Stuart Lewis-Evans
Stuart Lewis-Evans was one of the most promising British racing drivers of the 1950s, who despite some physical limitations, was a man of extraordinary talent and had all the makings of a future champion. Unfortunately, a tragic accident that happened to him during the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix never allowed this outstanding driver to realize his full potential, and instead of a brilliant future, he was destined to become the last victim of the most tragic season in the history of Formula 1.
Stuart Nigel Lewis-Evans was born on April 20, 1930 in Luton, Bedfordshire, to Lewis "Pop" Lewis-Evans and Daisy Harriet Leggett, and his father was a true motoring enthusiast who owned his own garage business and worked as a mechanic for the famous British driver of the 1930s, Lord Earl Howe, who won the famous "24 Hours of Le Mans" sports car race in 1931.
Stuart spent his childhood in Bexley, Kent, where his family moved shortly after his birth, and at a very young age he was diagnosed with spondylitis (an inflammatory disease of the spine), which required long and gruelling treatment. Forced to take large doses of antibiotics for quite a long period, Stuart's body developed with some deviations, and this eventually greatly affected his physique (his weight as an adult did not exceed 50 kg), and also led to the development of a severe ulcer, from which he suffered throughout his life. However, despite not being in very good health, after leaving school, Stuart successfully completed an internship at Vauxhall Motors, where his father had previously worked, and then honorably fulfilled his duty to his country, joining the ranks of the Royal Corps of Signals as a motorcycle despatch rider. When his service ended and Stuart returned home, he began his racing career with the encouragement of his father in 1951, taking part in local Formula 3 races at the wheel of a newly acquired Cooper MK IV, which he shared in turns with Pop.
And the very first races showed that Stuart was a much more skilled driver than his father (which, however, was not at all surprising, given that the latter began his racing career at the age of 51!). Having made his debut behind the wheel of the MK IV in the Junior Championship race in Brands Hatch, Stuart was able to immediately win his heat, and to this achievement he subsequently added 2nd and 3rd places in the Open Challenge, Daily Telegraph Trophy and International Trophy heats, which took place on the same track in Brands Hatch. Inspired by the success of his son, Pop soon acquired another racing car, a Cooper MK V, and behind its wheel Stuart was able to achieve even more outstanding results this year, becoming the winner of the autumn Brands Hatch Open Challenge and Junior Brands Hatch Championship.
Having made a good start, Stuart continued his strong run of performances in the national Formula 3 series the following year, winning the International Trophy supporting race at Silverstone and the July race at Brands Hatch, as well as taking 2nd places in the London Trophy and Silverstone Senior Race, 3rd place in the Brands Hatch Senior Race and 4th place at Castle Combe. Moreover, Stuart also had his first successes in the Continent that year, winning the GP des Frontieres at Chimay and taking 2nd place at Orleans.
Certainly, such an impressive start to Stuart's career could not go unnoticed by the prominent figures of British motorsport of that time, and already in the following year, 1953, the Englishman was taken under the wing of the well-known manager Ken Gregory, who in those years was already supervising such outstanding drivers as Stirling Moss and Peter Collins. And it should be noted that Stuart's cooperation with Gregory immediately bore fruit: driving the more advanced Cooper MK VI and MK VIIa, the young Englishman achieved victories in the Elizabethan Trophy, Great Auclum, Brighton Speed Trials, Redex Trophy and Orleans, became 2nd in Goodwood, Pescara, Brands Hatch Easter Meeting, Senior Race, Open Challenge and won 3rd places in Crystal Palace, Davidstow, International Challenge Trophy, as well as in the supporting race, which preceded the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Having established a reputation as one of the strongest Formula 3 drivers of the era, Stuart was invited to drive for the Cooper works team in 1954, and, having received a new MK VIII at his disposal, the young Englishman continued his successful performances in this category, winning at Brough, Brands Hatch Easter Monday, Orleans, Senigallia, Castello di Terano, becoming 2nd at Kirkistown, Whitsun Invitation, Brands Hatch Senior Race, Christmas Trophy, Brands Hatch Daily Telegraph Meeting, and also winning 3rd places at Ashmead Tankard, Fairwood, Crystal Palace Redex Trophy and Nurburgring.
