The GSOH - Round Two - 1982 vs 1957

[crmalcolm]

The next match of the GSOH bracket puts 1982 up against 1957.

Summaries from Wikipedia:

1982 - Before the start of the season, all drivers had received a letter from FISA, containing an application form for a new Super Licence. This new document stated that drivers would not be allowed to switch teams freely during the course of the season, with their licence being withdrawn should they do so. Additionally, the document forbade drivers from actions "which might harm the moral or material interests" of Formula One. The returning Lauda was displeased by this and communicated with Pironi, head of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA). They contacted other drivers and ultimately, six drivers refused to sign the document, those being Lauda, Pironi, Villeneuve, Arnoux, Bruno Giacomelli and Andrea de Cesaris.

On the Wednesday between testing and the first practice session of the South African Grand Prix, during a meeting of the Formula One Commission, Pironi, on behalf of the drivers, objected to the licence application. Balestre reacted strongly, excluding all drivers who had not signed from the following day's practice session. The drivers, almost all of them and not just the ones who had refused to sign, in turn reacted by going on strike the next day, boarding a bus to a nearby hotel. The conflict continued until the next day, the Friday before the race was set to take place. It was partially resolved shortly before noon that day, with the drivers receiving half-hearted assurances towards their demands. They would ultimately be fined $5,000 each for the strike, with the new Super Licence being scrapped. Following the events in South Africa, the GPDA disbanded at a driver meeting in Paris, being replaced by the Professional Racing Drivers' Association (PRDA).

When qualifying finally commenced, Arnoux took pole position from Piquet, with Villeneuve and Patrese on the second row of the grid. At the start, Arnoux led while Piquet did not get away well and was overtaken by several cars, including Prost, who jumped from fifth to second. Piquet and Villeneuve retired early, while Prost took the lead from his teammate Arnoux on lap 14. He would lead until lap 41, when he punctured his left rear tyre, forcing him to come into the pitlane for new tyres. He emerged in eighth place, but with this fresh set, Prost was the quickest driver on the course, allowing him to overtake relatively easily. On lap 68, he once again took the leading position from Arnoux and went on to win the race. Reutemann also overtook Arnoux late in the race and finished second, with Lauda in fourth place on his return to Formula One racing.

The teams then travelled to Brazil for the second round. Brabham abandoned their turbo-charged BT50 for the time being on grounds of its unreliability, reverting to an updated BT49D for this race, powered by the Cosworth DFV engine. The cars once again proved just how quick they had become, when Prost qualified on pole position 6.27 seconds faster than Piquet had done the year before. Villeneuve was second on the grid and went into the lead at the start, followed by Rosberg, with the two Renault drivers behind. Rosberg fell behind the Renaults on the first lap and was overtaken by Patrese on lap three and by Piquet two laps later. Villeneuve led until lap 30, when he spun out. This allowed Piquet into the lead, closely followed by Rosberg, with the two having battled for position during the preceding laps. The order remained to the finish, with Piquet winning from Rosberg, Prost, Watson and Mansell.

The heavy strain posed onto the drivers by the bumpy circuit and hot, humid weather was showcased not only by Patrese retiring on lap 34 due to exhaustion, but also when Piquet fainted on the winners' rostrum. Following the race, both Ferrari and Renault protested the first- and second-place finishes of Piquet and Rosberg, citing the water tanks used by Brabham and Williams to be illegal. The case was taken to FISA in Paris, with no outcome until after the next race.

The third race of the season took place at the street circuit in Long Beach. During Saturday's qualifying, Lauda did just one run of a few laps, setting a fast time that put him on top of the leaderboard. In the closing seconds of the session, de Cesaris bettered Lauda's time, clinching pole position for Alfa Romeo. De Cesaris had been ousted by McLaren for Lauda over the winter and was moved to tears by his accomplishment.

