The 1955 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Aintree on 16 July 1955. It was race 6 of 7 in the 1955 World Championship of Drivers. British driver Stirling Moss led a Mercedes 1–2–3–4 domination of the race, to achieve his first Formula One win, narrowly ahead of his illustrious Argentine teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. Several people, including Moss, believed that the Argentine allowed his British protégé to claim his debut win in front of his home crowd. This was, however, at Moss' inquiry, consistently denied by Fangio, who claimed that Moss "was simply faster that day."

In the wake of the Le Mans disaster, the French, German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix which were to take place at existing circuits had all been cancelled. The Aintree circuit was an all-new circuit around the Grand National horse racing course in Liverpool; it was built to be at the time one of the safest and most modern racing facilities in Europe.

With only one Championship round therefore remaining (the Italian Grand Prix some 2 months later), Fangio's points advantage over Moss was sufficient to secure his third World Drivers' Championship.

This was the last all-Mercedes-powered podium until the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix.

Entries +TeamNoDriverCarEngineTyre Officine Alfieri Maserati2 Jean Behra250FMaserati 250F1 2.5 L64 Luigi Musso6 Roberto Mieres8 André Simon Daimler Benz AG10 Juan Manuel FangioW196Mercedes M196 2.5 L812 Stirling Moss14 Karl Kling50 Piero Taruffi Scuderia Ferrari16 Mike Hawthorn625Ferrari 555 2.5 L418 Maurice Trintignant20 Eugenio Castellotti Equipe Gordini22 Robert ManzonT16Gordini 23 2.5 L624 Hermano da Silva Ramos26 Mike Sparken Vandervell Products28 Ken WhartonVW 55Vanwall 254 2.5 L430 Harry Schell Connaught Engineering32 Kenneth McAlpineBAlta GP 2.5 L434 Jack Fairman Rob Walker Racing Team36 Tony Rolt Peter Walker Leslie Marr38 Leslie Marr Cooper Car Company40 Jack BrabhamCooper T40Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 Owen Racing Organisation42 Peter Collins250FMaserati 250F1 2.5 L6 Gilby Engineering44 Roy Salvadori Stirling Moss Ltd46 Lance Macklin Gould's Garage (Bristol)48 Horace Gould

Classification Qualifying +PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap1 12 Stirling Moss Mercedes 2:00.4—2 10 Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes 2:00.6 +0.23 2 Jean Behra Maserati 2:01.4 +1.04 14 Karl Kling Mercedes 2:02.0 +1.65 50 Piero Taruffi Mercedes 2:03.0 +2.66 6 Roberto Mieres Maserati 2:03.2 +2.87 30 Harry Schell Vanwall 2:03.8 +3.48 8 André Simon Maserati 2:04.0 +3.69 4 Luigi Musso Maserati 2:04.2 +3.810 20 Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari 2:05.0 +4.611 22 Robert Manzon Gordini 2:05.0 +4.612 16 Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 2:05.4 +5.013 18 Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 2:05.4 +5.014 36 Tony Rolt Connaught-Alta 2:06.6 +6.215 28 Ken Wharton Vanwall 2:08.4 +8.016 46 Lance Macklin Maserati 2:08.4 +8.017 32 Kenneth McAlpine Connaught-Alta 2:09.6 +9.218 24 Hermano da Silva Ramos Gordini 2:10.6 +10.219 38 Leslie Marr Connaught-Alta 2:11.6 +11.220 44 Roy Salvadori Maserati 2:11.6 +11.221 34 Jack Fairman Connaught-Alta 2:11.6 +11.222 48 Horace Gould Maserati 2:11.8 +11.423 26 Mike Sparken Gordini 2:12.6 +12.224 42 Peter Collins Maserati 2:13.4 +13.025 40 Jack Brabham Cooper-Bristol 2:27.4 +27.0 Source:

Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 12 Stirling Moss Mercedes 90 3:07:21.2 1 9 2 10 Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes 90 +0.2 2 6 3 14 Karl Kling Mercedes 90 +1:11.8 4 4 4 50 Piero Taruffi Mercedes 89 +1 Lap 5 3 5 4 Luigi Musso Maserati 89 +1 Lap 9 2 6 16 Mike Hawthorn Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari 87 +3 Laps 12 7 26 Mike Sparken Gordini 81 +9 Laps 23 8 46 Lance Macklin Maserati 79 +11 Laps 16 9 28 Ken Wharton Harry Schell Vanwall 72 +18 Laps 15 18 Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 59 Overheating 13 6 Roberto Mieres Maserati 47 Engine 6 40 Jack Brabham Cooper-Bristol 30 Engine 25 32 Kenneth McAlpine Connaught-Alta 30 Oil Pressure 17 42 Peter Collins Maserati 28 Clutch 24 24 Hermano da Silva Ramos Gordini 26 Oil Pressure 18 44 Roy Salvadori Maserati 23 Gearbox 20 48 Horace Gould Maserati 22 Brakes 22 30 Harry Schell Vanwall 20 Throttle 7 36 Tony Rolt Peter Walker Connaught-Alta 19 Transmission 14 38 Leslie Marr Connaught-Alta 18 Brakes 19 20 Eugenio Castellotti Ferrari 16 Transmission 10 8 André Simon Maserati 9 Gearbox 8 2 Jean Behra Maserati 9 Oil Leak 3 22 Robert Manzon Gordini 4 Transmission 11 34 Jack Fairman Connaught-Alta Engine 21 Notes – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drives Car #16: Mike Hawthorn (60 laps) and Eugenio Castellotti (27 laps). Car #28: Ken Wharton (50 laps) and Harry Schell (22 laps). Car #36: Tony Rolt (10 laps) and Peter Walker (9 laps).

Notes

This was the Formula One debut of future triple world champion Jack Brabham. This was only the second time a Ferrari (powered-car) did not finish in a points position (be it through the classification or a fastest lap). It ended a 37-race streak since the 1950 Belgian Grand Prix of a Ferrari ending a race with at least one point.

Championship standings after the race Bold text indicates the World Champion. Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Juan Manuel Fangio 33 2 Stirling Moss 22 3 Maurice Trintignant 11 4 Nino Farina 10 5 Bob Sweikert 8Source:

References

Further reading