100 F1 race winners part 2: 1953-1958

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Stirling Moss, left, with Juan Manuel Fangio

The second part of the series looking at the 100 drivers to win F1 Grands Prix includes Britain’s first world champion, Mike Hawthorn.

He’s one of four British drivers on this part of the list, the others being Peter Collins, Tony Brooks and Stirling Moss.

11. Mike Hawthorn

First win: 1953 French Grand Prix, Reims
Total wins: 3
Nationality: British

Hawthorn’s first win was a sensation, for he out-dragged Juan Manuel Fangio to the finishing line in a thrilling race at Reims. Five years later he became Britain’s first world champion, narrowly beating Stirling Moss, and announced his retirement. Tragically he was killed in a road accident in January 1959.

Read more about Mike Hawthorn: Mike Hawthorn biography

12. Maurice Trintignant

First win: 1955 Monaco Grand Prix, Monte-Carlo
Total wins: 2
Nationality: French

Trintignant was the first Frenchman to win a round of the world championship in 1955, but it would be another three decades before a French driver claimed the drivers’ title.

He had survived a terrible crash in the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten where he had been thrown from his car. Trintignant spent eight days in a coma and at one stage was declared dead, but after a long recovery he returned to motor racing. He remained in F1 until 1964, winning a second time at Monaco in 1958.

13. Bob Sweikert

First win: 1955 Indianapolis 500
Total wins: 1
Nationality: American

Sweikert won the 1955 Indianapolis 500 in which Bill Vukovich was killed (see yesterday’s instalment). Having finished sixth at Indy the following year Sweikert too lost his life, in a sprint car crash.

14. Stirling Moss

First win: 1955 British Grand Prix, Aintree
Total wins: 16
Nationality: British

Usually called the best driver never to win the world championship, some have even suggested he was the greatest ever. Moss was Fangio’s closest rival but the two shared a deep mutual respect. In 1955 when the pair drove for Mercedes they typically circulated in tandem, miles ahead of their rivals.

Moss was never sure whether his first win, at Aintree in ’55, was a gift from Fangio or not. But he went on to score a string of excellent victories, the best of which at Monte-Carlo in 1961 when he single-handedly kept the Ferraris at bay in an underpowered Lotus.

From 1955-8 he was runner-up in the championship every year, missing the title by a point in ’58 despite having won four races to Hawthorn’s one. Moss was supposed to drive a Ferrari in 1962 but a crash at Goodwood forced him into early retirement.

Read more about Stirling Moss: Stirlong Moss biography

15. Luigi Musso

First win: 1956 Argentine Grand Prix, Buenos Aires
Total wins: 1
Nationality: Italian

Promising Italian driver Musso joined Ferrari in 1956 after three seasons with Maserati. He won on his debut – although it was a drive shared with Fangio. Musso never added to that single win but he surely would have, had he not perished in a crash while chasing team mate Mike Hawthorn in the 1958 French Grand Prix at Reims.

16. Pat Flaherty

First win: 1956 Indianapolis 500
Total wins: 1
Nationality: American

Flaherty won the 1956 Indianapolis 500, one of his six starts in the American classic.

17. Peter Collins

First win: 1956 Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps
Total wins: 3
Nationality: British

Collins was sometimes accused of not taking his racing seriously enough, but his ability was not in dispute. Nor was his dedication to the Ferrari team – at Monza in 1956 he surrendered his drive halfway through the race to Fangio, sacrificing his own chance of winning the title so Fangio could. Musso in the other car had not bee so accommodating.

Sadly Collins, like Musso, was to lose his life racing. Having won his home race at Silverstone in 1958 he arrived at the Nurburgring thirdin the championship. But he crashed while pursuing leader Tony Brooks, flipped, and died from his injuries.

18. Sam Hanks

First win: 1957 Indianapolis 500
Total wins: 1
Nationality: American

When Sam Hanks won the 1957 Indianapolis 500, at his 13th attempt, he announced his retirement from racing on the spot.

19. Tony Brooks

First win: 1957 British Grand Prix
Total wins: 6
Nationality: British

Tony Brooks scored his first win on home ground after sharing his car with Stirling Moss. He had come to international attention two years earlier by winning the Syracuse Grand Prix – the first win for a British car abroad since 1924.

