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1958 Moroccan Grand Prix

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1958 Moroccan Grand Prix
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Race details
Date 19 October 1958
Official name VII Grand Prix International Automobile du Maroc
Location Ain-Diab Circuit
Casablanca
Course Road-based with permanent infrastructure
Course length 7.618 km (4.734 miles)
Distance 53 laps, 403.754 km (250.902 miles)
Weather Warm, dry, sunny
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 2:23.1
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Stirling Moss Vanwall
Time 2:22.5 on lap 21
Podium
First Vanwall
Second Ferrari
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix, formally the VII Grand Prix International Automobile du Maroc, was a one-off Formula One motor race held at Ain-Diab Circuit, Casablanca on 19 October 1958, after a six-week break following the Italian Grand Prix. It was race 11 of 11 in the 1958 World Championship of Drivers and race 10 of 10 in the 1958 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It is the only time Morocco has hosted a World Championship Grand Prix.[1]

Mike Hawthorn (Ferrari) started from pole position, but Stirling Moss won the race driving for Vanwall. Hawthorn finished second which secured him the World Drivers' Championship. Phil Hill was third, also for Ferrari. Vanwall made sure of the World Constructors' Championship and both this and Hawthorn's drivers' title were firsts for British teams or drivers.

The race saw an accident involving Stuart Lewis-Evans, who died six days later from the burns he sustained.

Report

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Background

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Both Mike Hawthorn and Stirling Moss came into the race with a chance of becoming World Drivers' Champion. Moss, on 32 points, needed to win the race and set fastest lap, with Hawthorn (40 pts) finishing no higher than third or to win without fastest lap with Hawthorn again finishing third or lower but also without fastest lap.

Practice and qualifying

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There was an entry of 25 cars, of which 19 were to Formula One (F1) specification. Ferrari and Vanwall entered three cars each, BRM four and Lotus and Cooper two each. There were a further five non-works F1 entries. Six Formula Two Coopers brought the total entry to 25.[2]

In Friday practice, Jean Behra (BRM) set fastest time at 2:25.2. Tony Brooks (Vanwall) and Hawthorn (Ferrari) were second and third, four and five tenths behind respectively. Moss did not better 2:26, despite a late attempt, having been hampered by other cars during some of his fast lap attempts.[2]

On the Saturday, Hawthorn set fastest time with 2:23.1 which was one-tenth ahead of Moss who was content with his position in the middle of the front row on the three-then-two grid. Stuart Lewis-Evans was on his outside, a further half-a-second behind. The second row was made up of Phil Hill (Ferrari) and Behra.[2]

Race

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Moss and Lewis-Evans led away, with Phil Hill also making a good start from the second row. At the end of the first lap, Moss led from Hill and Hawthorn was third followed by Jo Bonnier, Brooks, Lewis-Evans and Behra.[2] On lap three, Hill tried to out-brake Moss, but failed, and left the track without damaging the car, allowing Hawthorn and Bonnier to pass. Moss, now unhampered, began to draw away from Hawthorn who was being caught by Hill who had passed Bonnier after recovering from the earlier incident. By lap eight, Hill had passed Hawthorn but had little hope of catching Moss, who was already lapping the Formula Two cars at the rear of the field. Moss's teammate, Brooks, chased down Bonnier for fourth place and subsequently passed Hawthorn for third on lap 17.[2] On lap 18 Moss was involved in a minor collision with the Maserati of Wolfgang Seidel which forced the latter to retire and Moss to be wary of engine temperature thereafter.[2]

At 25 laps, Moss led Hill by 20s with Brooks a further 42s behind. Hawthorn was fourth followed by Bonnier and Olivier Gendebien with Lewis-Evans, Behra, Masten Gregory and Harry Schell completing the first ten runners.[2] Hawthorn re-passed Brooks shortly afterwards and on lap 30 Brooks's engine blew and he retired. This left Hawthorn in third place, but some distance behind Hill, who was 27s behind Moss and steadily losing ground on the leader.[2]

At this point, Gendebien, Tom Bridger and François Picard all retired through accidents, with only the latter sustaining more than minor injuries. Hill had little hope of catching Moss and the Ferrari team signalled to him to allow Hawthorn to catch up and take the second position needed to claim the Drivers' Championship.[2] Hill's lead over Hawthorn was such that it took till lap 39 for the change to occur.[2] Shortly afterwards, Moss lapped Schell, who then attempted to stay close to the Vanwall hampering Moss's progress. On lap 41, Lewis-Evans's engine broke in a corner, sending him off the road where the car caught fire. The driver was able to extricate himself but was badly burned.[2]

At 48 laps, Moss slowed to allow Schell to move back ahead and thus avoid the possibility of further interference with his own race. Such was the lead that Moss had at this stage that he was still able to finish nearly 1.5 minutes ahead of the Ferraris of Hawthorn and Hill. Moss had also set fastest lap, but Hawthorn's second place was enough to secure him the World Drivers' Championship.[2]

Post race

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Lewis-Evans was airlifted back to Britain by Vanwall team owner Tony Vandervell[3] but died as a result of his burns six days later.[4] Vandervell, already in failing health himself, ended his involvement with the Vanwall team partly as a result of the accident.[3] Lewis-Evans was also a close friend of Bernie Ecclestone, who was at the race. Following his death Ecclestone sold his Connaught team and cars[5] and ceased involvement with the sport till 1965.[6]

It was also the last race for Hawthorn who retired as a driver shortly after the season ended. He was killed in a road accident in Surrey on 22 January 1959.[3][7]

