1955 Italian Grand Prix

1955 Italian Grand Prix
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Autodromo Nazionale di Monza layout
Race details
Date	September 11, 1955
Official name	XXVI Gran Premio d'Italia
Location	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent road course
Course length	10.000 km (6.214 miles)
Distance	50 laps, 500.023 km (310.700 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Time	2:46.5
Fastest lap
Driver	Stirling Moss	Mercedes
Time	2:46.9
Podium
First	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes
Second	Piero Taruffi	Mercedes
Third	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1955 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, in Monza, Italy on 11 September 1955. It was the seventh and final race of the 1955 World Championship of Drivers.

In the wake of the 1955 Le Mans disaster, the championship was still open after the British Grand Prix; although after that race (with the French Grand Prix already having been cancelled) the German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix were all cancelled. This meant that Fangio won the world driver's championship for the 3rd time and the 2nd time in succession.

A new concrete banking had been constructed over where the original slightly banked version was, and the combined 10 km (6.214 mi) Monza circuit was used for the first time since 1933. The Curva Sud had also been modified from 2 right hand corners into one sweeping right-hander known as the "Parabolica".

Of the 4 factory Mercedes cars in the race, Fangio and Moss drove the streamlined, closed-wheel W196's, while Kling and Taruffi drove open-wheel W196's. This was the 4th and last appearance of the streamlined Mercedes cars at a championship GP as well as the third and last time in Formula One history that a race had been won by a closed-wheel car.

This was the last Grand Prix race for 1950 world champion Nino Farina. This was also the last Grand Prix win for a Mercedes-Benz as an engine manufacturer until David Coulthard won the 1997 Australian Grand Prix and the last Grand Prix win for Mercedes-Benz as a constructor until Nico Rosberg won the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix, and also the last 1-2 finish for Mercedes-Benz as an engine manufacturer until Mika Häkkinen and Coulthard at the 1997 European Grand Prix, as well as the last 1-2 finish for Mercedes-Benz as a constructor until Lewis Hamilton and Rosberg at the 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	18	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	2:46.5	—
2	16	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	2:46.8	+0.3
3	20	Karl Kling	Mercedes	2:48.3	+1.8
4	4	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	2:49.6	+3.1
5	2	Nino Farina	Lancia	2:49.9	+3.4
6	36	Jean Behra	Maserati	2:50.1	+3.6
7	28	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	2:51.1	+4.6
8	10	Luigi Villoresi	Lancia	2:51.6	+5.1
9	14	Piero Taruffi	Mercedes	2:51.8	+5.3
10	30	Luigi Musso	Maserati	2:52.1	+5.6
11	32	Peter Collins	Maserati	2:55.3	+8.8
12	12	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari	2:55.4	+8.9
13	42	Harry Schell	Vanwall	2:55.5	+9.0
14	6	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	2:56.2	+9.7
15	8	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	2:56.3	+9.8
16	34	Carlos Menditeguy	Maserati	2:58.4	+11.9
17	44	Ken Wharton	Vanwall	2:59.5	+13.0
18	22	Hermano da Silva Ramos	Gordini	2:59.8	+13.3
19	26	Jacques Pollet	Gordini	2:59.9	+13.4
20	40	John Fitch	Maserati	3:03.1	+16.6
21	38	Horace Gould	Maserati	3:05.2	+18.7
22	24	Jean Lucas	Gordini	3:15.9	+29.4
DNS	46	Luigi Piotti	Arzani-Volpini-Maserati
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	18	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	50	2:25:04.4	1	8
2	14	Piero Taruffi	Mercedes	50	+0.7	9	6
3	4	Eugenio Castellotti	Ferrari	50	+46.2	4	4
4	36	Jean Behra	Maserati	50	+3:57.5	6	3
5	34	Carlos Menditeguy	Maserati	49	+1 Lap	16	2
6	12	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari	49	+1 Lap	12
7	28	Roberto Mieres	Maserati	48	+2 Laps	7
8	8	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	47	+3 Laps	15
9	40	John Fitch	Maserati	46	+4 Laps	20
10	6	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	38	Gearbox	14
Ret	20	Karl Kling	Mercedes	32	Gearbox	3
Ret	30	Luigi Musso	Maserati	31	Gearbox	10
Ret	38	Horace Gould	Maserati	31	Suspension	21
Ret	16	Stirling Moss	Mercedes	27	Engine	2	11
Ret	26	Jacques Pollet	Gordini	26	Engine	19
Ret	22	Hermano da Silva Ramos	Gordini	23	Fuel System	18
Ret	32	Peter Collins	Maserati	22	Suspension	11
Ret	42	Harry Schell	Vanwall	7	Suspension	13
Ret	24	Jean Lucas	Gordini	7	Engine	22
Ret	44	Ken Wharton	Vanwall	0	Injection	17
DNS	2	Nino Farina	Lancia		Tyre	5
DNS	10	Luigi Villoresi	Lancia		Tyre	8
DNS	46	Luigi Piotti	Arzani-Volpini-Maserati		Engine
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – 1 point for fastest lap

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	40 (41)
	2	Stirling Moss	23
3	3	Eugenio Castellotti	12
1	4	Maurice Trintignant	11 1⁄3
1	5	Nino Farina	10 1⁄3
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 5 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.