The 1955 Argentine Grand Prix (formally the III Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina) was the first race of the 1955 Formula One Season and the third Argentine Grand Prix. It was held at the Autódromo 17 de Octubre on 16 January 1955.
Run in extremely hot conditions, the race was won by Juan Manuel Fangio, ahead of the shard drive of José Froilán González, Giuseppe Farina and Maurice Trintignant. Farina and Trintignant, along with Umberto Maglioli, also finished third. Fangio took the fastest lap. The conditions caused many drivers to stop for relief, which resulted in drivers sharing different cars. The situation was so confusing that the organizers called in an accounting firm to audit the results.
As a result of the shared drives, Fangio lead the championship, 5 2⁄3 points ahead of Farina and Trintignant.
Background
The first race of the season, four months ahead of the second, was to the third held at the Autódromo 17 de Octubre.
Local hero and double World Champion, Juan Manuel Fangio, was joined at Mercedes by old teammates Karl Kling and Hans Herrmann, and new teammate Stirling Moss.
Ferrari, having lost Mike Hawthorn to Vanwall, entered with 1950 champion Giuseppe Farina, Argentine José Froilán González, Frenchman Maurice Trintignant and spare driver Umberto Magioli for just his fifth race.
Maserati took new recruit Jean Behra to race alongside Luigi Musso, and Sergio Mantovani and Harry Schell as Roberto Mieres got to drive his home race. Local drivers Carlos Menditeguy and Clemar Bucci also drove for the team.
Lancia took along double World Champion Alberto Ascari and his teammates Luigi Villoresi and Eugenio Castellotti.
Gordini's three-man team included Frenchman Élie Bayol and Argentines Pablo Birger and Jesús Iglesias.
The only private entry was that of Uruguayan Alberto Uria, who drove a Maserati.
Qualifying
Qualifying Report
Post-qualifying
Qualifying Results
Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12 | José Froilán González | Ferrari | 1:43.1 | — |
2 | 32 | Alberto Ascari | Lancia | 1:43.6 | + 0.5 |
3 | 2 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Mercedes | 1:43.7 | + 0.6 |
4 | 16 | Jean Behra | Maserati | 1:43.8 | + 0.7 |
5 | 10 | Giuseppe Farina | Ferrari | 1:43.9 | + 0.8 |
6 | 4 | Karl Kling | Mercedes | 1:44.1 | + 1.0 |
7 | 28 | Harry Schell | Maserati | 1:44.3 | + 1.2 |
8 | 6 | Stirling Moss | Mercedes | 1:44.6 | + 1.5 |
9 | 40 | Pablo Birger | Gordini | 1:44.8 | + 1.7 |
10 | 8 | Hans Herrmann | Mercedes | 1:44.9 | + 1.8 |
11 | 34 | Luigi Villoresi | Lancia | 1:45.2 | + 2.1 |
12 | 36 | Eugenio Castellotti | Lancia | 1:45.3 | + 2.2 |
13 | 24 | Carlos Menditeguy | Maserati | 1:45.4 | + 2.3 |
14 | 14 | Maurice Trintignant | Ferrari | 1:45.8 | + 2.7 |
15 | 38 | Élie Bayol | Gordini | 1:46.1 | + 3.0 |
16 | 18 | Roberto Mieres | Maserati | 1:46.2 | + 3.1 |
17 | 42 | Jesús Iglesias | Gordini | 1:46.3 | + 3.2 |
18 | 22 | Luigi Musso | Maserati | 1:46.4 | + 3.3 |
19 | 20 | Sergio Mantovani | Maserati | 1:46.4 | + 3.3 |
20 | 26 | Clemar Bucci | Maserati | 1:47.6 | + 4.5 |
21 | 30 | Alberto Uria | Maserati | 1:52.1 | + 9.0 |
Grid
Pos | Pos | Pos | Pos | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Driver | Driver | Driver | ||||
