F1 Seasons: 1955 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Juan Manuel Fangio

Fangio won his third Championship (and his second in a row) with 40 points; Moss was second, 16½ points back. Farina and Ascari, both previous champions, didn't fare well in the 1955 season: Farina was only fifth in the Championship (28 points behind Fangio) and Ascari didn't score a single point.

Answer: Mercedes

Both Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss drove for Mercedes. Ferrari didn't stand a chance in the Championship and Maurice Tritignant was their best driver (third in the table, 27 point behind Fangio).

Lancia had a good car-driver combination in Alberto Ascari's D50, but the Italian died early in the season, so Eugenio Castellotti had their best result (second in the Monaco GP). Lancia would retire shortly after Ascari's death and Castellotti moved to Ferrari, where he added a third and a fifth place, finishing fourth in the Championship, a point behind Trintignant.

Maserati were well behind the best teams and their best driver in the Championship was Roberto Mieres (eighth with 7 points).

Answer: Maurice Trintignant

Trintignant had Ferrari's only win in 1955. All the other wins went to Mercedes: Fangio won in Argentina, Belgium, Holland and Italy, while Moss (a British driver) had his first win in the British GP. Bob Sweikert, in the John Zink entered Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser won the Indianapolis 500. Behra and Rosier had no wins in 1955.

Answer: Eugenio Castellotti

Castellotti had Lancia's only pole position in 1955. Ascari, Villoresi and Chiron (from Monaco, not Italy) were his teammates.

As was the case with race wins, pole positions were also dominated by Mercedes (3 for Juan Manuel Fangio and 1 for Stirling Moss). Ferrari had just one, by José Froilán González. The Indy 500 pole went to Jerry Hoyt's Stevens-Offenhauser, entered by Jim Robbins.

Answer: Roberto Mieres

Mieres' fastest lap was a rare high in a weak season by Maserati. Behra, Musso and Schell were some of his teammates. Bill Vukovich, in a Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser (entered by Lindsey Hopkins) had the fastest lap in the Indianapolis 500, while Mercedes' drivers Fangio (3) and Moss (2) got the rest of them.

Answer: Cesare Perdisa

Perdisa had a fairly anonymous career, but he still had a memorable debut, with a podium place in the Monte Carlo streets. Musso, Mantovani and Bucci (a driver from Argentina, not Italy) were some of Perdisa's teammates (as Behra), but they all had entered races in previous seasons.

Answer: Bristol

Brabham's Cooper-Bristol would be classified thirteenth after retiring in the final laps of the Grand Prix. Maserati and Vanwall engines only equipped their own cars and you could find Alta engines in the Connaught and HWM cars.

Answer: He didn't finish

Vukovich didn't finish the race, as he was killed in an accident on the 56th lap, while leading. His car was hit and went over the side wall, landing on top of other vehicles and Vukovich died of a skull fracture.

Answer: There was no minimum weight limit

Only in 1961 there would be a minimum weight rule (450 kg). Before that season, only engines were limited: to 750cc (supercharged) and 2500cc (normally aspirated).

Answer: They were given to Ferrari, who continued to race them

After Ascari's death, Lancia lacked a team leader and results were hard to find. The team was also in financial problems, so all their assets were sold to FIAT, who were persuaded by Enzo Ferrari to give the cars to his team. Ferrari had missed the mark with their new car, the 555 Supersqualo, and the "new" Ferrari D50 debuted in the Italian GP, where Giuseppe Farina and Luigi Villoresi both retired.

The car would be far more successful in the future, however.