1955 Belgian Grand Prix

1955 Belgian Grand Prix
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Spa-Francorchamps layout
Race details
Date	June 5, 1955
Official name	XVII Grote Prijs Van Belgie
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	14.120 km (8.774 miles)
Distance	36 laps, 508.320 km (315.855 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia
Time	4:18.1
Fastest lap
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Time	4:20.6
Podium
First	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Second	Stirling Moss	Mercedes
Third	Nino Farina	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1955 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on June 5, 1955. It was race 4 of 7 in the 1955 World Championship of Drivers. The 36-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from second position. His teammate Stirling Moss finished second and Ferrari driver Nino Farina came in third.

Race report

Harry Schell set a grid time but his car was driven by teammate Maurice Trintignant. This was the easiest of wins for Mercedes. With the absence of Lancia, there was very little competition. Fangio disappeared into the distance with Moss tracking him round. Private entrant Eugenio Castellotti retired after 16 laps, Jean Behra crashed and Hawthorn's Vanwall had an oil leak. The domination of the silver cars was such that they came in over 2 minutes ahead of Farina in third place after he had lost a great deal of time attempting unsuccessfully to pass Castellotti.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	30	Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia	4:18.1	—
2	10	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	4:18.6	+0.5
3	14	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	4:19.2	+1.1
4	2	Nino Farina	Ferrari	4:20.9	+2.8
5	24	Jean Behra	Maserati	4:23.6	+5.5
6	12	Karl Kling	Mercedes	4:24.0	+5.9
7	22	Luigi Musso	Maserati	4:26.4	+8.3
8	6	Paul Frère	Ferrari	4:29.7	+11.6
9	4	Harry Schell	Ferrari	4:31.0	+12.9
10	40	Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall	4:33.0	+14.9
11	4	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	4:33.2	+15.1
12	26	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati	4:50.9	+32.8
13	28	Louis Rosier	Maserati	4:55.4	+37.3
14	24	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	5:09.0	+50.9
DNS	8	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	No time
DNS	38	Johnny Claes	Maserati	No time
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	10	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	36	2:39:29.0	2	91
2	14	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	36	+8.1	3	6
3	2	Nino Farina	Ferrari	36	+1:40.5	4	4
4	6	Paul Frère	Ferrari	36	+3:25.5	8	3
5	24	Roberto Mieres Jean Behra	Maserati	35	+1 Lap	13	1 1
6	4	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	35	+1 Lap	10
7	22	Luigi Musso	Maserati	34	+2 Laps	7
8	26	Cesare Perdisa	Maserati	33	+3 Laps	11
9	28	Louis Rosier	Maserati	33	+3 Laps	12
Ret	12	Karl Kling	Mercedes	21	Oil Leak	6
Ret	30	Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia	16	Gearbox	1
Ret	40	Mike Hawthorn	Vanwall	8	Gearbox	9
Ret	20	Jean Behra	Maserati	3	Spun Off	5
DNS	38	Johnny Claes	Maserati		Engine
DNS	48	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari
DNS	4	Harry Schell	Ferrari
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drive

• Car #24: Roberto Mieres (10 laps) and Jean Behra (25 laps). They shared the 2 points for fifth place.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	19
1	2	Maurice Trintignant	11 1⁄3
1	3	Nino Farina	10 1⁄3
1	4	Bob Sweikert	8
11	5	Stirling Moss	7
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included. Constructors' Championship not introduced until 1958.

External links

• Steve Small - The Grand Prix Who's Who, 1996
• Sheldon and Rabagliati - A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing, Volume 6, 1954-1959, 1987
• James Allen on F1 - video of 1955 event Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
• Half-hour HiDef copy of contemporary film of the 1955 GP