The1958 Formula One season was the 12th season ofFIAFormula One motor racing. It featured the 9thWorld Championship of Drivers, the firstInternational Cup for F1 Manufacturers and five non-championship Formula One races. The World Championship was contested over eleven races between 19 January and 19 October 1958. TheIndianapolis 500 counted towards the Drivers' Championship but not the Manufacturers' Cup.
BritishdriverMike Hawthorn driving forFerrari won his first and only Drivers' Championship after a close battle with compatriotStirling Moss, becoming the first British diriver to become Formula One World Champion.[1] Following thePortuguese Grand Prix, Hawthorn faced a penalty, but Moss sportingly spoke up for him. Moss would go on to win four races over Hawthorn's one, but the points from the Portuguese round enabled Hawthorn to claim the title.[2] It was the first of only two occasions in Formula One history where a driver won the championship, having won only one race in the season, the other beingKeke Rosberg in1982.[3]Vanwall won the inaugural Manufacturers' Cup.[4]
Four drivers died during the season:AmericanPat O'Connor during theIndianapolis 500,ItalianLuigi Musso (Ferrari) during theFrench Grand Prix, hisBritish teammatePeter Collins during theGerman Grand Prix, and BritStuart Lewis-Evans (Vanwall) during theMoroccan Grand Prix. After Collins' accident, Hawthorn had decided to retire from racing at the end of the season. So he did, but then was killed in a road accident three months later.
Since the early 1900s,Grand Prix racing had been dominated byfront-engined cars, but this was the last championship to be won by one. From1959 on, mid-engined cars, with their better road holding, increased driving comfort, lighter weight, and ease on tires and mechanical components (particularlybrakes), would have the upper hand.
The followingteams anddrivers competed in the 1958FIAWorld Championship.
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Because the new regulations around fuel were drawn up late, many of theBritish teams were not ready in time for the season opener, theArgentine Grand Prix, and the race had just ten entrants, the lowest ever: three fromScuderia Ferrari, six privateMaseratis andStirling Moss in aCooper fromRob Walker Racing, 1958 being the team's first full season. Five-time and reigning championJuan Manuel Fangioqualified onpole position in one of the Maseratis he took over from theworks team, ahead of the Ferraris ofMike Hawthorn andPeter Collins. At the start, Collins immediately broke adrive shaft. Hawthorn shot into the lead but was quickly repassed by Fangio. Around half distance, however, theArgentinian had topit for fresh reartyres. Moss took the lead and gambled on not needing a pit stop. The canvas was showing on both wheels, but he held on to win, just ahead of the Ferrari duo ofLuigi Musso andMike Hawthorn.[11]
A full four months later, theMonaco Grand Prix saw no less than 30 drivers trying to qualify for 16 places on thestarting grid. The British teams were present and quick off the mark:Tony Brooks qualified on pole forVanwall, ahead ofJean Behra forBRM and the Cooper duo ofJack Brabham andRoy Salvadori. The latter had the best start, arriving at the first corner in the lead, but he braked too late and bent hissteering column. Behra and Brooks drew away but Hawthorn was the fastest man on track. He passed the Vanwall on lap 18, which retired shortly after with a loosespark plug, and took the lead on lap 27, when Behra's brakes seemed to fade. In the next phase, Stirling Moss, who was back at Vanwall, was fastest and briefly took the lead, before hisengine startedmisfiring and he, too, retired. Veteran racerMaurice Trintignant, who had taken Moss' place atRob Walker Racing, had started fifth but took advantage of his rivals' misfortune, including, on lap 46, that of Hawthorn, whose Ferrari had shaken itsfuel pump loose. Trintignant completed the 100 laps to take victory, ahead of Musso and Collins.Rob Walker Racing had taken a second win in a row ahead of two Ferraris.[12]
The front row for theDutch Grand Prix was occupied by Vanwalls:Lewis-Evans, Moss and Brooks. Moss took the lead at the start, ahead of Lewis-Evans, while seventh-startingHarry Schell in the BRM got up to third and then took second place on lap 12. Moss kept out of trouble and took the win, while his teammates both retired. The BRM duo of Schell and Behra completed the podium, while Hawthorn was the first Ferrari in fifth place.[13]
A couple of days later, theIndianapolis 500 was run. Fangio had skipped the Dutch GP and tried to race in the Indy 500 but failed to qualify.Pat O'Connor died in a first-lappileup, whilereigning USAC championJimmy Bryan won the race.
In the F1 Drivers' Championship,Stirling Moss (Vanwall) was leading with 17 points, ahead ofLuigi Musso (Ferrari) andMaurice Trintignant (Cooper). The Manufacturers' Championship saw Cooper take the lead with 19 points, ahead of Ferrari (14) and Vanwall (8).