De Cesaris led from the start, while Lauda was overtaken by Arnoux for second place. On lap six, Giacomelli, running fourth, tried to outbrake Lauda and in the process hit Arnoux, forcing both to retire. This allowed Villeneuve into third place, ahead of Watson. Pironi and Prost both retired after hitting the wall on laps seven and eleven respectively. On lap 15, Lauda took advantage of de Cesaris missing a gear change and moved into the lead, immediately beginning to pull away. Rosberg overtook Villeneuve for third on lap 21. This turned into second place on lap 34, when de Cesaris crashed into the wall after his engine had failed. The order remained until the chequered flag, with Lauda winning in only his third Grand Prix back in the sport. Villeneuve was later excluded from the results in Long Beach, following a protest by Ken Tyrrell over Ferrari's use of a double rear wing.

In the week before the next round, the San Marino Grand Prix, the FIA International Court of Appeal sided with Ferrari and Renault on their complaint over the water tanks at the race in Brazil and disqualified Piquet and Rosberg, handing victory to Prost. It was further decided that the cars would now be weighed after the race in the condition in which they had finished, eliminating the Cosworth-powered teams' use of water tanks to increase their performance. All other runners' results from the Brazilian Grand Prix were upheld, including Watson's, who inherited second place even though his use of the water tanks had been as illegal as the others. The FOCA teams requested a postponement of the next race until July to allow consideration of the effects of the court's judgement, on the grounds that it changed the regulations of the sport. The race organisers refused to delay the race, which went ahead without the majority of the FOCA teams. At this stage in the championship, Prost led with 18 points, six ahead of Lauda, with Rosberg and Watson sharing third position on eight points.

With the FOCA teams boycotting the race, the San Marino Grand Prix was run with just 14 cars present. The turbocharged Renaults and Ferraris were heavily favoured and Arnoux duly took pole position ahead of Prost, with Villeneuve and Pironi on the second row. Due to the fast nature of the Imola track, Ferrari team boss Mauro Forghieri told his drivers to save fuel. Arnoux led from the start while Prost lost two positions to the Ferrari drivers on the first lap. He eventually retired on lap seven. After some changes of position with Villeneuve and Pironi, Arnoux pulled away, but retired as well after 44 laps when his engine expired. This left only the Ferrari drivers in a position to win the Grand Prix. Their team held out "slow" signs from the pit wall, urging them to conserve fuel. Villeneuve, who led, understood this to mean that the cars were to finish in the current order. Pironi appeared to disregard the signals from the pitwall and took the lead on lap 46. He then sped up, pulling Villeneuve with him, who retook the lead again on lap 49. They changed position three more times; as Villeneuve slowed down each time he took the lead, Pironi would overtake him again. Eventually, Pironi won the race and Villeneuve was furious at his teammate for allegedly not following team orders. After the race, he said: "People seem to think we had the battle of our lives! [...] I was coasting those last 15 laps." Pironi said that "The 'slow' sign means only to use your head [... not that] if you think you can win, don't do it." In an interview the following week, Villeneuve said that he would never speak to Pironi again.

Two weeks later, the paddock moved to Zolder for the Belgian Grand Prix. In qualifying, Villeneuve went out onto the track on his second set of fast tyres, which were already used and had only one more fast lap to go before their performance became compromised. On his flying lap, he failed to better the time of teammate Pironi, but instead of slowing down, as drivers usually did on laps at the end of which they were supposed to head back to the pits, Villeneuve continued to drive fast. It has been speculated that he was determined to beat Pironi's time due to the animosity between the two. It is unclear if this is true, with Forghieri claiming that Villeneuve had indeed planned to return to the pitlane. In any event, Villeneuve caught Jochen Mass travelling much more slowly through a left-handed bend and moved to the right to pass him at the same instant that Mass also moved right to let Villeneuve through on the racing line. The two collided and Villeneuve was thrown out of his disintegrating car. He died of a fractured neck in a local hospital at 9:12 that evening.

