The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor race, held on 18 August 1957, at the

Pescara Circuit The Pescara Circuit was a race course made up entirely of public roads near Pescara, Italy that hosted the Coppa Acerbo auto race. Pescara is the longest circuit to ever host a Formula One Grand Prix. The country and town roads used were both na ...

near

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The race was the 7th round of the 1957 World Championship of Drivers. The circuit is the longest to ever hold a world championship race in Formula One. The race was the first and only Formula One World Championship race to take place at the track. It was also the first of two consecutive Italian races, which meant that it was the first time that the same country had held two Formula One World Championship races in the same season.

Background

The Grand Prix was contested by 16 drivers and three official constructors, with

Luigi Musso Luigi Musso (28 July 1924 – 6 July 1958) was an Italian racing driver. In 1955 he joined the Ferrari team, entering into a fierce rivalry with Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins, which boosted the performance of the team, but also encouraged ...

entered unofficially due to Ferrari withdrawing with safety concerns. The constructors were Maserati,

Vanwall Vanwall was a motor racing team and racing car constructor that was active in Formula One during the 1950s. Founded by Tony Vandervell, the Vanwall name was derived by combining the name of the team owner with that of his Thinwall bearings ...

and

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

- Climax. Juan Manuel Fangio led the championship with 34 points, ahead of

on 16 points and

Mike Hawthorn John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 – 22 January 1959) was a British racing driver. He became the United Kingdom's first Formula One World Champion driver in 1958, whereupon he announced his retirement, having been profoundly affected by the ...

on 13 points. Tony Brooks was in 4th with 10 points, and

Sam Hanks Samuel Dwight "Sam" Hanks (July 13, 1914 – June 27, 1994) was an American race car driver who won the 1957 Indianapolis 500. He was a barnstormer, and raced midget and Championship cars. Racing career Hanks was born in Columbus, Ohio and l ...

, Stirling Moss and Peter Collins were all 5th with 8 points. Fangio had won four races and had clinched the title at the 6th round, the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in Rh ...

. Both Musso and Hawthorn finished in the top three for two races. Maserati had a strong start to the season, outshining Ferrari in both the race and qualifying on multiple occasions. Fangio had a strong start to the season, winning the first two rounds. Moss, however, had a poor start to the season. He struggled with reliability issues such as a broken throttle linkage at Argentina and became ill just before the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

. The Grand Prix was the first and only World Championship race to take place at

. The circuit hosted its last event in 1961, after which it was closed due to safety concerns. The track was long, the longest circuit to ever host a Formula One World Championship round. The event took place at short notice due to the sudden cancellation of the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Grands Prix over disputes regarding fees. The organisers had offered the constructors reduced appearance fees, which they rejected. Due to the large size of the circuit, no attempt was made to require an entry ticket. Many spectators watched the race from houses around the track. Around 200,000 spectators were estimated to have been in attendance.

Safety concerns

Pending the investigation for the deaths of 13 people at

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

earlier that year,

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...

stated that Ferrari would not compete in the race. However, he did enter a single Ferrari 801 after he received insistent requests from

, though he stated that this did not constitute an official Ferrari entry into the race. Despite a ban on all motor races on public roads following the disaster, the race was given special permission by the Italian Government to go ahead. The track was modified to conform with new safety regulations introduced after the accident. A chicane was added at the end of the seafront straight.

Practice and qualifying

There were no official Practice sessions. However, due to the circuit being a road course, many drivers drove observation laps in road cars two days before the race. Qualifying consisted of two sessions which were held on the Saturday before the Sunday race-from 07:00 to 09:30 and 16:30 to 18:30 local time. Between the two sessions, the straw bales were removed and the road was opened up again to the public. At the end of the sessions, Fangio set the quickest lap time of a 9:44.6 which gave him pole position. He set an average lap speed of , which unofficially beat the previous lap record of because it was set during qualifying. Moss was second with a 9:54.7 and Musso was third with a 10:00.0.

Qualifying classification

Race

Two hours before the race start, Fangio complained of pains in his right shoulder. However, he still competed in the race. The race took place from 09:30 local time in dry and very hot weather. A unique incident occurred when Jack Brabham's F2 Cooper was running short of fuel far from the pits and he pulled into a roadside petrol station and topped up.

Race classification

;Notes * – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings *Note: only the top five positions are included.

References

{{F1GP 50-59 Pescara Grand Prix Auto races in Italy Pescara Grand Prix