At the same time, his new teammate Les Leston achieved even more impressive results, becoming the most successful driver in British Formula 3 that year, however, despite all these successes, at the end of the season both Les and Stuart himself were forced to leave the Surbiton team, giving way to Jim Russell and Ivor Bueb respectively.
However, despite the fact that in 1955 Stuart had to return to the role of a private driver, this year turned out to be almost as successful for him as the previous one, and behind the wheel of the new Cooper MK IX he managed to achieve victories in the May race Brands Hatch, Charterhall, Oulton Park John Bull Trophy, Brands Hatch Sporting Record Trophy, Orleans, Circuito di Teramo, and also become 2nd in the supporting race before the British Grand Prix on the Aintree circuit and win 3rd places in Ibsley and the Daily Express International 50 Mile Race.
Meanwhile, continuing his Formula 3 performances at the wheel of the MK IX also in 1956, Stuart notched up further victories at Mallory Park, Oulton Park John Bull Trophy and the July race at Brands Hatch, to which he added a string of 2nd places at Snetterton, Silverstone, Brands Hatch Sporting Record Trophy, Aintree Midsummer 100, Crystal Palace Redex Trophy, Brands Hatch Daily Telegraph Trophy and Oulton Park Gold Cup.
However, his greatest achievement that year was, without any exaggeration, his performance in the October BRSCC race at Brands Hatch, where he got his first chance to try his hand at the wheel of a Formula 1 car. Having received an offer to drive in this competition as a factory Connaught driver at the end of the season, Stuart managed to show his class already in practice, completing his best lap with a record result, while in the subsequent race he also performed beyond all praise, losing at the finish only to his teammate Archie Scott-Brown.
Impressed by Lewis-Evans' performance, they in the Connaught were quick to sign the Englishman for the entire next season, and Stuart lived up to expectations, starting the year with a win in the non-championship Formula 1 Glover Trophy race at Goodwood.
Moreover, arriving a week later at the non-championchip Naples Grand Prix, Stuart did not lose face there either, being the only driver who was able to put up a decent fight against the Ferrari factory drivers, however, due to a broken wheel mount, he did not make it to the finish this time, thus missing the opportunity to win another podium.
Meanwhile, Lewis-Evans' debut in the World championship took place at the second stage of the season in Monaco, and it is safe to say that the Englishman passed this trial by fire with honor. Driving a Connaught Type B (or “The Toothpaste Tube” as it was then known), Stuart managed to overcome the qualifying barrier without any apparent effort, taking 13th position on the starting grid, while in the Grand Prix itself, despite being hit from behind by Maurice Trintignant and losing many positions already on the 10th lap, the Englishman managed to successfully bring his car to the finish in one piece and, taking 4th, win points in his debut race!
Buoyed by his excellent start, Stuart was determined to build on his achievements as the season progressed, but shortly after the Monaco Grand Prix, like a bolt from the blue, he was hit with the news of Connaught's withdrawal from motorsport due to serious financial problems, which effectively ended any chance of him continuing his efforts in Formula 1.
Naturally, having barely tasted the "big" racing, Stuart could not come to terms with this state of affairs, and, having started to look for ways to continue his career in other stables, he eventually came to the attention of the Commendatore. Along with this, it should be noted that at the time the Maranello team was going through far from the best of times, and after a series of tragic accidents that took the lives of first Eugenio Castellotti and then Alfonso de Portago, the Scuderia desperately needed new drivers, especially on the eve of the famous "24 Hours of Le Mans" race. Having attracted attention with his recent successes, Stuart eventually got the chance to take part in this 24-hour race at the wheel of a Ferrari 315 sports car, becoming a teammate of Martino Severi, and despite the fact that both of them had no experience on the Sarthe track at all, it was their pair among all the Scuderia drivers that successfully reached the finish in 5th, losing only to the invincible Jaguars.
