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The1955 Formula One season was the ninth season ofFIAFormula One motor racing. It featured the sixthWorld Championship of Drivers, which was contested over seven races between 16 January and 11 September 1955. The season also included several non-championship races for Formula One cars.
Juan Manuel Fangio won his second consecutive World Championship title,[1] his third in total. This was the last championship for aMercedes driver until2014.
The season was coloured by tragedy. Two drivers were killed during the1955 Indianapolis 500:Manny Ayulo andBill Vukovich, winner of the two previous editions.[2]ItalianMario Alborghetti died at the non-championshipPau Grand Prix.Alberto Ascari, World Champion of1952 and1953, was killed while testing aFerrari 750 Monza atMonza.[3][4][5] And ex-Formula One driverPierre Levegh was killed in the1955 Le Mans disaster, along with 83 spectators. This would lead to the cancellation of four F1 Grands Prix.
The followingteams anddrivers competed in the 1955FIAWorld Championship. The list does not include those who only contested theIndianapolis 500.
In the aftermath of the1955 Le Mans disaster, it was decided to reschedule theFrench Grand Prix from 3 July to 25 September.[12] It was later cancelled, along with theGerman,Swiss andSpanish rounds.[13][14]
| Grand Prix | Circuit | Original date |
|---|---|---|
 French Grand Prix | Reims-Gueux,Gueux | 3 July |
 German Grand Prix | Nürburgring,Nürburg | 31 July |
 Swiss Grand Prix | Circuit Bremgarten,Bern | 21 August |
 Spanish Grand Prix | Pedralbes Circuit,Barcelona | 23 October |
The circuits atPedralbes andBremgarten were never used again for racing.Motor racing was banned altogether inSwitzerland until the2018 Zürich ePrix.
For the third year in a row, the championship opened with theArgentine Grand Prix.José Froilan González started onpole position. TheArgentine had been a full-timeFerrari driver in1954, but it would be his only race this year. Next to him on the front row started two double World Champions:Alberto Ascari in theLancia andJuan Manuel Fangio in theMercedes. Fangio took the lead at the start, but lost it to Ascari on lap 3. TeammateStirling Moss went from eighth to third, while behind them, drivers and cars were beginning to succumb to the heat of 52 °C (126 °F). On lap 21, Ascari crashed out by himself, leaving González in the lead. However, he was still recovering from his accident in the1954 RAC Tourist Trophy and got exhausted. Fearing he could not hold Fangio behind, he pitted to hand the car to teammate and1950 World ChampionNino Farina. Fangio pitted as well, for new tyres and to cool off, while Moss retired due to avapor lock in thefuel pump. This left another local driver,Roberto Mieres in theMaserati, in the lead after starting sixteenth. Sadly, his fuel pump faltered as well and he spent 10 minutes in the pits, coming home in fifth. Besides Mieres, Fangio would be the only classified driver not to have switched cars during the race, and went on to win. Two Ferraris completed the podium, but each had seen three different drivers behind the wheel, so Fangio had an immediate lead in the championship.[15][16]
TheMonaco Grand Prix returned to the calendar after three years and was given the honorary title ofEuropean Grand Prix. A new rule toqualifying had been added: only the times recorded in the firstpractice session on Thursday afternoon would count for the front row of the grid and, thus, for pole position. The rest of the starting places would be decided by the remaining sessions on Friday and Saturday morning. This was done to entice spectators to come and watch every session, but it was an unpopular idea with the drivers. Fangio set the fastest time, ahead of Ascari and Moss, so they could relax and use the remaining sessions to try out car set-ups for the race. At the start of the race, Fangio held on to the lead, but Ascari fell back. Moss took second place after a few laps and was slowly closing up to his teammate in front. After the two drivers behind Moss pitted, Ascari was left in a lonely third place until, at half-distance, Fangio stopped on track with a brokentransmission and, on lap 81, Moss's engine blew up. Ascari took the unexpected lead of the race, but mere seconds later, crashed coming out of theharbour chicane and plunged into the water. He was lucky to escape with just a cut on the nose.Maurice Trintignant took the win for Ferrari, the first of his career, ahead ofEugenio Castellotti for Lancia andCesare Perdisa inJean Behra's Maserati.[17]
TheIndianapolis 500 was included in the Formula One championship, but no F1 drivers attended.Bob Sweikert won the race.
In the Drivers' Championship,Maurice Trintignant (Ferrari) was leading with 11 points, ahead ofJuan Manuel Fangio (Mercedes) with 10 andBob Sweikert (Kurtis Kraft) with 8. Sweikert would not compete in any other rounds.
