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 1958 season

In 1958, the ninth Formula-1 World Championship took place. Compared to last year, the organizational regulations of the competitions and, to a lesser extent, the technical ones were subject to quite significant changes. As before, cars with naturally aspirated engines with a displacement of up to 2.5 liters were allowed to participate in the Grand Prix, however, in order to switch Formula-1 bolids to commercial petrol, a complete ban on the use of specialized alcohol-based racing fuel was introduced. The total duration of each Grand Prix has been reduced from the previous 500 to 300 km or 2 hours from the start, whichever comes first. The scoring system remained the same: 8-6-4-3-2, but now the six best results counted, while drivers were prohibited from changing their cars during the race. In addition to the drivers' championship, this year a separate championship for constructors was also introduced, called the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers. Its points system was the same as for the drivers, with the exception that points in each of the scoring Grand Prix were awarded to the manufacturers only for the best result. As for the championship calendar, it was replenished with new rounds and for the first time since 1950 as many as ten countries held Grand Prix: Argentina, Monaco, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Germany, Portugal, Italy and Morocco.

Teams

Vandervell Products

Last year, Tony Vandervell's team spent their fourth season in Formula-1, and it was a real breakthrough for them, bringing their maiden victory in the British Grand Prix, which was almost immediately followed by two more in Pescara and Italy. The British team managed to achieve such great success thanks to the excellent speed characteristics of the Vanwall VW cars, a significant increase in their reliability, as well as the efforts of Stirling Moss, who, thanks to three victories, managed to once again become vice-champion, losing only to Fangio. Realizing that the perfect is the enemy of the good, the team will use the same cars this season, however, during the off-season, the designers had to slightly modernize their engines in order to adapt them to work on commercial petrol, whereas, after Pirelli's departure from Formula-1, the British Dunlop has become new tire supplier for Vanwall. As for the main line-up, it has not changed, and, as last year, the team's drivers were Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks and Stuart Lewis-Evans.

Vanwall VW

28-year-old Englishman, Formula-1 vice-champion in 1955, 1956 and 1957. Last season, Stirling moved to Vanwall, becoming the leader of the British team, and the first year of cooperation with Tony Vandervell brought him three victories in Great Britain, Pescara and Italy, as well as another vice-champion title. Considering that the Englishman's main rival, Juan-Manuel Fangio, will now drive as a private driver and therefore is unlikely to pose serious competition to the drivers of the factory teams, this year Stirling has an excellent opportunity to take over the baton from the five-time world champion and become the main contender for the championship title.

Stirling Moss

26-year-old Englishman, who took 5th place in the 1957 Formula-1 World championship. Last year Brooks had his first full season in Formula-1 as Moss' teammate at Vanwall, and he started off strong, finishing 2nd at the Monaco Grand Prix. Unfortunately, Tony soon received quite serious injuries in the "24 Hours of Le Mans" race, the consequences of which the Englishman felt for almost the rest of the season, so he never managed to rise above 5th place in the overal standings. Nevertheless, thanks to Moss' efforts, Brooks still managed to celebrate his first victory at home round in Aintree, while now, having finally returned to form, the Englishman will certainly be able to replenish his track record with his own victories.

Tony Brooks

27-year-old Englishman who took 10th place in the 1957 Formula-1 World championship. Last year, Stuart made his Formula-1 debut with the Connaught team, and, having won points in his first Grand Prix in Monaco, the Englishman managed to make a good impression to Tony Vandervell, who subsequently took him to his team as the third Vanwall driver. Unfortunately, due to frequent technical problems, Stuart was never able to achieve great success and took only 10th place in the overall standings, however, in the last race of the season in Italy, the Englishman managed to shine, winning his first pole position and becoming one of the main contenders for victory. Considering the experience he has gained and one of the fastest cars in the field, this year Stuart will certainly be able to compete with his teammates, and it is quite possible that we will soon witness his first victory in the Grand Prix.

Stuart Lewis-Evans

Scuderia Ferrari

The past season was very difficult for the Scuderia and, despite all the efforts of their drivers, they never managed to defeat either Fangio or Moss, as a result of which the Maranello team was left without victories for the first time since 1950. Naturally, after such a failure, Enzo Ferrari made the appropriate conclusions, and in the end, it was the team manager Mino Amorotti who answered “for everything”, who was fired from his post, giving way to Romolo Tavoni, a former accountant of the Scuderia, who managed to make a very impressive rise up the career ladder in seven years of work in the team. Besides, realizing that the Ferrari 801 cars, created on the basis of the Turin Lancias D50, had already reached the limit of their development, the Commendatore instructed Vittorio Jano to prepare new cars for the new season, which he did, having carried out the modernization of the very successful Formula-2 Ferrari 156 cars. These cars were based on new 6-cylinder V-shaped engines, which were developed together with Jano by Commendatore's untimely departed son Alfredo, and in his memory the new Formula-1 cars were designated Ferrari 246 Dino. One of the main advantages of the new engines was that they were initially designed specifically to run on commercial petrol, which fully complied with the technical regulations of 1958, while by increasing their displacement to 2.4 liters, Jano managed to achieve very impressive power of 270 hp. In addition, given the compactness of these engines, Vittorio was able to significantly shorten both the wheelbase and the chassis, which made it possible to significantly reduce the weight of the cars, which was now only 540 kg. As for the design of the bolids themselves, Jano used the same time-tested solutions as on previous models: a tubular chassis, wishbone suspension in front and de Dion suspension in the rear, and drum brakes. A distinctive feature of the new cars were the engine intake manifolds protruding above the nose of the body, which were covered with a transparent casing in order to improve aerodynamics. As for the main line-up, the Ferrari drivers, as last year, were Peter Collins, Mike Hawthorn, Luigi Musso and Wolfgang von Trips.

