Maserati, founded by four brothers name
Alfieri, Bindo, Ettore and Ernesto had been involved in motor racing since 1926. Based in
Bologna they fought Bugatti, and Alfa Romeo for supremacy in Grand Prix Racing. In 1934
there world and that of racing in general was turned upside down with the entry of the
German teams, Auto Union and Mercedes. Unable to compete on equal terms with the better
financed Germans they found refuge in 1.5 litre Voiturette racing and Indianapolis. Their
business was based on selling customer race cars and in order to promote their cars they
had to win.
Voiturette racing was very popular and
Maserati was able to sell a number of cars. But still the brothers were forced to sell to
industrialist Adolfo Orsi. Their agreement allowed the brothers to remain associated with
the company until 1947. In 1939 and 1940 a privately entered 3.0 litre Maserati 8CTF won
Indianapolis. Meanwhile back in Italy the 1939 season was confined to cars with 1.5 liter
engines. Except for falling victim to Mercedes' surprise entry at Tripoli where the German
team dominated the new Maserati 4 Cylinder In-line 4CL was able to win a few of the lesser
races before the war put an end to racing.
Following the end of the War racing resumed and with the absence of the German
teams the way was cleared for the return to Grand Prix racing by Maserati. Their main
rival was again Alfa Romeo. In 1949 they produced the 4CLT/48 with two stage
supercharging. But the engine was now stressed beyond its design specification and engine
failure became a common occurrence. Ferrari came out with an unblown 4.5 liter car which
Maserati had no answer for. Maserati was again forced to seek refuge in the lower racing
classes. Formula 2 had replaced Voiturette racing and was confined to unsupercharged 2.0
litre engines.
In 1950 a World Championship for
drivers was introduced. The championship would be decided based on the results of seven
races: the British, Swiss, Monaco, Belgium, French and Italian Grand Prix and the
Indianapolis 500. The latter was included in the hope that this would promote Grand Prix
racing in the Americas but in reality the effects were minimal. Alfa Romeo returned to
contest this new series with a team made up of pre-war drivers, Giuseppe Farina, Luigi
Fagioli and Juan-Manuel Fangio, the famous three Fs. These drivers except for Fangio were
beyond their peak years and depended on their vast experience against younger rivals.
Their main opposition came from Ferrari who now fielded his own team, but the cars from
Maranello lacked reliability and the championship would be decided between the three Alfa
drivers. The final round at Monza would crown the first World Champion. At the drop of the
flag Fangio roared into the lead only to see his race end with a seized gear. Farina would
go on to win the race and the title of the first World Champion.
Maserati yearned to return
to the top echelon and the new 2.5 liter Formula for 1954 in addition to the pull-out of
Alfa Romeo would provide that opportunity. The formula stipulated 2.5 liter unsupercharged
or 750 cc supercharged engines. The team was able to entice Ferrari's chief designer
Gioacchino Colombo along with engineer Valerio Colotti who would be responsible for the
chassis, suspension and transmission of the new car. It was Maserati's initial
intention that the new car would be solely for customers to race in lieu of a factory
team. Promised was full works support with factory engineers in attendance at races. Since
Maserati was the only marque that was offering a competitive 2.5 liter car for the
privateer the car drew considerable interest. Maserati was forced to provide interim cars
when the new chassis were not ready in time. The first two 250Fs, shortened from the
original designation of 250/F1, would be prepared for Juan-Manuel Fangio and his young
protégé Onofre Marimon. While Maserati was building their new car word came that
Mercedes Benz was also preparing for the new Formula.
The top cars built for the new Formula would
all be sans supercharger. Maserati chose a straight six normally aspirated engine
configuration. This configuration was based on A6SSG engine and allowed for an
uncomplicated layout of valve gear, manifolding and ancillaries. Fueled by a mixture of
50% methanol, 35% petrol, 10% acetone, 4% benzol and 1% caster oil the engine produced an
initial 220 bhp at 7,400 rpm. The petrol was only rated at 80 octane but with the acetone
the fuel mix would burn faster. The benzol would ensure that the methanol and petrol mixed
properly while the caster oil was necessary to alleviate the effects of the alcohol
washing away the oil film from the cylinder walls. The entrant could easily increase power
by using a more radical fuel mixture or by increasing the compression ratio.
