1954 British GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Silverstone
* Location – UK
* Corners – 8
* Laps – 90
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:00.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:44.000 (Giuseppe Farina)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:37.938 (Peter Whitehead)
* Pit Lane Length – 30 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – Low
* Tyre Wear – Medium

## Qualifying 1

It looked like Cooper were on song here at their home track in Silverstone, but the British marque soon found themselves overwhelmed by the onslaught of Mercedes, who in turn were unable to match the pace of Maserati.

As such Lang, Marimon and Berger claim a 1-2-3 for the Italian manufacturer in Q1, with the Mercedes trio of Kling, Whitehead and Gerard next in a Maserati sandwich with Moss and Farina on the other side. Rounding out the top 10 is another brilliant Q1 performance from Mantovani (hopefully he can now actually run a lap in Q2 to qualify for the race!) in the Ferrari, and Nuckey who ends the session as top Cooper driver.

Villoresi and Hawthorn will be pleased to have beaten the times of Volonterio and Herrmann, neither of whom can match the exploits of their Mercedes and Maserati counterparts respectively. Collins was riding high early on in the session, but drops to 17th place, ahead of top Vanwall driver Menditeguy who has a new lease of life here, ahead of last race's winner Salvadori and Whitehouse who completes the top 20 also for Vanwall.

Failing to qualify are the usual Connaught duo of Swaters and Macklin, the standard Ferrari trio of Musso, Taruffi and Karda, and the Gordini trio of Trintignant, Ascari (who unusually misses this race) and Gonzalez. Also missing out are the Vanwall of Behra, the Klenk of Wacker and most shockingly Helfrich of Cooper - who doesn't qualify for the team's home Grand Prix, which will surely disappoint the team bosses.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

## Qualifying 2

Mercedes take the top spots in a fully-wet session, in which Maserati seemed strangely off colour. Kling takes 1st place, from Volonterio and Whitehead - with Herrmann and Lang holding down 4th and 5th for Maserati.

Another great qualifying performance from Mantovani ensures 6th position for Ferrari, from Gerard's Mercedes and the Cooper of Nuckey in 8th place. Then most of the other Maserati's are rounding out the top 10, with Farina, Marimon and then Berger some way off the pace.

Salvadori is top Vanwall again, from the Lancia duo of Collins and de Graffenried, then Whitehouse and the final Maserati of Moss. Flockhart does well to get his HWM inside the top 20, from Menditeguy, Pollet and Maglioli. No fewer than 5 drivers fail to compete in Q2 that were involved in Q1 though - meaning only 25 drivers line-up for the race on Sunday.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

## Overall Qualifying Results

So Lang takes pole after Q1 really decides the grid order, from team-mates Marimon and Berger. Then come the Mercedes trio of Kling, Whitehead and Gerard before the next 2 Maserati's of Moss and Farina.

On the outside of the top 10 it should be fascinating to see how Mantovani in the Ferrari and Nuckey in the Cooper can challenge the established order up-front, with outside bets on the Lancia of Collins and Vanwall of Salvadori - who of course has already won a race in the wet this season!!!

Really struggling this session are the Cooper's of Villoresi, Manzon, Schell and Helfrich - none of whom manage to make the grid, whilst the Connaught of Gould and the HWM of Rosier also fail to take part in Q2 meaning they wont be taking part on Sunday either.

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - And we are GO at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix - Gerard gets a flyer as he bombs around the outside of Copse, and into the lead at the inside of Maggotts! Lang comes through in 2nd place, ahead of Marimon, Moss and Nuckey - an error from Berger drops the Maserati right down the field at Becketts…and the man who capitalises on this is Volonterio for Mercedes! The championship leader moves himself into a strong 3rd position already by the end of lap 1.

Marimon sits 4th from Moss 5th, Nuckey up to 6th in the lone Cooper, Herrmann is into 7th, from Kling who drops down to 8th place after bogging down on the start, Farina in 9th and then Whitehead who gets held up by Kling off the grid and thus drops to 10th place.

