Harry Lawrence O'Reilly Schell (June 29, 1921 – May 13, 1960) was an American racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to .
Born and raised in Paris, Schell was the son of American motorsport executive and heiress Lucy O'Reilly Schell. With his Formula One debut at the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix, Schell became the first American driver to start a Formula One Grand Prix.
Schell died after crashing his Cooper T51 during practice for the non-championship 1960 BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone.
Early life
Schell was born in the 16th arrondissement, Paris, France, the son of expatriate American and sometime auto racer Laury Schell; his mother was the wealthy American heiress Lucy O'Reilly Schell. O'Reilly was an auto racing enthusiast who had met Laury while visiting France; they soon became familiar names on the rallying scene together. She became heavily invested in the Delahaye concern, first campaigning sports cars for them and then championing the development of a Delahaye Grand Prix car, which she ran under the Ecurie Bleue banner. Frenchman René Dreyfus won the 1938 Pau Grand Prix for the team in a shock upset over Mercedes, but the Delahaye project failed to raise the necessary backing and was never developed to its full extent.
Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Schell's parents were involved in a road accident in which Laury was killed and O'Reilly severely injured. When France was occupied by Germany, Schell and his mother returned to America, where she managed the operations of René Le Bègue and René Dreyfus during the 1940 Indianapolis 500. Having already volunteered in the Finnish Air Force during their Winter War with Russia in 1939, Harry then earned a commission in the United States Tank Corps when America entered the Second World War.A Prudent Driver, New York Times, 14 May 1960, Page 21.
Racing career
After the war, Schell attempted to qualify for the 1946 Indianapolis 500, failing to make the event. He went on to race in Europe, driving Coopers in Formula 3, Formula 2 and even the Formula One World Drivers' Championship upon its inception in 1950. His first appearance was in a Cooper powered by a J.A.P. V-twin engine at Monte Carlo; it ended in an accident at the harbor chicane that involved the majority of the field.
Though Schell never won a championship Grand Prix and enjoyed life as a playboy and womanizer, he was highly respected in period; he twice stood on the podium with a best place of second in the 1958 Dutch Grand Prix, won the Caen Grand Prix of 1956, and balanced those with periodic sports car outings. He partnered with Stirling Moss in securing a second place at the 1957 12 Hours of Sebring, and took third place at the same event in 1959.Schell is Killed as Auto Skids In Drill on Eve of British Race, New York Times, 14 May 1960, Page 21. His most notable spells in Formula One came for BRM, Vanwall, and the Maserati factory effort as a team mate to the five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio. He also drove for Scuderia Ferrari for two races at the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix and the 1955 Valentino Grand Prix.
Schell carved out a reputation as a safe and prudent competitor and could be counted on as a consistent points scorer, but he also proved his class when the opportunity presented itself. In the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix, he took the lead from the start in his private Maserati and drove off into the distance before spinning out of first place and then retiring with a transmission failure. At the 1956 French Grand Prix, he relieved an ill Mike Hawthorn after his own Vanwall had gone out with an early engine failure and drove back into second position. The Ferrari team, operating under the assumption that Schell was a lap adrift, had been caught out, and a dramatic fight for the lead ensued, but Schell's effort went for nought as he was forced to make a lengthy pit stop soon after. He had succeeded, however, in displaying the full potential of the Vanwall on the world stage for the first time. Driving a Ferrari 375 Indy for Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team at the 1958 Race of Two Worlds, Schell joined Phil Hill (Scuderia Ferrari 296 Dino) and Masten Gregory (Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar D-Type) on the Monza high banking as the only American drivers not entered in an American Championship Car.
By the start of 1960, and nearing 40, Schell's prospects appeared dim, and he campaigned a private Cooper run under his family's Ecurie Bleue banner. That changed, however, when he was contracted by the British Racing Partnership team before the start of the European Grand Prix season for a full program of events, to be teamed with Tony Brooks and the up-and-coming Chris Bristow in year-old Coopers. Schell died in practice for the non-championship International Trophy event at Silverstone in 1960, when he crashed his Cooper at Abbey Curve. Schell was driving at approximately 100 mph when his car slid into the mud on the side of the track and lost a wheel. The Cooper somersaulted and penetrated a safety barrier, causing a brick wall to collapse.
