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| Stirling Moss |
Despite an all-new grid there was no doubt in the minds of the sport's followers who the outstanding favourites for the championship were - Ferrari ! Their new Carlo Chiti-designed shark-nosed Dino156, one of the most beautiful and distinctive cars ever to grace Formula 1, was fitted with the company's Type 178 V6 motor; an engine that had already benefited from over a year of testing and development in the hands of the Maranello engineers. It was also clear that the team had the talent to capitalise on their automotive supremacy. American Richie Ginther, competing in only his second season, had already scored a second place in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza the previous year whilst his countryman and more experienced team mate Phil Hill had seven podium finishes and a win to his name. In the third Scuderia Ferrari 156 was Count Wolfgang von Trips, a veteran of more than 20 Grand Prix starts and no stranger to the glory of the winner's podium. There was, however, one man who was determined to upset the rosso applecart - Stirling Moss, driving a new Lotus-Climax 18 for the privateer Rob Walker Racing Team.
Competition was so close that qualification saw the first eight places on the grid separated by less than a single second but it was Moss who, with an outstanding 1:39.1 for the 1.95 mile circuit, had placed himself in pole position ahead of the Ferrari of Ginther, the factory Lotus of Scotsman Jim Clark and the BRM of Graham Hill. Clark's time was set despite him having crashed heavily during the session; a fate which also befell his Lotus team mate Innes Ireland who was badly injured after being thrown from his car.
As the sun beat down on the hot sticky tarmac the cars lined up for the start of the XIX Grand Prix de Monaco. In an attempt to make for a more comfortable ride and with aerodynamics be less important on the twisting street circuit, Moss had decided to run with the side panels of his Lotus-Climax removed making for an unusual and exciting view for the 30,000 spectators that packed the street corners, bars and rooftops.
As the starter's flag dropped it was Ginther who immediately took the advantage making good use of his Ferrari's additional 30bhp and lighter weight to make the first corner ahead of Moss. As the cars completed the first lap Ginther held Moss who was himself pursued by the fast moving Porsche 718s of Bonnier and Hermman in the first ever Grand Prix outing for the German marque. A lap later Ginther had extended his lead to five seconds but for Moss it was a case of playing a waiting game. He knew that he needed to spend time watching and observing his young rival if he was going to attack and stay clear.
With 13 corners and 90 gear shifts per lap the Monaco Grand Prix is always hard on cars and it was the BRM of Graham Hill that was first to fall by the wayside when its fuel pump failed on lap 11. Then, just three laps later, Moss picked his time to strike; forcing a heavy move on the approach to Casino he pushed his way into the lead whilst, in the confusion, Bonnier capitalised on the situation to also pass Ginther and take second. For Ferrari things were not looking good so it came as a relief when, with wheels almost touching, Phil Hill scraped past both his team mate and the silver Porsche to put his shark-nose Dino into second. The chase was on !
Lap after lap was set at speeds well above those managed by the old 2.5 litre cars that had been deemed too fast in the previous season but the Ferrari could do nothing to reel in Moss who was driving the inch-perfect race of his life. Ginther again found himself in third as Bonnier was soon left to watch from the sidelines when his Porsche coughed and spluttered to a halt on lap 39 with a fuel injection pump failure. Now it was Ginther who was setting the pace, his Dino soon closing the gap to his Ferrari team mate as Hill suffered from fading brakes.
On lap 73 the Ferrari pit signalled their cars - Ginther was to pass Hill and try to catch the Englishman - and with a wave of the hand he was through and hunting down Moss. The gap was closed to within 10 seconds and then to five but every time the American tried to apply the pressure the quiet and confident Moss had more than enough to respond.
After 195 miles and 100 laps of racing his job was done. Ferrari may have managed to place their cars in second, third and fourth places despite Von Trips crashing on his last lap but, by crossing the line just 3.6 seconds ahead of Ginther's Ferrari in an underpowered Lotus, the Englishman had taken the greatest victory of his life and in doing so shown up the most prestigious racing marque in the world.