______________ | |||||||
______________ | 1 | ||||||
______________ | 2 | José Froilán González | |||||
______________ | 3 | Alberto Ascari | |||||
4 | Juan Manuel Fangio | ||||||
Jean Behra | |||||||
______________ | |||||||
______________ | 5 | ||||||
______________ | 6 | Giuseppe Farina | |||||
7 | Karl Kling | ||||||
Harry Schell | |||||||
______________ | |||||||
______________ | 8 | ||||||
______________ | 9 | Stirling Moss | |||||
______________ | 10 | Pablo Birger | |||||
11 | Hans Herrmann | ||||||
Luigi Villoresi | |||||||
______________ | |||||||
______________ | 12 | ||||||
______________ | 13 | Eugentio Castellotti | |||||
14 | Carlos Menditeguy | ||||||
Maurice Trintignant | |||||||
______________ | |||||||
______________ | 15 | ||||||
______________ | 16 | Élie Bayol | |||||
______________ | 17 | Roberto Mieres | |||||
18 | Jesús Iglesias | ||||||
Luigi Musso | |||||||
______________ | |||||||
______________ | 19 | ||||||
______________ | 20 | Sergio Mantovani | |||||
21 | Clemar Bucci | ||||||
Alberto Uria |
|
Race
Report
Post-race
The hottest F1 race at the time meant that multiple drivers required replacements, and only Juan Manuel Fangio and Roberto Mieres survived the whole race without partaking in a shared drive. All in all, sixteen replacements took place, and three of the shared drives scored points, and while Fangio took the fastest lap, nine drivers scored points, and Fangio was left with a lead of 5 2⁄3 points in the championship over both Giuseppe Farina and Maurice Trintignant. Trintignant, Jean Behra and Harry Schell all managed to drive three different cars during the race.
Fangio suffered severe burns to his right leg after it rubbed against some exhaust-heated chassis frame for the duration of the race. It took the Argentine three months to recover, but he did not miss any championship events.
Results
Note: The lap figures are the number of laps driven in the car of each entrant, not the individual stints.
Per car
No. | Pos. | Laps | Starting drive | Second drive | Third drive | Points | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Laps | Driver | Laps | Driver | Laps | Total | Per driver | |||
8 | 4th | 94 | Hans Herrmann | 30 | Karl Kling | 30 | Stirling Moss | 34 | 3 | 1 |
10 | 3rd | 94 | Giuseppe Farina | 50 | Umberto Maglioli | 22 | Maurice Trintignant | 22 | 4 | 1 1⁄3 |
12 | 2nd | 96 | José Froilán González | 60 | Giuseppe Farina | 20 | Maurice Trintignant | 16 | 6 | 2 |
20 | Ret | 54 | Sergio Mantovani | 30 | Jean Behra | 14 | Luigi Musso | 10 | 0 | 0 |
22 | 7th | 83 | Luigi Musso | 50 | Sergio Mantovani | 20 | Harry Schell | 13 | 0 | 0 |
26 | Ret | 54 | Clemar Bucci | 30 | Harry Schell | 14 | Carlos Menditeguy | 10 | 0 | 0 |
28 | 6th | 88 | Harry Schell | 50 | Jean Behra | 38 | 0 | 0 | ||
36 | Ret | 35 | Eugenio Castellotti | 20 | Luigi Villoresi | 15 | 0 | 0 |
Per driver
Driver | Starting drive | Second drive | Third drive | Totals | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Laps | Result | Pts | No. | Laps | Result | Pts | No. | Laps | Result | Pts | Laps | Pts | |
Jean Behra | 16 | 2/2 | Ret | 0 | 20 | 14/54 | Ret | 0 | 28 | 38/88 | 6th | 0 | 54 | 0 |
Clemar Bucci | 26 | 30/54 | Ret | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||||||||
Eugenio Castellotti | 36 | 20/35 | Ret | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||||||||
Giuseppe Farina | 10 | 50/94 | 3rd | 1 1⁄3 | 12 | 20/96 | 2nd | 2 | 70 | 3 1⁄3 | ||||
