1955 Monaco Grand Prix: Trintignant ‘Awash' in Monegasque Praise

By: Jeremy McMullen

Heading around Tabac for the final time, Maurice Trintignant would be greeted by an enthusiastic Monegasque population. He would be the unlikely victor, but a little dip in the Mediterranean would make sure his name joined an exclusive list of Formula One race winners.

Maurice Trintignant had started his racing career just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Before the war would start he would take his Bugatti and would go on to earn an impressive victory in the 1939 Grand Prix des Frontieres held in Chimay, Belgium. At the time, Trintignant was just 21 years of age and just entering the prime of his abilities as a racing driver.

Unfortunately, the war would put a hold on motor racing and would hinder Trintignant's prime years. By the time the war would come to an end the Frenchman would be approaching his 30s. And, though he would get right back into racing when the war came to an end, there would be no question he had missed out on his best years.

When the new Formula One World Championship began in 1950 Trintignant had managed to prove himself to such a degree that he had earned a drive with Equipe Gordini. However, French automakers would not be in a position of strength for at least a couple of decades and the Gordini chassis had a bad habit of being unreliable.

Maurice would face this reality throughout the first two years of the World Championship when he failed to complete any one of the six races in which he started for the French factory team. Only when the Formula 2 era came to Formula One did his results improve. Following a failure to start in the Swiss Grand Prix in 1952, Trintignant would surprise many by earning a 5th place result in the French Grand Prix held at Rouen-les-Essarts.

The top five at Rouen would be followed up by a couple more 5th place finishes in 1953. Still neither of these results reflected Gordini closing in on the performance of the Ferrari 500 that would dominate the World Championship over the course of the two years. More than anything, the results would reflect upon Maurice's talents and abilities behind the wheel of the fragile Gordini. He would prove that he could nurse a car through a race as good as anyone else. This reality would lead to the Frenchman earning a drive with Scuderia Ferrari in 1954.

The 1954 season would prove to be nothing short of a breakthrough season for Trintignant. Following a 4th place in the Argentine Grand Prix while driving a Ferrari 625 for Ecurie Rosier, Maurice would join Ferrari in time for the 2 Hours of Dakar. In that sportscar race Trintignant would hit the ground running and would end the race finishing in 2nd place. This would be followed with an overall victory in the Hyeres 12 Hours in early June.

Confidence and momentum were building just in time for the Frenchman to head to home turf for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ferrari's management would partner the steady and mistake-free Trintignant with the impulsive and fast Argentinean Jose Froilan Gonzalez. The pairing would end up perfect as they would take their Ferrari 375 Plus to an overall victory. This would be the greatest success of Trintignant's career, at least to that point and would cement the Frenchman's place within the Italian team.

The '54 season would see a number of changes at Ferrari. The biggest change would be the departure of Alberto Ascari from the team following two straight years at the top of the World Championship. The other change would be the introduction of new Formula One regulations.

Ferrari would have a new car in the works to meet the new Formula One regulations that included a maximum engine size of 2.5-liters. In fact, Ferrari would have two cars that could meet the new Formula One regulations. However, the second car, the 625, would be based on the 2.0-liter Ferrari 500, and therefore, would not be an entirely new design.

It would be hard to replace a driver like Alberto Ascari. The Italian double World Champion would be a little critical of the firm from Maranello as it appeared the team was caught on the back-foot heading into the offseason following the defense of the World Championship in 1953.

The criticism would seem justified when the new 553 chassis proved slower than anticipated. Additionally, none of the drivers liked how it handled compared to the older 625 design. Therefore, with the departure of Ascari and the struggles of the new 553, it would certainly look as though Ferrari was holding on trying not to embarrass itself.

This position would appear all the more certain when Mercedes-Benz made its debut in Formula One. When the new W196 ran without problems the car would prove absolutely indomitable. As a result, Ferrari drivers, like Trintignant, would be forced to drive ultra-consistent races and pray for opportunities to come their way. This was just Trintignant's game. While he was no Ascari, Trintignant had plenty of experience maximizing what he was given.

Following the victory in Le Mans in '54, Trintignant would survive attrition in the Belgian Grand Prix to earn his best result to date, a 2nd place behind the great Juan Manuel Fangio. As far as Maurice was concerned, the Ferrari 625 and the 553 were stronger race cars than he ever enjoyed while with Equipe Gordini. Therefore, he saw his potential increase. The result would be finishing the '54 World Championship 4th in the standings having earned 17 points over the course of the season.

The 1955 season would start with one of the strangest races. The Argentine Grand Prix would be the first round of the championship that year and it would also be one of the hottest ever to be recorded in Formula One history. As a result, many cars would be driven by more than one or two drivers over the course of the three hour race. Trintignant would spend time behind the wheel of both the number 12 and number 10 Ferrari following the retirement of his Ferrari due to engine failure.