The big losers off the start are Fangio, Hawthorn and Berger who all drop places - especially the Maserati, whose off-field exploits at Becketts drop him right down the order! That said, the worst start of all goes to both Whitehouse and Brandon, who have a coming together at Copse and finish their respective races in amongst the hay bales outside of the corner!

*Lap 2* - Whitehead has an incredible lap here! He powers his way past Farina, Kling and Herrmann (who loses a place to Kling too) - though the latter pair latch onto the back of the Mercedes to echo the moves he makes on the other drivers - who include the likes of Nuckey (who makes a big mistake at Chapel that costs him a lot of time and places), Moss, Marimon and Volonterio.

Mantovani also begins to reclaim some of the places he lost off the start, as he passes all of the previous list, with the exception of Volonterio! Also moving up is Salvadori, who passes both Collins and the ailing Nuckey too. Finally Pollet moves himself inside the top 20, with an overtake on Pilette at Abbey that briefly draws attention away from the flight up front.

*Lap 3* - Mantovani continues his rise up the order, as the wet conditions are playing havoc with the driver's rhythm at this stage - the Ferrari driver powers his way up to 3rd place, ahead of Whitehead, Marimon and Farina (who follow him through the pack) and Kling.

Near the back Hawthorn makes an error, which Pollet capitalises on by going around the outside of the Ferrari - but at the same time Pilette ducks up the inside to claim 19th position here! He's already some 5 seconds down on de Graffenried in 18th though…

*Lap 4* - Mantovani's podium place is short-lived, as he slides wide at Copse to lose 3rd to the rapidly advancing Kling, 4th to Herrmann, 5th to Whitehead, 6th to Marimon and 7th to Volonterio.

Also on this lap Berger takes advantage of the group in-front out-braking themselves at Club and so he passes Menditeguy, Nuckey and Collins.

*Lap 5* - The race really comes to life here! Marimon moves up to 4th place ahead of Herrmann and Whitehead, as the Mercedes driver drops behind team-mate Volonterio too.

At the same time near the back Nuckey takes both Berger and Menditeguy, as the Maserati driver pushes too hard at Woodcote. Also gaining places is Flockhart, who takes the pair before they reach the line as well as Collins earlier in the lap too!

*Lap 6* - Lang passes Gerard for the lead here!!! Also racing up the field is Whitehead, who executes passing manoeuvres on Volonterio, Herrmann and Marimon to claim 4th place. Mantovani also follows him through to take 5th position and Herrmann passes Marimon for 7th while the latter Maserati drops behind Volonterio too.

Menditeguy passes Berger too on this lap, as the Vanwall refuses to lie down against the more powerful Maserati - and Pollet takes Pilette again too!

*Lap 7* - Gerard re-passes Lang, whilst Whitehead takes Kling and in another bizarre set of incidents Herrmann comes out on top ahead of Marimon, Volonterio and Mantovani as the Ferrari slides wide and creates havoc amongst those behind him!

Nuckey pass Salvadori too, with Berger getting the best of Menditeguy and Pilette slipping back past Pollet on this lap as well!

*Lap 8* - Mantovani again re-takes his rivals Marimon and Volonterio and is right in the wheel-tracks of Herrmann too. Nuckey slides wide at Stowe, and loses places to Salvadori and Flockhart, whilst de Graffenried gets the better of Maglioli on this lap as well.

Meanwhile Whitehead sets the fastest lap of the race as he hunts down Lang for 2nd position on track.

*Lap 9* - Whitehead gets the better of Lang to move into 2nd place and create a Mercedes 1-2. Meanwhile the action is still red-hot near the back of the field, as Nuckey passes Salvadori and Flockhart - whilst Menditeguy passes Berger yet again and Maglioli also moves past fellow Lancia driver de Graffenried on this lap as well.