In 1958 he scored three wins for Vanwall and when the team left F1 at the end of the year Brooks moved to Ferrari, scoring two further victories, before retiring in 1961.

20. Jimmy Bryan

First win: 1958 Indianapolis 500
Total wins: 1
Nationality: American

Jimmy Bryan won the 1958 Indianapolis 500. Two years later he lost his life in a crash at Langhorne, on the same day Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey were killed in the Belgian Grand Prix.

This is part two of a ten-part series: join us tomorrow for part three. To make sure you don’t miss it you can subscribe to F1 Fanatic by RSS or email.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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13 comments on “100 F1 race winners part 2: 1953-1958”

  1. Noting the gap between 11. 1953 French and 12. 1955 Monaco, I guess only previous winners won races during that period.

    This raises the question, what’s the longest Formula 1 has gone between new winners?

  2. Well if I recall correctly in the very early seasons there were very few races. Seasons could contest of 8 or 9 races.

    However it would be interesting to see what the longest amount of races there has been without a new winner.

  3. Pedro Andrade
    6th August 2008, 17:03

    We’ll know that statistic soon, as Keith continues the series.

    Good work on this one Keith. :)

  4. Great series Keith. I look forward to reading the rest of it.

    I believe the first season only had 6 races and even when Jim Clark was winning championships there were still only 10 races in a season.

  5. Robert Mckay
    7th August 2008, 8:39

    Fascinating feature you’ve got going here Keith. In the same vein I wonder if anyone knows how many drivers have scored World Championship points? (I was going to say at least 1 point but I think there are possibly drivers who have just a half-point to their name!)

    Obviously don’t expect a full bio of them all, just the rough number would be nice :-D

  6. Robert Mckay
    7th August 2008, 8:41

    “I believe the first season only had 6 races”

    …and wasn’t one of them the Indy 500, which the F1 guys didn’t really bother with (for the obvious reasons of it being run to different rules/cars)?

    Mind you races were much longer those days, so maybe the total kilometres travelled works out at something similar :-D

  7. Robert McKay – 309 different F1 drivers have scored points.

    I’ll try to keep an eye on this ‘longest gap between maiden winners’ thing as well…

  8. Cheers Keith. So still less than the number of people who went into space…who’d have thunk it! :-D

  9. Thanks Keith :)

    I’d love to think it was during the Schumacher’s dominance but I’ll probably be proven wrong :)

  10. Hello Keith
    Thanks for a very good website. It’s nice to see that someone can put together a thoughtful and very interesting series of articles rather than rejurgitating the PR speak of the drivers and team management.

    Now, to the point! I was privilged to be able to see two of those first wins. My first visit to a GP was at Aintree in 1955 when Moss beat Fangio to the line. I was taken to the race by a much older cousin and two of his mates from the RAF. We travelled on a 1000cc Vincent with a box sidecar, 4 up and the outfit did 100 mph for a lot of the way there!

    I remember the excitement of the crowd as the race progressed almost reaching fever pitch by the final lap and Moss’ victory. What a day out for a nine year old boy.

    The next GP I went to was the 1957 British race when Moss and Brooks won in the Vanwall. Three great firsts that day.

    After the race we crossed the track to the pits and I went straight to Moss to get his autograph, easy in those days; after he signed by book along with Tony Brooks he picked me up and sat me in the winning car. Can you imagine that happening today?

    I’ve forgotten how many GP’s I’ve been to since then but the last, so far, was the Australian in 2004.

    I started my own racing at Aintree in 1965 and I’m still driving today in Australia…it’s been a great life.

    Cheers Everybody and thanks Keith for the reminder of some great days.

  11. Leslie – great to hear about those races in to fifites! I met Moss a month or two ago, and I don’t mind admitting I was a little star-struck. What it must have been like meeting him when you were nine and he was winning Grands Prix I can’t imagine. What did he say to you?

  12. Hello Keith
    It was like meeting one of the Gods. I gave him a ballpoint pen which had the tip retracted. he said “Fix it!” Then he said “jump up here and don’t touch the pedals”.

    I later drove against him in sporting trials, probably the only time I could beat him.

    An all round gentleman and one of lifes good guys.

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