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Four days after the Monaco Grand Prix, double World ChampionAlberto Ascari was tragically killed in a test session atMonza. Further burdened by financial troubles, theLancia team was left with two cars and just one driver. Soon, all assets would be merged into theFerrari team, but this did not stopEugenio Castellotti from scoring his first careerpole position in theBelgian Grand Prix. TheMercedes cars ofJuan Manuel Fangio andStirling Moss started beside him on the front row. Championship leaderMaurice Trintignant started down in eleventh out of thirteen. At the start, Fangio and Moss quickly took the lead and never looked back. Castellotti retired on lap 16, allowing1950 World ChampionNino Farina to finish third for Ferrari.[18]
On 11 June, the24 Hours of Le Mans took place and many F1 drivers participated. During the race,Pierre Levegh crashed into the spectator area, killing 83 people and injuring at least 120 others. This led theFIA to postpone theFrench Grand Prix.[12] However, theDutch Grand Prix was next on the F1 championship and went on undisturbed. Mercedes managed to occupy the front row with Fangio, Moss andKarl Kling. At the start,Luigi Musso put hisMaserati into second position, but was outbraved by Moss. Kling tried his best to keep up with the leading trio but, on lap 21, spun off and retired. Fangio and Moss scored another one-two finish, a minute ahead of Musso. This was the first race since the1950 French Grand Prix that none of the cars on the podium were powered by a Ferrari engine.[19]
For theBritish Grand Prix,Stirling Moss scored his first career pole position in front of his home crowd. Fangio started second,Jean Behra third for Maserati. The second row was filled by two more Mercedes: Karl Kling andPiero Taruffi. Fangio had the best start, but Moss regained the lead on lap 3, his car set up with a lower top speed but better acceleration out of the corners. Behra retired on lap 10, handing the top four positions to Mercedes, with Fangio once again in front. A couple of laps later, Moss retook the lead, grew his advantage to ten seconds and set a new lap record. Unused to having the team leader behind him, Moss looked back on the last lap and hesitated. But Fangio hang back, two tenths behind, leaving the home hero to take the win.[20]
In the Drivers' Championship,Juan Manuel Fangio (Mercedes) led with 33 points, ahead ofStirling Moss (Mercedes) with 22 andMaurice Trintignant (Ferrari) with 11 points. After the British Grand Prix, theGerman,Swiss,French andSpanish Grand Prix were cancelled, in the aftermath of the1955 Le Mans disaster. This left just one race in the championship and effectively handed the title to Fangio.
TheItalian Grand Prix was run on the 10 km (6.2 mi)Monza layout including a new steepbanking.Nino Farina crashed inpractice when his rear tyre came apart under the load of the banked turn and the heat of the sun. He escaped unhurt but hisFerrari-runLancia was written off, and although Sunday was substantially cooler, the other Lancia was withdrawn as a precaution. Like inZandvoort,Mercedes-Benz in Formula One#Mercedes occupied the front row in the order ofFangio,Moss,Kling. Moss took the lead at the start, but gave way to hisArgentinian team leader before the first lap was run. The fourth Mercedes ofTaruffi went from ninth to fourth, the team repeating their procession run from last race. However, Moss pitted on lap 19 for a newwindscreen and subsequently retired on lap 28 when hisengine cut out. Kling's gearbox broke and he retired as well, leaving theGerman team worried, but Fangio and Taruffi finished the race untroubled, scoring another Mercedes 1–2, ahead ofEugenio Castellotti for Ferrari.[21]
Juan Manuel Fangio (Mercedes) had collected 40 points and won his third Drivers' Championship, his second in a row. TeammateStirling Moss was second with 23 points andEugenio Castellotti third with 12. Mercedes withdrew from F1 after this season, marking it the final race until the team's revival in2010, their final win until the2012 Chinese Grand Prix and final championship title until2014.
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 five results counted towards the championship. Shared drives result in shared points for each driver if they finished in a points-scoring position. If more than one driver set the same fastest lap time, the fastest lap point would be divided equally between the drivers. 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:[22] | ||||||
Other Formula One races were also held in 1955, which did not count towards the World Championship.
| Race name | Circuit | Date | Winning driver | Constructor | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 VIIGran Premio del Valentino | Valentino Park | 27 March | Alberto Ascari | Lancia | Report |
| XVIPau Grand Prix | Pau | 11 April | Jean Behra | Maserati | Report |
 IIIGlover Trophy | Goodwood | 11 April | Roy Salvadori | Maserati | Report |
| IVGrand Prix de Bordeaux | Bordeaux | 25 April | Jean Behra | Maserati | Report |
| VIIBRDC International Trophy | Silverstone | 7 May | Peter Collins | Maserati | Report |
| VIIIGran Premio di Napoli | Posillipo | 8 May | Alberto Ascari | Lancia | Report |
| XVIIGrand Prix d'Albi | Albi (Les Planques) | 29 May | André Simon | Maserati | Report |
| IIICurtis Trophy | Snetterton | 29 May | Roy Salvadori | Maserati | Report |
| IIICornwall MRC Formula 1 Race | Davidstow | 30 May | Leslie Marr | Connaught-Alta | Report |
| IIILondon Trophy | Crystal Palace | 30 July | Mike Hawthorn | Maserati | Report |
| IIIDaily Record Trophy | Charterhall | 6 August | Bob Gerard | Maserati | Report |
| IIIRedeX Trophy | Snetterton | 13 August |  Harry Schell | Vanwall | Report |
| IIDaily Telegraph Trophy | Aintree | 3 September | Roy Salvadori | Maserati | Report |
| IIInternational Gold Cup | Oulton Park | 24 September | Stirling Moss | Maserati | Report |
| IAvon Trophy | Castle Combe | 1 October | Harry Schell | Vanwall | Report |
| VGran Premio di Siracusa | Syracuse | 23 October | Tony Brooks | Connaught-Alta | Report |