However, despite Stuart's convincing performance at Le Mans, the Commendatore was in no hurry to give him a place in the main line-up in his Formula 1 team, and it was pure chance that helped the Englishman to continue his career in the top league of motorsports. Arriving at the third stage of the championship in Rouen, France, the strongest British team of that time, Vanwall, was faced with the fact that there was simply no one to drive their cars (their leader Stirling Moss caught sinusitis, while water skiing, shortly before the Grand Prix, while the second driver Tony Brooks was still recovering from injuries received at Le Mans), which essentially left the head of the team Tony Vandervell no other choice but to urgently look for replacements. Having looked at those being in the paddock, Vandervell eventually settled on Stuart, who had impressed him with his performance in Monaco, while the seat at the wheel of the second Vanwall went to another Briton, Roy Salvadori, who was happy to jump at the chance to swap his not-so-quick BRM for one of the best cars in the field.
At the same time, being completely unfamiliar with this track and having only one Grand Prix under his belt, Stuart was not very fast in qualifying and ultimately showed only the 10th result, however, in the race itself he showed himself much better, and only problems with the steering prevented him from earning more points.
Satisfied with Stuart's performance in Rouen, Vandervell soon gave him another chance to prove himself in the non-championship Formula 1 race in Reims, and it was there that the Englishman really managed to show everything he was capable of. Using the excellent aerodynamic characteristics of the British car, Lewis-Evans managed to surprise everyone already in qualifying, showing a magnificent 2nd result and losing only to four-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio in a Maserati, who was then only one step away from winning his final, fifth title. When the starting flag fell, it was Stuart who proved to be the quickest of all his rivals and confidently led the race, and he was then prevented from celebrating a well-deserved victory only by problems with an oil leak, which began to spray right into his cockpit and created serious problems with visibility for him.
Nevertheless, even having finished the race in Reims "only" 3rd, Stuart could no longer worry about his future: impressed by his performance, Vandervell immediately after the Grand Prix offered the Englishman a contract with his team for the rest of the season, and thus, already at the next stage of the championship, which was held at their home track in Aintree, Vanwall was represented for the first time by three drivers: Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks, who had returned to action, as well as Lewis-Evans himself.
That Grand Prix will forever remain in the memory of British fans as the first triumph of their national team in Formula 1, and the main heroes of that day were, of course, Moss and Brooks, through whose joint efforts the Acton team was finally able to get their first victory cup.
As for Stuart himself, he also showed himself beyond all praise that day, and only an unfortunate technical malfunction that arose on his car prevented Vanwall from achieving an even more impressive success and finishing this Grand Prix with a winning double. Having shown a very respectable 6th result in qualifying, Lewis-Evans this time turned out to be one of the main losers of the start, immediately dropping outside the top ten, however, having made a very impressive breakthrough, the Englishman was able to reach no more, no less, than third position by the middle of the distance and soon began to seriously press Mike Hawthorn in Ferrari, who was ahead.
When the transmission of the race leader Jean Behra fell apart right on the main straight, and Hawthorn was unlucky enough to puncture one of the wheels on its wreckage, the two Vanwalls of Moss and Lewis-Evans, to the general jubilation of the stands, moved forward unhindered, however, this idyll was destined to last for a short time, and just three laps later Stuart's car suddenly lost its speed, leaving him no choice but to park on the side of the road. At the same time, it is worth noting that even in this situation the Englishman did not give up and, having rummaged around in the insides of his car, he managed not only to identify the malfunction (which was a break in the throttle drive), but even somehow fix it!
Thus, after Stuart got back to the pits and got the repairs done, he was still able to continue the race and bring his car safely to the chequered flag, and although he finished only 7th, his racing skills and tenacity earned him the highest praise from his entire team.
Meanwhile, the next round of the championship was held on the famous Nordschleife, and after the triumph on home soil, the German Grand Prix turned out to be a real cold shower for Vanwall.
Having no experience of racing on the Nurburgring, the British team had difficulties with the suspension settings on their cars from the very beginning of trainings, and, try as they might, none of their drivers managed to show any decent result either in qualifying or in the race. As for Stuart himself, having qualified 9th this time, he spent half of the Grand Prix fighting with his teammates outside the points zone, after which, having slipped on his own oil, the Englishman spun and flew off the track, thus ending this inglorious race ahead of schedule.