Fangio would end up being one of the only drivers to stay in his own car for the whole of the race. He would use that to his advantage taking the victory by a minute and a half over the number 12 and number 10 Ferraris. Because he would drive both cars at some point in the race, Trintignant would earn a share of the points from the best-placed car. Therefore, he would start his season earning 3 and a third points as a result of sharing the car with Gonzalez and Giuseppe Farina and finishing in 2nd place.

Leaving Argentina, Ferrari had, by no means, the second-best car on the grid. Not only did Maserati have their ever-popular 250F, but there was also Mercedes-Benz with their W196s and Lancia with their radical D50. Sure, Gonzalez had started the race from pole and looked strong early on in the race, but early accidents would remove a number of threats right from the very beginning.

The truth would only become evident when the European racing started in late March. Throughout the numerous non-championship races of early spring one would be hard-pressed to find a Ferrari of any kind finishing any higher than 5th place, and it was most likely one of the older 625s to achieve that position. Therefore, Ferrari was not heading into the second round of the '55 World Championship from a position of strength.

The Monaco Grand Prix had last been run as part of the Formula One World Championship in 1950, the inaugural season of the new series. Therefore, its return to the calendar in 1955 was something of a home-coming. The jewel now so recognized with Formula One had finally been found again.

In the case of Trintignant, the Monaco Grand Prix presented perhaps the best opportunity he would actually likely never believe he would get. Though he was with Scuderia Ferrari, a team that had been so dominant in Formula One for a number of years, that era of dominance was certainly over. The time appeared to clearly belong to Mercedes-Benz and Lancia.

Facing such a strong threat from the German automaker and from Lancia, Ferrari would bring a whole fleet of cars to the tiny principality. Trintignant would join a lineup that would include Giuseppe Farina, Harry Schell and Piero Taruffi. It was certainly a talented lineup. Unfortunately, Maurice would join Farina as being the two that would get the older 625. Schell, Frere and Taruffi would all get behind the wheel of the newer 555.

The true state of things would show up in practice. Taking place in sunny conditions, practice would enable the true speed of the cars to be demonstrated around the tight and twisty 1.95 Monaco street circuit. And, though Mercedes would lose one of their cars to an accident, it would be the Mercedes of Fangio that would take the pole with a lap time of 1:41.1. Ascari would show good form in the Lancia setting a time only hundredths of a second slower to earn 2nd place on the grid. The final spot on the front row would end up being occupied by another Mercedes, this one belonging to Stirling Moss.

The first three rows of the grid would end up void of a single Ferrari, such was their pace around the circuit. In the end, Trintignant would be the fastest of the Ferrari entries. Lapping the circuit in 1:44.4, the Frenchman would be a little more than three seconds slower than Fangio and would end up on the fourth row of the grid in the 9th position overall. The next-closest Ferrari could be found on the sixth row of the grid. There, Farina and Taruffi would occupy 14th and 15th. So it was clear the Ferraris were not on the pace of the other factory cars.

The day of the race would prove to be very little different from the previous couple of days of practice. The sun would shine brightly and the temperatures would be warm, making for a large crowd to celebrate the return of Formula One to the Monte Carlo streets. The pomp and fanfare would take place. The Prince would clear the circuit. The cars would be lined up on the grid with the drivers slowly taking the places behind the wheel. It seemed more than obvious the favorites in the race were represented by those on the front row of the grid. The Ferraris, amazingly, would be a very distant after-thought.

Engines roaring and tires squealing, the race would come to life as the front row would break evenly from the grid. Further back, Trintignant would already be making the day harder for himself by having a poor start that would see him joined by Farina and others further back before even reaching the tight Gazometre hairpin.

Making the tight turn around the hairpin, it would be Fangio that would get the lead of the train. Ascari would slot into 2nd place while Moss followed closely behind in 3rd. However, by the time the head of the field turned into Sainte Devote, Moss would be around Ascari and into 2nd place. There would still be a hefty battle for 2nd place even by the time the field reached the Station Hairpin. At that point it would be Eugenio Castellotti that would take the position from Moss and Ascari. Trintignant, however, would be fighting hard to recover from his poor start. He would be hovering right around his starting position but would need all the help he could get over the course of the race.

At the end of the first lap it would be Fangio leading the way over Castellotti and Moss. Ascari remain in touch in 4th place while Trintignant would do his best to recover crossing the line in 10th place. Among all of the starters, Maurice would be one of the few to have actually ever driven a grand prix car around the streets of Monaco at speed.

