1957 Monaco Grand Prix (partially found footage of Formula One World Championship race; 1957)

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Stirling Moss narrowly leads Juan Manuel Fangio at the start.

Status: Partially Found

The 1957 Monaco Grand Prix was the second race of the 1957 Formula One Season. Occurring on 19th May at the Circuit de Monaco, the race was ultimately won by Maserati's Juan Manuel Fangio, who generally controlled proceedings after Vanwall's Stirling Moss and Ferrari's Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn crashed out early in the race.

Background

The 1957 Monaco Grand Prix was the fourth running of the event as part of Formula One following its debut on the calendar in 1950.[1] It was also the 15th in Grand Prix history.[2][1] Lasting 105 laps,[3] the Monaco Grand Prix remains an integral event of the Formula One calendar, including being prestigious enough to be classified as part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, alongside the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500.[1][4]

Heading into the race, the motor racing world was in mourning following the fatal accident of Ferrari's Alfonso Portago and Edmond Nelson at the Mille Miglia, which also claimed the lives of nine spectators.[5] During the Grand Prix weekend, Maserati entered their new six-cylinder cars, while Ferrari missed the opening day of qualifying as their cars were not ready.[6] Onlookers noted the vast presence of green cars, indicating greater British influence in Formula One.[6] Among those driving them was Moss, who had switched from Maserati to Vanwall.[7] Nevertheless, Fangio achieved pole position in an Italian car, with a time of 1:42.7, with the six-cylinder design deemed competitive for Monaco.[6][7][3] Such was Fangio's fast time that it actually deterred the younger drivers from setting any further lap times that day.[6] Nobody was able to beat Fangio's time the following day, with Collins and Moss lining up second and third respectively out of the top 16 fastest competitors.[6][7][3] With only 16 drivers allowed to race, but with 20 cars entered, four drivers failed to qualify.[6][3] These included Roy Salvadori, Andre Simon, Luigi Piotti, and Les Leston.[6][3]

The Race

With the starting order decided, the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix commenced on 19th May.[3] Moss had issues prior to the start, requiring a push so that his Vanwall could restart.[6] Nevertheless, he and the other 15 drivers jumped the start, with Moss taking the lead through the hairpin.[6][7][5][3] Collins then passed Fangio for second, and started closing-in on Moss.[6][7] Two laps later, Moss was still leading, but as he travelled down the chicane, he ended up making contact with the barriers.[6][5][7][3] The resulting crash forced Collins to take evasive action; he avoided the debris, but the barricades situated at the harbour's edge.[6][5][7][3] Fangio took the lead, while Vanwall's Tony Brooks slowed down to avoid a collision.[6][5][7][3] As he did, Hawthorn crashed into his rear wheel, breaking the Ferrari's front wheel and brake drum before colliding with Collins' car.[6][5][7][3]

Following this, Fangio experienced few challenges to his lead.[6][5][7][3] While Brooks was around 5-6 seconds behind, he generally seemed unwilling to properly duel with the defending champion.[6][5] By lap 50, Fangio was now 20 seconds ahead of Brooks, which extended to 48 seconds as Brooks lost ground by around two seconds per lap.[6] The race's main action therefore situated on third place, with Ferrari's Wolfgang von Trips, Cooper-Climax's Jack Brabham, and Maserati's Masten Gregory all vying for it.[5][6][7] Von Trips appeared to have the upper hand, but retired on lap 96 following an engine failure, which led to him losing controlling and destroying a wall in the process.[5][6][7][3] It seemed then that Brabham was to secure his first ever podium, which would have also been the first for a rear engine car.[5][6][7] However, despite being well-ahead of Gregory, the Cooper's engine suddenly failed with a few laps remaining due to a fuel pump issue.[7][5][6][3]

Brooks meanwhile had closed the gap to around 25.2 seconds, but Fangio remained unchallenged in front.[3][6][5] He therefore claimed victory and eight points in the Drivers' Championship, while also scoring another point for setting the fastest lap.[6][5][7][3] Brooks scored Vanwall's first podium with second, while Gregory became the first American driver to reach the podium in a non-Indianapolis 500 World Championship race.[5][6][7][3] Connaught-Alta's Stuart Lewis-Evans and Ferrari's Maurice Trintignant claimed the final points positions in fourth and fifth respectively, while Brabham pushed his Cooper over the line to be classified sixth.[6][5][7][3] Post-race, Fangio explaining how he fended off Brooks, stating "I decided to pile on the pressure so he would lose heart. As the laps went by he could see he was not gaining and he eased off."[5]

Availability

The race was reportedly televised by TMC, although it is unknown whether it provided live coverage or race highlights.[8] The broadcast has yet to publicly resurface, however, having originated from an era where telerecordings were rare until videotape was perfected in the late-1950s.[9] Nevertheless, some footage can be found in British newsreels and documentaries.

Gallery

Videos

Colour footage from a British documentary (footage repeats at 24:44).

Colour Footage from another British documentary.

British Pathé newsreel of the race.

Footage of Maserati cars at the event.

French newsreel of the race.

Images

See Also

References