However, already at the next stage, which took place in Italian Pescara, luck began to turn to Vandervell's team again, and the winner was the "green" leader Moss. For Stuart himself, the race on this track, which went down in Formula 1 history as the longest (its length was more than 25 km!), became a real test. Having shown the 8th result in qualifying this time, the Englishman started the race excellently, immediately breaking through to the 5th, however, having experienced delamination of one of the tires already on the third lap, he was forced to get to the pits for more than 20 km practically on three wheels and as a result dropped to the very end of the peloton.
When Stuart returned to the track after changing a tire, just a lap later the tread came off one of his tires again, and this time he managed to keep his car on the track only with great difficulty and somehow avoid a collision with houses on one side of the road and telegraph poles on the other. However, even this was not the end. After making another pit stop, Stuart on new tires rushed to chase the rest of the peloton again and, taking advantage of numerous retirements of his rivals, managed to reach 6th position, when four laps before the finish, the throttle on his car began to stick, which made its behavior completely unpredictable.
Nonetheless, even this did not stop the courageous Englishman, and, once again demonstrating his fighting spirit, he still brought the race to the end, ultimately winning 5th place and another well-earned two points.
The final round of the 1957 championship was the Italian Grand Prix, and given the high-speed nature of the Monza track, the Vanwall drivers with their ultra-aerodynamic cars were again among the main favourites, easily securing the first three places on the starting field.
Moreover, it was Stuart who turned out to be the fastest of Vandervell's drivers this time, who managed to beat his much more experienced teammates by a fraction of a second, and thus, already in his sixth Grand Prix, the Englishman was able to boast of nothing less than his first pole position!
Meanwhile, in the race itself, the three Vanwall drivers also looked great, becoming the main contenders for victory along with Juan Manuel Fangio, and, having arranged an incredible battle for the lead from the very start, this magnificent foursome brought a lot of pleasure to the Italian fans that day.
Unfortunately for Stuart, his chances of winning this Grand Prix evaporated with a broken cylinder head on his engine, and in the end it was Moss who emerged victorious from this heated battle, managing to give Vanwall already third victory in the season and thus win his next vice-champion title.
Meanwhile, despite the fact that the official Formula 1 championship of 1957 ended with the round in Monza, in October all the teams came together again during the non-championship race in Morocco (which, incidentally, became the first Grand Prix in history to be held on the African continent), and it should be noted that this time luck did not pass by Stuart, allowing him to take 2nd place.
And although the Englishman could not boast of any outstanding results in the main championship (having scored five points, Lewis-Evans took only 10th place in the overall standings), his talent and racing skills did not cause any doubts in his boss Vandervell, who extended the contract with Stuart for another season without hesitation. Thus, just a year after starting his career in Formula 1, Stuart met 1958 as the main driver of one of the strongest teams in the championship, and, according to many of his contemporaries, he was already ready to take a worthy place among the elite of world motorsport. At the same time, it should be noted that, being already a family man and the father of two children, Stuart, both in character and in lifestyle, stood out from the rest of the star guys of big motorsport, and, despite the fact that his name was increasingly repeated in the racing sidelines, he did not become arrogant at all and continued to lead a relatively modest lifestyle.
Meanwhile, the new racing season of 1958 opened, as in the previous few years, with the Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires, but this time it was held without the participation of British factory teams, which decided to ignore this competition due to too high transport costs. Lewis-Evans himself, who was then temporarily released from his obligations to Vanwall, went to New Zealand at that very time, where he took part in the non-championship Grand Prix, driving for Bernie Ecclestone's team. The relationship between Stuart and the future boss of the Royal Motor Racing is worth mentioning separately at all. Being himself a very descent driver, who won a number of victories in the national stages of Formula 3 in the first half of the 50s, Bernie at that time became a fairly close friend of Stuart, and one can even say that it was in light of the latter's success that Ecclestone decided to finally hang up his racing helmet and for the first time thought about creating his own racing team. This idea was implemented by Bernie already in 1957, when he bought all the remaining cars of the bankrupt Connaught team at auction, after which, having hired a couple of mechanics and enlisted the support of Stuart, he and his small detachment set off to conquer New Zealand. At the same time, it should be noted that things did not work the first time for Ecclestone, and this whole undertaking did not bring him much success: Stuart did not make it to the finish in the main Grand Prix due to an engine breakdown (although at the time of the retirement he was in 2nd, losing only to Jack Brabham), while in the Lady Wigram Trophy competition, his Connaught experienced problems with ignition, because of which he was forced to slow down and ultimately had to settle for only 3rd place.
