Video: Stunning coverage of the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix

29th February 2024

Simon Ostler

When people these days refer to racing ‘on the streets of Monaco’ they do so under the façade of modern Formula 1, in which the actual streets are transformed into a ‘safe’ race track, lined with barriers and grandstands. You don’t get to see much of the actual streets of Monte Carlo anymore, it’s all hidden behind ever more advertising.

It’s videos like this that truly showcase what it means to race on the streets of Monaco, and the bravery that it took for the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari, Stirling Moss and Mike Hawthorn to sling their cars through the tree-lined boulevards of the 1950s Principality.

This particular race in 1955 was made famous for Alberto Ascari’s crash that saw him and his car end up in the harbour. An image that is truly unthinkable today, and yet the race continued unabated as the Ferrari driver swam back to shore.

In the context of the season, it was the only race that year not won by Mercedes, as Fangio and Moss both suffered mechanical faults. The chequered flag was taken by Maurice Trintignant in a Ferrari 625.

The visuals of this video are incredible really. We don’t often get to see such clear and colourful footage of these early years in F1, so getting a detailed look at the cars and the circuits they're racing on is quite the treat.

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