Ferrari 246 Dino

26-year-old Englishman who took 3rd place in the 1956 Formula-1 World championship. After Juan- Manuel Fangio left Ferrari, the Maranello team was left without a clear leader, however, it was Peter who made perhaps the best impression of all the Scuderia drivers last season, having managed to compete very well with the leaders of Maserati and Vanwall more than once. Unfortunately, despite all his efforts, due to frequent technical problems, the Englishman was never able to achieve great success, and he finished the championship only in 8th place, without winning a single victory. However, given the speed of the new Scuderia cars, Peter will certainly be able to return to the leading position this season and, like two years ago, become one of the main contenders for the championship title.

Peter Collins

29-year-old Englishman, who took 3rd place in the 1954 Formula-1 World championship. Last season, Mike returned to Enzo Ferrari's team again, and after two completely disastrous years in the British Vanwall and BRM, Hawthorn again took his place among the leaders, finishing the championship on quite a high 4th place. Having regained his former confidence, Mike will now certainly be able to achieve even greater success, and, quite possibly, this season will be the pinnacle of his Formula-1 career.

Mike Hawthorn

33-year-old Italian, who took 3rd place in the 1957 Formula-1 World championship. Last year, Luigi, like his teammates, could not boast of a single victory, however, thanks to his stable performances, it was he who managed to be the most successful driver of the Scuderia, as a result of which the Italian took a very high 3rd place in overall standings, behind only Fangio and Moss. Probably this season Musso will try to prove that this success was not accidental and will do everything possible to add new victories to his track record.

Luigi Musso

30-year-old German, a hereditary aristocrat, who took 12th place in the 1957 Formula-1 World championship. Last season, Wolfgang spent only three Grands Prix for the Scuderia, but this did not stop him from celebrating his first success, achieving a podium in Monza in front of thousands of tiffozi. Considering that the German will now have a full season, we can expect that this year he will not only be able to gain the necessary experience, but also achieve much greater success.

Wolfgang von Trips

Owen Racing Organization

Last year, Alfred Owen's team spent their fourth season in Formula-1, however, like the previous ones, it brought them nothing but disappointment. Despite the improvements to the BRM P25 cars, they still suffered from both a lack of speed and reliability, while constant misadventures with the drivers only added to Owen's headaches and ultimately forced him to end the championship ahead of schedule. Be that as it may, despite the complete lack of results, the head of BRM still believed in the potential of his cars, which before the start of the new season were subjected to further changes, receiving a new space frame, a new front suspension and slightly upgraded engines. In addition, after the Maserati team left Formula-1, Owen made every effort to recruit their former drivers Jean Behra and Harry Schell, hoping that their experience and skill would help BRM achieve the desired results.

BRM P25

37-year-old Frenchman who took 4th place in the 1956 Formula-1 World championship. Jean spent the last season in the Maserati team, racing side by side with Juan-Manuel Fangio, however, despite identical cars, he never succeeded to achieve the same great success as the Argentine champion, finishing the championship in a very modest 9th place. After the departure of the Maserati team from Formula-1, Jean had to look for another place, and, having won at the end of the year the non-championship Caen Grand Prix at the wheel of a BRM, the Frenchman decided to continue his collaboration with Alfred Owen, thus becoming the new leader of the British team.

Jean Behra

37-year-old American, who took 7th place in the 1957 Formula-1 World championship. Harry spent last season as the third driver of the Maserati team, and it was quite successful for him, bringing the American his first podium in the Pescara Grand Prix, several points finishes and 7th place in the overall standings. After Maserati left Formula-1, Schell followed Behra to Alfred Owen's team, and now the American, together with his former teammate, will try to achieve new successes behind the wheel of a British car.

Harry Schell

Cooper Car Co

Last year, the Cooper team took part in the Formula-1 World Championship for the first time, and, in general, the debut season met the expectations of Charles and John Cooper. Despite the fact that the Cooper T43 bolids, based on the team's former Formula-2 cars, were inferior in power to their competitors by almost 100 hp, the team’s drivers managed to look no worse than “real” Formula-1 bolids on most tracks, and already at home Grand Prix in Great Britain Roy Salvadori managed to earn the first points, while in Monaco Jack Brabham almost brought the British team their first podium, losing it only in the last laps due to lack of fuel. Having seen firsthand the competitiveness of their rear-engined cars, the Coopers continued to follow the chosen concept, and the cars for the new 1958 season, designated T45, were a further development of last year's bolids. As in the T43s, the new cars were equipped with 4-cylinder in-line Climax FPF engines, however, due to an increase of their displacement to 2.2 liters, their power increased to 210 hp, while by placing the power units a couple of inches lower, the Coopers managed to achieve better weight distribution. In addition to the engines, the front suspension has also undergone major changes, with leaf springs replaced by more modern coil springs and wishbones. As for the main line-up, it has not changed, and, as last year, the team's drivers were Jack Brabham and Roy Salvadori.

