1954 French Grand Prix

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1954 Belgian Grand Prix	4 of 1954	1954 British Grand Prix

Race details

Date

4 July, 1954

Official Name

XLI Grand Prix de l'ACF

Location

Reims-Gueux
Gueux, Frace

Course

Temporary road circuit
8.302km (5.16mi)

Distance

61 laps, 506.422km (314.743 miles)

Pole Position

Driver

Juan Manuel Fangio

Mercedes

Time

2:29.4

Fastest Lap

Driver

Hans Herrmann

Mercedes

Time

2:32.9 on lap 3

Podium

Lap Leaders

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.

Background[edit | edit source]

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 list[edit | edit source]

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	553	Ferrari	554 2.5 L4	P
4	Maurice Trintignant	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	625	Ferrari	625 2.5 L4	P
6	Mike Hawthorn	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	553	Ferrari	554 2.5 L4	P
8	Giuseppe Farina	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	625	Ferrari	625 2.5 L4	P
10	Alberto Ascari	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 2.5 L6	P
12	Onofre Marimón	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 2.5 L6	P
14	Luigi Villoresi	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 2.5 L6	P
16	Roberto Mieres	Privateer	Maserati	A6GCM	Maserati	A6 2.0 L6	P
18	Juan Manuel Fangio	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz	W196S	Mercedes	M196 2.5 L8	C
20	Karl Kling	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz	W196S	Mercedes	M196 2.5 L8	C
22	Hans Herrmann	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz	W196S	Mercedes	M196 2.5 L8	C
24	Jean Behra	Equipe Gordini	Gordini	T16	Gordini	23 2.5 L6	E
26	Jacques Pollet	Equipe Gordini	Gordini	T16	Gordini	23 2.5 L6	E
28	Paul Frère	Equipe Gordini	Gordini	T16	Gordini	23 2.5 L6	E
30	Georges Berger	Equipe Gordini	Gordini	T16	Gordini	23 2.5 L6	E
32	Lance Macklin	H&W Motors	HWM	53	Alta	GP 2.5 L4	D
34	Robert Manzon	Ecurie Rosier	Ferrari	625	Ferrari	625 2.5 L4	P
36	Louis Rosier	Ecurie Rosier	Ferrari	500/625	Ferrari	625 2.5 L4	D
38	Jacques Swaters	Ecurie Francorchamps	Ferrari	500/625	Ferrari	625 2.5 L4	E
40	Sergio Mantovani	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 2.5 L6	P
42	Ken Wharton	Owen Racing Organisation	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 2.5 L6	D
44	Roy Salvadori	Gilby Engineering	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 2.5 L6	D
46	Prince Bira	Privateer	Maserati	250F	Maserati	250F1 2.5 L6	P
48	Harry Schell	Privateer	Maserati	A6GCM	Maserati	A6 2.0 L6	P
50	Peter Collins	G.A. Vandervell	Vanwall	Special	Vanwall	254 2.5 L4	P

Practice Overview[edit | edit source]

Qualifying Results[edit | edit source]

