1958 Belgian Grand Prix

Previous race

At Indianapolis, Pat O’Connor was killed in a 15-car first-lap pileup triggered when Ed Elisian spun at turn three and took Dick Rathmann into the wall. USAC champion Jimmy Bryan escaped the carnage to win in the same Belond Exhaust Special that Sam Hanks drove to victory the year before.

Entrants

Maria Teresa de Filippis lines up in a privately-entered Maserati 250F, becoming the first woman to start a World Championship Grand Prix. She had entered Monaco earlier in the season but failed to qualify.

Circuit

The Belgian Grand Prix returns to the calendar for the first time since 1955, having been absent in 1956 and 1957 due to the Suez Crisis. It carries the honorary title of the European Grand Prix. The 8.7-mile Spa-Francorchamps circuit has been modified: the pits are rebuilt, the pit straight widened and straightened, and the entire track resurfaced. The race distance is shortened from 36 to 24 laps.

Practice

Ferrari’s Hawthorn and Musso qualify at the top of the grid, with the high-speed nature of Spa suiting the full-size 2.5-litre Ferrari engines. The three Vanwalls of Moss, Brooks, and Lewis-Evans are also in contention.