1957 Swedish Grand Prix
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The 1957 Sveriges Grand Prix took place on 11 August, at the Rabelövsbanan,
Kristianstad Kristianstad (, ; older spelling from Danish language, Danish ''Christianstad'') is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 40,145 inhabitants in 2016. During the last 15 years, it has ...
. Although this was the third running of the race, it was the last time as round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship, and to sportscar regulations. Held on the same bumpy circuit as in 1956, the race differed this time, as it was for a period of six hours, instead of 1,000 km, it being felt that a time race would be more acceptable to the Swedish public.


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Entry

A grand total of 32 racing cars were registered for this event, of which 30 arrived for practice and 29 for qualified to race. Of the big manufacturers only
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
and
Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
entered official works teams,
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
fortunes being left in the hands of privateers,
Ecurie Ecosse Ecurie Ecosse (French: "Scotland Stable") was a motor racing team from Edinburgh, Scotland. The team was founded in November 1951 by Edinburgh businessman and racing driver David Murray and mechanic Wilkie Wilkinson. Its most notable achieveme ...
and Equipe Nationale Belge, which provided to being very successful at
Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
in the previous round. As for
Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
, not a single car was to be seen in Sweden. The
Officine Alfieri Maserati Throughout its history, the Italian auto manufacturer Maserati has participated in various forms of motorsports including Formula One, sportscar racing and touring car racing, both as a works team and through private entrants. Beginnings One of t ...
had two
450S The 450s decade ran from January 1, 450, to December 31, 459. Significant people References {{Reflist ...
s, both being a Spyder version. They were backed-up by two
Maserati 300S The Maserati 300S was a racing car produced by Maserati of Italy between 1955 and 1958 to compete in the FIA's World Sportscar Championship. Twenty-six examples were produced. Background The 3.0-litre (approx at 6200 rpm) engine was based on the ...
s. As for drivers, the team had the choice of
Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...
,
Jean Behra Jean Marie Behra (16 February 1921 – 1 August 1959) was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams. Appearance and personality Behra was small in stature, stocky, and weighed 178 pounds.''B ...
,
Harry Schell Henry O'Reilly "Harry" Schell (June 29, 1921 – May 13, 1960) was an American Grand Prix motor racing driver. He was the first American driver to start a Formula One Grand Prix. Early life Schell was born in Paris, France, the son of expatri ...
,
Giorgio Scarlatti Giorgio Scarlatti (2 October 1921 – 26 July 1990) was a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 May 1956. Scarlatti's best season in Formula One was as a works Maserati driver ...
and
Jo Bonnier Joakim Bonnier (31 January 1930 – 11 June 1972) was a Swedish sportscar racing and Formula One driver who raced for various teams. He was the first Swede to both enter and win a Formula One Grand Prix. Early life Jo Bonnier was born in Stockh ...
. As for
Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...
, their entry consisted of two 335 Ss and a 250 TR, and they had the choice of
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 ...
, Peter Collins,
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 ...
,
Phil Hill Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American automobile racing driver. He was one of two American drivers to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, and the only one who was born in the United States ( ...
,
Maurice Trintignant Maurice Bienvenu Jean Paul Trintignant (30 October 1917 – 13 February 2005) was a motor racing driver and vintner from France. He competed in the Formula One World Championship for fourteen years, between 1950 and 1964, one of the longest caree ...
and
Olivier Gendebien Olivier Jean Marie Fernand Gendebien (12 January 1924 – 2 October 1998) was a Belgian racing driver who was called "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time". Rally racer Gendebien spent some years in the Belgian Congo. On his return ...
. As for Le Mans winners, Ecurie Ecosse had two
Jaguar D-Type The Jaguar D-Type is a sports racing car that was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. Designed specifically to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, it shared the straight-6 XK engine and many mechanical components with its C-Type ...
s presented for
Jack Fairman Jack Fairman (15 March 1913 – 7 February 2002) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 13 Formula One Grands Prix, making his debut on 18 July 1953. He scored a total of five championship points, all of which came in ...
, Jock Lawrence,
Ninian Sanderson Ninian Sanderson (14 May 1925 – 1 October 1985) was a Scottish car dealer, sports car racing driver, and winner of the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans. Racing career Sanderson was born in Glasgow. In common with many drivers of his era, he cut h ...
and
Archie Scott Brown William Archibald Scott Brown, known as Archie, (13 May 1927 – 19 May 1958) was a British Formula One and sports car racing driver from Scotland who had a prodigious racing ability despite only having one hand. He became known as motorspo ...
. The other Jag was run by the Equipe Nationale Belge and driven by
Alain de Changy Alain Carpentier de Changy (born in Brussels, 5 February 1922 – died in Etterbeek, 5 August 1994) was a racing driver from Belgium. His single Formula One World Championship Grand Prix attempt was at the 1959 Monaco Grand Prix with a Cooper run ...
and Claude Debois. The Belgian outfit was entered three Ferraris and a
Porsche 550 The Porsche 550 is a racing sports car produced by Porsche from 1953 until 1956. In that time only 90 Porsche 550s were produced, and they quickly established dominance in the 1.1- and 1.5- liter classes. The Porsche 550 is a mid-engine car with ...
.