The full qualifying results for the 1954 French Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed
1	18	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes-Benz	2:29.4	—	200.048 km/h
2	20	Karl Kling	Mercedes-Benz	2:30.4	+1.0s	198.718 km/h
3	10	Alberto Ascari	Maserati	2:30.5	+1.1s	198.586 km/h
4	2	José Froilán González	Ferrari	2:30.6	+1.2s	198.454 km/h
5	12	Onofre Marimón	Maserati	2:31.6	+2.2s	197.145 km/h
6	46	Prince Bira	Maserati	2:35.1	+5.7s	192.696 km/h
7	22	Hans Herrmann	Mercedes-Benz	2:35.3	+5.9s	192.448 km/h
8	6	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	2:35.6	+6.2s	192.077 km/h
9	4	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	2:36.1	+6.7s	191.462 km/h
10	44	Roy Salvadori	Maserati	2:36.3	+6.9s	191.217 km/h
11	16	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	2:38.7	+9.3s	188.325 km/h
12	34	Robert Manzon	Ferrari	2:42.0	+12.6s	184.489 km/h
13	36	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	2:42.1	+12.7s	184.375 km/h
14	14	Luigi Villoresi	Maserati	2:42.7	+13.3s	183.695 km/h
15	32	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	2:52.5	+23.1s	173.259 km/h
16	42	Ken Wharton	Maserati	3:09.3	+39.9s	157.883 km/h
NC*	24	Jean Behra	Gordini	—
NC*	26	Jacques Pollet	Gordini	—
NC*	28	Paul Frère	Gordini	—
NC*	30	Georges Berger	Gordini	—
NC*	48	Harry Schell	Maserati	—
WD	8	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	Injury
WD	38	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	Withdrawn
WD	40	Sergio Mantovani	Maserati	Withdrawn
WD	50	Peter Collins	Vanwall	Withdrawn

Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
* Behra, Pollet, Frère, Berger, and Schell had taken the start at the back of the grid as they did not set their time in practice.

Grid[edit | edit source]

Pos		Pos		Pos
Driver		Driver		Driver
				______________
		______________		1
______________		2		Juan Manuel Fangio
3		Karl Kling
Alberto Ascari
			______________
	______________		4
	5		José Froilán González
	Onofre Marimón
				______________
		______________		6
______________		7		Prince Bira
8		Hans Herrmann
Mike Hawthorn
			______________
	______________		9
	10		Maurice Trintignant
	Roy Salvadori
				______________
		______________		11
______________		12		Roberto Mieres
13		Robert Manzon
Louis Rosier
			______________
	______________		14
	15		Luigi Villoresi
	Lance Macklin
				______________
		______________		16
______________		17		Ken Wharton
18		Jean Behra
Jacques Pollet
			______________
	______________		19
	20		Paul Frère
	Georges Berger
				______________
		______________		21
______________		22		Harry Schell
23

Race[edit | edit source]

Results[edit | edit source]

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]

Milestones[edit | edit source]

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 race[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

↑ "1954 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1954/races/129/france/race-result.html. Retrieved 26 March 2018.

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, 2018–2019) 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

V T E	1954 Formula One Season
Constructors	Connaught • Cooper • Ferrari • Gordini • HWM • Klenk • Lancia • Maserati • Mercedes-Benz • Vanwall
Engines	Alta • BMW • Bristol • Ferrari • Gordini • Lancia • Lea-Francis • Maserati • Mercedes • Vanwall
Drivers	Ascari • Bayol • Beauman • Behra • Berger • Bertocchi • Bira • Brandon • Brown • Bucci • Collins • Daponte • Fangio • Farina • Flockhart • Frère • Gerard • Godia-Sales • J. F. González • Gould • de Graffenried • Hawthorn • Helfrich • Herrmann • Kling • Lang • Loyer • Macklin • Maglioli • Mantovani • Marr • Manzon • Marimón • Menditeguy • Mieres • S. Moss • Musso • Nuckey • Parnell • Pilette • Pollet • Riseley-Prichard • de Riu • Rosier • Salvadori • Schell • Swaters • Taruffi • Thorne • Trintignant • Villoresi • Volonterio • Wacker • Wharton • Whitehead • Whitehouse
Cars	Connaught A • Cooper T23 • Cooper T24 • Ferrari 500 • Ferrari 553 • Ferrari 625 • Gordini T16 • HWM 53 • Klenk Meteor • Lancia D50 • Maserati 250F • Maserati A6GCM • Mercedes-Benz W196 • Vanwall Special
Tyres	Avon • Continental • Dunlop • Englebert • Pirelli
Races	Argentina • Indianapolis • Belgium • France • Britain • Germany • Switzerland • Italy • Spain
See also	1953 Formula One Season • 1955 Formula One Season • Category

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[1] "1954 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1954/races/129/france/race-result.html. Retrieved 26 March 2018.

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