1954 French Grand Prix

The 1954 French Grand Prix was the fourth race of the season. Held again at the Reims-Gueux circuit, it featured the overwhelming return to racing of Mercedes. Silver Arrows drivers Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling finished 1-2, a tenth of a second apart and a lap ahead of the field, while the third driver, Hans Herrmann, recorded the fastest lap before retiring with engine problems. The final spot on the podium was claimed by private Ferrari driver Robert Manzon, but the Scuderia was clearly outclassed this weekend.

BackgroundEdit

The Reims circuit had been slightly modified to shortcut the brick roundabout at Thillois. Ferrari was missing Giuseppe Farina, who had crashed heavily while leading in the Mille Miglia. Among his injuries was a broken arm.

Entry listEdit

The full entry list for the 1954 French Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
2	José Froilán González	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	625	Ferrari	625 L4 2.5	P
4	Maurice Trintignant	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	625	Ferrari	625 L4 2.5	P
6	Mike Hawthorn	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	625	Ferrari	625 L4 2.5	P
10	Alberto Ascari	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 L6 2.5	P
12	Onofre Marimón	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 L6 2.5	P
14	Luigi Villoresi	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 L6 2.5	P
16	Roberto Mieres	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 L6 2.5	P
18	Juan Manuel Fangio	Daimler Benz AG	Mercedes	W196	Mercedes	M196 2.5 L8	C
20	Karl Kling	Daimler Benz AG	Mercedes	W196	Mercedes	M196 2.5 L8	C
22	Hans Herrmann	Daimler Benz AG	Mercedes	W196	Mercedes	M196 2.5 L8	C
24	Jean Behra	Equipe Gordini	Gordini	T16	Gordini	23 L6 2.5	E
26	Jacques Pollet	Equipe Gordini	Gordini	T16	Gordini	23 L6 2.5	E
28	Paul Frère	Equipe Gordini	Gordini	T16	Gordini	23 L6 2.5	E
30	Georges Berger	Equipe Gordini	Gordini	T16	Gordini	23 L6 2.5	E
32	Lance Macklin	HW Motors	HWM	53	Alta	GP 2.5 L4	D
34	Robert Manzon	Ecurie Rosier	Ferrari	625	Ferrari	625 L4 2.5	D
36	Louis Rosier	Ecurie Rosier	Ferrari	625	Ferrari	625 L4 2.5	D
40	Sergio Mantovani	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 L6 2.5	P
42	Ken Wharton	Owen Racing Organisation	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 L6 2.5	D
44	Roy Salvadori	Gilby Engineering	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 L6 2.5	D
46	Prince Bira	Prince Bira	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 L6 2.5	P
48	Harry Schell	Harry Schell	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 L6 2.5	P

Practice OverviewEdit

Qualifying ResultsEdit

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	18	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	2:29.4	—
2	20	Karl Kling	Mercedes	2:30.4	+ 1.0
3	10	Alberto Ascari	Maserati	2:30.5	+ 1.1
4	2	José Froilán González	Ferrari	2:30.6	+ 1.2
5	12	Onofre Marimón	Maserati	2:31.6	+ 2.2
6	46	Prince Bira	Maserati	2:35.1	+ 5.7
7	22	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes	2:35.3	+ 5.9
8	6	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	2:35.6	+ 6.2
9	4	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	2:36.1	+ 6.7
10	44	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	2:36.3	+ 6.9
11	16	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	2:38.7	+ 9.3
12	34	Robert Manzon	Ferrari	2:42.0	+ 12.6
13	36	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	2:42.1	+ 12.7
14	14	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	2:42.7	+ 13.3
15	32	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	2:52.5	+ 23.1
16	42	Ken Wharton	Maserati	3:09.3	+ 39.9
17	24	Jean Behra	Gordini	No time	—
18	26	Jacques Pollet	Gordini	No time	—
19	28	Paul Frère	Gordini	No time	—
20	30	Georges Berger	Gordini	No time	—
21	48	Harry Schell	Maserati	No time	—
DNA	40	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati	—	—

GridEdit

RaceEdit

ResultsEdit

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	18	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	61	2:42:47.9	1	8
2	20	Karl Kling	Mercedes	61	+ 0.1	2	6
3	34	Robert Manzon	Ferrari	60	+ 1 Lap	12	4
4	46	Prince Bira	Maserati	60	+ 1 Lap	6	3
5	14	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	58	+ 3 Laps	14	2
6	24	Jean Behra	Gordini	56	+ 5 Laps	17
Ret	28	Paul Frère	Gordini	50	Axle	19
Ret	4	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	36	Engine	9
Ret	36	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	27	Engine	13
Ret	12	Onofre Marimón	Maserati	27	Gearbox	5
Ret	16	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	24	Engine	11
Ret	42	Ken Wharton	Maserati	19	Transmission	16
Ret	48	Harry Schell	Maserati	19	Fuel Pump	21
Ret	22	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes	16	Engine	7	1
Ret	44	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	15	Half Shaft	10
Ret	2	José Froilán González	Ferrari	13	Engine	4
Ret	32	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	10	Engine	15
Ret	30	Georges Berger	Gordini	9	Engine	20
Ret	6	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	9	Engine	8
Ret	26	Jacques Pollet	Gordini	8	Engine	18
Ret	10	Alberto Ascari	Maserati	1	Transmission	3
Source: [1]

MilestonesEdit

• First races for Karl Kling, Jacques Pollet and Continental Tire.
• First modern race for Mercedes.
• First victory for Mercedes, Continental and a non-Italian constructor.

Standings after raceEdit

ReferencesEdit

V T E	French Grand Prix
Circuits	Reims (1950–1951, 1953–1954, 1956, 1958–1961, 1963, 1966) Rouen-Les-Essarts (1952, 1957, 1962, 1964, 1968) Charade Circuit (1965, 1969–1970, 1972) Bugatti Circuit (1967) Circuit Paul Ricard (1971, 1973, 1975–1976, 1978, 1980, 1982–1983, 1985–1990, 2018-present) Dijon-Prenois (1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984) Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (1991–2008)
Races	1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009–2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020
European Championship Races	1931 • 1932 • 1933–1937 • 1938 • 1939
Non-Championship Races	1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1909–1911 • 1912 • 1913 • 1914 • 1915–1920 • 1921 • 1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928 • 1929 • 1930 • 1931–1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938–1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949