1958 Moroccan Grand Prix

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1958 Moroccan Grand Prix
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Ain-Diab.svg
Race details
Date19 October 1958
Official name VII Grand Prix International Automobile du Maroc
Location Ain-Diab Circuit
Casablanca
Course Road-based with permanent infrastructure
Course length 7.618 km (4.734 miles)
Distance 53 laps, 403.754 km (250.902 miles)
Weather Warm, dry, sunny
Pole position
Driver
 Ferrari
Time 2:23.1
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stirling Moss Vanwall
Time 2:22.5 on lap 21
Podium
First
 Vanwall
Second
 Ferrari
Third
 Ferrari
Lap leaders
  • 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix

The 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix, formally the VII Grand Prix International Automobile du Maroc, was a Formula One motor race held at Ain-Diab Circuit, Casablanca on 19 October 1958, after a six-week break following the Italian Grand Prix. It was race 11 of 11 in the 1958 World Championship of Drivers and race 10 of 10 in the 1958 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It is the only time Morocco has hosted a World Championship Grand Prix. [1]

Contents

Mike Hawthorn (Ferrari) started from pole position, but Stirling Moss won the race driving for Vanwall. Hawthorn finished second which secured him the World Drivers' Championship. Phil Hill was third, also for Ferrari. Vanwall made sure of the World Constructors' Championship and both this and Hawthorn's drivers' title were firsts for British teams or drivers.

The race saw an accident involving Stuart Lewis-Evans, who died six days later from the burns he sustained.

Report

Background

Both Mike Hawthorn and Stirling Moss came into the race with a chance of becoming World Drivers' Champion. Moss, on 32 points, needed to win the race and set fastest lap, with Hawthorn (40 pts) finishing no higher than third or to win without fastest lap with Hawthorn again finishing third or lower but also without fastest lap.

Practice and qualifying

There was an entry of 25 cars, of which 19 were to Formula One (F1) specification. Ferrari and Vanwall entered three cars each, BRM four and Lotus and Cooper two each. There were a further five non-works F1 entries. Six Formula Two Coopers brought the total entry to 25. [2]

In Friday practice, Jean Behra (BRM) set fastest time at 2:25.2. Tony Brooks (Vanwall) and Hawthorn (Ferrari) were second and third, four and five tenths behind respectively. Moss did not better 2:26, despite a late attempt, having been hampered by other cars during some of his fast lap attempts. [2]

On the Saturday, Hawthorn set fastest time with 2:23.1 which was one-tenth ahead of Moss who was content with his position in the middle of the front row on the three-then-two grid. Stuart Lewis-Evans was on his outside, a further half-a-second behind. The second row was made up of Phil Hill (Ferrari) and Behra. [2]

Race

Moss and Lewis-Evans led away, with Phil Hill also making a good start from the second row. At the end of the first lap, Moss led from Hill and Hawthorn was third followed by Jo Bonnier, Brooks, Lewis-Evans and Behra. [2] On lap three, Hill tried to out-brake Moss, but failed, and left the track without damaging the car, allowing Hawthorn and Bonnier to pass. Moss, now unhampered, began to draw away from Hawthorn who was being caught by Hill who had passed Bonnier after recovering from the earlier incident. By lap eight, Hill had passed Hawthorn but had little hope of catching Moss, who was already lapping the Formula Two cars at the rear of the field. Moss's teammate, Brooks, chased down Bonnier for fourth place and subsequently passed Hawthorn for third on lap 17. [2] On lap 18 Moss was involved in a minor collision with the Maserati of Wolfgang Seidel which forced the latter to retire and Moss to be wary of engine temperature thereafter. [2]

At 25 laps, Moss led Hill by 20s with Brooks a further 42s behind. Hawthorn was fourth followed by Bonnier and Olivier Gendebien with Lewis-Evans, Behra, Masten Gregory and Harry Schell completing the first ten runners. [2] Hawthorn re-passed Brooks shortly afterwards and on lap 30 Brooks's engine blew and he retired. This left Hawthorn in third place, but some distance behind Hill, who was 27s behind Moss and steadily losing ground on the leader. [2]

At this point, Gendebien, Tom Bridger and François Picard all retired through accidents, with only the latter sustaining more than minor injuries. Hill had little hope of catching Moss and the Ferrari team signalled to him to allow Hawthorn to catch up and take the second position needed to claim the Drivers' Championship. [2] Hill's lead over Hawthorn was such that it took till lap 39 for the change to occur. [2] Shortly afterwards, Moss lapped Schell, who then attempted to stay close to the Vanwall hampering Moss's progress. On lap 41, Lewis-Evans's engine broke in a corner, sending him off the road where the car caught fire. The driver was able to extricate himself but was badly burned. [2]

At 48 laps, Moss slowed to allow Schell to move back ahead and thus avoid the possibility of further interference with his own race. Such was the lead that Moss had at this stage that he was still able to finish nearly 1.5 minutes ahead of the Ferraris of Hawthorn and Hill. Moss had also set fastest lap, but Hawthorn's second place was enough to secure him the World Drivers' Championship. [2]

