- Dutch Grand Prix
Fangio and Moss secure dominant 1-2 at Zandvoort
The Dutch Grand Prix was almost a carbon copy of the race at Spa a fortnight earlier, as Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss completed a routine 1-2 for Mercedes. But the day itself was completely overshadowed by the tragedy at Le Mans eight days earlier.
In the aftermath, the season had been turned on its head with the cancellation of the Swiss, German and Spanish Grands Prix and threats the Italian authorities would follow suit. Mercedes, at the centre of the accident at Le Mans, eventually decided to continue racing but announced it had decided to withdraw completely at the end of the season.
Even though Mike Hawthorn was back in a Ferrari and Luigi Musso's Maserati briefly separated Fangio and Moss, the only threat to the Mercedes 1-2 came near the end when puffs of smoke started appearing from Moss' car. To put it simply, the Mercedes were "on their present form invincible" as the Daily Telegraph noted. Fangio led home Moss by 0.3 seconds with no other car in sight.
With Maseratis taking third and fourth, it was a wretched afternoon for Ferrari whose best finisher was Eugenio Castellotti some three laps behind the Mercedes. Musso did well to hold on to third as he spun near the end on a track made slippery by light rain and oil but skilfully kept his car going.
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