Qualifying

During the two qualifying sessions held on two days prior to the race, the Maserati of Jean Behra emerged the fastest, putting his 450S on
pole Pole may refer to: Astronomy *Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets *Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...
.


Race

At 12 noon, in front of 30,000 spectators, Hill was first away, however, Hawthorn soon tore past him into the lead and began to set the early pace, followed by Moss, Sanderson and
Masten Gregory Masten Gregory (February 29, 1932 − November 8, 1985) was an American racing driver. He raced in Formula One between and , participating in 43 World Championship races, and numerous non-Championship races. He was also a successful sports car r ...
, who made a terrific in his smaller Ferrari. Behra who had made a leisurely start, was soon ahead of Gregory to claim fourth. Meanwhile, his team-mate Moss was into his stride and went past Hawthorn giving Maserati the lead. As for Hawthorn, he had been over using his brakes, while his team-mate Hill was content to take it easy and conserve his brakes, and therefore was not worry Behra passed him. After 30 minutes of racing Moss was leading from Hawthorn by 3 sec followed by Behra, Hill, Gregory, Sanderson, Gendebien, Bonnier and Lawrence. Such was the early pace those eight cars were the only ones on the same lap as the leaders. Shortly after this, Behra moved up into second place. Just a quarter of an hour later, Behra was right behind Moss and then went ahead. As for Hawthorn, he was now 17 sec behind at the end of the first hour. Around the 45-minute mark, the Le Mans winning team,
Ecurie Ecosse Ecurie Ecosse (French: "Scotland Stable") was a motor racing team from Edinburgh, Scotland. The team was founded in November 1951 by Edinburgh businessman and racing driver David Murray and mechanic Wilkie Wilkinson. Its most notable achieveme ...
were as neat and quick as at
Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hou ...
, with Sanderson’s car taken over from
Jack Fairman Jack Fairman (15 March 1913 – 7 February 2002) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 13 Formula One Grands Prix, making his debut on 18 July 1953. He scored a total of five championship points, all of which came in ...
, while Lawrence remained in the other Jag. Around an hour later, Hawthorn brought his Ferrari into the pits, the cars was refuelled and Musso took over the car, and it was seen that the car had been off the road at one point. An early sign, it was running out of brakes. Five minutes later, team-mate Gendebien pitted with a dead engine, and retired, leaving Trintignant among the ranks of the unwanted drivers. Meanwhile, on track Moss and Behra had now settled down to an impressive one-two, the Englishman leading, while Musso, Hill and Bonnier followed. Just after the two-hour mark, Moss brought the lead Maserati into the pits, it was refuelled and Schell took over and when Bonnier pitted, Scarlatti took over, even though the team had said he would be driving with Behra. It was clear that Maserati plan was to get both their 450S’s in first and second places, using their fastest three drivers, Moss, Behra and Schell. At 2:27pm, Hill came in and gave his car over to Collins, with the Ferrari now in second place, and then three minutes later, Behra came in with the leading Maserati and Moss took it over, spending just 50 seconds changing rear wheels and refuelling whilst retaining the lead. At the same time, Lawrence arrived sideways in the pits with a locking brake, but managed to avoid hitting anything and after a refuel Scott Brown took over. So now the positions were Moss, Collins, Schell, Musso with Scott Brown rounding out the top five. Just before half distance, Schell’s Maserati started making unusual noises, and eventually slowed and pitted. As the drive shaft grease retaining seal had split, the team retired the car. Scarlatti was called into the pits and Schell took over the car. By now Moss’s lead over Collins was 65 seconds, about half-a-lap, with Musso a lap adrift in third. At 3:15pm, the windy dull day, turned worse with pouring rain. Collins started to lost ground rapidly, as his Ferrari’s brakes were being too erratic in the wet conditions, to take any chances. 