However, if Ecclestone's ambitions were dealt a rather sensitive blow then, Stuart himself was not particularly worried about his not very successful tour of New Zealand, deep down hoping to take his own in the main championship. And his hopes were not at all unfounded. After the Maserati team left motorsport, and five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio announced the end of his career, it became quite obvious that it were Ferrari and Vanwall that would now be the main contenders for the title, and given the impressive end of 1957 for the British team, most experts gave their preference to them before the start of the season. And, perhaps, the only factor that significantly weakened the position of Vandervell's team turned out to be the new technical regulations, which prohibited the use of alcohol-based fuel in Formula 1 cars. When switching to standard aviation fuel, they at Vanwall were faced with the fact that their engines not only lost some power, but also began to experience serious problems with overheating, as a result of which the new Ferrari 246 Dino cars, developed specifically with the new requirements in mind, gained a clear advantage over their main rivals.
And Lewis-Evans was able to see this for himself already at the second round of the championship, which took place on the street circuit in Monte Carlo.
Having taken 6th position in qualifying, Stuart was unable to put up a decent fight against the Scuderia drivers in the race itself and began to let his rivals pass one after another, while already on the 11th lap the engine in his car began to overheat dangerously, leaving the Englishman no choice but to retire.
Nonetheless, things went much better for Vanwall at the next Grand Prix, which took place in the sand dunes of Zandvoort, and in qualifying, Vandervell's guys left no chance for their rivals, taking the first three places on the starting grid.
At the same time, it was Lewis-Evans who got pole position this time, who managed to beat his teammates by a whole second, and it is no exaggeration to say that his outstanding technical skills played a key role in this success. Having decided to experiment with new cast wheels, Stuart tried several combinations during trainings, and, as it turned out, the one with old spoked wheels at the front and new cast ones at the rear allowed him to achieve a significant improvement in handling and show a simply phenomenal result.
Moreover, when Vanwall leader Moss got acquainted with the final protocol of qualifying, he decided to follow his teammate's example and use this combination for the race, which immediately paid off for Stirling a hundredfold: having taken the lead from the very start, he did not give it up to anyone until the very finish and eventually finished this Grand Prix with a convincing victory. Lewis-Evans himself, although he lost during the race first to Moss and then to Harry Schell in the BRM, was also clearly in good shape that day and was quite confidently approaching his first podium this season, however, unfortunately, he was not destined to see the checkered flag again due to another engine failure.
Meanwhile, the next event on the championship calendar was the Belgian Grand Prix, and it was there that luck finally smiled on Stuart for the first time, allowing him to win his first points this season. At the same time, it should be noted that Lewis-Evans did not look very convincing in qualifying this time, managing to achieve only 11th position on the starting grid, however, in the race itself he showed incredible activity and once again demonstrated his fighting spirit. Having made an excellent start, Stuart was able to overtake several rivals at the very beginning of the race and break through to 6th, however, a little later, having clashed in a fight with Scuderia driver Olivier Gendebien, the Englishman overdid it a little and, having made a mistake with the braking before the La Source hairpin, simply knocked his rival off the track!
At the same time, despite the deep dent that remained on the nose of his car as a result of the collision, Lewis-Evans was able to continue the race as if nothing had happened, and even the breakdown of the upper suspension arm, which occurred just before the finish, did not prevent him from reaching the checkered flag and thus winning his first podium in the World championship.
However, already at the next stage, which took place in France, the wheel of Fortune turned again, and on the longest straights of the Reims track, the Scuderia drivers easily outpowered Vandervell's guys, leaving them no chance. As for Stuart himself, having qualified again in 11th position, this time he had a very bad race (which was greatly facilitated by the handling problems on his car), as a result of which the Vanwall boss even had to break the rules and replace him with the faster Brooks.