Ferrari withdrew from the race, which Watson won for McLaren. His teammate Lauda, who had finished third behind Rosberg, was disqualified after the race for an underweight car. The results were dominated by the returning FOCA teams; even the only turbo-engined finisher, Piquet, was one of them, after Brabham reintroduced the BMW-powered BT50 for this race.

Motorsport journalist Nigel Roebuck stated that the next race, the Monaco Grand Prix, "was a sombre, edgy place [...] the sense of [Villeneuve's] absence was overwhelming"; the Canadian had lived in the principality and had won the previous year's race. Ferrari chose to only run one car, not replacing Villeneuve for the time being. In the race itself, Arnoux led early on from pole position before spinning off, handing the lead to his Renault teammate Prost. The latter in turn built up a massive lead, but a light rain shower in the closing laps triggered a chaotic finish. Prost crashed out, handing the lead to Patrese, still running the Cosworth-powered Brabham BT49D. Patrese spun on the penultimate lap and stalled, allowing Pironi into the lead, followed by de Cesaris. On the final lap, Pironi, de Cesaris, and Daly all retired because they ran out of fuel while in potential race winning positions. Meanwhile, Patrese bump-started his car by coasting down a hill, completed the final two laps, and took his first career victory. Pironi was classified second, despite running out of fuel and stopping on the last lap. After the race, Prost, who had scored no points since the Brazilian Grand Prix in March, led the championship by one point from Watson and two points from Pironi.

The next race was the inaugural Detroit Grand Prix, which was marred by lack of track preparation, delaying the practice session on a circuit that had never hosted a motor race before. During the shortened qualifying session, Prost took pole position ahead of de Cesaris, with Rosberg in third. The big surprise of the day was defending World Champion Piquet, who failed to qualify as his Brabham BT50 had engine problems and the spare car was not performing well either. In the race, Prost led comfortably until an accident between Roberto Guerrero, Elio de Angelis and Patrese led to the race being suspended. De Cesaris had retired at this point and at the restart, Prost led Rosberg and Pironi. A problem with the fuel injection slowed Prost down, handing the lead to Rosberg. Watson, who qualified 17th on the grid, got his Michelin tyres working well on the Detroit circuit and overtook one driver after another until, on lap 37, he went into the lead, as Rosberg had gearbox issues. Watson won the race from Eddie Cheever and Pironi, taking the lead in the World Championship.

Tragedy struck again at the Canadian Grand Prix. Pironi qualified on pole, but stalled at the start. His stationary car was hit by the Osella of young Italian Riccardo Paletti, who was competing in only his second race in Formula One. Paletti suffered severe internal injuries and his car caught fire while the track marshals tried to extract him from his vehicle. He was pronounced dead upon arrival in the hospital. The race was restarted and won by Piquet in the BMW-powered Brabham ahead of teammate Patrese, still in the Cosworth-powered BT49D. It would be the last one-two finish for the Brabham team in their Formula One history. Watson finished third to consolidate his lead in the championship. After the Canadian round, Watson was on 30 points, ten ahead of Pironi, followed by Patrese on 19, Prost with 18 and Rosberg with 17 points.

At the Dutch Grand Prix, Ferrari introduced Patrick Tambay as a replacement for Villeneuve. The Renault drivers once more locked out the front row, Arnoux ahead of Prost. The latter took the lead at the start, followed by Arnoux and Pironi. On lap two, Pironi overtook Arnoux and three laps later moved ahead of Prost into the lead. While Prost retired with an engine failure, Arnoux was lucky to survive a heavy accident on lap 22 at Tarzan corner. His left front wheel broke off as he approached the corner, sending his car into the tyre wall. Pironi won the race without serious competition, ahead of Piquet and Rosberg.

