The 1958 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 15 June 1958 at Spa-Francorchamps. It was race 5 of 11 in the 1958 World Championship of Drivers and race 4 of 10 in the 1958 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was the 19th Belgian Grand Prix and it was held over 24 laps of the 14 kilometre circuit for a race distance of 339 kilometres.
Summary The Belgian Grand Prix returned to the calendar after being off the calendar the previous year, and the 8.7 mile Spa circuit had been slightly modified. The pits had been rebuilt, the pit straight had been widened and straightened and the entire track had been resurfaced. The race distance had been shortened from 36 to 24 laps.
The race was won by British driver Tony Brooks in a Vanwall. It was Brooks first solo Grand Prix victory after his car won the 1957 British Grand Prix in a shared drive with Stirling Moss. Brooks finished 20 seconds ahead of fellow Briton Mike Hawthorn driving a Ferrari 246 F1. Brooks' Vanwall teammate Stuart Lewis-Evans finished third in a career-best finish, the first of just two podium finishes to his short Grand Prix career. The race also marked the first World Championship race start (and finish) by a woman in the form of Maria Teresa de Filippis, who had entered the Monaco Grand Prix earlier in the year but failed to qualify. She finished tenth in her privately-entered Maserati 250F, two laps behind Brooks' Vanwall.
On the last lap, Brooks came out of La Source to end the race, and his gearbox seized as he crossed the line. When Mike Hawthorn was coming out of the same corner to end his race in second, his engine failed as he was coming to the finish line. Stuart Lewis-Evans's suspension collapsed on the way into La Source, and he crawled to the line in third. This race also marked the first points finish for Lotus when Cliff Allison came across the line in fourth.
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 16 Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 3:57.1 2 18 Luigi Musso Ferrari 3:57.5 +0.4 3 2 Stirling Moss Vanwall 3:57.6 +0.5 4 14 Peter Collins Ferrari 3:57.7 +0.6 5 4 Tony Brooks Vanwall 3:59.1 +2.0 6 20 Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 3:59.3 +2.2 7 10 Harry Schell BRM 4:04.5 +7.4 8 22 Jack Brabham Cooper–Climax 4:05.1 +8.0 9 30 Masten Gregory Maserati 4:05.4 +8.3 10 8 Jean Behra BRM 4:06.2 +9.1 11 6 Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall 4:07.2 +10.1 12 40 Cliff Allison Lotus–Climax 4:07.7 +10.6 13 24 Roy Salvadori Cooper–Climax 4:15.6 +18.5 14 36 Jo Bonnier Maserati 4:15.7 +18.6 15 42 Graham Hill Lotus–Climax 4:17.9 +20.8 16 28 Maurice Trintignant Maserati 4:21.7 +24.6 17 32 Wolfgang Seidel Maserati 4:21.9 +24.8 18 38 Paco Godia Maserati 4:25.4 +28.3 19 26 Maria Teresa de Filippis Maserati 4:31.0 +33.9 20 34 Ken Kavanagh Maserati 4:45.3 +48.2 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 4 Tony Brooks Vanwall 24 1:37:06.3 5 8 2 16 Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 24 +20.7 secs 1 7 3 6 Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall 24 +3:00.9 11 4 4 40 Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax 24 +4:15.5 12 3 5 10 Harry Schell BRM 23 +1 Lap 7 2 6 20 Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 23 +1 Lap 6 7 28 Maurice Trintignant Maserati 23 +1 Lap 16 8 24 Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 23 +1 Lap 13 9 36 Jo Bonnier Maserati 22 +2 Laps 14 10 26 Maria Teresa de Filippis Maserati 22 +2 Laps 19 38 Paco Godia Maserati 22 Engine 18 22 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 16 Overheating 8 42 Graham Hill Lotus-Climax 12 Engine 15 18 Luigi Musso Ferrari 5 Accident 2 14 Peter Collins Ferrari 5 Overheating 4 8 Jean Behra BRM 5 Oil Pressure 10 32 Wolfgang Seidel Maserati 4 Halfshaft 17 2 Stirling Moss Vanwall 0 Engine 3 30 Masten Gregory Maserati 0 Engine 9 34 Ken Kavanagh Maserati Engine Notes – Includes 1 point for fastest lap
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1 Stirling Moss 17 4 2 Mike Hawthorn 14 1 3 Luigi Musso 12 1 4 Harry Schell 10 2 5 Maurice Trintignant 8Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 1 Ferrari 20 1 2 Cooper-Climax 19 3 Vanwall 16 4 BRM 10 1 5 Lotus-Climax 3Source:
References