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Vanwall were a Formula One constructor which achieved moderate success in the mid-to-late 1950's, winning nine races and the inaugural World Constructors' Championship in 1958. While no Drivers' Championship was ever won in a Vanwall car, the team managed a 2-3 finish in the 1958 Drivers' standings with Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks.

Background[]

Vanwall were founded by Tony Vandervell in Acton, West London in the early 1950s. The team name was a portmanteau of the founder's surname, Vandervell and the Thinwall bearings which were produced by Vandervell's company in Acton. The team began by entering non-championship races from 1951 in modified Ferraris, before building a car of their own ahead of the 1954 Formula One Season. The team competed in seven successive seasons before withdrawing from F1 after the 1960 season.

Prior to Vanwall[]

Vandervell's first venture into Formula One came at the non-championship ACF Grand Prix in 1951 in which Reg Parnell drove a Vandervell-modified Ferrari 375 named the Thinwall Special. After qualifying the car in 9th, Parnell drove the car to an impressive 4th in the race. Two weeks on, the same car was entered into the British Grand Prix where Peter Whitehead was able to steer the car to a 9th place finish.

Vanwall, and entry to the Formula One World Championship[]

For the 1954 season, Vandervell acquired the help of designer Owen Maddock of Cooper Cars and engineer Leo Kuzmicki of Norton motorcycles to build a car capable of competing in the Formula One World Championship. The result was the Vanwall Special, a Cooper-built Vanwall car which debuted at the 1954 BRDC International Trophy, and entered for the British Grand Prix later that year. The team had intended to race at the French Grand Prix but were unable to finish the car in time to race.

In the early seasons, Vanwall found very little success in F1, only scoring their first points at the 1956 Belgian Grand Prix, two years after their first race. The team did, however, succeed somewhat outside of the World Championship, scoring two non-championship second places in 1954 and winning two non-championship races in 1955.

1957 was a much better season for Vanwall - the VW5 showed a marked improvement on the previous model, and the team acquired the talents of Stirling Moss, who had been runner-up in the Drivers' Championships in the two previous years, and upcoming talent, Tony Brooks. Both drivers raced well with Brooks bringing the team their first podium in Monaco and both drivers sharing Vanwall's first win three races later at Aintree. Two more wins were to follow in Italy, first at Pescara and then Monza.

The team's fortunes continued into 1958 as the Moss and Brooks claimed six wins between them, allowing Vanwall to claim the first International Cup for Manufacturers with maximum points. This achievement, however, was overshadowed by the death of Vanwall driver Stuart Lewis-Evans due to burns sustained at the last race of the season. The loss affected the morale of team boss, Vandervell, who decided to leave the team at the end of the 1958 season, citing ill health.

Without Vandervell's funding and drive, the Vanwall team which entered the 1959 season was merely a shadow of its former self. Unable to fashion a new car for the new season, Vanwall were reduced to entering only the British Grand Prix in which only Brooks drove for the team, retiring after 13 laps.

1960 was a similar story, where Tony Brooks drove the sole Vanwall only at the French Grand Prix and retiring after just 7 laps. The team withdrew from the World Championship after the 1960 season.

F1 Summary[]

Year Entrant Car Engine Tyre Drivers Rounds WCC Pts WCC Pos
1954 G.A.Vandervell
Vandervell
Products
Special Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 P Peter Collins 5, 8-9 N/A N/A
1955 Vandervell
Products
VW55 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 P Mike Hawthorn 2, 4 N/A N/A
Ken Wharton 6-7
Harry Schell 6-7
1956 Vandervell
Products
VW2 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 P Maurice Trintignant 2, 4, 6, 8 N/A N/A
Harry Schell 2, 4-6, 8
Mike Hawthorn 5
Colin Chapman 5
José Froilán González 6
Piero Taruffi 8
1957 Vandervell
Products
VW5 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 P Stirling Moss 2, 5-8 N/A N/A
Tony Brooks 2, 5-8
Stuart Lewis-Evans 4-8
Roy Salvadori 4
1958 Vandervell
Products
VW5 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 D Stirling Moss 2-3, 5-11 48 (57) 1st
Tony Brooks 2-3, 5-11
Stuart Lewis-Evans 2-3, 5-7, 9-11
1959 Vandervell
Products
VW59 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 D Tony Brooks 5 0 NC
1960 Vandervell
Products
VW11 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 D Tony Brooks 6 0 NC