*Lap 10* - A mistake from Mantovani drops him behind Marimon, as the Maserati drivers begin to manoeuvre themselves into the more advantageous positions on track. Also moving up de Graffenried, who passes Maglioli on this lap as the all-Lancia battle continues to brew…

*Lap 11* - The man on the move now is Kling, as he slings an opportunistic move up the inside of Lang at Copse - and makes it stick heading into the Maggotts/Becketts complex to claim 3rd place and a 1-2-3 for Mercedes!

*Lap 12* - Marimon makes a mistake, as the rain continues to drive down and make the racing line incredibly slippery! The Maserati driver aquaplanes at Stowe and cedes 6th place to Mantovani, and 7th to Volonterio as well!

*Lap 13* - Kling doesn't just settle for 3rd place, as he braves it around the outside of Whitehead - who seemed to simply not defend against his younger team-mate here! That seals 2nd place for the German - but Gerard's lead at the front is now over 7 seconds…

Also on the move is Mantovani, who is really getting the best out of the Ferrari in these wet conditions, as he executes a great move on Herrmann at Copse, and then out drags Lang into Becketts to claim 4th position! Salvadori muscles his way past Nuckey this lap to take 11th place

*Lap 14* - The pace finally settles down after a chaotic start to the race - with Kling in 2nd place being closely shadowed by Whithead, Mantovani in 4th with Lang for company and 6th place Herrmann defending from both Volonterio and Marimon!

Battles further down the field between Farina and Moss for 9th place, and then all the way from Salvadori in 11th down to Maglioli in 18th place all continuing to scrap over the minor placings outside the top 10 - which includes Berger's Maserati!!!

*Lap 15* - Whitehead re-passes Kling for 2nd place, but both need to be careful as Mantovani has now caught them with some rapid pace in his Ferrari…meanwhile further down the field things go from bad to worse for Berger, as he finds himself overtaken by the Lancia of Collins, which consigns him to just 16th position!

*Lap 16* - Kling surges back past Whitehead, with Mantovani still in close attendance behind the pair of them and now over 2 seconds ahead of Lang and Herrmann.

*Lap 17* - Mantovani has a lunge at Whitehead, but to no avail as the Brit valiantly defends the podium places for Mercedes. Otherwise the race is certainly beginning to settle in a rhythm at this juncture.

*Lap 18* - Moss and Farina cross the line completely level with one another! However this protracted fight over 9th place has allowed 8th placed Marimon to open up a 17 second advantage, and despite the place-switching of the group behind they still trail by a mere 6 seconds at this point!

Further back Berger starts showing signs of a fightback, as he takes advantage of Collins taking the long-way around Menditeguy to surge up the inside and take 2 places for the price of 1 at Chapel!

*Lap 19* - Parnell pits on this lap - but attention is elsewhere, as Lang makes a mistake on the entry into Club, and allows Herrmann and Volonterio through - before the other Maserati gets it all wrong and Woodcote and permits the Mercedes to take 2 Maserati's in the space of 1 lap - Volonterio up to 5th place for Mercedes!!!

Farina gets the better of Moss after their side by side moment down the straight, and further back an error by Flockhart gifts Berger 13th and Menditeguy 14th - as Collins is forced to take evasive action to avoid hitting the recovering HWM, and thus allows the Vanwall to steal the position.

*Lap 20* - Kling overcooks it at Abbey!!! What an unusual place for a mistake, but as the German recovers back to the racing line he sees first Whitehead take 2nd place, and then Mantovani just nip around the outside to move his Ferrari into a podium position at last!

Meanwhile Lang is on the move, as the Maserati driver passes Herrmann at Copse, and then gets revenge over Volonterio with a well-executed overtake at Club.

*Lap 21* - Mantovani comes into the pits on this lap, and takes the decision to put on dry tyres! With the rain showing no sign of letting off, it seems the Ferrari man has taken a gamble when he was less than 10 seconds off the lead - madness from the Prancing Horse here!!!

