The 1954 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Bremgarten on 22 August 1954. It was race 7 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 66-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from second position. José Froilán González finished second for the Ferrari team and Fangio's teammate Hans Herrmann came in third.
Race report
The Mercedes dominance continued as Juan Manuel Fangio led from start to finish. Stirling Moss soon passed José Froilán González for 2nd and battled ferociously to catch Fangio. However, he was himself soon under pressure as Mike Hawthorn caught him. The two duelled furiously, which ended only when Moss' engine gave way. Hawthorn himself succumbed to fuel feed problems. Gonzalez thus ended in second, whilst Fangio lapped the entire field up to second, winning by nearly a minute. Hans Herrmann in the sister Mercedes took the final podium spot.
The Driver's championship was to be decided at this race. Works Ferrari driver José Froilán González needed to win to stay in contention to beat Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio on points and after finishing 2nd to Fangio, he still had 23 1/7 points to Fangio's 42. With the rules in place at the time, González could not overhaul Fangio's total with 2 races left, and so the title went to Fangio for the 2nd time.
This would be the last F1 race in Switzerland. Following the 1955 Le Mans disaster the Swiss government banned all forms of motor racing. Two Swiss Grands Prix were subsequently held in 1975 (non-championship) and 1982 but both races took place at the Dijon-Prenois circuit in France.
There would not be any form of circuit motor racing in Switzerland for nearly sixty four years. In 2015, Switzerland lifted their ban on motor racing for electric vehicles only. The first race organized after the ban was lifted was a Formula E Championship race taking place in the streets of Zürich in 2018.
Entries +TeamNoDriverCarEngineTyre Ecurie Francorchamps2 Jacques SwatersFerrari 500Ferrari 500 2.0 L4 Daimler Benz AG4 Juan Manuel FangioMercedes-Benz W196Mercedes M196 2.5 L86 Hans Herrmann8 Karl Kling Equipe Gordini10 Jean BehraGordini T16Gordini 23 2.5 L612 Clemar Bucci14 Fred Wacker Gilby Engineering16 Roy SalvadoriMaserati 250FMaserati 250F1 2.5 L6 Owen Racing Organisation18 Ken Wharton Scuderia Ferrari20 José Froilán GonzálezFerrari 553 Ferrari 625 F1Ferrari 554 2.5 L4 Ferrari 625 2.5 L422 Mike Hawthorn24 Umberto Maglioli Robert Manzon26 Maurice Trintignant Officine Alfieri Maserati28 Sergio MantovaniMaserati A6GCM Maserati 250FMaserati A6 2.0 L6 Maserati 250F1 2.5 L630 Roberto Mieres32 Stirling Moss34 Harry Schell Emmanuel de Graffenried36 Toulo de GraffenriedMaserati A6GCMMaserati A6 2.0 L6
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 20 José Froilán González Ferrari 2:39.5 — 2 4 Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes 2:39.7 + 0.2 3 32 Stirling Moss Maserati 2:41.4 + 1.9 4 26 Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 2:41.7 + 2.2 5 8 Karl Kling Mercedes 2:41.9 + 2.4 6 22 Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 2:43.2 + 3.7 7 6 Hans Herrmann Mercedes 2:45.0 + 5.5 8 18 Ken Wharton Maserati 2:46.2 + 6.7 9 28 Sergio Mantovani Maserati 2:56.9 + 17.4 10 12 Clemar Bucci Gordini 3:04.1 + 24.6 11 24 Umberto Maglioli Ferrari 3:08.2 + 28.7 12 30 Roberto Mieres Maserati 3:09.3 + 29.8 13 34 Harry Schell Maserati 3:12.1 + 32.6 14 10 Jean Behra Gordini 3:16.4 + 36.9 15 14 Fred Wacker Gordini 3:20.3 + 40.8 16 2 Jacques Swaters Ferrari 3:20.4 + 40.9 17 24 Robert Manzon Ferrari No time — 16 Roy Salvadori Maserati No time — 36 Toulo de Graffenried Maserati No time —
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/retired Grid Points 1 4 Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes 66 3:00:34.5 2 9 2 20 José Froilán González Ferrari 66 +57.8 1 6 3 6 Hans Herrmann Mercedes 65 +1 lap 7 4 4 30 Roberto Mieres Maserati 64 +2 laps 12 3 5 28 Sergio Mantovani Maserati 64 +2 laps 9 2 6 18 Ken Wharton Maserati 64 +2 laps 8 7 24 Umberto Maglioli Ferrari 61 +5 laps 11 8 2 Jacques Swaters Ferrari 58 +8 laps 16 8 Karl Kling Mercedes 38 Fuel system 5 26 Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 33 Engine 4 22 Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 30 Oil leak 6 34 Harry Schell Maserati 23 Oil pump 13 32 Stirling Moss Maserati 21 Oil pump 3 14 Fred Wacker Gordini 10 Transmission 15 10 Jean Behra Gordini 8 Clutch 14 12 Clemar Bucci Gordini 0 Fuel pump 10 24 Robert Manzon Ferrari Accident Notes – Includes 1 point for fastest lap
Championship standings after the race Bold text indicates the World Champion. Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Juan Manuel Fangio 42 (45 ) 2 José Froilán González 23 3 Maurice Trintignant 15 4 Mike Hawthorn 10 5 Karl Kling 10Source:
References