1954 Spanish Grand Prix

  1954 Spanish Grand Prix

Race details
Race 9 of 9 in the 1954 Formula One season
Circuit Pedralbes layout
Date	24 October 1954
Official name	XII Gran Premio de España
Location	Pedralbes Circuit, Barcelona, Spain
Course	Temporary street circuit
Course length	6.316 km (3.925 mi)
Distance	80 laps, 505.280 km (313.966 mi)
Weather	Sunny, mild, dry
Pole position
Driver	Alberto Ascari	Lancia
Time	2:18.1
Fastest lap
Driver	Alberto Ascari	Lancia
Time	2:20.4 on lap 3
Podium
First	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari
Second	Luigi Musso	Maserati
Third	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 1954 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 24 October 1954 at Pedralbes. It was the ninth and final round of the 1954 World Drivers' Championship. The 80-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Mike Hawthorn after he started from third position. Luigi Musso finished second for the Maserati team and Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio came in third.

Race report

The long-awaited Lancia D50s arrived-using their 90 degree V8 engine as a stiffening aid for the chassis; they were simple but brilliantly designed. Ascari immediately set the fastest practice lap and led from pole.

Villoresi in the fellow Lancia retired with brake trouble after just 1 lap and Ascari succumbed to clutch problems after 9 laps.

Various other drivers took the lead and then retired-Schell spun off, Trintignant had mechanical problems and Moss overheated (one of several retirements caused by flying newspaper jamming the radiator ducts). The race boiled down to a duel between Hawthorn and Fangio but the Argentine was losing oil and lost second place to Musso. Hawthorn hung on to take the win with Fangio driving well to claim the final podium position.

This proved to be the last major race held at the Pedralbes street circuit. The Le Mans disaster in 1955 meant tighter safety regulations, and the spectator-lined street circuit in the Pedralbes neighborhood of Barcelona was abandoned and has not been used since.

Classification

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	38	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	80	3:13:52.1	3	8
2	14	Luigi Musso	Maserati	80	+1:13.2	7	6
3	2	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	79	+1 Lap	2	4
4	10	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	79	+1 Lap	11	3
5	4	Karl Kling	Mercedes	79	+4 Laps	12	2
6	16	Paco Godia	Maserati	76	+4 Laps	13
7	26	Louis Rosier	Maserati	74	+6 Laps	20
8	28	Ken Wharton	Maserati	74	+6 Laps	14
9	18	Prince Bira	Maserati	68	+12 Laps	15
Ret	12	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati	58	Brakes	10
Ret	22	Toulo de Graffenried Ottorino Volonterio	Maserati	57	Engine	21
Ret	6	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes	50	Injection	9
Ret	40	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	47	Gearbox	8
Ret	48	Jacques Pollet	Gordini	37	Engine	16
Ret	24	Harry Schell	Maserati	29	Transmission	4
Ret	8	Stirling Moss	Maserati	20	Oil Pump	6
Ret	46	Jean Behra	Gordini	17	Brakes	18
Ret	30	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	16	Engine	19
Ret	34	Alberto Ascari	Lancia	10	Clutch	1	1
Ret	36	Luigi Villoresi	Lancia	2	Brakes	5
Ret	20	Robert Manzon	Ferrari	2	Engine	17
DNS	42	Peter Collins	Vanwall		Non Starter – Accident
Source:[1]

Notes

• Pole position: Alberto Ascari 2:18.1
• Fastest lap: Alberto Ascari 2:20.4
• Lap Leaders:
  • Harry Schell 10 laps (1–2, 10, 13, 15–17, 19, 21, 23) (First race he has led a lap)
  • Alberto Ascari 7 laps (3–9)
  • Maurice Trintignant 5 laps (11–12, 14, 18, 20) (First race he has led a lap)
  • Mike Hawthorn 58 laps (22, 24–80)
• Shared Drives: Car #22: Toulo de Graffenried (30 laps) and Ottorino Volonterio (27 laps).
• Grand Prix debut for: Ottorino Volonterio and Lancia.
• Last Grand Prix appearance for: Prince Bira and Jacques Swaters.
• First points and first podium for Luigi Musso.
• The only time that Juan Manuel Fangio finished third in a World Drivers' Championship race.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	42 (57  1⁄7)
	2	José Froilán González	25  1⁄7 (26  9⁄14)
1	3	Mike Hawthorn	24  9⁄14
1	4	Maurice Trintignant	17
	5	Karl Kling	12

• 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