The 1957 Formula One season was the 11th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 8th World Championship of Drivers which was contested over eight races between 13 January and 8 September 1957. The season also included nine non-championship races for Formula One cars.
Juan Manuel Fangio driving for Maserati won his fourth consecutive championship. It was his fifth in total, a record that would not be beaten until Michael Schumacher in . Especially in the latter half of the season, Stirling Moss was Fangio's main rival, but the Brit would finish runner-up for the third year in a row.
Excluding the Indianapolis 500, which counted towards the F1 championship although there was very little overlap in contestants, all races were won by cars powered by an engine built by the same constructor that also built the chassis. This would not happen again until .
Three Formula One drivers lost their lives this year while racing in other categories. On 14 March, Ferrari driver Eugenio Castellotti suffered a fatal accident when he tested a new chassis for the team at Modena Autodrome. Trying to beat the lap record by Maserati's Jean Behra, he hit a chicane in a bad way and was thrown out of the car. A skull fracture caused his instant death. On 12 May, Ferrari lost another driver: Alfonso de Portago was competing in that year's Mille Miglia when his tire blew and his car spun into the crowd. De Portago was killed along with his co-driver and nine spectators.Forix (retrieved 24 October 2012) Herbert MacKay-Fraser made his debut with BRM in the French Grand Prix but was killed a week later in a sports car race at Reims-Gueux.
As of 2025 this was the last World Championship title for Pirelli tyres against competition. Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers competed in the 1957 World Championship of Drivers. The list does not include those who only contested the Indianapolis 500. Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre Driver Rounds Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6Maserati 250F1 2.5 V12 Juan Manuel Fangio 1–2, 4–8 Stirling Moss 1 Jean Behra 1, 4–8 Carlos Menditeguy 1–2, 4–5 Giorgio Scarlatti 2, 6–8 Harry Schell 2, 4–8 Hans Herrmann 2 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 801 Ferrari DS50 2.5 V8 Peter Collins 1–2, 4–6, 8 Luigi Musso 1, 4–8 Eugenio Castellotti 1 Mike Hawthorn 1–2, 4–6, 8 Wolfgang von Trips 1–2, 8 Cesare Perdisa 1 Alfonso de Portago 1 José Froilán González 1 Maurice Trintignant 2, 4–5 Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 Harry Schell 1 Jo Bonnier 1, 7–8 Masten Gregory 2, 6–8 André Simon 2 Hans Herrmann 6 Ferrari 500 Ferrari 625 2.5 L4 Alejandro de Tomaso 1 Luigi Piotti Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 Luigi Piotti 1–2, 7–8 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 Ron Flockhart 2, 4 Roy Salvadori 2 Herbert MacKay-Fraser 4 Jack Fairman 5 Les Leston 5 Connaught Engineering Connaught-Alta B Alta GP 2.5 L4 Stuart Lewis-Evans 2 Ivor Bueb 2 Cooper Car Company Cooper-Climax T43 Climax FPF 2.0 L4 Jack Brabham 2, 4, 7 Les Leston 2 Mike MacDowel 4 Roy Salvadori 5, 7 T43 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 Roy Salvadori 6 Vandervell Products Vanwall VW 5 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 Stirling Moss 2, 5–8 Tony Brooks 2, 5–8 Stuart Lewis-Evans 4–8 Roy Salvadori 4 H.H. Gould Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 Horace Gould 2, 4–8 Jo Bonnier Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 Jo Bonnier 5 Gilby Engineering Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 Ivor Bueb 5 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Cooper-Climax T43 Climax FPF 2.0 L4 Jack Brabham 5 T43 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 Jack Brabham 6 Bob Gerard Cooper-Bristol T44 Bristol BS2 2.2 L6 Bob Gerard 5 Bruce Halford Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 Bruce Halford 6–8 Dr Ing F. Porsche KG Porsche RS550 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 ? Umberto Maglioli 6 Edgar Barth 6 Ridgeway Management Cooper-Climax T43T41 Climax FPF 1.5 L4Climax FWB 1.5 L4 Tony Marsh 6 Paul England 6 Ecurie Maarsbergen Porsche RS550 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 Carel Godin de Beaufort 6 J.B. Naylor Cooper-Climax T43 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 Brian Naylor 6 Dick Gibson Cooper-Climax T43 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 Dick Gibson 6 Francisco Godia Sales Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 Paco Godia 6–8 Ottorino Volonterio Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 Ottorino Volonterio 8 André Simon 8
Pink background denotes F2 entrants to the German Grand Prix
Team and driver changes After a year and a half at Mercedes and a season at Ferrari, reigning champion Juan Manuel Fangio returned to his team, Maserati. After introducing their first own chassis in the 1956 British Grand Prix, British Racing Motors entered three races in 1957, ahead of their first full-time season in . Gordini withdrew from Formula One after . Many of their drivers, most notably Robert Manzon, had been involved with the team for multiple years but would quit the sport as well. Scuderia Ferrari brought back one of their drivers, Mike Hawthorn.