Maybe Lang was as surprised as the crowd here, as the Maserati misses his braking at Copse to give Volonterio what is now 4th place and Herrmann 5th. Berger passes Nuckey on this lap - but with all of their scrapping Salvadori has built up a handy 6 second lead over the Maserati, and is himself less than 5 seconds down on Moss in front! Mantovani comes out just behind Collins, but that's likely to be about as high up as he gets this race unless the rain disappears soon…

*Lap 22* - Whitehead sets the fastest lap of the race, and takes some 4 seconds out of Gerard's lead - it seems he is eager to take the fight to his British compatriot for home honour! Herrmann pits for Maserati on this lap, and emerges in 12th place right behind Berger and Nuckey.

Mantovani loses places to both de Graffenried and Maglioli on this time round, with Pilette steadily gaining ground too…

*Lap 23* - …though a pit-stop from the HWM driver soon gives the beleaguered Ferrari some breathing space as he drops behind Pollet to 20th position. Meanwhile an awful lap for Berger, who first loses a place to his compatriot Herrmann - who is clearly relishing the fresh rubber he now has - and then to the Cooper of Nuckey as well!

*Lap 24* - The only thing of note on this lap is Hawthorn pitting and retaining 21st place.

*Lap 25* - Lang pits on this lap, and he emerges right in front of the scrap between Nuckey, Berger et al - in fact he comes out of the pits and causes first Salvadori and then Herrmann to have to get on the brakes hard to avoid him! That allows Nuckey to move past all of them, followed by Lang, Salvadori, Berger and the recovering Herrmann.

De Graffenried pits this time around and comes out behind Mantovani - though as the Lancia driver emerges with the right tyres for the conditions on don't expect him to stay there for long!

*Lap 26* - Up front it's still Gerard from Whitehead and Kling, with Volonterio 4th making it a Mercedes 1-2-3-4! Marimon is 5th for Maserati, from his team-mates Farina and Moss with Nuckey breaking up the party in 8th for Cooper ahead of Lang in 9th - and behind him is where the action is on this lap!

Salvadori out-brakes himself into Chapel, and though he does his best to fend off Berger by pushing the Maserati right around the outside he is helpless to defend from him - but what neither see is the incredible run that Herrmann gets off the corner; and using his superior grip he goes around the outside of both at Stowe to gain 2 places in just 1 corner!

Collins pits on this lap, and comes out ahead of de Graffenried, who has predictably enough passed Mantovani on this lap too. The Ferrari will soon be having to defend from Pollet and Pilette in the coming laps too…but he may be safe from Parnell, who gets it all wrong going into Club and has done some damage to the front of his car there.

*Lap 27* - Whitehead comes into the pits for fresh wets on this lap, dropping down to 5th place as a result - meanwhile Nuckey also comes into the pits, as he relinquishes 8th place to Lang and emerges in 15th place himself.

A sickening crunch as Fangio trips over the damaged Parnell, which ends the Argentinian's race here and now with a broken suspension - whilst the Brit continues on, but will surely have to pit next time around…

*Lap 28* - Salvadori is climbing all over the back of Berger, but not getting very far at the moment - meanwhile behind them Pollet finally makes the pass on Mantovani, with Pilette gaining ground at a similar rate. Parnell does indeed pit on this lap too.

*Lap 29* - Lang passes Moss here, as the Maserati's continue to squabble amongst themselves in the lower half of the top 10 - but this lap is otherwise very much the calm before the storm…

*Lap 30* - Kling takes 2 seconds out of Gerard's lead at the front - but attention is on the pits, as no fewer than 6 drivers come in for their pit-stops on this lap! Marimon pits to restore the Mercedes 1-2-3-4, whilst Lang takes advantage of the free-space available as Moss pits to challenge and overtake Farina at Club corner.

Both Berger and Salvadori pit - and the Vanwall driver finally makes the pass, as the Maserati mechanics have a rather lacklustre stop and lose time as a result. Flockhart pits for HWM and comes out just ahead of Collins too.

Also Pollet comes in to the pits, meaning he once again cedes the place to Mantovani, and in fact to Pilette too. All of which sees Lang in 5th, Farina in 6th, Herrmann in 7th and Menditeguy up to 8th place! Marimon emerges in 9th ahead of Maglioli who is now into the top 10 for Lancia!