The chassis of the 250F was
multi-tubular but based more on the traditional ladder principle rather than a true
spaceframe. 1mm thick side rails of 40mm diameter were used. Standard wishbone independent
front suspension and de Dion rear suspension was used. The major innovation for Maserati
is that they followed the practice of Ferrari and placed the de Dion tube in front of the
transaxle. The goal was to move a significant amount of weight ahead of the rear axle
improving weight distribution and reducing the polar moment of inertia. The transmission
offered four forward gears plus reverse while drum brakes were used for stopping the car
with the 13.4" diameter drums mounted outboard front and rear.
The
aluminum bodywork was both functional and elegant with the fuel tank forming the tail of
the car and had a capacity of 200 liters. The cockpit was quite generous and offered an
upright seating position with plenty of elbow room but the dash was to close for the
straight armed driving style favored by many of the newer drivers. The pedals were arrayed
in what was then known as the Continental fashion with the accelerator in the center with
the brake to the right and the clutch on the left.
With Fangio at the wheel Maserati won
two races in their first year but the team was bitterly disappointed when he left for
Mercedes when their new car was finished. Maserati had a change of heart and decided to
run their own works team and replaced Fangio with last years champion Alberto Ascari but
the driver never felt comfortable in the new car and they soon parted company. Another
quick driver who, save for some mechanical problem could well have won a couple of races
was the young Stirling Moss. At Aintree he did win a Formula Libre race which gave the
Maserati 250F its first victory in Europe plus some other British national races. Moss
would remark that : "It steered beautifully, and inclined towards stable
oversteer which one could exploit by balancing it against power and steering in long
sustained drifts through corners. It rode well on the normal type of relatively
smooth-surfaced course, although its small coil springs and leaf spring rear-end would use
up available suspension movement over the bumps at the 'Ring".

With both
Fangio and now Moss driving for Mercedes, Maserati signed Jean Behra and Luigi Musso.
Maserati was also expanding their sports car racing program and their efforts on the 250F
lagged in 1955. Top engineers Bellentani and Massimino left for Ferrari and any
development work had to take place on the engines as no new chassis were built in 1955.
Stirling Moss continued to race his private 250F at events not contested by Mercedes. His
car now sported Dunlop disk brakes and SU fuel injection in advance of the works cars.
With this car Moss won the Oulton Park Gold Cup. 1955 also saw the appearance of a
streamlined car for Monza. Unlike the streamlined Mercedes the design was not based on any
wind tunnel tests, but through Italian intuition! Needles to say it was stunning in
appearance! Another important event in 1955 was Maserati's famous defeat at the hands of
Tony Brooks in the Connaught at Syracuse.
The end of 1955 was
another championship year for Mercedes but at the end of the year they withdrew from Grand
Prix racing. 1956 would be a different year as the contest returned to the two main
Italian teams, Ferrari and Maserati. Fangio went to drive for Ferrari while Moss returned
to Maserati. The 250F was still the car being used, now supplied with still wider drums
and 5-speed gearboxes. Changes were made during the season to reduce drag and resulted in
tapering nose cowls, high cockpit sides and a full wrap around screen. A new chassis was
also being prepared that along with a angling of the engine by 5 degrees would allow for
an overall lowering of the center of gravity. These offset versions would only be
available to the works drivers. Hindering further development was the inability for the
Italian suppliers Webber and Pirelli to produce suitable fuel injection and disc brakes
systems respectively. Moss would win two Grands Prix but the season belonged to Ferrari
and Fangio.

For 1957 major changes had taken place
in the racing department which was re-organized. A new V12 engine was developed and a new
stiffer chassis was also available. Fangio, unhappy at Ferrari and replaced Moss who moved
over to the British Vanwall team. The V12 proved to not be an advantage over last years
lightweight 6 cylinder models. With Fangio driving it was enough to win the World
Championship though it was a hard fought three way battle amongst Maserati, Ferrari and
Vanwall. 1957 turned out to be the last hurrah for Maserati as the company was drowning
under a sea of red ink. Luckily the Italian government stepped in and placed Maserati
under a "Controlled administration" but not so luckily the works racing team was
disbanded. Except for those cars remaining in private hands the end of the Maserati 250F
had arrived.
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