TheBelgian Grand Prix had been given the honorary title ofEuropean Grand Prix and marked the first start by a female driver,Maria Teresa de Filippis. The high-speed nature ofSpa-Francorchamps saw the threeFerraris start in the top five, withMike Hawthorn andLuigi Musso at the top, but the quick-startingVanwalls ofStirling Moss andTony Brooks formed the leading duo after the first corner. Before the first lap was over, however, Moss made an erroneous gear change and destroyed his engine. Brooks took over the lead but was overtaken byPeter Collins. The lead changed hands a couple of times, before the Ferrari overheated and had to be retired. Brooks won the race, twenty seconds ahead of Hawthorn and three minutes ahead of teammateLewis-Evans. Dramatically, all three cars broke down coming out of the last corners, but managed to coast over the finish line, so would the race have been one lap longer, the result would have been very different.[14]
Like inBelgium, Ferrari's Hawthorn and Musso qualified on top for theFrench Grand Prix, ahead ofHarry Schell (BRM), who managed to take the lead at the start but fell back to seventh on lap 2. Hawthorn was the fastest man on track, while Musso tried hard to keep him in view, until on lap 10, the Italian pushed too hard and ran wide. His car struck a ditch and somersaulted. Musso wasairlifted to hospital with critical head injuries and would pass away later that day.[5][6] Hawthorn won the race, ahead of championship rival Moss and teammateVon Trips.[15]
TheBritish Grand Prix atSilverstone saw three differentBritish teams on the front row: Moss for Vanwall, Schell for BRM andSalvadori forCooper. But Ferrari drivers Collins and Hawthorn were lying first and third after the first lap. Moss held on to second place until, on lap 26, hisengine blew up. Ferrari scored a 1–2, ahead of Salvadori achieving his first career podium. Five-time champion and reigningJuan Manuel Fangio retired after this race.[16]
Championship leader Hawthorn started onpole position for theGerman Grand Prix, ahead of Brooks and Moss. The latter snatched the lead and set multiple lap records in the early phase. He had a lead of 17 seconds over Collins and Hawthorn when hisignition failed and he coasted to a halt. The Ferrari duo seemed free to fight for the win, until Brooks caught up and used his Vanwall's agility to take the lead through the twisty sections. On lap 11, Collins went off the road, struck a ditch and flipped into the air. He was thrown out and struck atree, suffering critical head injuries. He would pass away in hospital later that day.[7] Hawthorn retired with clutch issues on the next lap, handing Brooks the win, with a lead of several minutes over the Coopers of Salvadori and Trintignant.[17]
In the Drivers' Championship,Mike Hawthorn (Ferrari) was leading with 30 points, ahead ofStirling Moss (Vanwall) with 24 andTony Brooks (Vanwall) with 16. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ferrari was leading with 37, ahead of Vanwall (33) andCooper (29).
ThePortuguese Grand Prix was part of the championship for the first time and was run at theCircuito da Boavista, astreet circuit inPorto. ChampionshipprotagonistsStirling Moss andMike Hawthorn were separated by just 0.05 seconds inqualifying, with theVanwall placed onpole position and teammateStuart Lewis-Evans completing the front row. Rain before the start left the roads wet and gave Hawthorn the advantage to take the lead.Ferrari teammateWolfgang von Trips got up to third, before being passed byJean Behra in theBRM. The roads dried up and Moss retook the lead on lap 8. He subsequently managed to grow such a big lead that the spectators got bored and, just after half-distance, he lapped his teammate in fourth place. Hawthornpitted to have hisbrakes tightened up. Behra passed him, but on lap 41, his engine lost power the Ferrari was back up to second. Lewis-Evans had stayed in Moss's slipstream and when Behra moved out of the way for the leader, his teammate could handily snatch third off of the BRM. They could have tried the same with Hawthorn, but Moss stayed behind his rival out of respect. Moss crossed the line to win the race and Lewis-Evans was flagged as third. Hawthorn had to finish the last lap to take second, but he spun and stalled his engine. Many people wanted to help push the Ferrari, but that would have resulted in disqualification, so Moss (already on his victory lap) waved the crowd away and Hawthorn managed topush start the car by himself. Before he could jump back in and take the wheel, however, the car had rolled a couple of yards in the wrong direction of thecircuit, so theofficials disqualified him after all. Moss again displayed hiscourtesy and defended his rival, although he would have taken the championship lead. No earlier than 11pm, the decision was reversed and Hawthorn's second place was reinstated.[18]