Meanwhile, the victory in this Grand Prix quite predictably went to the scarlet leader Mike Hawthorn, however, the joy of this triumph was overshadowed for the Scuderia by the tragic accident of his teammate Luigi Musso, who, striving to get ahead at any cost, flew off the track at the first turn and received fatal head injuries in the fall.
Nevertheless, despite this tragedy, the championship continued to develop as usual, and two weeks later all the teams gathered again for the next round, which was held at Vanwall's home track in Silverstone. Looking forward to the opportunity to perform in front of his home crowd again, Vandervell had very high hopes for this Grand Prix, but to his deep regret, they were never destined to come true. Having played the team card brilliantly, the Scuderia drivers managed to chase the green leader Moss like a hare, and along with the clouds of smoke from the engine of his Vanwall, all of Vandervell's hopes of repeating the previous year's success disappeared. The main hero of this Grand Prix was, without a doubt, Peter Collins, who managed not only to achieve a brilliant victory in the face of his compatriots, but also to provide significant assistance to his friend Hawthorn in his fight for the title.
As for Lewis-Evans himself, he also started the weekend on a high, winning the Formula 3 race that preceded the main event, but he was unable to achieve a similarly impressive result in the Grand Prix itself. Starting the race from 7th, the Englishman spent most of the distance battling with his compatriot Roy Salvadori, who was driving for the Cooper team, and, as annoying as it may be, Stuart lost a mere 0.2 seconds to his rival at the finish, thereby losing a great opportunity to get on the podium in his home Grand Prix!
However, as subsequent events showed, this was far from the worst. After the Vanwall lost an engine at Silverstone and then several more on the test rigs, the British team suddenly faced a severe shortage of power units, with the result that they managed to have only three cars fully equipped for the next round in Germany. Moreover, since Vandervell always kept one car as a spare, it was Stuart, as the third driver, who was unexpectedly left out of the competition and as a result was forced to spend the entire Grand Prix as a passive observer. As for the race itself, after a fantastic battle with the Scuderia drivers, his teammate Brooks took the victory, but his success was also overshadowed by another tragedy that befell paddock favourite Peter Collins, who was involved in a fatal accident just two weeks after his brilliant victory at Silverstone.
Meanwhile, by the next round in Portugal, they in Vanwall had finally managed to resolve all of their engine shortage issues, and once back in the saddle, Stuart immediately began to demonstrate very impressive speed, easily securing a place on the front row of the grid.
Moreover, the Englishman also performed beyond all praise in the race itself, managing to make a very impressive breakthrough after a not very successful start, and as a result, the reward for all his efforts was another well-deserved podium, which he shared with two title contenders Moss and Hawthorn.
Meanwhile, the European part of the racing season was finally completed two weeks later with the Italian stage, and on the ultra-fast track in Monza, Vandervell's guys were able to prove their superiority once again, confidently taking 1st, 2nd and 4th places on the starting field. At the same time, despite the fact that in trainings it was Lewis-Evans who turned out to be the slowest of the Vanwall drivers, losing more than a second to his teammates, in the Grand Prix itself he managed to completely make up for lost time and, like a year ago, became one of the main contenders for victory.
Unfortunately, his hopes of success in this race were again dashed by another engine failure, which failed before the halfway point, and in the end, the victory, already for the third time this season, was celebrated by his teammate Brooks.
Nonetheless, this latest setback did not affect Stuart's fighting spirit in the least, and a week later, driving an Aston Martin DBR1, he, coupled by Carroll Shelby, managed to achieve his biggest success in the sportscar championship, winning 3rd place in the Tourist Trophy race.
Meanwhile, after this race, there was a period of some calm in Stuart's racing activity, and, taking advantage of the month-long break that remained until the final stage of the championship, the Englishman then allowed himself to spend more time with his family, grow a small beard, and also visit his doctor.
At the same time, when Stuart told the latter about his worsening problems with a duodenal ulcer, which forced him to drink whole litres of milk during each race, he was finally convinced of the need for surgery and agreed to have it done in the off-season. However, unfortunately, these plans were never destined to come true...
