Presentation of 1955 season

In 1955, the sixth World Championship among drivers in the Formula 1 class took place. The technical regulations of the races did not change in comparison with the previous year, and cars with 2.5-liter atmospheric engines were allowed to participate in the championship. The scoring system also remained the same: 8-6-4-3-2, the results of the top five Grand Prix were counted, while the drivers of the same team had the right to change cars during the race, dividing the points among themselves. In addition, one point was awarded for the best lap in the race. The championship calendar included the Grand Prix of Argentina, Monaco, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.

Teams

Presentation of 1956 season

In 1956, the seventh Formula-1 World Championship among drivers took place. The technical regulations of the championship have not changed compared to the previous year, and cars with 2.5-liter atmospheric engines were allowed to participate in the Grand Prix. The scoring system also remained the same: 8-6-4-3-2, and the results of the top five Grand Prix were counted, while the drivers of the same team had the right to change cars during the race, dividing the points among themselves. In addition, one point was awarded for the best lap in the race. The championship calendar included the Grand Prix of Argentina, Monaco, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Germany and Italy.

Teams

Scuderia Ferrari

Last season was one of the most disastrous in the history of Scuderia, and in the face of a serious technical backlog from the Silver Arrows, the Italian team's drivers managed to win only one, and then in many respects accidental, victory in the Monaco Grand Prix. Naturally, Enzo Ferrari was not very happy with this situation and, as a result, Commendatore carried out a complete reorganization of the team for the new season. The new manager of Scuderia was the former journalist Eraldo Sculati, who replaced Nello Ugolini, who had held this post since 1952 and left for Maserati. As for the cars, the failed Super Sharks were replaced by bolids purchased last year from Lancia, which were now called the Ferraris D50. The main changes in the design of these cars was the relocation of the exhaust system to the rear of the side parts, as a result of which the fuel tanks located in them were reduced, and an additional tank was placed behind the driver. At the same time, the drivers line-up was almost completely renewed, with three-time world champion Juan-Manuel Fangio as the new team leader and the young Italian talents Eugenio Castellotti and Luigi Musso, as well as the young Briton Peter Collins as his teammates. Given all these changes and the Daimler-Benz's departure from Formula-1, this season Scuderia has a real opportunity to return to the top of the racing Olympus.

Ferrari D50

45-year-old Argentinean, Formula-1 world champion in 1951, 1954 and 1955. Last season, the Argentinean drove for Daimler-Benz and, having the undoubted status of the first number, easily won his third title. However, at the end of the season, the German team left Formula-1, which forced Juan-Manuel to once again look for another place. Both Ferrari and Maserati wanted to see the world champion in their teams, but the Argentine, on the advice of his former boss Neubauer, still preferred to join the team from Maranello. At the same time, this season Fangio will be the only Formula-1 champion to take part in the championship, and there is no doubt that the Argentine will do everything possible to remain so.

Juan-Manuel Fangio

25-year-old Italian, who took 3rd place in the 1955 Formula-1 championship. Last season, Eugenio made his debut in Formula-1 with the Lancia team, but already in the middle of the season, the Turin team curtailed its activities in the World Championship, after which the Italian moved to Ferrari. At the same time, despite an extremely difficult year for both Italian teams, Castellotti managed to show off his performances in both of them and, having won two podiums, the Italian took 3rd place in the championship, losing only to Fangio and Moss! As for the coming year, given that Eugenio is currently the only Ferrari driver with experience of driving Lancia car, the Italian has a great opportunity not only to win his first victory, but also to become a serious contender for the championship title.

Eugenio Castellotti

31-year-old Italian, who took 8th place in the 1954 Formula-1 championship. Luigi spent the past season at Maserati, and despite the status of the second number, the Italian performed quite confidently, almost in no way inferior to the team leader Jean Behra. Complementing his successful performances in the World Championship with a number of second places in non-championship Grand Prix, Luigi has attracted Enzo Ferrari's attention and will now drive for Scuderia, having at his disposal one of the best cars of the field.

Luigi Musso

24-year-old Englishman, participant of the Formula-1 championships since 1952. Peter spent last season at Alfred Owen's team, taking part in only two Grand Prix of the championship, but both of them ended for him with retirements. However, the Englishman fared better in the sports car championship, managing to win the Targa Florio and take 2nd place at the "24 Hours of Le Mans" as well as several more podium finishes. It was these successes, together with the recommendation of Mike Hawthorn, who left Scuderia at the end of the season, that served the British' transfer to the Maranello team, in which Peter will finally have a real opportunity to show his best.