For the next race at Brands Hatch, the British Grand Prix, Brabham had devised what they referred to as "The Ploy". Inspired by Prost's comeback drive at the season opener at Kyalami, the team planned to send out their cars with tanks only half full and softer, and therefore faster, tyres. A pit stop midway through the race was supposed to refuel the car and change tyres, giving the Brabham drivers the advantage to be able to lap quicker than everybody else and gain enough of a lead to win. On top of that, both drivers were now running the BMW-powered BT50 chassis.

In qualifying, Rosberg surprised by taking only the second, and last, non-turbocharged pole position of the season. At the start of the warm-up lap, a fuel pressure issue led to his car being stationary on the grid while the other cars got underway. His mechanics helped him to a push start, but he did not reach the field in time and had to start the race last. This handed the front starting spot to Patrese, but he stalled. Both Arnoux and Fabi ran into him, taking all three out on the spot. Piquet as the only remaining Brabham left led from Lauda, but "The Ploy" was not to be executed, as Piquet retired with fuel injection problems on lap ten. This left Lauda to take his second victory of the season, followed by Pironi and Tambay. Pironi took over the lead of the championship, now five points ahead of Watson.

The Renaults were dominant at their home race, the French Grand Prix at Circuit Paul Ricard. Arnoux qualified ahead of Prost, and with Prost being better positioned in the championship, the team decided that if the cars should run first and second, he should win. Arnoux did not honour the agreement and took the victory ahead of his teammate, much to Prost's dismay. Another heavy accident marred the race, as Mass ran into the back of Mauro Baldi at Signes corner. As Mass's car slid towards the barrier, it was catapulted into the grandstands full of spectators. Although several people had minor injures, the accident did not result in any fatalities or serious injuries. At this stage, Pironi led the championship by nine points ahead of Watson and was seen as the likely favourite to win the title.

At the following event, the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, Pironi qualified on pole position, but collided with Prost's Renault in wet conditions later in the session. Pironi's car was thrown into the air and though he survived the impact, he suffered severe leg injuries and would never compete in Formula One again. The race took place with the first slot on the grid vacant. Brabham were again attempting to employ the strategy of having their cars refuel and change tyres halfway through the race. Piquet led comfortably when he collided with Salazar while trying to lap him, leading Piquet to furiously hit and kick his competitor after he got out of the car. Tambay went on to win the race for Ferrari, his first victory in a Grand Prix, ahead of Arnoux and Rosberg, who was now third in the championship.

At the Austrian Grand Prix on the Österreichring, most turbocharged runners retired early, leaving Prost in the lead, only to retire with fuel injection issues five laps from the finish. This left de Angelis and Rosberg to fight out the race victory, with de Angelis reaching the finish line 0.050 seconds ahead to win his first ever Grand Prix. The Grand Prix also saw the Brabham drivers make it to their mid-race pit stops for the first time, only for both to retire later on.

Rosberg in turn achieved his maiden victory at the next race, the Swiss Grand Prix, held at the Dijon-Prenois circuit and scheduled for 80 laps. The Renaults of Prost and Arnoux had qualified on the front row. Rosberg, consistently lapping quicker than all other drivers, was held up by de Cesaris, but eventually found a way past him. He overtook Arnoux on lap 73 and Prost on lap 78 to take the lead and the race victory. In doing so, he also took the lead in the championship.

At the Italian Grand Prix, Mario Andretti returned to take over the seat at Ferrari left vacant by Pironi and qualified in pole position. The race was won by Arnoux, leading home the Ferraris of Tambay and Andretti. Rosberg did not score points, having finished eighth. Watson meanwhile took three points for fourth place, leaving him with a mathematical chance of winning the title; this would require him to win the last race of the season with Rosberg failing to score.

At the last race of the season, the Caesars Palace Grand Prix in Las Vegas, Prost took pole position ahead of Arnoux. The race was held in 98.8 °F (37.1 °C) degree weather during a particularly hot time of year in Las Vegas. While Arnoux retired from the race itself, Prost was hampered by blistering tyres to finish fourth. Michele Alboreto took a surprising victory for Tyrrell. Watson finished second, meaning that Rosberg's fifth-place finish was enough to secure the title. He became the first driver since Mike Hawthorn in 1958 to clinch the championship having won just one Grand Prix.