Prior to his death, Schell had been extremely vocal in the promotion of the roll-bar on European racing cars, a safety feature required in America. By the 1500cc formula of 1961, it had become standard in Formula One.
Motorsports career results
Post WWII Grandes Épreuves results
(key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 1947 Ecurie Laury Schell Cisitalia D46 Fiat 1.1 L4 SUI BEL ITA FRA 1949 Horschell Racing Corporation Talbot-Lago T26 Talbot 4.5 L6 GBR BEL SUI FRA ITA
FIA World Drivers' Championship results
(key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts Horschell Racing Corporation Cooper T12 JAP 1.1 V2 GBR MON 500 NC 0 Ecurie Bleue Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 SUI BEL FRA ITA Enrico Platé Maserati 4CLT/48 Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA ESP NC 0 Enrico Platé Maserati 4CLT/48 Platé 2.0 L4 SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER NED ITA NC 0 Equipe Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 ARG 500 NED BEL FRA GBR GER SUI ITA NC 0 Harry Schell Maserati A6GCM Maserati A6 2.0 L6 ARG 500 BEL FRA GBR GER NC 0 Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 SUI ITA Harry Schell Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 ESP Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 ARG6+7* NC 0 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 555 Ferrari 555 2.5 L4 MON 500 BEL NED Vandervell Products Vanwall VW 55 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 GBR9* ITA Vandervell Products Vanwall VW 2 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 ARG MON 500 BEL FRA10* GBR ITA 17th 3 Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 GER Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 ARG 7th 10 Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 MON 500 FRA GBR GER PES ITA5* Jo Bonnier Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 ARG 6th 14 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 MON NED 500 BEL FRA GBR GER POR ITA MOR Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 MON 500 NED FRA GBR GER POR ITA 13th 5 Ecurie Bleue Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 USA Ecurie Bleue Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.2 L4 ARG MON 500 NED BEL FRA GBR POR ITA USA NC 0 * Shared drive/s.
Non-championship Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Enrico Platé Maserati 4CLT/48 Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s PAU RIC SRM PAR EMP BAR JER ALB NED NAT NOT ULS PES STT INT GOO PEN Enrico Platé Maserati 4CLT/48 Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s SYR PAU RIC SRM BOR INT PAR ULS SCO NED ALB PES BAR GOO Enrico Platé Maserati 4CLT/48 Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s SYR VAL RIC LAV PAU IBS MAR AST INT ELA NAP EIF PAR LAC ESS MAR SAB DMT Equipe Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 ALB FRO ULS MNZ CAD SKA MAD AVU FRY NEW Gordini T15 Gordini 1500 1.5 L4 CAE COM NAT BAU MOD Equipe Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 SYR PAU LAV AST BOR INT ELA NAP ULS WIN COR FRO SNE EIF ALB PRN ESS MID ROU CLP AVU UST LAC BRI CHE SAB NEW CAD RED SKA LON MOD MAD FRY CUR Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati A6GCM Maserati A6 2.0 L6 SYR PAU LAV Harry Schell Maserati A6GCM Maserati A6 2.0 L6 BOR INT BAR CUR ROM FRO BRC COR CLP ROU CAE AUG COR OUL RED PES FRY CAD BER GOO Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 DTT Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 625 Ferrari 555 2.5 L4 VAL PAU GLV BOR INT NAP ALB CUR COR Vandervell Products Vanwall VW 2 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 LON DRT RED DTT OUL AVO Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 SYR Vandervell Products Vanwall VW 55 Vanwall 254 2.5 L4 GLV SYR AIN INT NAP AIN VAN Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 CAE BRS Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 SYR RMS MOD MOR Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati 250F Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6 PAU GLV NAP Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 CAE INT Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 GLV SYR CAE Cooper T43 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 AIN INT Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM P25 2.5 L4 GLV AIN INT OUL SIL Yeoman Credit Racing Team Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 GLV INT SIL LOM OUL
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1953 Automobiles Gordini Maurice Trintignant Gordini T26S S3.0 293 6th 1st 1955 Scuderia Ferrari Maurice Trintignant Ferrari 121LM S5.0 107 DNF DNF 1957 Officine Alfieri Maserati Stirling Moss Maserati 450S Zagato Coupé S5.0 32 DNF DNF
References
External links
Harry Schell profile at The 500 Owners Association