*Lap 31* - Volonterio pits for Mercedes, and comes out in 4th place some 11 seconds ahead of Lang in 5th. Menditeguy pits from his exalted position, coming out just behind Salvadori and Nuckey - the Cooper driver has really lost out in these stops!

Collins passes Flockhart at Abbey, whilst Pilette at last takes Mantovani's Ferrari with Pollet once again gaining significant ground. Hawthorn is also pulling his team-mate back but not quite at the same rate as the others have.

*Lap 32* - Farina comes in to the pits, and also comes out behind Maglioli, who has his Lancia up into an impressive 8th place! Meanwhile Nuckey is on the comeback trail, as he manages to get his Cooper up the inside of Salvadori to claim 11th position.

*Lap 33* - Kling pits to give 2nd place back to Whitehead and 3rd to Volonterio - and after some good lap-times by Lang there is now just a 5 second gap back to the last Mercedes for him! Farina takes 8th from Maglioli with a comfortable slipstream on the run down to Stowe.

*Lap 34* - Lang takes 3 seconds out of Kling this lap to further close the gap to the Mercedes - meanwhile Gerard comes into the pits, and still comes out in 2nd place behind Whitehead, who has really moved ahead thanks to some effective work in the pits from his mechanic!

Parnell also pits this time around, as it looks like this is now a glorified testing session for the Connaught driver…

*Lap 35* - The race has now calmed down after that round of stops is over - but Gerard is hunting down Whitehead to reclaim the race lead and Lang is right behind Kling too! Further back Menditeguy is the man on the move for Vanwall, as he not only leaves Salvadori in his wake, but also chances a risky move up the inside of Nuckey that pays off at Becketts too.

*Lap 36* - Things go from bad to worse for the Cooper driver, as Salvadori slings one up the inside at Becketts to move into 12th place. And at the back Pollet finally passes Mantovani who is now down in 20th place and will have his team-mate as the next driver for company, despite a gap of over 1 minute as it stands!

*Lap 37* - Lang takes Kling around the outside at Copse to break the Mercedes stranglehold at the top! The action is mostly happening on the outskirts of the top 10, as Menditeguy makes an error at Abbey to let both Salvadori and Nuckey through - and the Cooper then manages to slip up the inside at Woodcote to put the seal on a great double overtake!

Collins passes Berger for 14th place, who must be wondering what is happening to his Maserati this race?!? A worse race for Parnell though, who damages his car yet again and will likely have to pit soon to fix that!

*Lap 38* - Maglioli's tyres are really starting to wear out here, and as a result he loses places to Moss and Nuckey before he swerves in front of Salvadori, causing both to lose ground and thereby allow Menditeguy through. who gains 2 positions as a result.

*Lap 39* - Maglioli continues to bleed time and let drivers through - as he is passed by the irate Salvadori, Collins, Berger and Flockhart.

*Lap 40* - Herrmann is hunting down Kling, as the Maserati resurgences begins in earnest here!

*Lap 41* - Salvadori - still clearly upset at being cut-off by Maglioli - attacks against Menditeguy and forces his way past at Chapel. De Graffenried is the latest man to pass Maglioli on this lap too.

*Lap 42* - Menditeguy is clearly shell-shocked by the forceful attack by his team-mate, and defends far too gingerly from both Collins, Berger and Flockhart as he loses 3 positions in the space of a single lap!

*Lap 43* - Nuckey passes Moss here, as the Cooper continues his come-back to take 9th place. Meanwhile as Flockhart has a go up the inside of Berger at Stowe they both get forced wide and the man who takes advantage is Menditeguy who gains 2 of his positions back in the space of 1 corner!

*Lap 44* - Herrmann pits on this lap, losing just 1 position to Marimon. And Menditeguy in another twist makes a big error, and almost spins at Copse, which allows both Berger and Flockhart through to pass him. Also on this lap Mantovani is finally caught by his team-mate Hawthorn as the Brit moves into the top 20 at last! The Italian does pit on this lap - but puts on dry tyres again!!!

