1957 Formula One Season: Fangio's Fifth Title and the Moss Challenge

The 1957 Formula One season was the 11th year of FIA Formula One motor racing, and it was a year of wins for Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss alone. Fangio took his fourth consecutive title in a Maserati, his fifth overall, while the season was marked by three deaths.

Who won the 1957 Formula One championship?

Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1957 World Championship of Drivers for Maserati, his fourth title in a row and his fifth overall. Stirling Moss was the runner-up for the third year in a row, and the two drivers won every championship race except the Indianapolis 500.

Fangio took four victories to Moss's three. His fifth title was a record that stood until Michael Schumacher passed it in 2003, and Fangio's drive from behind in Germany is regarded as one of the best of his career.

The season also produced an unusual pattern. Every race win came from a car whose engine and chassis were built by the same constructor, which did not happen again until 2006.

Fangio and Moss won every championship race but one, and Ferrari lost two drivers in the same year.

How did Fangio and Moss dominate the early races?

The season opened in Buenos Aires, where Moss took pole ahead of Fangio and Behra. Maserati romped home 1-2-3-4, with Fangio winning his fourth Argentine Grand Prix in a row, while Moss's early start was damaged by a juddering throttle. Castellotti remained the only challenge to the Maseratis until a wheel came off with 24 laps to go, and Menditeguy and Schell were promoted to third and fourth.

At Monaco, Moss took the lead at the first corner, but he crashed at the chicane on lap 4 and Collins hit a stone wall. Fangio won ahead of Brooks, Masten Gregory and Lewis-Evans. Brabham finished sixth after a fuel pump failure, which left him to push the car to the line. Brooks had been rammed from behind by Hawthorn, and he was five seconds behind Fangio when he got back up to speed.

Moss had left Maserati for Vanwall, a team designed around a car by Colin Chapman and financed by Tony Vandervell, which was beginning to fulfil its promise. Fangio was left as the undisputed team leader at Maserati.

What happened in France and Britain?

The French Grand Prix at Rouen-Les-Essarts came after a six-week break, and Fangio won from pole with Musso and Collins behind him. Hawthorn gave the Lancia-Ferraris a 2-3-4 finish behind Fangio, but the race was also marked by the death of Herbert MacKay-Fraser a week later. Behra led at the start, but Musso soon got ahead, and Fangio took the lead on lap four.

The British Grand Prix was held at Aintree instead of Silverstone. Moss won the race, which was the first World Championship win for a British constructor. Four British drivers finished in the top five at the start, and Behra's clutch exploded on lap 69, which changed the race.

Lewis-Evans, Moss's Vanwall teammate, had been in the lead briefly before a broken throttle linkage dropped him to seventh, ending the hoped-for Vanwall one-two.

Why was 1957 such a disastrous year for Ferrari?

Ferrari lost two drivers during the season, and neither death happened in a Formula One race. Eugenio Castellotti was killed on 14 March while testing a new chassis at Modena, after trying to beat the lap record set by Jean Behra.

Alfonso de Portago was competing in the Mille Miglia on 12 May when his tyre blew and his car spun into the crowd. He was killed with his co-driver and nine spectators. Ferrari's team of Peter Collins, Castellotti and Hawthorn failed to win a race in the season.

Herbert MacKay-Fraser also died that year. He had made his debut with BRM at the French Grand Prix, and he was killed a week later in a sports car race at Reims-Gueux.

How did the German Grand Prix decide the title?

Fangio won the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, and that race gave him his fifth World Championship. Fangio took pole, and Hawthorn, Behra and Collins completed the front row, while Formula 2 machinery was in the field for the first time.

A slow pit stop lasting 1 minute and 18 seconds dropped Fangio about a minute behind the two Lancia-Ferraris. He chased back hard, broke the lap record ten times, and passed Collins and then Hawthorn on the penultimate lap. Hawthorn and Collins had battled for the lead early on, and Fangio passed Collins on the third lap.

What happened at Pescara and Monza?

The cancellation of the Belgian and Dutch Grands Prix allowed the Coppa Acerbo at Pescara to be included in the championship for the first time. The 25.6 km (15.9 mi) public road circuit was the longest ever used for a Formula One race, and it was very dangerous.

Ferrari did not send cars for Hawthorn and Collins, partly in protest at the Italian government's moves to ban road racing. Moss won ahead of Fangio, with Schell third, after the hot weather took its toll on Lewis-Evans and Behra. Practice had been limited, and Musso entered as a privateer after persuading Ferrari to lend him a car.

At Monza, the track ran on the road circuit without the concrete banking that had caused problems the year before. Lewis-Evans took pole with Moss and Brooks alongside him. Moss led most of the race, and von Trips finished third after Hawthorn's fuel pipe split.

What changed for the teams and the calendar?

Three rounds were cancelled because of financial problems linked to high fuel prices in the Suez Crisis: the Belgian Grand Prix, the Dutch Grand Prix and the Spanish Grand Prix. The Pescara race was added as a replacement, and the French Grand Prix moved from Reims-Gueux to Rouen-Les-Essarts.

Team changes were also significant. Gordini withdrew after 1956, and British Racing Motors entered three races before its first full-time season in 1958. Cooper became a full-time operation, signing Jack Brabham and Roy Salvadori, and Harry Schell joined Maserati from the second race.

What happened at the end of the season?

Three more non-championship races were won by Jean Behra, one of them in a BRM at the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone. Fangio announced at the end of the year that he would not return for another season, and Maserati pulled out, citing financial reasons.

The season was also the final year in which points were awarded for shared drives. Every championship race of the year was won by either Fangio or Moss, except the Indianapolis 500, which was run to a different set of rules. Collins won the Syracuse and Naples races for Ferrari, while Behra won the Pau Grand Prix in a Maserati.

Frequently asked questions

How many championship races were held in 1957?

There were eight races in the championship between 13 January and 8 September 1957, and the Indianapolis 500 was run to USAC rules rather than Formula One rules.

Why were the Belgian and Dutch Grands Prix cancelled?

Both were cancelled because of money problems linked to high fuel prices during the Suez Crisis, and the Spanish race was also dropped.

How many wins did Fangio and Moss take?

Fangio won four races and Moss won three, and between them they took every championship race except the Indianapolis 500.

Did Fangio race in 1958?

No. Fangio announced at the end of 1957 that he would not return, and Maserati also withdrew from the sport.