1957 - Race 1: Argentina
The first race of the season was in January at the Buenos Aires Autodrome in Argentina's capital city. Briton Moss took pole ahead of Fangio, Behra, and Ferrari drivers Castellotti, Collins, Musso, and Hawthorn. At the start of the race, Behra took the lead from Fangio and Castellotti. Moss was taken by surprise, and a juddering start damaged the throttle mechanism, and he pitted at the end of the first lap. While Moss sat in the pits, Castellotti led but was then overtaken by Behra. Soon afterwards, Collins worked his way to the front, but within a few laps, he was in trouble with his clutch and had to pit. This left Behra in the lead again, but Fangio soon passed him. Castelotti had lost his third position after a spin, so now Hawthorn was leading the charge, although both he and Musso would retire after a while with clutch problems. Castellotti remained the only challenge to the Maseratis at the front, but his race ended when a wheel fell off with 24 laps to go. Menditeguy and Schell were promoted to third and fourth when Castellotti went out, so Maserati started the season by romping home with a 1-2-3-4 result, with Fangio winning his 4th Argentine Grand Prix in a row ahead of Behra.

Argentina '57 would be Castellotti's last Grand Prix. He was killed testing a Ferrari at the Modena Aerodrome in March. A non-championship race was held in Syracuse on the southern Italian island of Sicily; Peter Collins won this race for Ferrari. The Pau Grand Prix, held on the city streets of the southwestern French town of Pau, was won by home favourite Behra in a Maserati, while on the same day, the Glover Trophy at the Goodwood circuit in southern England was won by Briton Stuart Lewis-Evans in a Connaught-Alta. Six days after these two events, Collins won the Naples Grand Prix. Another works Ferrari driver, Spaniard Alfonso de Portago, was killed in May while contesting the Mille Miglia sportscar race in Italy for Ferrari.

Race 2: Monaco
Four months after the Argentine round and several non-championship races, the teams assembled in Monaco for the second championship round of the season. Moss had joined Vanwall from Maserati, driving a car designed by Colin Chapman and financed by Tony Vandervell, a wealthy British industrialist, leaving Fangio as the undisputed team leader at Maserati. Fangio took pole position. However, Moss took the lead at the first corner with Fangio behind him, but on the second lap, Collins got ahead of the Argentine driver. Moss went off and crashed at the chicane on lap 4, and Collins swerved to avoid the crash and ended up hitting a stone wall. Fangio managed to get through without a problem, and Brooks braked hard only to be rammed from behind by Hawthorn. Only Brooks could keep going, but he was five seconds behind Fangio by the time he was up to speed again. Von Trips was third, with Menditeguy fourth and Schell fifth. Menditeguy would have to stop early for new tyres after hitting a curb, so Schell moved to fourth until his suspension broke. Brabham was next in the little Cooper with Trintignant chasing him, but the Frenchman soon dropped away with a stop to cure a misfire. After several retirements, Australian Jack Brabham was up to third, but a fuel pump failure left him to push the car to the line. He was classified sixth, and Fangio won again ahead of Brooks, Masten Gregory in a Maserati, Lewis-Evans, and Trintignant.

Race 4: France
The Indianapolis 500 was the 3rd round of the championship, but since that race was not run to Formula One rules, no competitors who raced in Formula One raced at the Indy 500, and vice versa. The Belgian and Dutch Grands Prix, scheduled for 2 and 16 June, were both cancelled because of disputes over money affected by the Suez crisis in Egypt. This resulted in a six-week break between Monaco and the French GP, which was to be held at the Rouen-Les-Essarts public road circuit in northern France, extended from its previous layout used in 1952.