On October 19, 1958, the final round of the Formula 1 championship started at the Ain Diab circuit in Morocco, and after an incredibly tense battle between Ferrari and Vanwall throughout the season, it was this Grand Prix that was supposed to finally decide the fate of the championship title. Given the stakes, Vanwall's boss gave his drivers a thorough briefing before the start of the competition, calling on Brooks and Lewis-Evans to do everything possible to help their teammate and prevent Scuderia leader Hawthorn from achieving second place, which guaranteed him the title.
As for the green leader Moss, he was only aiming for victory in this Grand Prix, which, with a lucky coincidence, could finally put an end to his status as the eternal second and bring him the long-awaited championship title. Meanwhile, having given it their all in qualifying, both contenders predictably turned out to be the fastest drivers on the track with a difference in results of only 0.1 seconds, while their neighbor on the front row of the starting field turned out to be Lewis-Evans, who felt quite confident here after his success last year.
However, in the Grand Prix itself, the Englishman's affairs did not go well from the very beginning, and ultimately everything ended in complete disaster for him. Having managed to overtake Hawthorn at the start, Stuart was unable to resist Mike's attacks for long and by the end of the first lap he let him through again, after which he began to rapidly lose pace and give up positions one after another.
Seeing Stuart's difficulties, Vandervell turned all his attention to Brooks, who, on the contrary, after a not very successful qualifying, was able to fully rehabilitate himself in the race and, gradually reducing his gap to the Scuderia leader, eventually hung on his tail.
However, to the disappointment of the Vanwall boss, all the efforts of his second driver were completely ruined by another engine failure, which exploded right during another attack by Brooks, and it must be noted that this time it happened with such force that the Englishman only with great difficulty managed to keep his car on the road and avoid a serious accident.
Naturally, after such a turn of events, Vandervell had no choice but to hope for a miracle, but unfortunately, not only did it not happen, but also it gave way to an even more sinister incident.
12 laps before the finish, the engine on Lewis-Evans' Vanwall also could not withstand the hellish African heat and gave out on the Azemmour section, and, caught off guard by a sudden transmission lock, the Englishman lost control of his car and flew off the track. By an unfortunate coincidence, it was at this point that a group of trees was right in Stuart's path, and as a result of the impact with one of them, the tail section of the Vanwall, which contained the fuel tank, was completely destroyed, and the fuel leaking out of it immediately ignited, turning the Englishman's car into a fireball in a matter of seconds.
Remaining conscious, Stuart did his best to leave the cockpit as quickly as possible, but the flames still got ahead of him, having managed to spread to his overalls. Feeling the unbearable heat, the Englishman ran away from the scene of the accident in panic and, unfortunately, missed two firefighters who were already rushing to his aid from the other side, so when they finally caught up with and knocked down the flames from the poor driver who had fallen to the ground, precious seconds were irretrievably lost, and irreparable damage had already been done. Seeing the critical condition of the Englishman, the rescuers immediately called a medical helicopter, which quickly took Stuart to a local hospital, however, given the severity of his burns, the doctors there could do nothing and only helplessly threw up their hands.
Meanwhile, the Grand Prix itself, as expected, ended with a convincing victory for Moss, however, given that Hawthorn still got his second place, the championship title ultimately went to the scarlet team.
However, after what had happened to Stuart, it no longer mattered at all to the Vanwall chief, and the only thing he wanted with all his heart was to give his driver at least one chance of salvation. Having chartered a private plane, Vandervell flew back to England with Stuart that same evening, hoping that the specialists of the burns unit at The Royal Victoria Hospital, who had extensive experience in dealing with severe burns since WWII, would be able to somehow help their compatriot. However, it all turned out to be useless. After conducting an initial examination of Stuart, the head of the department immediately took Vandervell aside and sadly informed him that there was nothing to hope for, and the only thing they could do then was to ease the suffering of the Englishman before the inevitable end. Thus, after six days in hospital, Stuart Lewis-Evans, brave, uncomplaining and optimistic to the last, left this world forever on October 25, 1958, and with his death Great Britain lost one of its most gifted drivers, who in the years to come had every chance of becoming one of the key figures in the Royal Motor Racing. Moreover, shocked to the depths of his soul by the tragic death of Stuart, Tony Vandervell soon suffered a heart attack himself and was forced to retire, and thus the glorious name of Vanwall, the most successful British team of the 50s, soon became just a memory, giving way to other heroes.
