1955 Monaco Grand Prix

Template:Short description The 1955 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 22 May 1955. It was race 2 of 7 in the 1955 World Championship of Drivers and was given an honorary name, Grand Prix d'Europe. The 100-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Maurice Trintignant after he started from ninth position. Eugenio Castellotti finished second for the Lancia team and Maserati drivers Jean Behra and Cesare Perdisa came in third.

Race report

The prestigious race was won from 1935 to 1937 by the Silver Arrows of Mercedes-Benz, but was not held from 1938 to 1954, except for 1948, 1950 and 1952.

The 1955 F1 season had opened in January with the 1955 Argentine Grand Prix that saw no less than four Mercedes-Benz W196 being entered, as the 1954 lineup of Fangio, Karl Kling and Hans Herrmann had been expanded by Stirling Moss who had been signed also to compete in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship for which usually two drivers per car were needed. Earlier in May, at the 1955 Mille Miglia, Mercedes entered a new Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR for each of the four F1 drivers. Moss won this Mille Miglia after driving for over 10 hours, possibly his greatest win, beating Fangio by half an hour. Kling crashed near Rome, broke some ribs, and was absent in Monaco. As Mercedes had hired extra drivers to man three cars at Le Mans, André Simon was at hand when Hans Herrmann crashed near the sea in practice and was out for the season.

Initially, the Silver Arrows of Fangio and Moss dominated, running 1–2 until half distance, trailed by Ascari and Castellotti. At the halfway mark, Fangio retired with transmission trouble, giving the lead to Moss. Almost a lap ahead, a seemingly sure win for Moss was ended on Lap 80 when his Benz's engine blew. The new leader, Ascari, miscalculated the chicane coming out of the tunnel, and his Lancia crashed through the barriers into the harbour. Ascari had to swim to safety. Maurice Trintignant, in a Ferrari 625 thought to be uncompetitive, inherited the lead and scored his first Formula One victory.

This race marked the Grand Prix debut for Cesare Perdisa. It was the only Grand Prix appearance for Ted Whiteaway. This was the last Grand Prix appearance for Alberto Ascari; he was killed four days later testing a Ferrari sports car at Monza.

It was the first win for Maurice Trintignant and Englebert tyres. It was also the first podium and points for Eugenio Castellotti and Cesare Perdisa, and the first win for a French Formula One driver.

Entries

Team	No	Driver	Car	Engine	Tyre
Template:Flagicon Daimler Benz AG	2	Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes-Benz W196	Mercedes M196 2.5 L8	C
	4	Template:Flagicon André Simon
		Template:Flagicon Hans Herrmann
	6	Template:Flagicon Stirling Moss
Template:Flagicon Equipe Gordini	8	Template:Flagicon Robert Manzon	Gordini T16	Gordini 23 2.5 L6	E
	10	Template:Flagicon Jacques Pollet
	12	Template:Flagicon Élie Bayol
Template:Flagicon Vandervell Products	18	Template:Flagicon Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall VW 55	Vanwall 254 2.5 L4	P
Template:Flagicon Stirling Moss Ltd	22	Template:Flagicon Lance Macklin	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	D
Template:Flagicon E.N. Whiteaway	24	Template:Flagicon Ted Whiteaway	HWM 53	Alta GP 2.5 L4
Template:Flagicon Scuderia Lancia	26	Template:Flagicon Alberto Ascari	Lancia D50	Lancia DS50 2.5 V8	P
	28	Template:Flagicon Luigi Villoresi
	30	Template:Flagicon Eugenio Castellotti
	32	Template:Flagicon Louis Chiron
Template:Flagicon Officine Alfieri Maserati	34	Template:Flagicon Jean Behra	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6
	36	Template:Flagicon Roberto Mieres
	38	Template:Flagicon Luigi Musso
	40	Template:Flagicon Cesare Perdisa
Template:Flagicon Scuderia Ferrari	42	Template:Flagicon Nino Farina	Ferrari 625 F1	Ferrari 555 2.5 L4	E
	44	Template:Flagicon Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari 555
	46	Template:Flagicon Harry Schell
	48	Template:Flagicon Piero Taruffi
		Template:Flagicon Paul Frère
Source:

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	2	Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	1:41.1
2	26	Template:Flagicon Alberto Ascari	Lancia	1:41.1	+0.0
3	6	Template:Flagicon Stirling Moss	Mercedes	1:41.2	+0.1
4	30	Template:Flagicon Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia	1:42.0	+0.9
5	34	Template:Flagicon Jean Behra	Maserati	1:42.6	+1.5
6	36	Template:Flagicon Roberto Mieres	Maserati	1:43.7	+2.6
7	28	Template:Flagicon Luigi Villoresi	Lancia	1:43.7	+2.6
8	38	Template:Flagicon Luigi Musso	Maserati	1:44.3	+3.2
9	44	Template:Flagicon Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	1:44.4	+3.3
10	4	Template:Flagicon André Simon	Mercedes	1:45.5	+4.4
11	40	Template:Flagicon Cesare Perdisa	Maserati	1:45.6	+4.5
12	18	Template:Flagicon Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall	1:45.6	+4.5
13	8	Template:Flagicon Robert Manzon	Gordini	1:46.0	+4.9
14	42	Template:Flagicon Nino Farina	Ferrari	1:46.0	+4.9
15	48	Template:Flagicon Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	1:46.0	+4.9
16	12	Template:Flagicon Élie Bayol	Gordini	1:46.5	+5.4
17	14	Template:Flagicon Louis Rosier	Maserati	1:46.7	+5.6
18	46	Template:Flagicon Harry Schell	Ferrari	1:46.8	+5.7
19	32	Template:Flagicon Louis Chiron	Lancia	1:47.3	+6.2
20	10	Template:Flagicon Jacques Pollet	Gordini	1:49.4	+8.3
DNQ	22	Template:Flagicon Lance Macklin	Maserati	1:49.4	+8.3
DNQ	24	Template:Flagicon Ted Whiteaway	HWM-Alta	1:57.2	+16.1
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	44	Template:Flagicon Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	100	2:58:09.8	9	8
2	30	Template:Flagicon Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia	100	+ 20.2	4	6
3	34	Template:Flagicon Jean Behra Template:Flagicon Cesare Perdisa	Maserati	99	+ 1 lap	5	2 2
4	42	Template:Flagicon Nino Farina	Ferrari	99	+ 1 lap	14	3
5	28	Template:Flagicon Luigi Villoresi	Lancia	99	+ 1 lap	7	2
6	32	Template:Flagicon Louis Chiron	Lancia	95	+ 5 laps	19
7	10	Template:Flagicon Jacques Pollet	Gordini	91	+ 9 laps	20
8	48	Template:Flagicon Piero Taruffi Template:Flagicon Paul Frère	Ferrari	86	+ 14 laps	15
9	6	Template:Flagicon Stirling Moss	Mercedes	81	+ 19 laps	3
Ret	40	Template:Flagicon Cesare Perdisa Template:Flagicon Jean Behra	Maserati	86	Spun off	11
Ret	26	Template:Flagicon Alberto Ascari	Lancia	80	Accident	2
Ret	46	Template:Flagicon Harry Schell	Ferrari	68	Engine	18
Ret	36	Template:Flagicon Roberto Mieres	Maserati	64	Transmission	6
Ret	12	Template:Flagicon Élie Bayol	Gordini	63	Transmission	16
Ret	2	Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	49	Transmission	1	11
Ret	8	Template:Flagicon Robert Manzon	Gordini	38	Gearbox	13
Ret	4	Template:Flagicon André Simon	Mercedes	24	Engine	10
Ret	18	Template:Flagicon Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall	22	Throttle	12
Ret	14	Template:Flagicon Louis Rosier	Maserati	8	Fuel leak	17
Ret	38	Template:Flagicon Luigi Musso	Maserati	7	Transmission	8
DNQ	22	Template:Flagicon Lance Macklin	Maserati
DNQ	24	Template:Flagicon Ted Whiteaway	HWM-Alta
DNQ	4	Template:Flagicon Hans Herrmann	Mercedes		Driver injured
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drives

• • Car #34: Jean Behra (42 laps) and Cesare Perdisa (57 laps). They shared the 4 points for third place.
  • Car #48: Piero Taruffi (50 laps) and Paul Frère (36 laps).
  • Car #40: Cesare Perdisa (40 laps) and Jean Behra (46 laps).

Summary

• Formula 1 debut for Cesare Perdisa, who shared third place drive with Jean Behra, and Ted Whiteaway, who failed to qualify
• Juan Manuel Fangio broke the track record that had stood since 1937, when Rudolf Caracciola turned a lap in 1:46.5 in a 5.6-litre Mercedes W125, running the circuit in 1:41.1 on the first day of practice in his Mercedes W196.
• Alberto Ascari matched Fangio's time in his Lancia D50 during the Saturday practice, though the order had been set on the first day of practice in a singular exception to the policy of the time of all practice laps counting towards grid position.
• In practice, Mercedes youngster Hans Herrmann crashed into a harbour wall and suffered injuries that took him out for the rest of the season.
• Ascari was driving the number 26 car, the same number that had been on the P2 Alfa Romeo his father, Antonio Ascari, had been driving when killed in the 26 July 1925 French Grand Prix. The superstitious Ascari was between Mercedes drivers Fangio and Stirling Moss in the numbers 2 and 6 respectively.
• Andre Simon's was the first Mercedes to leave the race, with engine failure. Of the other Mercedes, Fangio left the race with transmission problems on lap 50, leaving Stirling Moss in first and Ascari in second. Lap 80 saw Moss taken out by a minor problem in his car's sophisticated valve train, leaving Ascari in first. Ascari never made it past the pits to see that, however: his Lancia didn't make the chicane (possibly losing traction on oil from Moss's engine failure) and he flipped over the barrier and into the harbour. His Lancia was craned out of 25 feet of water while he spent the night in the hospital.
• Later events indicate that he probably should have kept his superstitions up and taken this as an omen, but his motivation wouldn't quit and four days later he was back in the cockpit at Monza, where he was killed in a bizarre accident testing a Ferrari on the 26th of the month. There are no definite explanations for either of Ascari's accidents, but the Monza incident was, apart from possible undetected brain injuries after the Monaco crash, probably caused by an improperly-sized tire – 7.00x16 rather than 6.50x16 – combined with an imperfect track surface.
• Mercedes also had not seen the last of their troubles – after all three cars left contention with mechanical problems at Monaco, the worst accident in racing history involved a Mercedes.
• Louis Chiron's start made him the oldest driver to start a Grand Prix (55 years, 292 days).

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
File:1uparrow green.svg 1	1	Template:Flagicon Maurice Trintignant	11 1⁄3
File:1downarrow red.svg 1	2	Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio	10
File:1downarrow red.svg 1	3	Template:Flagicon Nino Farina	6 1⁄3
File:1uparrow green.svg 10	4	Template:Flagicon Eugenio Castellotti	6
File:1downarrow red.svg 1	5	Template:Flagicon José Froilán González	2
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

External links

• Kettlewell, Mike. "Monaco: Road Racing on the Riviera", in Northey, Tom, editor. World of Automobiles, Volume 12, pp. 1381–4. London: Orbis, 1974.

Template:Designated European Grand Prix