*Lap 45* - At last Maglioli comes into the pits to change his tyres, dropping behind Pilette as a result - what a shame for the Lancia driver who seemed to be on fine form today.

*Lap 46* - At the half-way point in the race Whitehead turns on the style with a new fastest lap that extends his lead by around 3 seconds! Further back Collins takes 11th from Salvadori - also on this lap Pilette pits and comes out behind both Maglioli and Pollet but with less than 7 seconds between all 3 of them we should be in for some action soon!

*Lap 47* - A far more settled lap here, with very little to report…

*Lap 48* - …but on this lap Gerard takes a couple of seconds out of Whitehead's lead. Herrmann takes Marimon, but he still has over 30 seconds of a gap to Kling if he wants to figure in the points today. Salvadori takes Collins too, and as Hawthorn pits Mantovani briefly reclaims his top 20 position.

*Lap 49* - Nothing to report on this lap…

*Lap 50* - Whitehead extends his lead over Gerard, but attention is on Lang's pit-stop as he comes out alongside Herrmann but can't quite keep the place going into Maggotts.

*Lap 51* - Lang uses his fresh tyres to get the better of Herrmann at Stowe to move into 5th place.

*Lap 52* - Lang pushes too hard, and once again drops behind Herrmann - and this is pushing them closer to Marimon in 7th than it is to Kling in 4th! Collins comes into the pits on this lap, and drops behind Berger, Flockhart and Menditeguy - which is particularly good news for the latter, as he manages to push past Flockhart's HWM on this lap as well!

*Lap 53* - Not much going on on-track this lap, other than the gaps between Whitehead and Gerard, Moss and Salvadori and Menditeguy and Flockhart coming down…

*Lap 54* - Whitehead pits and comes out in 4th place, with still 30+ seconds over the nearest Maserati. Nuckey also pits to drop down to 14th place behind Flockhart, who re-passes Menditeguy here too. Pilette also gets the better of Pollet on this lap as well.

*Lap 55* - Volonterio is losing time to Gerard a little on this lap, whilst Menditeguy passes Flockhart for 12th place here too.

*Lap 56* - Volonterio gains 2 seconds on Gerard this time around, but otherwise it's a quiet lap.

*Lap 57* - Berger passes Salvadori on this lap, and moves into the top 10 at last!

*Lap 58* - Volonterio has the gap to Gerard down to 1.9 seconds as it stands, but otherwise it's another quiet lap.

*Lap 59* - The gap is back up to 3.8 seconds as Gerard puts in a brilliant lap-time here.

*Lap 60* - A mistake by Volonterio means the gap is up to nearly 8 seconds, but the focus is again on the pits as Marimon, Moss, Berger, Salvadori, Flockhart and Pollet all come in. Moss and Salvadori definitely have the best stops here.

Farina is now into 7th place, with Marimon dropping to 8th from Menditeguy in 9th and Nuckey rounding out the top 10. Moss is down to 11th, ahead of Salvadori 12th, Collins 13th, Berger 14th, de Graffenried 15th and Flockhart 16th.

*Lap 61* - Farina pits and loses places to Marimon and Menditeguy, who is now in 8th place for Vanwall!

*Lap 62* - Attention is on the pits again as Volonterio comes in and drops from 2nd to 4th place, whilst Menditeguy comes in and falls back to 14th place.

*Lap 63* - Gerard now has a 30+ second lead, with Whitehead also gaining on Kling too.

*Lap 64* - Gerard pits and comes out right between Kling in 1st and Whitehead in 3rd with now only 5 seconds between the 3 of them!

Also - unnoticed by the commentators Hawthorn switched to dry tyres at his last stop!

*Lap 65* - They really bunch up at the front, meaning the gap between the top 3 is down to 2.3 seconds!!! Elsewhere Flockhart is pressuring de Graffenried and Herrmann takes a second out of Volonterio's advantage as he looks to split up the Merc 1-2-3-4 that still survives.