Peter Collins

Officine Alfieri Maserati

The past season was quite difficult for Maserati, and for the whole year the team failed to win a single victory, managing to score only a couple of podiums. The main reason for this, of course, was a serious technical backlog from the Silver Arrows, which was exacerbated by reliability problems and outright bad luck of the team leader Jean Behra. However, the good news was that Maseratis 250F still showed good speed, on par with Lancias and Ferraris, and with Daimler-Benz out of Formula-1, the Modena team was serious about regaining lost ground. In this, it will certainly be helped by the new team leader, last year's vice-champion Stirling Moss, who returned to Maserati after a year of performances in the German team, whose teammates this season will be the same Jean Behra and Cesare Perdisa.

Maserati 250F

26-year-old Englishman, Formula-1 vice-champion in 1955. Last season, Stirling, driving for Daimler-Benz, finally managed to win his first victory in the Great Britain and, adding to it a number of second places, the Englishman became vice-champion, losing only to Fangio. Unfortunately, at the end of the season, the German team announced their retirement from Formula-1, thus forcing Stirling to return to Maserati team, for which he had driven in 1954. However, the good news for the Englishman was that in the Italian team he received the undoubted status of the first driver, which, coupled with a fairly competitive car, gives him every opportunity to become one of the main contenders for the championship title.

Stirling Moss

35-year-old Frenchman, who took 8th place in the 1955 Formula-1 championship. Jean spent the past season as the leader of the Maserati team, but due to fairly frequent mistakes and outright bad luck, the Frenchman was never able to achieve any outstanding results and took only 8th place in the overall standings. Given that Jean lost his status with the arrival of Stirling Moss, it is likely that this season will be the last opportunity for the Frenchman to prove that he was written off early.

Jean Behra

23-year-old Italian, who took 13th place in the 1955 Formula-1 championship. Last season, Cesare made his Formula-1 debut with Maserati, and in his very first Grand Prix at Monaco, the Italian succeeded by finishing 3rd. However, the next Grand Prix in Belgium, Cesare frankly failed, after which the management of the Italian team removed him from further participation in the championship. Yet, having rehabilitated himself in sports car racing, Cesare will spend this year his first full season at Maserati, hoping that it will be more successful.

Cesare Perdisa

Vandervell Products Ltd

Last season, Tony Vandervell's British team held its second Formula-1 World Championship, but, like the year before, it did not achieve any significant success. The main problem was the low reliability of the Vanwall Special cars, which could not be improved even with some upgrades, and as a result the team's car reached the finish line only once, taking 9th place in the British Grand Prix. Given such poor results, Tony Vandervell made the logical decision to abandon further improvement of Vanwalls Special and prepare new cars for the new season. Called the Vanwalls VW, these cars were developed by the team's new chief designer, Colin Chapman, a talented British engineer who ran his own small company, producing usual and racing cars under the Lotus brand. Chapman's main focus in developing the new Vanwalls was to reduce the weight of the cars by using a light and strong tubular space frame, and abandoning transverse springs in favor of coil springs. In addition, the rear brakes, gearbox and engine were also improved, while in the latter the direct injection system was finally introduced and the gas distribution system was improved. The drivers of the British team were American Harry Schell, who already competed for Vanwall last year, as well as Frenchman Maurice Trintignant, who came from Scuderia Ferrari.

Vanwall VW

35-year-old American, participant of the 1950-55 Formula-1 World Championships. The past year was quite eventful for Harry, and the American changed three teams during the season, managing to drive for Maserati, Ferrari and Vanwall. Unfortunately, frequent cars failures never gave Schell the opportunity to succeed in either of these teams, although the American came close to winning his first points in both Argentina and Great Britain. Nevertheless, for a couple of Grand Prix held at Vanwall, Harry managed to impress Tony Vandervell, and this season the American will continue his performances in the British team, hoping that the new car will still allow him to earn his first points.

Harry Schell

38-year-old Frenchman, who took 4th place in the 1954 and 1955 Formula-1 championships. Maurice spent the past season at Scuderia Ferrari, and has done well, having managed to win his first world championship victory in Monaco and take 4th place in the overall standings. However, for Scuderia as a whole, this season was not very convincing, so Enzo Ferrari carried out a complete reorganization of the team, as a result of which Trintignant had to leave it. Naturally, it was not difficult for the Frenchman to find another place, and now Tony Vandervell's British team became a new haven for him. Most likely, it will be more difficult for Maurice to achieve the same success behind the wheel of a British car as at Scuderia, but there is no doubt that his driving experience will make an invaluable contribution to the development of the British team.

