Yahoo Autos Every Formula 1 Driver Who Tried to Push His Car to the Finish Line
Racing is a physically demanding sport, but on a handful of occasions, those physical demands far exceeded merely driving. In fact, quite a few Formula 1 drivers throughout the years have been so close to finishing a race when their cars died that they hopped out of their machines to push them across the line. Today, we’re looking back at those drivers.
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As you’ll notice, most of the races here took place in the 1950s and very early 1960s. There are a few reasons for that. First, regulations introduced in 1961 meant drivers could be disqualified for pushing their car across the line. Prior to that, though, pushing a car to the finish could be kind of a crapshoot. While all races were contested under the F1 name, at-track race organization was different at every venue. So, you might be able to get away with something at Silverstone that the French would disqualify you over.
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Plus, that was an era of notorious unreliability. Sixth place marked the cutoff for points, and many of these drivers managed to eke into a points-scoring position by pushing the car across the line. That way, they finished multiple laps down — but they still technically finished the race.
Stirling Moss
F1 1954 Grand Prix : Monza - Highlights
Race: 1954 Italian Grand Prix, 1955 Monaco Grand Prix
Car: Maserati 250F, Mercedes-Benz W196
Stirling Moss is often remembered as one of the finest F1 drivers to never win a Formula 1 Championship — in large part because he dedicated much of his career to driving uncompetitive British cars well beyond their capabilities. But he was also a fiercely determined racer, and if he needed to push a car across the finish, well, he would. And he did, twice.
The first came at the 1954 Italian Grand Prix. Moss’ competitive car ultimately seized after some engine trouble, and he was forced to push the car a few feet across the line after Juan Manuel Fangio took the checkered flag. He was, by that time, nine laps down and was classified 10th.
Then, at the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix, Moss was almost a lap ahead of the competition when his engine blew on lap 80; he parked close to the finish line and once again waited until the ultimate winner — in this case, Maurice Trintignant — took the flag, according to Formula 1: The Knowledge. Moss then pushed his car across the line. Despite being 19 laps down, he still finished in ninth place.
Alfonso de Portago
Juan Manuel Fangio in Silverstone - F1 1956
Race: 1956 British Grand Prix
Car: Lancia-Ferrari D50
Back in the day, if one driver got a little tired, another driver could sub in for him. That’s what happened at the 1956 British Grand Prix, when Eugenio Castellotti handed his car off to Alfonso de Portago after a spin. Marshals black flagged the car because it was sporting some pretty obvious damage, but officials allowed him to park the car near the finish line and push it across the line after the checkered flag. The de Portago/Castellotti machine finished 10th.
Jack Brabham
1957 Monaco Grand Prix
Race: 1957 Monaco Grand Prix, 1959 United States Grand Prix
Car: Cooper T43-Climax, Cooper T51-Climax
Jack Brabham had some pretty iconic pushes across the finish. The first came at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix, where he was running third just before the end of the race only to fracture an oil pump bracket. He got out to push the car across the line, finishing in sixth place, five laps behind the leader.
Brabham’s adventure at the 1959 U.S. Grand Prix, though, was quite fascinating. The Championship had yet to be decided, and three drivers still had a shot at winning: Brabham, Moss, and Tony Brooks. It looked like Brabham’s race was over when he ran out of fuel on the very last lap of the Sebring race — but the undeterred Australian simply shoved his Cooper across the line. He finished fourth, good enough for the Championship.
Jean Behra
1957 French Grand Prix at Reims
Race: 1957 French Grand Prix
Car: Maserati 250F
The inimitable Jean Behra drove his car just to the finish line while covered in oil from a broken radiator at the 1957 French Grand Prix. He pushed his car across the finish as the race ended; he should have finished fifth, but race organizers decided that because Behra slowly coasted to a stop near the finish, his final lap time was unacceptably long and would be discounted. As a result, he was classified sixth.
Roy Salvadori
1959 Monaco Grand Prix
Race: 1957 British Grand Prix, 1959 Monaco Grand Prix
Car: Cooper T43-Climax, Cooper T45-Maserati
Ol’ Stirling Moss scored a delightful home victory at the 1957 British Grand Prix, but things weren’t quite so nice for Roy Salvadori, whose gearbox failed near the end of the race. He waited for Moss to take the checkered flag before pushing himself across the line to be classified fifth.
Then, in the 1959 Monaco Grand Prix, a broken transmission required another push over the line, where he was classified sixth — the final car to “finish the race.”
Peter Collins
GP de France 1958 . Résumé de 1 minute . ( En Anglais )
Race: 1958 French Grand Prix
Car: Ferrari Dino 246
The 1958 French Grand Prix was a stellar one in a lot of ways. It was Fangio’s final race before retirement. Maurice Trintignant was burned during practice, and Luigi Musso was killed. It was also Mike Hawthorn’s single win of the season, which was good enough to secure him the 1959 Championship.
Hawthorn’s good friend Peter Collins suffered his own smidge of bad luck when he ran out of fuel at the Thillois Hairpin. He managed to push the car all the way to the finish — incredibly, he was still on the same lap as the winner.
Harry Schell
F1 1959 German GP at AVUS [60fps] Hans Hermann survives a huge crash
Race: 1959 German Grand Prix
Car: BRM P25
Franco-American racer Harry Schell pushed his car across the line at the bizarre AVUS track in Germany for the 1959 German Grand Prix — a weekend were Jean Behra was killed on the track’s wild banking during a supporting sportscar race. Hans Hermann, too, was involved in a terrifying crash but was ultimately alive.
In the Grand Prix, Schell completed 49 of 60 laps and had to push his car across the line after his clutch failed. He was classified seventh, just out of the points.
Wolfgang von Trips
F1 - 1959 Sebring GP - Highlights
Race: 1959 United States Grand Prix
Car: Ferrari Dino 246
