1955 Formula One season

The 1955 Formula One season included the 6th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 16, 1955, and ended on September 11 after seven races. Juan Manuel Fangio retained his title in a season that was curtailed by tragedies.

Season summary

Mercedes again dominated the season, with Fangio taking four races, and his new team mate Moss the British Grand Prix. Ferrari won at Monaco after the Mercedes broke down and Ascari crashed into the harbour. Although Ascari was apparently unscathed, the double World Champion crashed fatally at Monza while testing sportscars four days later.

The disaster at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 11 June which killed Pierre Levegh and over 80 spectators led to the cancellations of the French, German, Spanish and Swiss Grands Prix.^[1]

Moss' win at Aintree took the title battle to the final round, fittingly at Monza. A mechanical failure ended Moss's challenge, and an entertaining battle, handing Fangio his third title.

Season review

Round	Race	Date	Location	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
1	Argentine Grand Prix	January 16	Oscar Gálvez	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	Report
2	Monaco Grand Prix	May 22	Monaco	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	Report
3	Indianapolis 500	May 30	Indianapolis	Bob Sweikert	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	Report
4	Belgian Grand Prix	June 5	Spa-Francorchamps	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	Report
5	Dutch Grand Prix	June 19	Zandvoort	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	Report
6	British Grand Prix	July 16	Aintree	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	Report
7	Italian Grand Prix	September 11	Monza	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	Report

1955 Drivers Championship final standings

Pos. Driver ARG MON 500 BEL NED GBR ITA Pts. 1 Juan Manuel Fangio 1* Ret* 1* 1 2 1 40 (41) 2 Stirling Moss 4† / Ret 9 2 2 1* Ret* 23 3 Eugenio Castellotti Ret† 2 Ret 5 6† / Ret 3 12 4 Maurice Trintignant 2† / 3† / Ret 1 6 Ret Ret 8 11.33 5 Nino Farina 2† / 3† 4 3 DNS 10.33 6 Piero Taruffi 8† 4 2 9 7 Bob Sweikert 1 8 8 Roberto Mieres 5 Ret 5† 4* Ret 7 7 9 Jean Behra 6† / Ret† / Ret 3† / Ret† 5† / Ret 6 Ret 4 6 10 Luigi Musso 7† / Ret† Ret 7 3 5 Ret 6 11 Karl Kling 4† / Ret Ret Ret 3 Ret 5 12 Jimmy Davies 3 4 13 Tony Bettenhausen 2† 3 14 Paul Russo 2† 3 15 Paul Frère 8† 4 3 16 Johnny Thomson 4 3 17 José Froilán González 2† 2 18 Cesare Perdisa 3† / Ret† 8 2 19 Luigi Villoresi Ret† / Ret 5 DNS 2 20 Carlos Menditeguy Ret† / Ret 5 2 21 Umberto Maglioli 3† 6 1.33 22 Hans Herrmann 4† 1 23 Walt Faulkner 5† 1 24 Bill Homeier 5† 1 25 Bill Vukovich Ret* 1 26 Mike Hawthorn Ret Ret 7 6† 10 0 27 Harry Schell 6† / 7† / Ret† Ret 9† / Ret Ret 0 28 Louis Chiron 6 0 29 Andy Linden 6 0 30 Jacques Pollet 7 10 Ret 0 31 Al Herman 7 0 32 Mike Sparken 7 0 33 Sergio Mantovani 7† / Ret† 0 34 Hernando da Silva Ramos 8 Ret Ret 0 35 Lance Macklin DNQ 8 0 36 Pat O'Connor 8 0 37 Louis Rosier Ret 9 9 0 38 Ken Wharton 9† Ret 0 39 Jimmy Daywalt 9 0 40 John Fitch 9 0 41 Pat Flaherty 10 0 42 Duane Carter 11 0 43 Johnny Claes 11 0 44 Chuck Weyant 12 0 45 Eddie Johnson 13 0 46 Jim Rathmann 14 0 — Robert Manzon Ret Ret Ret 0 — Horace Gould Ret Ret Ret 0 — Alberto Ascari Ret Ret 0 — Élie Bayol Ret Ret 0 — André Simon Ret Ret 0 — Peter Collins Ret Ret 0 — Peter Walker Ret Ret† 0 — Jesus Iglesias Ret 0 — Pablo Birger Ret 0 — Alberto Uria Ret 0 — Don Freeland Ret 0 — Cal Niday Ret 0 — Art Cross Ret 0 — Shorty Templeman Ret 0 — Sam Hanks Ret 0 — Keith Andrews Ret 0 — Johnnie Parsons Ret 0 — Eddie Russo Ret 0 — Ray Crawford Ret 0 — Jimmy Bryan Ret 0 — Jack McGrath Ret 0 — Al Keller Ret 0 — Johnny Boyd Ret 0 — Ed Elisian Ret 0 — Rodger Ward Ret 0 — Jerry Hoyt Ret 0 — Jimmy Reece Ret 0 — Fred Agabashian Ret 0 — Kenneth McAlpine Ret 0 — Jack Brabham Ret 0 — Roy Salvadori Ret 0 — Leslie Marr Ret 0 — Jean Lucas Ret 0 — Clemar Bucci Ret† 0 — Tony Rolt Ret† 0 — Ted Whiteaway DNQ 0 Pos. Driver ARG MON 500 BEL NED GBR ITA Pts.

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Light blue Practiced only (PO) Friday test driver (TD) (from 2003 onwards) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Excluded (EX) Did not arrive (DNA) Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

• * Fastest lap (1 point awarded)
• † Position shared between more drivers of the same car
• Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

Non-Championship race results

Other Formula One races also held in 1955, which did not count towards the World Championship.

Race Name	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
Gran Premio Ciudad de Buenos Aires	Buenos Aires	January 30	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes-Benz	Report
VII Gran Premio del Valentino	Valentino Park	March 27	Alberto Ascari	Lancia	Report
XVI Grand Prix de Pau	Pau	April 11	Jean Behra	Maserati	Report
III Glover Trophy	Goodwood	April 11	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	Report
IV Grand Prix de Bordeaux	Bordeaux	April 25	Jean Behra	Maserati	Report
VII BRDC International Trophy	Silverstone	May 7	Peter Collins	Maserati	Report
VIII Gran Premio di Napoli	Posillipo	May 8	Alberto Ascari	Lancia	Report
XVII Grand Prix d'Albi	Albi	May 29	André Simon	Maserati	Report
III Curtis Trophy	Snetteron	May 29	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	Report
III Cornwall MRC Formula 1 Race	Davidstow	May 30	Leslie Marr	Connaught-Alta	Report
III London Trophy	Crystal Palace	July 30	Mike Hawthorn	Maserati	Report
III Daily Record Trophy	Charterhall	August 6	Bob Gerard	Maserati	Report
III RedeX Trophy	Snetterton	August 13	Harry Schell	Vanwall	Report
II Daily Telegraph Trophy	Aintree	September 3	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	Report
II International Gold Cup	Oulton Park	September 24	Stirling Moss	Maserati	Report
I Avon Trophy	Castle Combe	October 1	Harry Schell	Vanwall	Report
V Gran Premio di Siracusa	Syracuse	October 23	Tony Brooks	Connaught-Alta	Report

Notes