1954 Swiss Grand Prix
| 1954 Swiss Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Circuit Bremgarten track layout | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 22 August 1954 | ||
| Official name | XIV Großer Preis der Schweiz | ||
| Location | Bremgarten, Bern, Switzerland | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 7.280 km (4.524 miles) | ||
| Distance | 66 laps, 480.480 km (298.556 miles) | ||
| Weather | Rain | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 2:39.5 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Juan Manuel Fangio | Mercedes | |
| Time | 2:39.7 on lap 34 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Mercedes | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | Mercedes | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
The 1954 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Bremgarten on 22 August 1954. It was race 7 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 66-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from second position. José Froilán González finished second for the Ferrari team and Fangio's teammate Hans Herrmann came in third.
Race report
The Mercedes domination continued as Fangio led from start to finish. Moss soon passed Gonzalez for 2nd and battled ferociously to catch Fangio. However, he was himself soon under pressure as Hawthorn caught him. The two duelled furiously in a superb patriotic spectacle, ended only when Moss's engine gave way. Hawthorn himself succumbed to fuel feed problems. Gonzalez thus ended in second, whilst Fangio lapped the entire field up to second, winning by nearly a minute. Hans Herrmann in the sister Mercedes took the final podium spot.
The Driver's championship was to be decided at this race. Works Ferrari driver José Froilán González needed to win to stay in contention to beat Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio on points and after finishing 2nd to Fangio, he still had 23 1/7 points to Fangio's 42. With the rules in place at the time, González could not overhaul Fangio's total with 2 races left, and so the title went to Fangio for the 2nd time.
This would be the last F1 race in Switzerland. Following the 1955 Le Mans disaster the Swiss government banned all forms of motor racing. Swiss Grands Prix were subsequently held in 1975 (non-championship) and 1982 but both races took place in France.
There would not be any form of circuit motor racing in Switzerland for nearly sixty four years. In 2015, Switzerland lifted their ban on motor racing for electric vehicles only.[1] The first race organized after the ban was lifted was a 2018 Formula E Championship race taking place in the streets of Zurich.
Classification
Qualifying
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | José Froilán González
|
Ferrari | 2:39.5 | — |
| 2 | 4 | Juan Manuel Fangio
|
Mercedes | 2:39.7 | + 0.2 |
| 3 | 32 |  Stirling Moss
|
Maserati | 2:41.4 | + 1.9 |
| 4 | 26 |  Maurice Trintignant
|
Ferrari | 2:41.7 | + 2.2 |
| 5 | 8 |  Karl Kling
|
Mercedes | 2:41.9 | + 2.4 |
| 6 | 22 | Mike Hawthorn
|
Ferrari | 2:43.2 | + 3.7 |
| 7 | 6 | Hans Herrmann
|
Mercedes | 2:45.0 | + 5.5 |
| 8 | 18 | Ken Wharton
|
Maserati | 2:46.2 | + 6.7 |
| 9 | 28 |  Sergio Mantovani
|
Maserati | 2:56.9 | + 17.4 |
| 10 | 12 | Clemar Bucci
|
Gordini | 3:04.1 | + 24.6 |
| 11 | 24 | Umberto Maglioli
|
Ferrari | 3:08.2 | + 28.7 |
| 12 | 30 | Roberto Mieres
|
Maserati | 3:09.3 | + 29.8 |
| 13 | 34 |  Harry Schell
|
Maserati | 3:12.1 | + 32.6 |
| 14 | 10 | Jean Behra
|
Gordini | 3:16.4 | + 36.9 |
| 15 | 14 | Fred Wacker
|
Gordini | 3:20.3 | + 40.8 |
| 16 | 2 |  Jacques Swaters
|
Ferrari | 3:20.4 | + 40.9 |
| 17 | 24 | Robert Manzon
|
Ferrari | No time | — |
| DNA | 16 | Roy Salvadori
|
Maserati | No time | — |
| DNA | 36 |  Toulo de Graffenried
|
Maserati | No time | — |
Race
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Juan Manuel Fangio |
Mercedes | 66 | 3:00:34.5 | 2 | 91 |
| 2 | 20 | José Froilán González |
Ferrari | 66 | +57.8 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | 6 | Hans Herrmann |
Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 7 | 4 |
| 4 | 30 | Roberto Mieres |
Maserati | 64 | +2 laps | 12 | 3 |
| 5 | 28 | Sergio Mantovani |
Maserati | 64 | +2 laps | 9 | 2 |
| 6 | 18 | Ken Wharton |
Maserati | 64 | +2 laps | 8 | |
| 7 | 24 | Umberto Maglioli |
Ferrari | 61 | +5 laps | 11 | |
| 8 | 2 | Jacques Swaters |
Ferrari | 58 | +8 laps | 16 | |
| Ret | 8 | Karl Kling |
Mercedes | 38 | Fuel system | 5 | |
| Ret | 26 | Maurice Trintignant |
Ferrari | 33 | Engine | 4 | |
| Ret | 22 | Mike Hawthorn |
Ferrari | 30 | Oil leak | 6 | |
| Ret | 34 | Harry Schell |
Maserati | 23 | Oil pump | 13 | |
| Ret | 32 | Stirling Moss |
Maserati | 21 | Oil pump | 3 | |
| Ret | 14 | Fred Wacker |
Gordini | 10 | Transmission | 15 | |
| Ret | 10 | Jean Behra |
Gordini | 8 | Clutch | 14 | |
| Ret | 12 | Clemar Bucci |
Gordini | 0 | Fuel pump | 10 | |
| DNS | 24 | Robert Manzon |
Ferrari | Accident | |||
Source:[2]
| |||||||
- Notes
- ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap
Notes
- Pole position: José Froilán González – 2' 39.5
- Fastest Lap: Juan Manuel Fangio – 2' 39.7
- Last podium for Hans Herrmann
Championship standings after the race
- Drivers' Championship standings
| Pos | Driver | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 | Juan Manuel Fangio
|
42 (45 1⁄7) |
|
|
2 | José Froilán González
|
23 9⁄14 |
|
|
3 | Maurice Trintignant
|
15 |
|
|
4 | Mike Hawthorn
|
10 9⁄14 |
|
|
5 | Karl Kling
|
10 |
| Source: [3] | |||
- Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.
References
- ^ "Switzerland ready to race electric". www.juliusbaer.com. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ "1954 Swiss Grand Prix". formula1.com. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ^ "Switzerland 1954 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 21 March 2019.