Italian GP 1955

Italian GP, 1955

After the British GP in mid-July the events which had been scheduled for Germany (July 31) and Switzerland (August 21) were canceled because of the backlash against motor racing in the wake of the Le Mans disaster in June. This meant that the Italian GP became the seventh round of the World Championship. The Spanish GP, which had been scheduled for October 23, was also canceled and so the F1 season after Monza.

Mercedes-Benz also announced that it was withdrawing from motorsport activities at the end of the year and so the successful Mercedes team went to Monza knowing that the adventure was over.

There were changes at the Monza circuit with two new high-banked curves built and the lap length increased from 3.9-miles to 6.2-miles. The new banking quickly caused problems with Giuseppe Farina having a big crash when a tire failed on his Lancia D50, Enzo Ferrari having acquired the Vittorio Jano-designed cars from Lancia. This resulted in Farina and Gigi Villoresi being withdrawn and Eugenio Castellotti switching to a Type 555 Ferrari. The Mercedes-Benz team was dominant with Juan-Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss and Karl Kling sharing the front row, well ahead of Castellotti's 555.

At the start Moss took the lead with Fangio, Piero Taruffi (in the fourth Mercedes-Benz) and Kling running at the front. By the end of the lap Fangio was ahead of the Mercedes-Benz train and there was little change up front in the early laps, although Kling did moved past Taruffi. On lap 19 Moss went into the pits with a smashed windscreen. He rejoined and began to charge hard to catch up but retired on lap 28 with engine failure. Kling also went out with gearbox trouble so that by the end of the race Fangio and Taruffi gave Mercedes a 1-2 finish, while Castellotti was a distant third for Ferrari.

18 Juan-Manuel Fangio Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 STR. 50 2h25m04.400s  
14 Piero Taruffi Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 50 2h25m05.100s  
Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari 555 50 2h25m50.600s  
36 Jean Behra Maserati 250F STR. 50 2h29m01.900s  
34 Carlos Menditeguy Maserati 250F 49  16 
12 Umberto Maglioli Ferrari 555 49  12 
28 Roberto Mieres Maserati 250F 48  
Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 555 47  15 
40 John Fitch Maserati 250F 46  20 
Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 555 38 Gearbox 14 
20 Karl Kling Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 32 Gearbox 
30 Luigi Musso Maserati 250F 31 Gearbox 10 
38 Horace Gould Maserati 250F 31 Oil Sump 21 
16 Stirling Moss Mercedes-Benz-Mercedes W196 STR. 27 Engine 
26 Jacques Pollet Gordini T16 26 Engine 19 
22 Hernando da Silva Ramos Gordini T16 23 Fuel Pump 18 
32 Peter Collins Maserati 250F 22 Suspension 11 
42 Harry Schell Vanwall VW (55) Mechanical 13 
24 Jean Lucas Gordini T32 Engine 22 
44 Ken Wharton Vanwall VW (55) Fuel Injection Pump 17 
ns Giuseppe Farina Lancia D50  Tires 
ns 10 Luigi Villoresi Lancia D50  Tires 
ns 46 Luigi Piotti Arzani Volpini-Maserati   Engine 23