Maserati 250F
Encyclopedia
The Maserati 250F was a racing car made by Maserati
of Italy
used in '2.5 litre' Formula One
racing between January 1954 and November 1960. Twenty-six examples were made.
straight-six, ribbed 13.4" drum brake
s, wishbone independent front suspension and a De Dion tube
axle. It was built by Gioacchino Colombo
, Vittorio Bellentani
and Alberto Massimino
; the tubular work was by Valerio Colotti
.
A streamlined version with bodywork which partially enclosed the wheels (similar to the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 "Typ Monza"
) was used in the 1956 French Grand Prix
.
The 250F first raced in the 1954 Argentine Grand Prix
where Juan Manuel Fangio
won the first of his two victories before he left for the new Mercedes-Benz
team. Fangio won the 1954 Drivers' World Championship, with points gained with both Maserati and Mercedes-Benz; Stirling Moss
raced his own privately owned 250F for the full 1954 season.
Although Bellentoni and Massimino left for Ferrari
and Moss left for Mercedes-Benz, 1955 saw a setup with 5-speed gearbox as well as SU fuel injection
(240 bhp) and Dunlop
disc brake
s. Jean Behra
ran this in a five-member works team which included Luigi Musso
.
In 1956 Stirling Moss
won at the Italian Grand Prix
and the Monaco Grand Prix
in his private car.
In 1956 three 250F T2 cars first appeared for the works drivers. Developed by Giulio Alfieri
using lighter steel tubes they sported a slimmer, stiffer body and sometimes the new 315 bhp V12 engine
, although it offered little or no real advantage over the older straight 6. It was eventually reused in the unsuccessful 1966 F1 Cooper Maserati
.
In 1957
Juan Manuel Fangio
drove to four more championship victories, including his legendary final win at German Grand Prix
at the Nürburgring
(Aug. 4, 1957), where he overcame a 48 second deficit in just 22 laps, passing the race leader, Mike Hawthorn, on the final lap to take the win. In doing so he broke the lap record at the Nürburgring, 10 times.
The Constructors' World Championship was introduced in 1958, by which time the 250F was generally outclassed. However, the car remained a favourite with the privateers, including Maria Teresa de Filippis
and was used until 1960.
In total, the 250F competed in 46 Formula One championship races with 277 entries, leading to eight wins. Success was not limited to World Championship events with 250F drivers winning many non-championship races around the world.
Maserati
Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...
of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
used in '2.5 litre' Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racing between January 1954 and November 1960. Twenty-six examples were made.
Mechanical details
The 250F principally used the SSG 220 bhp (@ 7400 rpm) 2.5-litre Maserati A6Maserati A6
Maserati A6 were various cars made by Maserati of Italy, named for the Alfieri brothers and for the straight-six engine....
straight-six, ribbed 13.4" drum brake
Drum brake
A drum brake is a brake in which the friction is caused by a set of shoes or pads that press against a rotating drum-shaped part called a brake drum....
s, wishbone independent front suspension and a De Dion tube
De Dion tube
A de Dion tube is an automobile suspension technology. It is a sophisticated form of non-independent suspension and is a considerable improvement over the alternative swing axle and Hotchkiss drive types. A de Dion suspension uses universal joints at both the wheel hubs and differential, and uses a...
axle. It was built by Gioacchino Colombo
Gioacchino Colombo
Gioacchino Colombo was an Italian automobile engine designer.Colombo was born in Legnano. He began work as an apprentice to Vittorio Jano at Alfa Romeo. In 1937, Colombo designed the 158 engine for the Alfetta and caught the attention of Enzo Ferrari. Ferrari asked Colombo to design a small V12...
, Vittorio Bellentani
Vittorio Bellentani
Vittorio Bellentani was an Italian automobile engineer and racing driver.He studied in Germany at University of Freiburg before joining Enzo Ferrari in 1940, where he first worked on the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815 .He then worked for Maserati , developing the Maserati A6 , and Maserati 250F, that...
and Alberto Massimino
Alberto Massimino
Alberto Massimino was an Italian automotive engineer.Born in Turin, he studied mechanical engineering in Switzerland and worked for FIAT , where he followed Vittorio Jano who had left for Alfa Romeo. The 1500 cc, 12-cylinder 806/504 was driven by Pietro Bordino in the Gran Premio di Milano...
