page_title: 1958 Formula One season
section_title: Season summary
hierarchical_section_title: 1958 Formula One season / Season summary
caption_attribution_description: Mike Hawthorn drove his Ferrari at the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix, from italian wikipedia
context_page_description: The 1958 Formula One season was the 12th season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1958 World Championship of Drivers which commenced on 19 January 1958, and ended on 19 October after eleven races. This was the first Formula One season in which a Manufacturers title was awarded, the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers being contested concurrently with the World Championship of Drivers with the exception of the Indianapolis 500 which did not count towards the Cup. Englishman Mike Hawthorn won the Drivers' title after a close battle with compatriot Stirling Moss and Vanwall won the inaugural Manufacturers award from Ferrari. Hawthorn retired from racing at the end of the season, only to die three months later after a road car accident. It was the first of only two occasions in Formula One history where a driver won the championship having won only one race in the season, the other being Keke Rosberg in 1982.
  The season was one of the most important and tragic seasons in Formula One's history. Four drivers died in four different races during this season.
context_section_description: Although the engine formula remained the same, maximum race lengths were reduced to 300 kilometres or two hours (whichever came first), and the use of commercial petrol became compulsory, in place of specialized alcohol-based racing fuels. The International Cup for F1 Manufacturers was awarded for the first time, but Ferrari's Mike Hawthorn won the Drivers' Championship from Stirling Moss, despite the latter having won four of the ten grand prix to Hawthorn's one.
  Rear-engined Cooper-Climaxes, entered by the private owner Rob Walker, won two early-season races, through Moss and Maurice Trintignant.
  Following the Portuguese Grand Prix, Hawthorn faced a penalty but Moss sportingly spoke up for him, and the points that Hawthorn was able to keep, subsequently enabled him to edge ahead of Moss for the title.
  Moss's teammate at Vanwall, Tony Brooks also won three races, his success in the Italian race, overtaking Hawthorn after Moss had retired, ensured the title went to the final round in Morocco. Moss needed to win, with a fastest lap and Hawthorn third or lower to win the title. With Moss leading, Brooks and teammate Stuart Lewis-Evans attempted to hold Hawthorn in third, however both their engines failed – Lewis-Evans's tragically resulting in severe burns from which he did not recover. Hawthorn finished second to win his first title by a single point. Vanwall won the inaugural Constructors' competition.
  Hawthorn's death early in 1959 compounded a tragic season for Formula One, with four drivers killed or fatally injured on the track. Luigi Musso died in the French Grand Prix, Peter Collins a month later in the German Grand Prix – just two weeks after winning his home race, Lewis-Evans died in hospital following his fire in Morocco and Pat O'Connor died at the Indianapolis 500 (which, at the time, was a round of the World Championship).
  Maria Teresa de Filippis became the first woman to drive in a race counting towards the World Championship of Drivers. Reigning five-time Champion Juan Manuel Fangio, the dominant driver of the 1950s and one of the greatest of all time, competed in only two races as a privateer, retiring after the French Grand Prix.
caption: Mike Hawthorn won the 1958 World Championship of Drivers, driving a Ferrari 246 F1
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