The local Ferrari team were seen as favourites for theItalian Grand Prix, not just by thetifosi, but Moss and Brooks placed their Vanwalls on the top of the grid. Hawthorn started in third but quickly lost out to Lewis-Evans in the third Vanwall. Von Trips hit the rear wheel ofHarry Schell, flew into the air and was thrown out of the car before it struck a tree. The BRM somersaulted off the road and luckily landed on his wheels, because Schell was still in the cockpit. Von Trips suffered injury to hisleg and would not race in the season finale. Meanwhile, the traditionalslipstreaming began at the front and led to multiple lead changes. Future championPhil Hill was running his first race for the Ferrari F1 team and was running comfortably among the leaders, until on lap 7, he had to pit for a wheel change. Moss retired on lap 17 withgearbox trouble and saw his championship rival take the lead of the race. With Lewis-Evans having retired and Brooks down in fifth after a pit stop, Ferrari looked secure to take a dominant victory. Brooks was the fastest man on track, however, and Hawthorn'sclutch began to slip. Lap by lap, the Vanwall clawed his way up the order, and took the lead on lap 60. Hawthorn nursed his car to the finish line in second place, while Hill finished third.[19]
Going into the season finale, thefirst-ever Moroccan Grand Prix, Moss (32 points) had a small chance to win the championship: he had to win the race, with Hawthorn (40 points) finishing third or lower without the fastest lap. In that scenario, the two would tie on points and Moss would win oncount-back. Hawthorn started on pole but fell back to third at the start. Moss took the lead, ahead of Phil Hill. TheAmerican outbraked himself on lap 3, giving Moss the chance to fly away in front. At half-distance, he led Hill by 20 seconds and Hawthorn was fighting Brooks for third. In the next ten laps, three drivers crashed, all slightly injured, and Lewis-Evans slid off the road when his engine exploded. His car caught fire and theBrit suffered serious burns. Hawthorn was back in second, so Moss won the race comfortably but could not secure the championship.[20] Lewis-Evans would succumb to his injuries six days after the race.[21] Vanwall ownerTony Vandervell ended his involvement with the team, partly as a result of this but also in failing health himself,[22] andBernie Ecclestone sold hisConnaught team[23] and ceased involvement with the sport till1965.[24]
In the Drivers' Championship,Mike Hawthorn (Ferrari) collected 42 points and won the title, ahead ofStirling Moss (Vanwall) with 41 andTony Brooks (Vanwall) with 24. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Vanwall won the title with 48 points, ahead of Ferrari (40) andCooper (31). Until1973, it would not happen again that different teams won the two championships in the same year.
Points were awarded to the top five classified finishers, with an additional point awarded for setting the fastest lap, regardless of finishing position or even classification. Only the best six results counted towards the championship. Formula 2 cars were not eligible for Championship Points. No points were awarded for shared drives. If more than one driver set the same fastest lap time, the fastest lap point would be divided equally between the drivers.
The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers only counted the points of the highest-finishing driver for each race, although fastest lap points were not counted. Indy 500 results did not count towards the cup. Additionally, like the Drivers' Championship, only the best six results counted towards the cup.
Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Source:[25] | ||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pos. | Manufacturer | ARG | MON | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | POR | ITA | MOR | Pts.[26] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanwall | Ret | 1 | 1 | (2) | (4) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 48 (57) | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 2 | 2 | (5) | 2 | 1 | 1 | (4) | 2 | (2) | (2) | 40 (57) |
| 3 | Cooper-Climax | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 31 |
| 4 | BRM | 5 | 2 | 5 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 4 | 18 | |
| 5 | Maserati | 4 | Ret | 10 | 7 | 4 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 4† | 6 | 6 |
| 6 | Lotus-Climax | 6 | 6 | 4 | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | 6 | 10 | 3 | |
| — | Porsche | 11 | 0 | |||||||||
| — | Connaught-Alta | DNQ | Ret | 0 | ||||||||
| — | OSCA | WD | DNQ | 0 | ||||||||
| Pos. | Manufacturer | ARG | MON | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | POR | ITA | MOR | Pts. |
† No points were awarded for a shared drive.
The following races were contested byFormula One cars but did not count towards the World Championship of Drivers or the International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers.
| Race name | Circuit | Date | Winning driver | Constructor | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VIGlover Trophy | Goodwood | 7 April | Mike Hawthorn | Ferrari | Report |
| VIIIGran Premio di Siracusa | Syracuse | 13 April | Luigi Musso | Ferrari | Report |
| XIIIBARC Aintree 200 | Aintree | 19 April | Stirling Moss | Cooper-Climax | Report |
| XBRDC International Trophy | Silverstone | 3 May | Peter Collins | Ferrari | Report |
| VIGrand Prix de Caen | Caen | 20 July | Stirling Moss | Cooper-Climax | Report |