In practice, Fangio was fastest, with Behra and Musso alongside on the front row. Behind them were Schell and Collins, with the third row consisting of Salvadori, Hawthorn, and Trintignant. Behra went into the lead at the start, but Musso soon got ahead. Fangio followed in third, with Collins and Schell giving chase. Then came a fast-starting McKay-Fraser. Fangio worked his way past Behra on the second lap and took Musso for the lead on lap four. BRM suffered a setback when Flockhart seriously damaged his car in a high-speed accident, although he himself was not hurt. Collins worked his way past Behra, and the order remained unchanged at the front all the way to the flag, with Fangio winning from Musso and Collins. Behra slipped behind Hawthorn, allowing the Englishman to give the Lancia-Ferraris a 2-3-4 finish behind Fangio. McKay-Fraser's promising run ended with a transmission failure at one-third distance, but the American would not be seen again in Formula 1. He was to die a few days later in the annual Formula 2 race at the Reims public road circuit before the Reims Grand Prix, which Musso won in a Lancia-Ferrari.

Race 5: Britain
The British Grand Prix was held at the Aintree circuit in Liverpool instead of at the Silverstone circuit between London and Birmingham the previous year. The Aintree circuit was located in the middle of the horse-racing course where the famous Grand National was held. Both Vanwall drivers missed the French Grand Prix and were back in action for their home race. This was to be a landmark race for British motorsports. At the start of the race, Behra took off into the lead with Moss in hot pursuit, and the Englishman emerged ahead at the end of the lap, to the delight of the partisan crowd. Brooks was third, with Hawthorn fourth and Collins fifth. There were four British drivers in the top five positions. Then came Schell, Musso, and Fangio. Moss was able to build up his lead, but the car began to sound rough, and he pitted. Behra took the lead with Brooks behind him, but the second Vanwall driver was soon called into the pits to give his car to Moss, who re-joined in ninth position. He began to work his way through the field. Behra remained ahead, with Hawthorn unable to challenge him. Then came Lewis-Evans and Collins. Moss was quickly back up to fifth. The field was thinned out by a series of mechanical failures, including Fangio and Collins. Moss caught Lewis-Evans, but on lap 69, the whole race changed when Behra's clutch exploded. Hawthorn ran over some of the wreckage and suffered a puncture. Lewis-Evans took the lead but was passed almost immediately by Moss. The dream of a Vanwall 1–2 was punctured when Lewis-Evans suffered a broken throttle linkage which dropped him to seventh place. Moss duly won the race, claiming the first World Championship victory for a British car. Musso was second, with Hawthorn third.

Race 6: Germany
At the Nürburgring in Germany, the field was as expected, with Lancia-Ferrari fielding Mike Hawthorn, Peter Collins, and Luigi Musso and Maserati running Juan Manuel Fangio, Jean Behra, and Harry Schell in their leading cars. The field was bolstered for the first time by Formula 2 machinery, which included a trio of Porsches and various Cooper-Climaxes; the length of the circuit allowed for these cars to run alongside each other.

Pole position went to Fangio, with Hawthorn, Behra, and Collins completing the front row. Then came Brooks, Schell, and Moss. At the start, Hawthorn and Collins went into a battle for the lead, with Fangio and Behra giving chase. On the third lap, Fangio passed Collins and soon took the lead. Collins then passed Hawthorn and chased after Fangio, but the Argentine driver was edging gradually away. A slow mid-race pit stop lasting 1 minute and 18 seconds (originally supposed to be 30 seconds) dropped Fangio one minute behind the two Lancia-Ferraris, but he chased back hard, broke the lap record ten times, and passed first Collins and then Hawthorn on the penultimate lap. Fangio thus won the race and his fifth World title.