List of race wins[]

Win Number Event Driver Notes
1 1957 British Grand Prix Stirling Moss
Tony Brooks
Shared drive
2 1957 Pescara Grand Prix Stirling Moss
3 1957 Italian Grand Prix Stirling Moss
4 1958 Dutch Grand Prix Stirling Moss
5 1958 Belgian Grand Prix Tony Brooks
6 1958 German Grand Prix Tony Brooks
7 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix Stirling Moss
8 1958 Italian Grand Prix Tony Brooks
9 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix Stirling Moss

Statistics[]

Entries 30
Starts 27
Pole Positions 7
Front Row Starts 22
Race Wins 9
Podiums 14
Fastest Laps 6
Points 108
Laps Raced 2188
Distance Raced 15168.563
Races Led 12
Laps Led 371
Distance Led 2784.214
Doubles 1

Complete Formula One Results[]

Year Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts Pos
1954 Flag of Argentina 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Switzerland Flag of Italy Flag of Spain 1945 1977 N/A* N/A*
United Kingdom Peter Collins DNA Ret 7th DNS
1955 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of the Netherlands Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Switzerland Flag of Italy Flag of Spain 1945 1977 N/A* N/A*
United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn Ret Ret C C C C
United Kingdom Ken Wharton C 9th C C Ret C
United States Harry Schell C C C Ret C
1956 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Italy N/A* N/A*
France Maurice Trintignant Ret Ret Ret Ret
United States Harry Schell Ret 4th 10th Ret Ret
United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn
United Kingdom Colin Chapman DNS
Argentina José Froilán González Ret
Italy Piero Taruffi Ret
1957 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Abruzzo bandiera Flag of Italy N/A* N/A*
United Kingdom Stirling Moss Ret 1st 5th 1st 1st
United Kingdom Tony Brooks 2nd 9th Ret 7th
United Kingdom Stuart Lewis-Evans Ret 7th Ret 5th Ret
United Kingdom Roy Salvadori Ret
1958 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco Flag of the Netherlands 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Portugal Flag of Italy Flag of Morocco 48 (57)‡ 1st
United Kingdom Stirling Moss Ret 1st Ret 2nd Ret Ret 1st Ret 1st
United Kingdom Tony Brooks Ret Ret 1st Ret 7th 1st Ret 1st Ret
United Kingdom Stuart Lewis-Evans Ret Ret 3rd Ret 4th 3rd Ret Ret
1959 Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of the Netherlands Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Portugal Flag of Italy 48-star U S flag 0 NC
United Kingdom Tony Brooks Ret
1960 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Portugal Flag of Italy 48-star U S flag 0 NC
United Kingdom Tony Brooks Ret
Key
Symbol Meaning Symbol Meaning
1st Winner Ret Retired
2nd Podium finish DSQ Disqualified
3rd DNQ Did not qualify
5th Points finish DNPQ Did not pre-qualify
14th Non-points finish TD Test driver
Italics Fastest Lap DNS Did not start
18th Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) NC Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4thP Qualified for pole position [+] More Symbols
Notes

*The Constructors Championship did not start until 1958.

‡1958-1960: Only the best six results (bordered entries in table) counted towards the Constructors' Championship

C

The 1955 French, German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix were cancelled in the wake of the 1955 Le Mans Disaster.

Non-Championship results[]

Year Driver
1954 LavantCupFlag BRDC Trophy Flag RedeX Trophy Flag Goodwood Trophy Flag Daily Telegraphy Trophy Flag
Italy Alberto Ascari DNA
United Kingdom Alan Brown Ret
United Kingdom Peter Collins DNA 2nd
United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn 2nd
1955 Glover Trophy Flag BRDC Trophy Flag London Trophy Flag RedeX Trophy Flag International Gold Cup Flag Avon Trophy Flag
United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn DNA Ret
United Kingdom Ken Wharton Ret 2nd DNA
United States Harry Schell 2nd 1st Ret 1st
United Kingdom Desmond Titterington 3rd
1956 Aintree Flag BRDC Trophy Flag
United Kingdom Stirling Moss DNA 1st
United States Harry Schell DNA Ret

Notes[]

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