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[]
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[]
The full entry list for the 1954 French Grand Prix is outlined below:
Practice Overview[]
Qualifying Results[]
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[]
| 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[]
Results[]
| 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[]
- 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[]
References[]
- ↑ "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 | Le Mans (1906, 1921, 1929) Dieppe (1907-1908, 1912) Amiens (1913) Lyon (1914, 1924) Strasbourg (1922) Tours (1923) Montlhéry (1925, 1927, 1931, 1933-1937) Reims-Gueux (1932, 1938-1939, 1948–1951, 1953–1954, 1956, 1958–1961, 1963, 1966) Lyon-Parilly (1947) 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, 2021-2022) Dijon-Prenois (1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984) Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (1991–2008) |
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