Maurice Trintignant

Owen Racing Organization

Alfred Owen's team devoted almost the entire last season to the development and preparation of their new BRM P25 cars, so their presence in the World Championship was limited to only one British Grand Prix, in which Peter Collins at the wheel of Maserati 250F failed to reach the finish. The development of the new cars was led by the team's chief designer, Peter Berthon, who took as a basis the concept of a semi-monocoque, assembled together with the body, thus obtaining a rather rigid chassis structure. The brakes on the BRM P25 were disc and located at the front on each wheel, while the rear braking was carried out with just one disc located on the gearbox. The front suspension was independent pneumatic, and the rear was of the De Dion type. The new 2.5-litre naturally aspirated engine was developed by Stewart Tresilian, who used the concept of a 4-cylinder in-line engine with two valves per cylinder. The main feature of this engine was that the diameter of its cylinders was quite large and exceeded the piston stroke, which made it possible to use larger diameter valves. The new BRM first appeared last year in September in the Daily Telegraph Trophy Grand Prix, but already in training Peter Collins slipped in his own oil due to cylinder gasket failure and crashed the car. During the off-season, this problem was not eliminated, so it is likely that Maserati 250F cars will be used again at the beginning of the season. As for the drivers, now instead of Peter Collins, who moved to Ferrari, the British team will be represented by two drivers at once: Mike Hawthorn and Tony Brooks.

BRM P25

27-year-old Englishman, who took 3rd place in the 1954 Formula-1 championship. Mike spent the beginning of last season in the Vanwall team, but after a couple of Grand Prix, the Englishman became disappointed with cooperation with Tony Vandervell and left, returning to Scuderia Ferrari. However, the Italian cars last year also could not boast of either speed or reliability, and as a result, Hawthorn ended the season without having managed to earn a single point. At the same time, even despite the lack of results, Enzo Ferrari still wanted to see Mike in his team, but the Englishman chose to join Alfred Owen's one in order to be able to look after his mother. It is probably not worth expecting serious success from the Englishman this year, however, in any case, it will most likely not be difficult for him to surpass the results of the past season.

Mike Hawthorn

24-year-old Englishman, debutant of the Formula-1 championship. Being a medical student by profession as a dentist-surgeon, Tony became fascinated with motor racing in 1952, and last year he drove a Connaught for his first resounding victory in the non-championship Syracuse Grand Prix, managing to give a British car its first Grand Prix victory in 30 years in the international arena. After this success, the young talented Englishman drew the attention of Alfred Owen, and already this year Tony will spend his first Formula-1 season, driving the new BRM car.

Tony Brooks

Equipe Gordini

Last season turned out to be a frank failure for "Sorcerer" Gordini, and for the first time since 1951, the French team failed to earn a single point. The main problem with such weak performances, of course, was that the team's drivers had to drive absolutely uncompetitive Gordinis T16, developed back in the early 50s, while the new T32 model was released only at the end of the season. At the same time, as it turned out, in the hands of a newcomer to the team, Jean Lucas, the new car looked no better than the outdated T16, which indicated the need for serious improvement. Given the team's rather deplorable financial condition, Amadeus Gordini's only hope was that team drivers Robert Manzon and Nano da Silva Ramos would still be able to unleash the potential of the T32s, or else another unsuccessful season would surely lead to the final collapse of the last French team.

Gordini T32

39-year-old Frenchman, who took 6th place in the 1952 Formula-1 championship. Last season Robert returned to the Gordini team after a two-year absence, however, having spent only three Grands Prix, the Frenchman never managed to reach the finish line due to various technical problems. This season, Manzon will be given a new car, the Gordini T32, which will likely be the Frenchman's last hope of getting any of the success he needs to continue his racing career.

Robert Manzon

30-year-old French-Brazilian, a participant of 1955 Formula-1 championship. Last season Nano made his Formula-1 debut with the Gordini team but failed to score any points, and his best result was an 8th place in the Dutch Grand Prix. . This year, Ramos will continue to drive for the French team, hoping that the experience gained and the new car will allow him to achieve greater success.

Nano da Silva Ramos