By about the 5th lap of the 100 lap race the cars would settle into a rhythm. Fangio would be in the lead. Castellotti would enjoy a spell in 2nd place but would ultimately lose out to Moss causing the Italian to join his teammate and fellow patriot in a fight for 3rd place. Trintignant would make his way by a fast-starting Robert Manzon and would be right back up to where he started in 9th place. He would be in good position knowing that all of those ahead of him started ahead of him on the grid. He was settling in and looking for opportunities to move up. Ferrari would need him to as both Farina and Taruffi would be trying and restart their races from the back of the field.

Jean Behra would move his Maserati up into 3rd place while the two Mercedes of Fangio and Moss began to check-out from the rest of the field. Trintignant would be finding his footing in the older Ferrari. Keen to make his second appearance in a grand prix car at Monaco last much longer than his first, the Frenchman would be steady, but would be fast and he would pass Luigi Villoresi and Cesare Perdisa, then Roberto Mieres, to take over 6th place by the 30th lap of the race. A points-scoring result certainly seemed like a possibility.

Very little else seemed possible as the two Mercedes continued to lap the circuit nose-to-tail. The gap between the Silver Arrows and Behra and Ascari would continue to grow and would only grow all the more when Behra dropped well down in the order as a result of trouble with his Maserati. This unfortunate event for the French driver would end up being a promotion for another as Trintignant would now be sitting in 5th place with still half of the race to be run.

Honestly, given the pace of the Ferraris in practice a 5th place was already no small victory. However, they would receive even more gifts when, right at the halfway mark, the Mercedes of Moss would appear around Tabac but the W196 of Fangio would not. The two Mercedes had been running like a tremendous machine up until that point. The shock would be evident on everyone's faces. Suddenly, the out-paced Ferrari would be up to 3rd place following Castellotti's troubles. A Ferrari on the podium! It seemed impossible just hours earlier. But that wasn't all.

Moss would take over the lead of the race and would be more than capable of leading Mercedes home to another historic win on the streets of Monaco. Moss would carry on in the lead of the race and, lap after lap, would be just that much closer to victory.

But then, with just 20 laps remaining in the race, Moss would appear in the pits with smoke trailing long behind him. He would pull in and the mechanics would set to work trying to discern the issue. It wouldn't take too long before Moss would realize his chances of rejoining the race were gone and he would begin to make the walk down to timing and scoring to announce his retirement.

At the same time, the Monegasque population would be looking back up the way for Ascari to take over the lead of the race. However, there would be a good deal of commotion along the harbor-front, and no red Lancia.

Suddenly, Trintignant would appear coming through Tabac. At the same time, divers were in the water looking to pull Ascari out of the harbor as his Lancia would crash through the barrier and end up submerged in the water. In a moment, the man that had little to no chance of winning the Monaco Grand Prix would be in the lead with just 19 laps remaining in the race.

It would be a moment of sheer chaos as Ascari would be pulled from the water and Moss would make his announcement of being out of the race. Trintignant would keep his head, perhaps a little out of ignorance, but would soldier on, now with the lead firmly within his grasp.

Before the start of the race a Ferrari victory was beyond remote. But now, with the Frenchman on board, the team was on the verge of one of its greatest victories. But there was still a lot of time left in the race, and even more drama could certainly spoil what should be a memorable day.

Castellotti would attempt to do his best to ensure Trintignant did not steal the victory away from his waterlogged teammate. He would push hard in his pursuit and would be closing up slightly. However, he would end up pushing a little too hard and would spin out at one point dropping him even further behind the Ferrari pilot. As a result of Castellotti's misfortune, the greatest battle remaining on the circuit would be for 3rd place.

Farina would be in the 3rd place with just a handful of laps remaining in the race. However, Jean Behra would take over the Maserati of Cesare Perdisa and would be pushing like mad throughout the last half of the race. With just about 10 laps remaining, Behra would be all over the backside of Farina. Showing that he didn't have the speed in practice, there was really very little Farina could do to hold back the Maserati. Therefore, Behra would slip through into 3rd place. Ferrari would be missing out on its two cars finishing on the podium.

But that would prove to be a minor point as Trintignant would carefully pick his way around the circuit for the final time. Having more than 20 seconds in hand, Trintignant would come around Tabac and would ease his way across the line and would quickly come to a stop just afterward where he would be swarmed by delighted crewmen and others just looking to congratulate the veteran driver.

The scene would be utterly electric as the grime-covered Frenchman received the congratulations of a number of his French compatriots and a beside itself Monegasque population. The whole scene would awash Trintignant, lifting him up to a very special place in grand prix history. Though his best prior to the race had only been a 2nd place, he was now not merely a grand prix winner. He was a Monaco Grand Prix winner.