24 and Tony Brooks (Vanwall) with 16. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ferrari was leading with 37, ahead of Vanwall (33) and Cooper (29).
The Portuguese Grand Prix was part of the championship for the first time and was run at the Circuito da Boavista, a street circuit in Porto. Championship protagonists Stirling Moss and Mike Hawthorn were separated by just 0.05 seconds in qualifying, with the Vanwall placed on pole position and teammate Stuart Lewis-Evans completing the front row. Rain before the start left the roads wet and gave Hawthorn the advantage to take the lead. Ferrari teammate Wolfgang von Trips got up to third, before being passed by Jean Behra in the BRM. The roads dried up and Moss retook the lead on lap 8. He subsequently managed to grow such a big lead that the spectators got bored and, just after half-distance, he lapped his teammate in fourth place. Hawthorn pitted to have his brakes tightened up. Behra passed him, but on lap 41, his engine lost power the Ferrari was back up to second. Lewis-Evans had stayed in Moss's slipstream and when Behra moved out of the way for the leader, his teammate could handily snatch third off of the BRM. They could have tried the same with Hawthorn, but Moss stayed behind his rival out of respect. Moss crossed the line to win the race and Lewis-Evans was flagged as third. Hawthorn had to finish the last lap to take second, but he spun and stalled his engine. Many people wanted to help push the Ferrari, but that would have resulted in disqualification, so Moss (already on his victory lap) waved the crowd away and Hawthorn managed to push start the car by himself. Before he could jump back in and take the wheel, however, the car had rolled a couple of yards in the wrong direction of the circuit, so the officials disqualified him after all. Moss again displayed his courtesy and defended his rival, although he would have taken the championship lead. No earlier than 11pm, the decision was reversed and Hawthorn's second place was reinstated. [18]
The local Ferrari team were seen as favourites for the Italian Grand Prix, not just by the tifosi, but Moss and Brooks placed their Vanwalls on the top of the grid. Hawthorn started in third but quickly lost out to Lewis-Evans in the third Vanwall. Von Trips hit the rear wheel of Harry Schell, flew into the air and was thrown out of the car before it struck a tree. The BRM somersaulted off the road and luckily landed on his wheels, because Schell was still in the cockpit. Von Trips suffered injury to his leg and would not race in the season finale. Meanwhile, the traditional slipstreaming began at the front and led to multiple lead changes. Future champion Phil Hill was running his first race for the Ferrari F1 team and was running comfortably among the leaders, until on lap 7, he had to pit for a wheel change. Moss retired on lap 17 with gearbox trouble and saw his championship rival take the lead of the race. With Lewis-Evans having retired and Brooks down in fifth after a pit stop, Ferrari looked secure to take a dominant victory. Brooks was the fastest man on track, however, and Hawthorn's clutch began to slip. Lap by lap, the Vanwall clawed his way up the order, and took the lead on lap 60. Hawthorn nursed his car to the finish line in second place, while Hill finished third.[19]
Going into the season finale, the first-ever Moroccan Grand Prix, Moss (32 points) had a small chance to win the championship: he had to win the race, with Hawthorn (40 points) finishing third or lower without the fastest lap. In that scenario, the two would tie on points and Moss would win on count-back. Hawthorn started on pole but fell back to third at the start. Moss took the lead, ahead of Phil Hill. The American outbroked himself on lap 3, giving Moss the chance to fly away in front. At half-distance, he led Hill by 20 seconds and Hawthorn was fighting Brooks for third. In the next ten laps, three drivers crashed, all slightly injured, and Lewis-Evans slid off the road when his engine exploded. His car caught fire and the Brit suffered serious burns. Hawthorn was back in second, so Moss won the race comfortably but could not secure the championship.[20] Lewis-Evans would succumb to his injuries six days after the race.[21] Vanwall owner Tony Vandervell ended his involvement with the team, partly as a result of this but also in failing health himself,[22] and Bernie Ecclestone sold his Connaught team[23] and ceased involvement with the sport till .[24]
In the Drivers' Championship, Mike Hawthorn (Ferrari) collected 42 points and won the title, ahead of Stirling Moss (Vanwall) with 41 and Tony Brooks (Vanwall) with 24. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Vanwall won the title with 48 points, ahead of Ferrari (40) and Cooper (31). Until, it would not happen again that different teams won the two championships in the same year.
Points were awarded to the top five classified finishers, with an additional point awarded for setting the fastest lap, regardless of finishing position or even classification. Only the best six results counted towards the championship. Formula 2 cars were not eligible for Championship Points. No points were awarded for shared drives. If more than one driver set the same fastest lap time, the fastest lap point would be divided equally between the drivers.
The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers only counted the points of the highest-finishing driver for each race, although fastest lap points were not counted. Indy 500 results did not count towards the cup. Additionally, like the Drivers' Championship, only the best six results counted towards the cup.
Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:
| Pos. | Manufacturer | ARG | MON | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | POR | ITA | MOR | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanwall | Ret | 1 | 1 | (2) | (4) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 48 (57) | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 2 | 2 | (5) | 2 | 1 | 1 | (4) | 2 | (2) | (2) | 40 (57) |
| 3 | Cooper-Climax | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 31 |
| 4 | BRM | 5 | 2 | 5 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 4 | 18 | |
| 5 | Maserati | 4 | Ret | 10 | 7 | 4 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| 6 | Lotus-Climax | 6 | 6 | 4 | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | 6 | 10 | 3 | |
| — | Porsche | 11 | 0 | |||||||||
| — | Connaught-Alta | DNQ | Ret | 0 | ||||||||
| — | OSCA | WD | DNQ | 0 | ||||||||
| Pos. | Manufacturer | ARG | MON | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | POR | ITA | MOR | Pts. |
No points were awarded for a shared drive.
The following races were contested by Formula One cars but did not count towards the World Championship of Drivers or the International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.
| Race name | Circuit | Date | Winning driver | Constructor | Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VI Glover Trophy | Goodwood | 7 April | Mike Hawthorn | Ferrari | Report | |
| VIII Gran Premio di Siracusa | Syracuse | 13 April | Luigi Musso | Ferrari | Report | |
| XIII BARC Aintree 200 | Aintree | 19 April | Stirling Moss | Cooper-Climax | Report | |
| X BRDC International Trophy | Silverstone | 3 May | Peter Collins | Ferrari | Report | |
| VI Grand Prix de Caen | Caen | 20 July | Stirling Moss | Cooper-Climax | Report |
