1957 Pescara Grand Prix

The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 18 August 1957, at the Pescara Circuit near Pescara in Italy. It was race 7 of 8 in the 1957 World Championship of Drivers. The race, which was the only Formula One World Championship race at the track, was held at the longest ever circuit to stage a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix:[1] the track is 25.8 km (16 miles) long and is now part of the SR16bis on the coast of Pescara. It was also the first of the two consecutive Italian races, and after the subsequent race at Monza was complete, it became the first time that two Formula One World Championship races had been held in the same country in the same year.

Start of the Pescara Grand Prix
1957 Pescara Grand Prix
Race details
Date 18 August 1957
Official name XXV Circuito di Pescara
Location Pescara Circuit
Course Temporary racing facility
Course length 25.8 km (16.032 mi)
Distance 18 laps, 464.4 km (288.576 mi)
Pole position
Driver
Maserati
Time 9:44.6
Fastest lap
Driver Stirling Moss Vanwall
Time 9:44.6
Podium
First
Vanwall
Second
Maserati
Third
Maserati

The event took place exceptionally due to the sudden cancellation of the Belgium and the Dutch Grand Prix. The temporary public road circuit used for this race was located near the town of Pescara. The Pescara circuit was renowned at the time as one of the most difficult and dangerous routes for motor racing; it became popular because of the automobile race Coppa Acerbo, held there since 1924.

The circuit was so dangerous that Enzo Ferrari, a man not known for compassion for his drivers, did not send his team to the race out of fear for his drivers' safety, coupled with safety fears following the Mille Miglia accident. However, he was persuaded by Luigi Musso to enter a single Ferrari 801 as Musso wanted to secure the Italian drivers' championship[2] (he would then retire on lap 10 with a split oil tank).[2] Furthermore, approval to run at the circuit was reluctantly granted by ANAS after eleven people had been killed in an accident during the Mille Miglia race just three months before.

A unique incident occurred when Jack Brabham's F2 Cooper was running short of fuel far from the pits and he pulled into a roadside petrol station and topped up.

The race drew a crowd in excess of 200,000 spectators.

Classification

Qualifying
Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 2 Juan Manuel Fangio Maserati 9:44.6 —
2 26 Stirling Moss Vanwall 9:54.7 +10.1
3 34 Luigi Musso Ferrari 10:00.0 +15.4
4 4 Jean Behra Maserati 10:03.1 +18.5
5 6 Harry Schell Maserati 10:04.6 +20.0
6 28 Tony Brooks Vanwall 10:08.8 +24.2
7 14 Masten Gregory Maserati 10:26.1 +41.5
8 30 Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall 10:29.6 +45.0
9 16 Jo Bonnier Maserati 10:36.2 +51.6
10 8 Giorgio Scarlatti Maserati 10:36.6 +52.0
11 18 Horace Gould Maserati 10:49.6 +1:05.0
12 10 Paco Godia Maserati 11:09.8 +1:25.2
13 12 Luigi Piotti Maserati 11:10.6 +1:26.0
14 20 Bruce Halford Maserati 11:16.3 +1:31.7
15 22 Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 11:24.2 +1:39.6
16 24 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 11:35.2 +1:50.6
Source:[3]

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 26 Stirling Moss Vanwall 18 2:59:22.7 2 91
2 2 Juan Manuel Fangio Maserati 18 +3:13.9 1 6
3 6 Harry Schell Maserati 18 +6:46.8 5 4
4 14 Masten Gregory Maserati 18 +8:16.5 7 3
5 30 Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall 17 +1 lap 8 2
6 8 Giorgio Scarlatti Maserati 17 +1 lap 10
7 24 Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 15 +3 laps 16
Ret 34 Luigi Musso Ferrari 9 Oil leak 3
Ret 10 Paco Godia Maserati 9 Engine 12
Ret 20 Bruce Halford Maserati 9 Transmission 14
Ret 16 Jo Bonnier Maserati 7 Overheating 9
Ret 4 Jean Behra Maserati 3 Oil leak 4
Ret 22 Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 3 Accident 15
Ret 28 Tony Brooks Vanwall 1 Engine 6
Ret 18 Horace Gould Maserati 0 Accident 11
Ret 12 Luigi Piotti Maserati 0 Engine 13
Source:[4]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Notes
  • This was a race where some drivers qualified 20 seconds ahead of others. The biggest difference was pole sitter Juan Manuel Fangio's time of 9:44.6 compared to Jack Brabham's time of 11:35.2, almost 2 minutes off Fangio's time. This was because many of the drivers on the grid had never driven at Pescara before. Also, Brabham's Cooper was a Formula 2 car with a 1.5-litre engine and Pescara was a "power" circuit.

Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Juan Manuel Fangio 40
4 2 Stirling Moss 17
1 3 Luigi Musso 16
1 4 Mike Hawthorn 13
1 5 Tony Brooks 10
Source:[5]
  • Note: only the top five positions are included.

References
  1. "Pescara Circuit". Circuits of the past. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  2. Jenkinson, Denis (April 1993). "A Famous Vanwall victory". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 31. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  3. "1957 Pescara Circuit Qualification". www.chicanef1.com. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  4. "1957 Pescara Grand Prix". formula1.com. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  5. "Pescara 1957 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
Previous race:
1957 German Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1957 season		 Next race:
1957 Italian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1956 Pescara Grand Prix		 Pescara Grand Prix Next race:
1960 Pescara Grand Prix
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