Watch: Ferrari's Mike Hawthorn class of the field

Watch: Ferrari’s Mike Hawthorn class of the field | 1954 Spanish GP. Mike Hawthorn wins in new modified Ferrari.

The 1954 Spanish Grand Prix held on 24 October 1954 at Pedralbes. It was the ninth and final race in the 1954 World Championship of Drivers.

The 80-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Mike Hawthorn after he started from third position. Luigi Musso finished second for the Maserati team and Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio came in third.

The Ferrari team were not in a very happy state, having only two drivers available, Hawthorn and Trintignant, for Farina was still in hospital and Gonzalez was not fully recovered from the arm injury he received at Dundrod. Since Monza the Maranello firm had been doing some intensive experimenting and testing and Hawthorn had a modified version of the “stumpy” 553 model. This had coil springs for the front suspension in place of the usual transverse leaf-spring and rubber block, and in fact was the first Ferrari to be fitted with coil-spring suspension. The wishbone layout was unaltered, but an anti-roll bar had been fitted running under the front of the car.

The long-awaited Lancia D50s arrived-using their 90 degree V8 engine as a stiffening aid for the chassis; they were simple but brilliantly designed. Ascari immediately set the fastest practice lap and led from pole.

Villoresi in the fellow Lancia retired with brake trouble after just 1 lap and Ascari succumbed to clutch problems after 9 laps.

Various other drivers took the lead and then retired-Schell spun off, Trintignant had mechanical problems and Moss overheated (one of several retirements caused by flying newspaper jamming the radiator ducts). The race boiled down to a duel between Hawthorn and Fangio but the Argentine was losing oil and lost second place to Musso. Hawthorn hung on to take the win with Fangio driving well to claim the final podium position.

This proved to be the last major race held at the Pedralbes street circuit. The Le Mans disaster in 1955 meant tighter safety regulations, and the spectator-lined street circuit in the Pedralbes neighborhood of Barcelona was abandoned and has not been used since.