1957 German Grand Prix

Championship standings

Fangio leads the championship having won three of the four Formula One rounds held so far — Argentina, Monaco, and France — before retiring in Britain. The Vanwall win at Aintree gave Moss and Brooks their first championship points of the season, and the Ferrari drivers Collins and Musso remain the closest rivals to Fangio in the standings.

Previous race

At Aintree, Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks shared a Vanwall to take victory — the first time a British constructor has won a World Drivers’ Championship race. Moss started in one car but moved into Brooks’s when his own developed a rough-sounding engine; he rejoined ninth and worked back through the field to win after Behra’s clutch exploded while leading with two laps to go. Musso finished second and Hawthorn third. Fangio and Collins both retired with mechanical failures.

Between-race developments

Jean Behra won the Caen Grand Prix, a non-championship Formula One race in northern France, for BRM between the British and German rounds.

Entrants

The Nürburgring’s long lap times — around nine minutes — have led the organisers to open the race to Formula 2 machinery for the first time. The F2 entries run alongside the Formula One cars but are not eligible for championship points. Porsche enters three cars adapted from their 550A sportscars, alongside several Cooper-Climax F2 entries. The F2 cars all use the rear mid-engine layout that is not yet found in Formula One.

Milestones

This is Fangio’s 24th championship race start and the first time the German Grand Prix has admitted F2 cars to the field.