1957 Pescara Grand Prix

  1957 Pescara Grand Prix

Race details
Race 7 of 8 in the 1957 Formula One season
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	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati
Time	9:44.6
Fastest lap
Driver	Stirling Moss	Vanwall
Time	9:44.6
Podium
First	Stirling Moss	Vanwall
Second	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati
Third	Harry Schell	Maserati
Lap leaders

The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 18 August 1957, at the Pescara Circuit near Pescara in Italy. The race was the seventh, and penultimate round of the 1957 World Drivers' Championship. The race, which was the only Formula One World Championship race at the track, is best remembered for being held at the longest ever circuit to stage a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix. The track is 25 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.

The temporary public road circuit used for this race was located near the picturesque town of Pescara. It was extremely dangerous; so much so 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. However, he was persuaded by Luigi Musso to enter a single Ferrari 801 as Musso wanted to secure the Italian drivers' championship.^[1] Musso retired on lap 10 with a split oil tank.^[1]

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

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	26	Stirling Moss	Vanwall	18	2:59:22.7	2	9
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:[2]

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 only had a 2-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

• Note: only the top five positions are included.

References