*Lap 66* - Kling pits on this lap, but there is a problem at the stop and he loses places to Gerard, Whitehead, Volonterio, Herrmann and even Lang too!!! Though he has over 1 minute advantage over Marimon in 7th place.

*Lap 67* - Herrmann pits on this lap and drops to 6th position, promoting team-mate Lang to 4th and Kling into 5th place.

*Lap 68* - Nuckey is carving chunks out of Farina's advantage - 4 seconds on that lap alone! He is now just 6.9 seconds down, and likewise Menditeguy is cutting Berger down to size as his deficit is down to just 2.9 seconds.

*Lap 69* - Nuckey takes another 4 seconds, and is just 2.9 down on the Maserati - also on this lap both Pilette and Hawthorn pit, though neither change their positions.

*Lap 70* - Farina finally responds to the pressure from the Cooper to pull out another 3 seconds over Nuckey - also on this lap Parnell pits for the 6th time!

*Lap 71* - Kling restores the Mercedes domination, as he makes a well-executed manoeuvre at Becketts to claim 4th position. Also on this lap Collins takes Salvadori for 11th place.

*Lap 72* - The race rhythm seems to be well-established now, as the rain continues to fall - though is it getting less intense in some parts of the track? Or are we just so used to seeing it that we can't tell it's there any longer? Time will surely tell…

*Lap 73* - Gerard extends his lead at the front to over 10 seconds as he looks odds on favourite to take the victory at the moment…

*Lap 74* - After consistent pressure for the last few laps Flockhart finally makes the move on de Graffenried stick to claim 15th position at Club!

*Lap 75* - Volonterio is gaining ground on Whitehead in 2nd position, but in what is possibly Maserati's last chance of taking a podium place off Mercedes we see Lang pit from 5th place - he of course comes out in 6th with over 30 seconds over Marimon in 7th. Further back Berger is pressuring Salvadori for 12th too.

De Graffenried pits as well, and opts for dry tyres in a bold gamble as the rain is certainly continuing to fall here.

*Lap 76* - Another 2 seconds gain for Volonterio takes the gap down to less than 5 seconds! Berger takes Salvadori, and will now turn his attention to Collins and Moss who are locked in a battle for the final top 10 spot some 3 seconds up the road.

*Lap 77* - Whitehead responds to the pressure and cuts 2 seconds off Gerard's lead, but he still loses a second to Volonterio who is now just 3.8 seconds behind!

*Lap 78* - Stunning lap from Whitehead who finally pegs the gap to Volonterio, but he takes 3 seconds out of Gerard and has the lead down to around the 8 second mark…maybe this race still has life in it yet!

Collins pits and puts on dry tryes to come out behind Flockhart in 16th - and it does look like the rain could be easing up at some parts of the track; though it's definitely not the weather to be on full dry tyres yet…

*Lap 79* - Salvadori puts an excellent overtake on Berger, as the bewildered Maserati driver is hung out to dry on the run down to Club as the Vanwall gets a great exit from Stowe! Maglioli passes de Graffenried, who has virtually no grip with the rain still falling here…

*Lap 80* - Flockhart is the latest driver to pit for dry tyres (coming out just behind Collins), and you can now see on track that the rain is definitely lessening on some parts of the course.

*Lap 81* - With only 10 laps to go in the race, it's a question of whether you roll the dice and hope the rain stops ASAP, or if you stick with worn wet tyres and brave it out until the end! Whitehead elects to roll the dice on his 2nd place, and pits to drop down to 4th position on dry tyres.

Nuckey also takes the gamble, dropping behind Moss, Salvadori, Berger and Menditeguy in the process of pitting for dry tyres.

*Lap 82* - It feels like the calm before the storm - the rain has stopped falling, but the track continues to be wet at this stage, meaning that those on wet tyres hold the advantage for now.

*Lap 83* - Whitehead loses 4th to Herrmann, as the wet tyres continue to be quicker at this stage by around 10 seconds a lap…

*Lap 84* - Volonterio takes 3 seconds out of Gerard's lead to bring the gap down to under 10 seconds; and the lap-times are coming down for everyone with the track drying up and giving up more grip. The fastest lap is claimed by Kling with a 2:15 second lap here.

