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1954 Swiss Grand Prix

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1954 Swiss Grand Prix
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Circuit Bremgarten track layout
Circuit Bremgarten track layout
Race details
Date 22 August 1954
Official name XIV Großer Preis der Schweiz
Location Bremgarten, Bern, Switzerland
Course Temporary street/road circuit
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 Argentina 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

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The Mercedes dominance continued as Juan Manuel Fangio led from start to finish. Stirling Moss soon passed José Froilán González for 2nd and battled ferociously to catch Fangio. However, he was himself soon under pressure as Mike Hawthorn caught him. The two duelled furiously in a superb patriotic spectacle, which 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 Formula E Championship race taking place in the streets of Zürich in 2018.

Classification

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Qualifying

[edit]
Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 20 Argentina José Froilán González Ferrari 2:39.5
2 4 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes 2:39.7 + 0.2
3 32 United Kingdom Stirling Moss Maserati 2:41.4 + 1.9
4 26 France Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 2:41.7 + 2.2
5 8 Germany Karl Kling Mercedes 2:41.9 + 2.4
6 22 United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 2:43.2 + 3.7
7 6 Germany Hans Herrmann Mercedes 2:45.0 + 5.5
8 18 United Kingdom Ken Wharton Maserati 2:46.2 + 6.7
9 28 Italy Sergio Mantovani Maserati 2:56.9 + 17.4
10 12 Argentina Clemar Bucci Gordini 3:04.1 + 24.6
11 24 Italy Umberto Maglioli Ferrari 3:08.2 + 28.7
12 30 Argentina Roberto Mieres Maserati 3:09.3 + 29.8
13 34 United States Harry Schell Maserati 3:12.1 + 32.6
14 10 France Jean Behra Gordini 3:16.4 + 36.9
15 14 United States Fred Wacker Gordini 3:20.3 + 40.8
16 2 Belgium Jacques Swaters Ferrari 3:20.4 + 40.9
17 24 France Robert Manzon Ferrari No time
DNA 16 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori Maserati No time
DNA 36 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Maserati No time

Race

[edit]
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/retired Grid Points
1 4 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes 66 3:00:34.5 2 91
2 20 Argentina José Froilán González Ferrari 66 +57.8 1 6
3 6 Germany Hans Herrmann Mercedes 65 +1 lap 7 4
4 30 Argentina Roberto Mieres Maserati 64 +2 laps 12 3
5 28 Italy Sergio Mantovani Maserati 64 +2 laps 9 2
6 18 United Kingdom Ken Wharton Maserati 64 +2 laps 8
7 24 Italy Umberto Maglioli Ferrari 61 +5 laps 11
8 2 Belgium Jacques Swaters Ferrari 58 +8 laps 16
Ret 8 Germany Karl Kling Mercedes 38 Fuel system 5
Ret 26 France Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 33 Engine 4
Ret 22 United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 30 Oil leak 6
Ret 34 United States Harry Schell Maserati 23 Oil pump 13
Ret 32 United Kingdom Stirling Moss Maserati 21 Oil pump 3
Ret 14 United States Fred Wacker Gordini 10 Transmission 15
Ret 10 France Jean Behra Gordini 8 Clutch 14
Ret 12 Argentina Clemar Bucci Gordini 0 Fuel pump 10
DNS 24 France Robert Manzon Ferrari Accident
Source:[2]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Championship standings after the race

[edit]
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio 42 (45 17)
2 Argentina José Froilán González 23 914
3 France Maurice Trintignant 15
4 United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn 10 914
5 Germany 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

[edit]
  1. ^ "Switzerland ready to race electric". www.juliusbaer.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  2. ^ "1954 Swiss Grand Prix". formula1.com. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Switzerland 1954 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 21 March 2019.


Previous race:
1954 German Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1954 season
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1954 Italian Grand Prix
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1953 Swiss Grand Prix
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1975 Swiss Grand Prix