15 minutes, later Musso trundled slowly towards pits with a punctured rear tyre, dropping the car down to fifth, behind Scott-Brown and Schell. The 30-minute spell of rain, Moss gained another half-a-lap on Collins, giving him a full lap advantage over his countryman. After nearly four hours of racing, Moss stopped and handed his Maserati back to Behra, after refuelling it continued without losing the lead, though Collins did un-lap himself. There was just a five-minute rest before Schell was ordered back to the pits and the car handed over to Moss. When the rain stopped and the sun returned, the track dried quickly, so that Collins began to put on speed, but it was not enough to gain in Behra. As the final hour approached, Hill was ready to take over from Collins and Musso about to switch with Hawthorn, with Ferraris needing just one more fuel stop each. Although the team signalled Collins to pit, Hawthorn arrived pointing at the bonnet. As per normal, the Scuderia mechanics fuelled the car, the oil tank topped up, windscreen cleaned, rear wheels changed, drivers swapped and Musso was off. However, Hawthorn pitted early as the car’s water temperature was high and radiator needed water, not realising the fuel stops were nigh. By now, Fairman was in trouble with his Jaguar having only second gear available in him. With just 45 minutes remaining, Musso suddenly pits with a smoking Ferrari. This was found to be a broken pipe with as leaking onto the exhaust system. The Scuderia mechanics hammered the offending pip flat, and Musso returned to the race with only three brakes. This resulted in Moss moving up the fourth in the 300S. With only 15 minutes left the Scott Brown Jaguar, now being driven by Lawrence, was being caught by Moss, while Behra was safely in the lead, letting Hill un-lap himself, knowing that as long as he can see the Ferrari, he will win the race. Suddenly Lawrence oil pip broke, spraying him with oil. In the confusion, he hit a bank and split the fuel tank, so that Ecurie Ecosse hopes were over, as Fairman was still running with his gearbox troubles. When the chequered flag fell, Behra won, with Hill second in the Ferrari. Moss came home in third in the older, smaller Maserati, while Musso took fourth. Behra and Moss in car number 7, took an impressive victory, winning in a time of 6hrs :01.01.1 mins., averaging a speed of 97.886mph. In second was the Ferrari of Hill and Collins, one lap adrift. Although Maserati had achieved the win, their Italian rivals were still ahead in Championship points, thanks to Hill and Collins.


Official classification

''Class winners are in bold text.'' * Fastest Lap:
Jean Behra Jean Marie Behra (16 February 1921 – 1 August 1959) was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams. Appearance and personality Behra was small in stature, stocky, and weighed 178 pounds.''B ...
, 2:20.9secs (103.782mph)


Class winners


Standings after the race

*Note: Only the top five positions are included in this set of standings. Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1957 Swedish Grand Prix Swedish Grand Prix
Swedish Grand Prix The Swedish Grand Prix (Swedish: Sveriges Grand Prix) was a round of the Formula One World Championship from 1973 to 1978. It took place at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp (Gislaved Municipality), about from Jönköping, in Småland, S ...
Rabelövsbanan
Swedish Grand Prix The Swedish Grand Prix (Swedish: Sveriges Grand Prix) was a round of the Formula One World Championship from 1973 to 1978. It took place at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp (Gislaved Municipality), about from Jönköping, in Småland, S ...