; the tubular work was by Valerio Colotti
Valerio Colotti
Valerio Colotti was an Italian automotive engineer, known for his early work with Ferrari and Maserati chassis and transmission systems....
.
A streamlined version with bodywork which partially enclosed the wheels (similar to the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 "Typ Monza"
Mercedes-Benz W196
The Mercedes-Benz W196 was the Mercedes-Benz Formula One entry in the and Formula One seasons, winning 9 of 12 races entered in the hands of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss....
) was used in the 1956 French Grand Prix
1956 French Grand Prix
The 1956 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 1 July 1956 at Reims. It was the fifth round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :* Pole position: Juan Manuel Fangio - 2:23.3...
.
Racing history
The 250F first raced in the 1954 Argentine Grand Prix
1954 Argentine Grand Prix
The 1954 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Buenos Aires on January 17, 1954. It was the first round of the 1954 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :...
where Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...
won the first of his two victories before he left for the new Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
team. Fangio won the 1954 Drivers' World Championship, with points gained with both Maserati and Mercedes-Benz; Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
raced his own privately owned 250F for the full 1954 season.
Although Bellentoni and Massimino left for Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
and Moss left for Mercedes-Benz, 1955 saw a setup with 5-speed gearbox as well as SU fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
(240 bhp) and Dunlop
Dunlop Tyres
Dunlop Tyres is a British company owned 75% by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and 25% by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which bought the right to sell Dunlop-branded road tyres....
disc brake
Disc brake
The disc brake or disk brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel while it is in motion.A brake disc is usually made of cast iron, but may in some cases be made of composites such as reinforced carbon–carbon or ceramic matrix composites. This is connected to the wheel and/or...
s. Jean Behra
Jean Behra
Jean Marie Behra was a Formula One driver who raced for the Gordini, Maserati, BRM, Ferrari and Porsche teams.-Appearance and personality:...
ran this in a five-member works team which included Luigi Musso
Luigi Musso
Luigi Musso was an Italian racing driver.-Racing career:Musso began his racing career driving sports cars before debuting on the Formula One circuit on 17 January 1954, driving a Maserati. In 1954 he won the Coppa Acerbo, a non-championship Formula One race. At Zandvoort, in the 1955 Dutch Grand...
.
In 1956 Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
won at the Italian Grand Prix
1956 Italian Grand Prix
The 1956 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 September 1956 at Monza. It was the eighth and final round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship....
and the Monaco Grand Prix
1956 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1956 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1956 at Monaco. It was the second round of the 1956 World Drivers' Championship....
in his private car.
In 1956 three 250F T2 cars first appeared for the works drivers. Developed by Giulio Alfieri
Giulio Alfieri
Giulio Alfieri was an Italian automobile engineer, affiliated with Maserati in Modena, Italy since 1953, where he was central to the development of racing and production cars in the 1950s and 1960s.Alfieri was born in Parma...
using lighter steel tubes they sported a slimmer, stiffer body and sometimes the new 315 bhp V12 engine
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....
, although it offered little or no real advantage over the older straight 6. It was eventually reused in the unsuccessful 1966 F1 Cooper Maserati
Cooper Car Company
The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...
.
In 1957
1957 Formula One season
The 1957 Formula One season was the eighth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1957 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on January 13, 1957 and ended on September 8 after eight races. Juan Manuel Fangio won his fourth consecutive title, his fifth in total, in his...
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...
drove to four more championship victories, including his legendary final win at German Grand Prix
1957 German Grand Prix
The 1957 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 4 August 1957 at Nürburgring. It was the sixth round of the 1957 World Drivers' Championship. The 22 lap race was won by Juan Manuel Fangio, and is often cited as one of the greatest victories in racing history...
at the Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
(Aug. 4, 1957), where he overcame a 48 second deficit in just 22 laps, passing the race leader, Mike Hawthorn, on the final lap to take the win. In doing so he broke the lap record at the Nürburgring, 10 times.
The Constructors' World Championship was introduced in 1958, by which time the 250F was generally outclassed. However, the car remained a favourite with the privateers, including Maria Teresa de Filippis
Maria Teresa de Filippis
Maria Teresa de Filippis is a former Italian racing driver noted as being the first woman to race in Formula One. She participated in five World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1958, but scored no championship points...
and was used until 1960.
In total, the 250F competed in 46 Formula One championship races with 277 entries, leading to eight wins. Success was not limited to World Championship events with 250F drivers winning many non-championship races around the world.