Race 7: Pescara
The cancellation of the Belgian and Dutch Grands Prix earlier in the season enabled the FIA to include the Coppa Acerbo Pescara Grand Prix in the World Championship for the first time, although it had been contested since 1924. It was held during the 1930s Grand Prix days of Mercedes, Auto Union, and Alfa Romeo and continued as a non-championship race throughout the 1950s. The 25.6 kilometres (15.9 mi) public road circuit, the longest ever used for a Formula One race (even longer than the Nürburgring), was very dangerous. Practice was limited, and Enzo Ferrari did not bother to send cars for Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, partly because the World Championship had already been won by Juan Manuel Fangio and partly in protest against the Italian government's moves to ban road racing following Alfonso de Portago's accident earlier in the year in the Mille Miglia. Luigi Musso managed to convince Ferrari to lend him a car and entered the race as a privateer.

The weather was hot, at the start, Musso took the lead. Maserati privateer Horace Gould hit a mechanic who was slow to get off the grid. Vanwall's challenge was blunted when Brooks retired with mechanical troubles on the first lap. Moss took the lead from Musso on lap two, but the two cars remained together. Fangio ran third, but the field thinned out quickly as the hot temperatures took their toll, with Lewis-Evans losing nearly a lap because of two tyre failures and Behra suffering an engine failure. On lap 10, Musso disappeared when his engine blew, the oil causing Fangio to have a spin which damaged one of his wheels. By the time Fangio re-joined, Moss was un-catchable. Moss's lead was even able to stop for a drink and to have his oil topped up, and he won the race ahead of Fangio. Schell finished third, with Gregory fourth and Lewis-Evans grabbing fifth at the end of the race from the fourth Maserati factory driver Giorgio Scarlatti. The Coppa Acerbo was never again used for a Formula One championship race; the race was last held in 1961 as a sportscar race.

Race 8: Italy
The Italian Grand Prix at Monza was held only on the road circuit without the poorly constructed concrete banking this year, as it had caused problems for the Italian constructors the year before. The track was very like the Monza of today, although without the chicanes. Ferrari was back in action for this most important of Italian races after boycotting Pescara. So it was a three-way fight between the Lancia-Ferraris, the Maseratis, and the Vanwalls. The British cars were strong, with pole position going to Stuart Lewis-Evans with Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks alongside him. Juan Manuel Fangio put his Maserati on the outside of the 4-3-4 grid while his teammates Jean Behra and Harry Schell shared row two with Peter Collins's Lancia-Ferrari. There were three more cars on row three with Wolfgang von Trips, Luigi Musso, and Mike Hawthorn alongside the Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati of Masten Gregory.

Although the Vanwalls went away from the grid at the front, Behra moved up to second on the first lap. Fangio attached himself to the train of cars ahead of him, and the five began to pull away from the rest of the field while indulging in a traditional Monza slipstreaming battle which saw the lead constantly changing between Moss and Behra. On lap seven, Fangio took the lead, but he was soon toppled in favour of Moss, Brooks, and then Lewis-Evans. On lap 20, Brooks dropped out of the fight with a sticking throttle. Then Lewis-Evans ran into trouble and pitted. This left Moss in the lead with Fangio and Behra behind him, although Behra would pit soon afterwards for new tyres. This moved Schell into third place, but he disappeared with an oil leak which meant that third was passed on to Collins. At two-thirds distance, Collins ran into engine trouble and pitted. This promoted Hawthorn to third, but a split fuel pipe dropped him to sixth in the closing laps, leaving third place to Von Trips.

Three more non-championship races were held, all of which were won by Jean Behra. The BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone in England, Jean Behra won driving a BRM; the Modena Grand Prix at the Modena Aerodrome (where Eugenio Castellotti had been killed previously) and the Moroccan Grand Prix at the Ain-Diab public road circuit in Casablanca, both won in a Maserati.

All seven FIA-mandated championship races had been won by two drivers in 1957: Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio and Briton Stirling Moss. Although Moss took over an ill Tony Brooks's car during the British Grand Prix, he won with it on the road at that event.