1954 Swiss Grand Prix

1954 Swiss Grand Prix
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Circuit Bremgarten track layout
Race details
Date	22 August 1954
Official name	XIV Großer Preis der Schweiz
Location	Bremgarten, Bern, Switzerland
Course	Temporary street/road circuit
Course length	7.280 km (4.524 mi)
Distance	66 laps, 480.480 km (298.556 mi)
Weather	Rain
Pole position
Driver	José Froilán González	Ferrari
Time	2:39.5
Fastest lap
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Time	2:39.7 on lap 34
Podium
First	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Second	José Froilán González	Ferrari
Third	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes
show Lap leaders

The 1954 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Bremgarten on 22 August 1954. It was race 7 of 9 in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers. The 66-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from second position. José Froilán González finished second for the Ferrari team and Fangio's teammate Hans Herrmann came in third.

Race report[]

The Mercedes domination continued as Fangio led from start to finish. Moss soon passed Gonzalez for 2nd and battled ferociously to catch Fangio. However, he was himself soon under pressure as Hawthorn caught him. The two duelled furiously in a superb patriotic spectacle, ended only when Moss's engine gave way. Hawthorn himself succumbed to fuel feed problems. Gonzalez thus ended in second, whilst Fangio lapped the entire field up to second, winning by nearly a minute. Hans Herrmann in the sister Mercedes took the final podium spot.

The Driver's championship was to be decided at this race. Works Ferrari driver José Froilán González needed to win to stay in contention to beat Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio on points and after finishing 2nd to Fangio, he still had 23 1/7 points to Fangio's 42. With the rules in place at the time, González could not overhaul Fangio's total with 2 races left, and so the title went to Fangio for the 2nd time.

This would be the last F1 race in Switzerland. Following the 1955 Le Mans disaster the Swiss government banned all forms of motor racing. Swiss Grands Prix were subsequently held in 1975 (non-championship) and 1982 but both races took place in France.

There would not be any form of circuit motor racing in Switzerland for nearly sixty four years. In 2015, Switzerland lifted their ban on motor racing for electric vehicles only.^[1] The first race organized after the ban was lifted was a Formula E Championship race taking place in the streets of Zürich in 2018.

Classification[]

Qualifying[]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	20	José Froilán González	Ferrari	2:39.5	—
2	4	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	2:39.7	+ 0.2
3	32	Stirling Moss	Maserati	2:41.4	+ 1.9
4	26	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	2:41.7	+ 2.2
5	8	Karl Kling	Mercedes	2:41.9	+ 2.4
6	22	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	2:43.2	+ 3.7
7	6	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes	2:45.0	+ 5.5
8	18	Ken Wharton	Maserati	2:46.2	+ 6.7
9	28	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati	2:56.9	+ 17.4
10	12	Clemar Bucci	Gordini	3:04.1	+ 24.6
11	24	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari	3:08.2	+ 28.7
12	30	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	3:09.3	+ 29.8
13	34	Harry Schell	Maserati	3:12.1	+ 32.6
14	10	Jean Behra	Gordini	3:16.4	+ 36.9
15	14	Fred Wacker	Gordini	3:20.3	+ 40.8
16	2	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	3:20.4	+ 40.9
17	24	Robert Manzon	Ferrari	No time	—
DNA	16	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	No time	—
DNA	36	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	No time	—

Race[]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/retired	Grid	Points
1	4	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	66	3:00:34.5	2	91
2	20	José Froilán González	Ferrari	66	+57.8	1	6
3	6	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes	65	+1 lap	7	4
4	30	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	64	+2 laps	12	3
5	28	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati	64	+2 laps	9	2
6	18	Ken Wharton	Maserati	64	+2 laps	8
7	24	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari	61	+5 laps	11
8	2	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	58	+8 laps	16
Ret	8	Karl Kling	Mercedes	38	Fuel system	5
Ret	26	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	33	Engine	4
Ret	22	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	30	Oil leak	6
Ret	34	Harry Schell	Maserati	23	Oil pump	13
Ret	32	Stirling Moss	Maserati	21	Oil pump	3
Ret	14	Fred Wacker	Gordini	10	Transmission	15
Ret	10	Jean Behra	Gordini	8	Clutch	14
Ret	12	Clemar Bucci	Gordini	0	Fuel pump	10
DNS	24	Robert Manzon	Ferrari		Accident
Source:[2]

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Championship standings after the race[]

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	42 (45 1⁄7)
	2	José Froilán González	23 9⁄14
	3	Maurice Trintignant	15
	4	Mike Hawthorn	10 9⁄14
	5	Karl Kling	10
Source: [3]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References[]