Picard ultimately recovered from his injuries after six months of incapacity, but did not race again.[8]

Classification

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  • A yellow background denotes a Formula Two entry:

Qualifying

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Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 6 United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 2:23.1
2 8 United Kingdom Stirling Moss Vanwall 2:23.2 +0.1
3 12 United Kingdom Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall 2:23.7 +0.6
4 14 France Jean Behra BRM 2:23.8 +0.7
5 4 United States Phil Hill Ferrari 2:24.1 +1.0
6 2 Belgium Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 2:24.3 +1.2
7 10 United Kingdom Tony Brooks Vanwall 2:24.4 +1.3
8 18 Sweden Jo Bonnier BRM 2:24.9 +1.8
9 38 France Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax 2:26.0 +2.9
10 16 United States Harry Schell BRM 2:26.4 +3.3
11 32 United Kingdom Jack Fairman Cooper-Climax 2:27.0 +3.9
12 36 United Kingdom Graham Hill Lotus-Climax 2:27.1 +4.0
13 22 United States Masten Gregory Maserati 2:27.6 +4.5
14 30 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 2:28.6 +5.5
15 20 United Kingdom Ron Flockhart BRM 2:29.8 +6.7
16 34 United Kingdom Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax 2:33.7 +10.6
17 28 Italy Gerino Gerini Maserati 2:35.1 +12.0
18 24 West Germany Hans Herrmann Maserati 2:35.1 +12.0
19 50 Australia Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 2:36.6 +13.5
20 26 West Germany Wolfgang Seidel Maserati 2:38.2 +15.1
21 52 New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 2:41.7 +18.6
22 56 United Kingdom Tom Bridger Cooper-Climax 2:42.5 +19.4
23 58 Morocco Robert La Caze Cooper-Climax 2:43.1 +20.0
24 54 France François Picard Cooper-Climax 2:46.4 +23.3
25 60 France André Guelfi Cooper-Climax 2:47.8 +24.7
Source:[2][9]

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 8 United Kingdom Stirling Moss Vanwall 53 2:09:15.1 2 91
2 6 United Kingdom Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 53 +1:24.7 1 6
3 4 United States Phil Hill Ferrari 53 +1:25.5 5 4
4 18 Sweden Jo Bonnier BRM 53 +1:46.7 8 3
5 16 United States Harry Schell BRM 53 +2:33.7 10 2
6 22 United States Masten Gregory Maserati 52 +1 lap 13
7 30 United Kingdom Roy Salvadori Cooper-Climax 51 +2 laps 14
8 32 United Kingdom Jack Fairman Cooper-Climax 50 +3 laps 11
9 24 Germany Hans Herrmann Maserati 50 +3 laps 18
10 34 United Kingdom Cliff Allison Lotus-Climax 49 +4 laps 16
11 50 Australia Jack Brabham Cooper-Climax 49 +4 laps 19
12 28 Italy Gerino Gerini Maserati 48 +5 laps 17
13 52 New Zealand Bruce McLaren Cooper-Climax 48 +5 laps 21
14 58 Morocco Robert La Caze Cooper-Climax 48 +5 laps 23
15 60 France André Guelfi Cooper-Climax 48 +5 laps 25
16 36 United Kingdom Graham Hill Lotus-Climax 45 +8 laps 12
Ret 12 United Kingdom Stuart Lewis-Evans Vanwall 41 Fatal accident 3
Ret 54 France François Picard Cooper-Climax 312 Accident 24
Ret 56 United Kingdom Tom Bridger Cooper-Climax 303 Accident 22
Ret 10 United Kingdom Tony Brooks Vanwall 29 Engine 7
Ret 2 Belgium Olivier Gendebien Ferrari 29 Accident 6
Ret 14 France Jean Behra BRM 26 Engine 4
Ret 26 Germany Wolfgang Seidel Maserati 15 Accident 20
Ret 20 United Kingdom Ron Flockhart BRM 15 Camshaft 15
Ret 38 France Maurice Trintignant Cooper-Climax 9 Engine 9
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap
  • ^2 – MotorSport magazine lists Picard with 28 laps, and indirectly supports this lower lap count with the article's narrative[2]
  • ^3 – MotorSport magazine lists Bridger with 26 laps, and indirectly supports this lower lap count with the article's narrative[2]

Championship standings after the race

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  • Notes: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Only the best 6 results counted towards each Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

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  1. ^ "The story of Formula 1's only Moroccan Grand Prix". Racingnews365.com. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Jenkinson, Denis (November 1958). "Grand Prix Du Maroc: Moss (Vanwall) is perfection - but it is not enough". Motor Sport magazine archive. p. 14. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Williamson, Martin. "Hawthorn's title on another day of tragedy". e..espn.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  4. ^ Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 229. ISBN 0851127029.
  5. ^ Bower, Tom (2011). No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone. Faber and Faber. p. 48/chapter 2 (Gambling) (Kobo edition). ISBN 9780571269372.
  6. ^ Bower, Tom (2011). No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone. Faber and Faber. p. 1/chapter 3 (Embryo) (Kobo edition). ISBN 9780571269372.
  7. ^ Small, Steve. The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 179. ISBN 0851127029.
  8. ^ Small, Steve (1994). The Guinness Complete Grand Prix Who's Who. Guinness. p. 290. ISBN 0851127029.
  9. ^ a b "Germany 1957 – Race entrants". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  10. ^ "1958 Moroccan Grand Prix". Formula1.com (new version). Archived from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  11. ^ "1958 Moroccan Grand Prix". Formula1.com (old version). Archived from the original on 3 June 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Morocco 1958 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.


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