1954 German Grand Prix

West Germany  1954 German Grand Prix
Race details
Race 6 of 9 in the 1954 Formula One season

Nürburgring layout
Date 1 August 1954
Official name XVII Großer Preis von Deutschland
a.k.a. Großer Preis von Europa [1]
Location Nürburgring, Nürburg, West Germany
Course Permanent road course
Course length 22.810 km (14.173 mi)
Distance 22 laps, 501.820 km (311.806 mi)
Weather Sunny, dry
Pole position
Driver Mercedes
Time 9:50.1
Fastest lap
Driver West Germany Karl Kling Mercedes
Time 9:55.1
Podium
First Mercedes
Second Ferrari
Third Ferrari

The 1954 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 1 August 1954. It was the sixth round of the 1954 World Drivers' Championship. It was the 17th German Grand Prix since the race was first held in 1926 and the 16th to be held at the Nürburgring complex of circuits. The race was won by 1951 world champion, Argentine driver Juan Manuel Fangio driving a Mercedes-Benz W196. Ferrari 625 drivers Mike Hawthorn (in a shared drive with José Froilán González) and Maurice Trintignant finished second and third for Scuderia Ferrari.

Race report

Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1954 German Grand Prix driving a Mercedes-Benz W196.
President Theodor Heuss visits the racetrack.

The race was lengthened from 18 to 22 laps, bring the German Grand Prix up to the approximately 500 kilometre race distance used by the majority of Formula One Grands Prix at the time. Mercedes had brought to the Nürburgring their new open-wheeled version of the W196 for Fangio, Kling and Hermann Lang (in a one-off drive) after Mercedes's defeat at Silverstone in their streamlined cars. Hans Herrmann drove a streamlined W196. Qualifying saw Fangio take pole position from Hawthorn, but practice was marred by the death of official Maserati driver Onofre Marimón. Going into the Wehrseifen slight right hand/sharp left hand turn, Marimón's Maserati 250F failed to negotiate the corner while going down the downhill run to the corner, plunged down an embankment, the car somersaulted and he was killed instantly. Marimón's team mate Luigi Villoresi withdrew from the race, as did Owen Racing entered Maserati of Ken Wharton but the team's third car for Sergio Mantovani fronted for the race start. Stirling Moss qualified third in his privately entered Maserati 250F ahead of Hans Herrmann (Mercedes-Benz W196), Gonzalez and Paul Frère (Gordini T16).

Fangio and Karl Kling led the way in their two Mercedes. Hawthorn was an early retirement with a broken axle as were Moss, Frère and privateer Maserati driver Roberto Mieres. Hermann Lang, one of the pre-war stars of the Mercedes 'silver arrows' spun out of his final Grand Prix appearance after ten laps. Gonzalez started and was running third but was so upset by Marimón's death he was called in after 16 laps to hand over to Hawthorn, who set off in pursuit of the Mercedes. He moved into second when Kling pitted and pursued Fangio relentlessly. Late in the race, drizzle forced him to slow and he held second from Trintignant. Kling finished fourth ahead of Mantovani, the last driver to travel the full race distance, getting some points for a saddened Maserati. Kling claimed the fastest lap point.

Just ten of the 23 qualifiers finished the gruelling race. With an elapsed time of 3 hours 45 minutes 45.8 seconds this was the longest (non Indy 500) F1 championship race in history, until the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix, which lasted just over four hours. The win pushed Fangio further ahead in the championship, now to the point where he had more than double the points of his nearest rival Gonzalez. A win in the next race at the Swiss Grand Prix could wrap up his second championship.

Classification

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 18 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes 22 3:45:45.8 1 8
2 1 Argentina José Froilán González
United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn
Ferrari 22 +1:36.5 5 3
3
3 2 France Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 22 +5:08.6 7 4
4 19 West Germany Karl Kling Mercedes 22 +6:06.5 23 4
5 7 Italy Sergio Mantovani Maserati 22 +8:50.5 15 2
6 4 Italy Piero Taruffi Ferrari 21 +1 lap 13
7 15 United States Harry Schell Maserati 21 +1 lap 14
8 25 France Louis Rosier Ferrari 21 +1 lap 11
9 24 France Robert Manzon Ferrari 20 +2 laps 12
10 9 France Jean Behra Gordini 20 +2 laps 9
Ret 14 Thailand Prince Bira Maserati 18 Steering 19
Ret 21 West Germany Hermann Lang Mercedes 10 Spun Off 13
Ret 11 Argentina Clemar Bucci Gordini 8 Wheel 16
Ret 22 West Germany Theo Helfrich Klenk-BMW 8 Engine 21
Ret 20 West Germany Hans Herrmann Mercedes 7 Fuel Leak 4
Ret 10 Belgium Paul Frère Gordini 4 Wheel 6
Ret 3 United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 3 Transmission 2
Ret 8 Argentina Roberto Mieres Maserati 2 Fuel Leak 17
Ret 16 United Kingdom Stirling Moss Maserati 1 Wheel Bearing 3
Ret 12 Belgium André Pilette Gordini 0 Suspension 20
DNS 6 Argentina Onofre Marimón Maserati Fatal Crash in Practice 8
DNS 5 Italy Luigi Villoresi Maserati Withdrawn 10
DNS 17 United Kingdom Ken Wharton Maserati Withdrawn 22
Source:[2]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio 36 17
2 Argentina José Froilán González 17 914
3 France Maurice Trintignant 15
1 4 United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn 10 914
3 5 Germany Karl Kling 10

References

  1. "Tragedy At the 'Ring: The 1954 German GP". gpevolved.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  2. "1954 German Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
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1954 British Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1954 season
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1954 Swiss Grand Prix
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1953 German Grand Prix
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1956 German Grand Prix
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1952 Belgian Grand Prix
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1955 Monaco Grand Prix
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