*Lap 85* - And we've reached the break-even point; there's not much to choose between the lap-times of those on dry tyres and those on wet tyres as a dry line begins to emerge on track.

Hawthorn makes an error, as he slides off line and damages the under-body of his car. Fastest lap is now taken by Berger with a 2:12.5 second lap as he pushes the Maserati to the limits!

*Lap 86* - Dry tyres look to be slightly quicker, and we can almost confirm a fully dry track out there! Flockhart passes Collins for 14th position, whilst fastest lap is now taken by Whitehead with a 2:10.7 and that will surely free up those on dry tyres to begin pushing to the limit to get the maximum possible return from their newly found advantage!!!

*Lap 87* - THE TRACK IS DRY! And that has caused havoc for most of the grid - adjusting well, albeit going much slower than before compared to the rest of the pack are the leading Mercedes trio. Whitehead uses his extra grip to power past Herrmann on the start/finish straight and restore the Mercedes 1-2-3-4! Marimon looks to have a real issue with his car's handling in the dry conditions, and is bleeding time out here - he drops behind both Farina and Moss on this lap!

Salvadori makes a real has of Club corner, and spins out - in fact he travels so far that he manages to put his car down a ditch where he ends his race! Menditeguy takes full advantage, as he also passes the ailing Berger on this lap who is having similar issues to those experienced by Marimon, but it's not a clean pass and they touch through the Maggotts/Becketts complex to cause minor damage to both cars! Parnell runs over a piece of discarded bodywork to do further damage to that Connaught too.

Collins takes Flockhart on this lap too, and we're in for a grandstand finish to this race! Fastest lap is taken by Gerard, with a 1:42, then Whitehead with a 1:35.8 but at least 4 drivers are all within 1 second of that lap-time now!!!

*Lap 88* - Volonterio cuts the gap to the leader down to 6 seconds, but it's likely to be too little too late for the Swiss. Menditeguy passes Marimon despite his damaged car, whilst Nuckey has the pedal to the metal as he passes both Berger and Marimon as the race goes from bad to worse for Maserati!

De Graffenried passes Maglioli for 16th place, whilst in the battle for fastest lap Whitehead makes a tiny improvement before Mantovani blows that lap-time out of the water by a clear 2 seconds - with a 1:33.5!!! Remember how quick that Ferrari looked when it had the right tyres on at the start?

*Lap 89* - Whitehead cuts the gap to Kling by some 13 seconds, and is now a mere 7 seconds down - meaning the podium is in sight for the Brit! And it's even better news for him as he reclaims his fastest lap with a stunning 1:33.1!!!

Collins and Flockhart both get the better of Marimon and Berger thanks to being on the right tyre at this stage of the race. Parnell pits for the 7th time this race to mend his damage.

*Lap 90* - The final lap, and Gerard is relieved to see the chequered flag to take a brilliant home victory! 7 seconds behind Volonterio will be equally pleased to claim 2nd position - the gamble almost paid off for Whitehead, as he takes Kling on the final lap to take a podium place - but he did trade in a 2nd position for that. At least he has fastest lap today to comfort him!

Kling does come 4th with Herrmann claiming the final championship point for Maserati in 5th. Lang is a comfortable 6th from Farina in 7th, Moss in 8th and Nuckey in 9th who takes advantage of Menditeguy's damaged to move past him and consign the Vanwall to 10th position.

Collins is 11th from Flockhart 12th, de Graffenried 13th as the Lancia passes both Marimon (14th) and Berger (16th) on the final lap - in fact the latter also loses a spot to Maglioli, who takes 15th for Lancia here, due to pitting to repair his damage.

Rounding off today's finishers are Pilette 17th, Pollet 18th, the luckless Mantovani in 19th and Salvadori who still just about makes the top 20. Hawthorn is classified in 21st ahead of Parnell the final finisher in 22nd - behind him the 3 retirees were Fangio, Whitehouse and Brandon.