Post race

Lewis-Evans was airlifted back to Britain by Vanwall team owner Tony Vandervell [3] but died as a result of his burns six days later. [4] Vandervell, already in failing health himself, ended his involvement with the Vanwall team partly as a result of the accident. [3] Lewis-Evans was also a close friend of Bernie Ecclestone, who was at the race. Following his death Ecclestone sold his Connaught team and cars [5] and ceased involvement with the sport till 1965. [6]

It was also the last race for Hawthorn who retired as a driver shortly after the season ended. He was killed in a road accident in Surrey on 22 January 1959. [3] [7]

Picard ultimately recovered from his injuries after six months of incapacity, but did not race again. [8]

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
16 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 2:23.1—
28 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stirling Moss Vanwall 2:23.2+0.1
312 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall 2:23.7+0.6
414 Flag of France.svg Jean Behra BRM 2:23.8+0.7
54 Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Phil Hill Ferrari 2:24.1+1.0
62 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 2:24.3+1.2
710 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Brooks Vanwall 2:24.4+1.3
818 Flag of Sweden.svg Jo Bonnier BRM 2:24.9+1.8
938 Flag of France.svg Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax 2:26.0+2.9
1016 Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Harry Schell BRM 2:26.4+3.3
1132 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jack Fairman Cooper-Climax 2:27.0+3.9
1236 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Lotus-Climax 2:27.1+4.0
1322 Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Masten Gregory Maserati 2:27.6+4.5
1430 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 2:28.6+5.5
1520 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ron Flockhart BRM 2:29.8+6.7
1634 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax 2:33.7+10.6
1728 Flag of Italy.svg Gerino Gerini Maserati 2:35.1+12.0
1824 Flag of Germany.svg Hans Herrmann Maserati 2:35.1+12.0
1950 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 2:36.6+13.5
2026 Flag of Germany.svg Wolfgang Seidel Maserati 2:38.2+15.1
2152 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 2:41.7+18.6
2256 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Bridger Cooper-Climax 2:42.5+19.4
2358 Flag of Morocco.svg Robert La Caze Cooper-Climax 2:43.1+20.0
2454 Flag of France.svg François Picard Cooper-Climax 2:46.4+23.3
2560 Flag of France.svg André Guelfi Cooper-Climax 2:47.8+24.7
Source: [2] [9]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
18 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stirling Moss Vanwall 532:09:15.129 1
26 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 53+1:24.716
34 Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Phil Hill Ferrari 53+1:25.554
418 Flag of Sweden.svg Jo Bonnier BRM 53+1:46.783
516 Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Harry Schell BRM 53+2:33.7102
622 Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Masten Gregory Maserati 52+1 lap13
730 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 51+2 laps14
832 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jack Fairman Cooper-Climax 50+3 laps11
924 Flag of Germany.svg Hans Herrmann Maserati 50+3 laps18
1034 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax 49+4 laps16
1150 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 49+4 laps19
1228 Flag of Italy.svg Gerino Gerini Maserati 48+5 laps17
1352 Flag of New Zealand.svg Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 48+5 laps21
1458 Flag of Morocco.svg Robert La Caze Cooper-Climax 48+5 laps23
1560 Flag of France.svg André Guelfi Cooper-Climax 48+5 laps25
1636 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Lotus-Climax 45+8 laps12
Ret12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall 41Fatal accident3
Ret54 Flag of France.svg François Picard Cooper-Climax 31 2 Accident24
Ret56 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tom Bridger Cooper-Climax 30 3 Accident22
Ret10 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Brooks Vanwall 29Engine7
Ret2 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 29Accident6
Ret14 Flag of France.svg Jean Behra BRM 26Engine4
Ret26 Flag of Germany.svg Wolfgang Seidel Maserati 15Accident20
Ret20 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ron Flockhart BRM 15Camshaft15
Ret38 Flag of France.svg Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax 9Engine9
Sources: [2] [10] [11] [9]
Notes

Championship standings after the race

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References

  1. ↑ "The story of Formula 1's only Moroccan Grand Prix". Racingnews365.com. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Jenkinson, Denis (November 1958). "Grand Prix Du Maroc: Moss (Vanwall) is perfection - but it is not enough". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 14. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Williamson, Martin. "Hawthorn's title on another day of tragedy". e..espn.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 229. ISBN   0851127029.
  5. ↑ Bower, Tom (2011). No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone. Faber and Faber. p. 48/chapter 2 (Gambling) (Kobo edition). ISBN   9780571269372.
  6. ↑ Bower, Tom (2011). No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone. Faber and Faber. p. 1/chapter 3 (Embryo) (Kobo edition). ISBN   9780571269372.
  7. ↑ Small, Steve. The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 179. ISBN   0851127029.
  8. ↑ Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 290. ISBN   0851127029.
  9. 1 2 "Germany 1957 – Race entrants". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  10. ↑ "1958 Moroccan Grand Prix". Formula1.com (new version). Archived from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  11. ↑ "1958 Moroccan Grand Prix". Formula1.com (old version). Archived from the original on 3 June 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Morocco 1958 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
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