1955 British Grand Prix

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."

1955 British Grand Prix
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Race details
Date	16 July 1955
Official name	8th RAC British Grand Prix
Location	Aintree Circuit, Liverpool, England
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.828 km (3.000 miles)
Distance	90 laps, 434.52 km (270.00 miles)
Weather	Hot, dry.[1]
Attendance	75,000-100,000[1]
Pole position
Driver	Stirling Moss	Mercedes
Time	2:00.4
Fastest lap
Driver	Stirling Moss	Mercedes
Time	2:00.4
Podium
First	Stirling Moss	Mercedes
Second	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Third	Karl Kling	Mercedes
Lap leaders

In the wake of the Le Mans disaster, the French, German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix which were to take place at existing circuits had all been cancelled. The Aintree circuit was an all-new circuit around the Grand National horse racing course in Liverpool; it was built to be at the time one of the safest and most modern racing facilities in Europe.^[2]

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.

Entries

Team	No	Driver	Car	Engine	Tyre
Officine Alfieri Maserati	2	Jean Behra	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	P
	4	Luigi Musso
	6	Roberto Mieres
	8	André Simon
Daimler Benz AG	10	Juan Manuel Fangio	W196	Mercedes M196 2.5 L8	C
	12	Stirling Moss
	14	Karl Kling
	50	Piero Taruffi
Scuderia Ferrari	16	Mike Hawthorn	625	Ferrari 555 2.5 L4	E
	18	Maurice Trintignant
	20	Eugenio Castellotti
Equipe Gordini	22	Robert Manzon	T16	Gordini 23 2.5 L6
	24	Hermano da Silva Ramos
	26	Mike Sparken
Vandervell Products	28	Ken Wharton	VW 55	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4	P
	30	Harry Schell
Connaught Engineering	32	Kenneth McAlpine	B	Alta GP 2.5 L4	D
	34	Jack Fairman
Rob Walker Racing Team	36	Tony Rolt
		Peter Walker
Leslie Marr	38	Leslie Marr
Cooper Car Company	40	Jack Brabham	Cooper T40	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6
Owen Racing Organisation	42	Peter Collins	250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6
Gilby Engineering	44	Roy Salvadori
Stirling Moss Ltd	46	Lance Macklin
Gould's Garage (Bristol)	48	Horace Gould
Source:[3]

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	20	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:[4]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	90	3:07:21.2	1	91
2	10	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	90	+0.2	2	6
3	14	Karl Kling	Mercedes	90	+1:11.8[5]	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
Source:[6]

Notes

• ^1 – 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	Stirling Moss	22
	3	Maurice Trintignant	11 1⁄3
	4	Nino Farina	10 1⁄3
	5	Bob Sweikert	8
Source:[7]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

1. "100,000 at British Grand Prix". Liverpool Echo. 16 July 1955. Retrieved 9 July 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
2. https://merseysportlive.co.uk/2021/04/08/remembering-the-last-british-grand-prix-at-aintree/
3. "1955 British GP". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
4. "1955 British GP Qualification". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
5. Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 90. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.
6. "1955 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
7. "Britain 1955 - Championship • STATS F1". statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.

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