1954 French Grand Prix

France  1954 French Grand Prix
Race details
Race 4 of 9 in the 1954 Formula One season

Reims-Gueux layout
Date 4 July 1954
Official name XLI Grand Prix de l'ACF
Location Reims Circuit, Reims, France
Course Temporary road course
Course length 8.302 km (5.159 mi)
Distance 61 laps, 506.422 km (314.676 mi)
Weather Overcast, wet
Pole position
Driver Mercedes
Time 2:29.4
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Hans Herrmann Mercedes
Time 2:32.9 on lap 3
Podium
First
  • Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio
Mercedes
Second Mercedes
Third Ferrari

The 1954 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims on 4 July 1954, the same date as the 1954 Football World Cup Final. It was the fourth round of the 1954 World Drivers' Championship. The 61-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from pole position. His teammate Karl Kling finished second and Ferrari river Robert Manzon came in third.

Race report

The long-awaited Mercedes W196 with its straight-8 fuel-injection engine made its debut with Juan Manuel Fangio transferring from Maserati to join an otherwise all-German line-up of Hans Herrmann, Karl Kling and pre-war driver Hermann Lang. It was a dominant return with Fangio recording a practice lap of 124.31 mph. He and Kling led away and continued to race side by side around the Rheims track. The Ferrari drivers simply couldn't cope with the pace. José Froilán González retired after 12 laps and Mike Hawthorn's car blew up spectacularly. Former Ferrari double World Champion (1952 & 1953) Alberto Ascari drove a Maserati, as the Lancia D50 was not yet ready for racing and lasted only 1 lap after starting on the outside of the front row. Herrmann set fastest lap before retiring, but Fangio and Kling continued their duel until the last lap when team orders were put in force and Fangio led Kling over the line by a mere 0.1 seconds-half a car length. Only six cars finished the gruelling race.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos Driver Chassis Engine Time Gap
1 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes Mercedes 2:29.4
2 Germany Karl Kling Mercedes Mercedes 2:30.4 1
3 Italy Alberto Ascari Maserati Maserati 2:30.5 1.1
4 Argentina José Froilán González Ferrari Ferrari 2:30.6 1.2
5 Argentina Onofre Marimón Maserati Maserati 2:31.6 2.2
6 Thailand Prince Bira Maserati Maserati 2:35.1 5.7
7 West Germany Hans Herrmann Mercedes Mercedes 2:35.3 5.9
8 United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn Ferrari Ferrari 2:35.6 6.2
9 France Maurice Trintignant Ferrari Ferrari 2:36.1 6.7
10 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori Maserati Maserati 2:36.3 6.9
11 Argentina Roberto Mieres Maserati Maserati 2:38.7 9.3
12 France Robert Manzon Ferrari Ferrari 2:42.0 12.6
13 France Louis Rosier Ferrari Ferrari 2:42.1 12.7
14 Italy Luigi Villoresi Maserati Maserati 2:42.7 13.3
15 United Kingdom Lance Macklin HWM Alta 2:52.5 23.1
16 United Kingdom Ken Wharton Maserati Maserati 3:09.3 39.9
17 France Jean Behra Gordini Gordini - -
18 France Jacques Pollet Gordini Gordini - -
19 Belgium Paul Frère Gordini Gordini - -
20 Belgium Georges Berger Gordini Gordini - -
21 United States Harry Schell Maserati Maserati - -
DNS Italy Sergio Mantovani Maserati Maserati - -
Source:[1]

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 18 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Mercedes 61 2:42:47.9 1 8
2 20 Germany Karl Kling Mercedes 61 + 0.1 2 6
3 34 France Robert Manzon Ferrari 60 + 1 Lap 12 4
4 46 Thailand Prince Bira Maserati 60 + 1 Lap 6 3
5 14 Italy Luigi Villoresi Maserati 58 + 3 Laps 14 2
6 24 France Jean Behra Gordini 56 + 5 Laps 17  
Ret 28 Belgium Paul Frère Gordini 50 Axle 19  
Ret 4 France Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 36 Engine 9  
Ret 36 France Louis Rosier Ferrari 27 Engine 13  
Ret 12 Argentina Onofre Marimón Maserati 27 Gearbox 5  
Ret 16 Argentina Roberto Mieres Maserati 24 Engine 11  
Ret 42 United Kingdom Ken Wharton Maserati 19 Transmission 16  
Ret 48 United States Harry Schell Maserati 19 Fuel Pump 21  
Ret 22 Germany Hans Herrmann Mercedes 16 Engine 7 1
Ret 44 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori Maserati 15 Half Shaft 10  
Ret 2 Argentina José Froilán González Ferrari 13 Engine 4  
Ret 32 United Kingdom Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 10 Engine 15  
Ret 30 Belgium Georges Berger Gordini 9 Engine 20  
Ret 6 United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 9 Engine 8  
Ret 26 France Jacques Pollet Gordini 8 Engine 18  
Ret 10 Italy Alberto Ascari Maserati 1 Transmission 3  
DNS 40 Italy Sergio Mantovani Maserati   Did Not Start    
Source:[2]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio 25
2 France Maurice Trintignant 9
3 United States Bill Vukovich 8
4 Argentina José Froilán González 6.5
5 Italy Nino Farina 6

References

  1. "Franch 1954 - Qualifying". statsf1.com. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  2. "1954 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
Previous race:
1954 Belgian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1954 season
Next race:
1954 British Grand Prix
Previous race:
1953 French Grand Prix
French Grand Prix Next race:
1956 French Grand Prix
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