José Froilán González | 12 | 60/96 | 2nd | 2 | 60 | 2 | ||||||||
Hans Herrmann | 8 | 30/94 | 4th | 1 | 30 | 1 | ||||||||
Karl Kling | 4 | 2/2 | Ret | 0 | 8 | 30/94 | 4th | 1 | 32 | 1 | ||||
Umberto Maglioli | 10 | 22/94 | 3rd | 1 1⁄3 | 22 | 1 1⁄3 | ||||||||
Sergio Mantovani | 20 | 30/54 | Ret | 0 | 22 | 20/83 | 7th | 0 | 50 | 0 | ||||
Carlos Menditeguy | 24 | 1/1 | Ret | 0 | 26 | 10/54 | Ret | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||||
Stirling Moss | 6 | 29/29 | Ret | 0 | 8 | 34/94 | 4th | 1 | 63 | 1 | ||||
Luigi Musso | 22 | 50/83 | 7th | 0 | 20 | 10/54 | Ret | 0 | 60 | 0 | ||||
Harry Schell | 28 | 50/88 | 6th | 0 | 26 | 14/54 | Ret | 0 | 22 | 13/83 | 7th | 0 | 77 | 0 |
Maurice Trintignant | 14 | 36/36 | Ret | 0 | 12 | 16/96 | 2nd | 2 | 10 | 22/94 | 3rd | 1 1⁄3 | 74 | 3 1⁄3 |
Luigi Villoresi | 34 | 2/2 | Ret | 0 | 36 | 15/35 | Ret | 0 | 17 | 0 |
Fastest lap
Note: No other fastest laps were recorded.
No. | Driver | Constructor | Lap | Time | Avg Speed | Race |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Mercedes | 45 | 1:48.3 | 130.039 | 1 |
Laps in the lead
By Lap
Stint | Driver | Laps | Total | Distance |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Juan Manuel Fangio | 1 – 2 | 2 | 7.824 km |
2 | Alberto Ascari | 3 – 4 | 2 | 7.824 km |
3 | José Froilán González | 5 – 10 | 6 | 23.472 km |
4 | Alberto Ascari | 11 – 21 | 11 | 43.032 km |
5 | José Froilán González | 22 – 25 | 4 | 15.648 km |
6 | Juan Manuel Fangio | 26 – 34 | 9 | 35.208 km |
7 | Harry Schell | 35 – 38 | 4 | 15.648 km |
8 | Roberto Mieres | 39 – 42 | 4 | 15.648 km |
9 | Juan Manuel Fangio | 43 – 96 | 54 | 211.248 km |
Totals
Pos. | Driver | Laps | Distance |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Juan Manuel Fangio | 65 | 254.280 km |
2 | Alberto Ascari | 13 | 50.856 km |
3 | José Froilán González | 10 | 39.120 km |
4 | Harry Schell | 4 | 15.648 km |
Roberto Mieres | 4 | 15.648 km |
Milestones
- Joint-hottest F1 race with 1984 Dallas Grand Prix and 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix, at 40°C (104°F), although Dallas would have registered hotter if the race had not started in the morning.
- Championship débuts for Eugenio Castellotti, Alberto Uria.
- Only race for Jesús Iglesias.
- Last race for Pablo Birger, Clemar Bucci and Sergio Mantovani.
- Juan Manuel Fangio's 14th win put him clear in the list of most victories. It was also his 20th podium finish.
- Fifth win for Mercedes.
- 3rd (and final) pole position and 15th (and final) podium for José Froilán González.
- 2nd (and final) podium for Umberto Maglioli.
Standings after race
Drivers Championship only
Drivers' World Championship | ||
---|---|---|
Pos. | Driver | Pts |
1 | Juan Manuel Fangio | 9 |
2 | Giuseppe Farina | 3 1⁄3 |
Maurice Trintignant | 3 1⁄3 | |
4 | José Froilán González | 2 |
Roberto Mieres | 2 | |
6 | Umberto Maglioli | 1 1⁄3 |
7 | Hans Herrmann | 1 |
Karl Kling | 1 | |
Stirling Moss | 1 |
Notes
External links
V T E | Argentine Grand Prix | |
---|---|---|
Circuits | Buenos Aires (1953 - 1958, 1960, 1971 - 1975, 1977 - 1981, 1995 - 1998) | |
Races | 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961–1970 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982–1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 | |
Non-Championship Race | 1971 |