Mid-season changes After the season opener in Argentina, Stirling Moss moved from Maserati to Vanwall, who had not competed in the first race. He was joined by Tony Brooks, in his first full season. Between the first and second race of the season, Ferrari driver Eugenio Castellotti suffered a fatal accident in testing. Teammate Cesare Perdisa retired from the sport in reaction to the loss. Just two months later, Ferrari lost another driver, Alfonso de Portago, when he crashed in that year's Mille Miglia. The team brought back one of their drivers, Maurice Trintignant. Ex-Vanwall driver Harry Schell joined Maserati from the second race on. From the French Grand Prix on, Stuart Lewis-Evans joined Vanwall. After a couple of entries in previous years, Cooper increased their operations to full-time during the season. They signed future champion Jack Brabham and ex-Gilby driver Roy Salvadori, among others.
Calendar Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 Argentine Grand Prix Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires 13 January 2 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 19 May 3 Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway 30 May 4 French Grand Prix Rouen-Les-Essarts, Orival 7 July 5 British Grand Prix Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, Merseyside 20 July 6 German Grand Prix Nürburgring, Nürburg 4 August 7 Pescara Grand Prix Pescara Circuit, Pescara 18 August 8 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 8 September
Calendar changes Three rounds on the provisional calendar were cancelled due to financial problems due to high fuel prices in the Suez Crisis: the Belgian Grand Prix on 2 June, the Dutch Grand Prix on 16 June and the Spanish Grand Prix on 20 October. The Dutch Grand Prix had been cancelled in 1956 as well. The Pescara Grand Prix was added to the 1957 calendar as a replacement. The French Grand Prix was moved from Reims-Gueux to Rouen-Les-Essarts for a year. The British Grand Prix was moved from Silverstone Circuit to Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, in keeping with the event-sharing arrangement between the two circuits.
Championship report
Fangio chose to switch teams again, joining Maserati before the start of the season. The decision to switch proved to be a masterstroke, with Ferrari's line-up of Peter Collins, Eugenio Castellotti and the returning Mike Hawthorn failing to win a race. Castellotti and Alfonso de Portago were killed during the season (neither in Formula One crashes), making this a truly disastrous year for Ferrari.
The man Fangio replaced at Maserati, Stirling Moss, moved to Vanwall, a team beginning to fulfill their promise. Between them, Fangio and Moss won every championship race of the season except the Indianapolis 500, with Fangio taking four victories to Moss' three. Fangio's drive at the Nürburgring, where he overtook Collins and Hawthorn on the penultimate lap after a pit stop had put him nearly a minute behind, is regarded as a particularly notable one.
At the end of the year, it was announced Fangio would not return for another season. Maserati also pulled out, citing financial reasons. This was also the final year in which points were awarded for shared drives.
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