Cooper T45 Climax

31-year-old Australian, participant of the Formula-1 World Championships in 1955-57. Last year, Jack spent his first full season in Formula-1 driving a Cooper, which, although it did not bring him points, still gave him the opportunity to demonstrate his extraordinary talent, especially evident in the narrow streets of Monte Carlo, where the Australian almost scored his first podium. Having extended his contract with the British team for another season, this year Brabham will have at his disposal a more powerful Cooper T45, which, most likely, will allow him to achieve his first successes in the World Championship.

Jack Brabham

35-year-old Englishman who took 14th place in the 1957 Formula-1 World championship. Last season, Roy was a factory driver for as many as three British teams, however, he managed to settle down only at Cooper, where he immediately achieved success, earning his first points in the British Grand Prix. This year Roy will continue his partnership with the Coopers, hoping that the new car will allow him to achieve even more success.

Roy Salvadori

Team Lotus

Colin Chapman's Team Lotus, well-known in motorsport circles, will take part in their first Formula-1 World Championship this season, fielding their new Lotus 16 cars, which will be driven by two British debutants Cliff Allison and Graham Hill. Unlike the Coopers, when developing his first Formula-1 bolids, Chapman adhered to a more conservative front-engine concept, however, the founder of Lotus still found room for experimentation, using a number of original technical solutions that had no analogues on any other Formula-1 car.

Lotus 16 had a spaceframe frame chassis with an independent suspension at both the front and the rear, while the front suspension was the first to use a double wishbone design including the anti-roll bar within the upper wishbones, whereas a unique rear suspension, called Chapman Strut system, consisted of three main components, that reduced overall and unsprung weight while allowing a much improved rear-wheel geometry. The brakes on the cars, located on the inside of each wheel, were disc brakes, while the wheels themselves were made of cast alloy, which was also a complete innovation for Formula-1 cars. As on the Cooper cars, the power units on the Lotus 16 were 4-cylinder in-line Climax FPF engines with a displacement of 2.0 liters and developing a power of about 175 hp, however, they were located inside the chassis with some offset relative to the central axis, which made it possible to place the drive shaft to the side of the driver and thereby lower his seating position. The only fuel tank was located behind the driver, and there was also a super-compact 5-speed gearbox, which, together with the differential, was manufactured at the German ZF factory according to Lotus drawings. The body of the car was designed by Chapman's longtime friend Frank Costin, who at that time was the chief designer of the Vanwall, and given the external similarity of the new Lotus bolids with Tony Vandervell's cars, they were immediately nicknamed mini-Vanwalls.

Lotus 16 Climax

26-year-old Englishman, debutant of the Formula-1 World championship. Having started his career in motorsport in 1952, Cliff already in 1955 became one of the best British drivers in the Formula-3 championship, which earned the attention of Colin Chapman, who immediately took the talented Englishman under his wing. Having achieved quite good results in junior Formulas with Lotus in 1956-57, Allison will make his Formula-1 debut this season, hoping that Colin Chapman's new cars will allow him to achieve new successes.

Cliff Allison

29-year-old Englishman, debutant of the Formula-1 World championship. Having a technical background and a passionate desire to become a racing driver, Graham began his journey in motorsport as a mechanic, however, having joined Colin Chapman's team in 1954, Hill achieved his first successes already as a racing driver in 1956, winning in the Lotus 11 races at Brands Hatch and Silverstone. Considering Graham to be one of the best technically savvy drivers of his era, Chapman chose him as the main test driver for his first Formula-1 car, hoping that his knowledge and experience would help the team quickly overcome the inevitable period of "childhood illnesses" and already in their debut season achieve first successes in the major league of motorsport.

Graham Hill

Private drivers

47-year-old Argentinean, Formula-1 world champion in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957. Juan- Manuel spent the last season in the Maserati team and, having won four victories, the Argentine again turned out to be the strongest driver of the championship, thus winning his fifth (!) championship title. After the Modena team left Formula-1, Fangio bought their lightweight Maserati 250F cars, and this season the Argentine will try to achieve new successes as a private driver.

Juan-Manuel Fangio

40-year-old Frenchman, who took 4th place in the 1954 and 1955 Formula-1 World championships. Last season, Maurice returned to the Enzo Ferrari team, replacing the deceased Eugenio Castellotti, however, after only three Grand Prix, the Frenchman left the Scuderia again, dissatisfied with his apparent position of supporting driver. Having failed to find a place in any of the factory teams, this year Trintignant will try to succeed with Rob Walker's private team, spending his first racing season behind the wheel of a rear-engined Cooper T45.

Maurice Trintignant