ritish Racing Motors had been foundedwith th e
laudable intention offl ying the fl ag at thetop lev el
of internationalmotor racing. But this postwar
Britishengineering showcase spent muchof its
fi rst decade miredin humiliation.
BRM’sfi rst attempt at a Formula 1car, the Type
15, had been aclassi c example of engineering
over-reach: its complex andtemperamental
supercharged 1.5-litreV16 enginewas justone of its many
problems.Serial late withdrawalsfrom races began to attract
scathing editorials inthe press, and BRM wasat least partial ly
culpablefor worldchampionship grandsprix being run for F2
entries only between 1952 and 1953as race promoters across
Europe despaired of seeing any worthy opposition to Ferrari.
New F1 rules made the Typ e 15o bsolete before itcould
be developedinto a reliably competitive car, but this did
not persuade BRM’ssenior engineers to temper all of their
ambitions when they beganto dra w its successor. The P25
would have all the makingsof a fas t F1 car butit would take
years of developmentto debug it –by which time the rear-
engined revolution would make it irrelevant as well as obsolete.
The Type 1 5 pro ject was fi nancially ruinous and Sir Alfred
Owen, the industrialist who was one of the team’skey
investors, stepped in torescue BRM in October 1952.That
enableddevelopment of the Type 15 to proceed so it could race
in sundry FormulaLibr e events,thou gh BRMwould have been
better served by focusing on thenew 2.5-litre unsupercharged
F1 formula comingin1954. It continuedto li veup to its
reputation as a shambles,failing to fi nish the P25in time for
that seasonand having to fi eld a Maserati 250F instead.
In its fi rst inc arnation the P2 5 was innovative inmany
ways, using an unusual formof semi-monocoque chassis
construction in which the bodyworkacted a s a partially
stresse d element, augmenti ng the steel tubingbeneath. It
featureddisc brakes all round,with a single one atthe back
mounted to a four-speed gearbox onthe tr ansaxle.Co-founder andchief engineer PeterBerthon did take the
lessons of the Type15 on boardin the enginebay, selectin g
a concept proposedby consultant engineerStuart Tresilian:
a four- cylindertwin-camshaft with an‘oversquare’ designin
which thebore diameter was wider than the strokelength. This
theo retically yields greater torqueand enables larger valve
widths,particularly in this case since Berthon decided against
Tresil ian’sinitial four-valve-per-cylinderconce pt.
Beyond that, Berthon wilfully disregardeda ke y fl aw o f
the Type 15 by equipping the P25 with, ineffec t, the same
suspensionconcept: double wishbonesat the front with
oleopneumaticstru ts taki ng responsibility for bothspringing
and damping, witha De Dion axle atthe rear hanging from
a transverse leaf spring.
The P25 wasn’t ready to race untilSeptember 1955, 19
months after the 2.5-litre formula came intoeffe ct. Even the n
it missedits fi rst scheduledevent, a non-championship raceat
Aintree, when Peter Collins crashed after a brokenseal coate d
the rea r wheels in oil.
BRM signedMike Hawthorn andTony Br ooks for 1956
but the non-championship races had revealed serious fl aws
with the P25,forcing the team to run its 250Finthe op ening
round in Argentina. Vibrationsfrom the engine played havoc
with the oil system and the largevalves were prone to damage,
which ledBRM to withdraw fromMonaco, where the P25 was
supposed tomake its championship debut.Broo ksrecorded in
his diary the cars hadthe wronggear ratios for the course and
insufficient steering lock to get aroundthe ha irpins, anyway.
At Sil verstonefor the British Grand Prix– where Raymond
Mays hadteased spectators with a demo of theType 15 back
at the fi rst world championshipround in 1950 – BRM went
all-in with a third entry forRon Flockhart.All the P25s had
reinforced valves and therace sta rted wellas Ha wthorn and
Brooksroared past Stirling Moss’s Maserati and Juan Manuel
Fangio’s Ferrarito run 1-2. Butthen disa ster: Flockhart
stopped when his engine’s timinggear ate itself, BrooksbrokeB
NOW
THAT
WAS
A
CAR
No.8378 F1 RACING DECEMBER 2019
Pic to come
ritish Racing Motors had been foundedwith th e
laudable intention offl ying the fl ag at thetop lev el
of internationalmotor racing. But this postwar
Britishengineering showcase spent muchof its
fi rst decade miredin humiliation.
BRM’sfi rst attempt at a Formula 1car, the Type
15, had been aclassi c example of engineering
over-reach: its complex andtemperamental
supercharged 1.5-litreV16 enginewas justone of its many
problems.Serial late withdrawalsfrom races began to attract
scathing editorials inthe press, and BRM wasat least partial ly
culpablefor worldchampionship grandsprix being run for F2
entries only between 1952 and 1953as race promoters across
Europe despaired of seeing any worthy opposition to Ferrari.
New F1 rules made the Typ e 15o bsolete before itcould
be developedinto a reliably competitive car, but this did
not persuade BRM’ssenior engineers to temper all of their
ambitions when they beganto dra w its successor. The P25
would have all the makingsof a fas t F1 car butit would take
years of developmentto debug it –by which time the rear-
engined revolution would make it irrelevant as well as obsolete.
The Type 1 5 pro ject was fi nancially ruinous and Sir Alfred
Owen, the industrialist who was one of the team’skey
investors, stepped in torescue BRM in October 1952.That
enableddevelopment of the Type 15 to proceed so it could race
in sundry FormulaLibr e events,thou gh BRMwould have been
better served by focusing on thenew 2.5-litre unsupercharged
F1 formula comingin1954. It continuedto li veup to its
reputation as a shambles,failing to fi nish the P25in time for
that seasonand having to fi eld a Maserati 250F instead.
In its fi rst inc arnation the P2 5 was innovative inmany
ways, using an unusual formof semi-monocoque chassis
construction in which the bodyworkacted a s a partially
stresse d element, augmenti ng the steel tubingbeneath. It
featureddisc brakes all round,with a single one atthe back
mounted to a four-speed gearbox onthe tr ansaxle.Co-founder andchief engineer PeterBerthon did take the
lessons of the Type15 on boardin the enginebay, selectin g
a concept proposedby consultant engineerStuart Tresilian:
a four- cylindertwin-camshaft with an‘oversquare’ designin
which thebore diameter was wider than the strokelength. This
theo retically yields greater torqueand enables larger valve
widths,particularly in this case since Berthon decided against
Tresil ian’sinitial four-valve-per-cylinderconce pt.
Beyond that, Berthon wilfully disregardeda ke y fl aw o f
the Type 15 by equipping the P25 with, ineffec t, the same
suspensionconcept: double wishbonesat the front with
oleopneumaticstru ts taki ng responsibility for bothspringing
and damping, witha De Dion axle atthe rear hanging from
a transverse leaf spring.
The P25 wasn’t ready to race untilSeptember 1955, 19
months after the 2.5-litre formula came intoeffe ct. Even the n
it missedits fi rst scheduledevent, a non-championship raceat
Aintree, when Peter Collins crashed after a brokenseal coate d
the rea r wheels in oil.
BRM signedMike Hawthorn andTony Br ooks for 1956
but the non-championship races had revealed serious fl aws
with the P25,forcing the team to run its 250Finthe op ening
round in Argentina. Vibrationsfrom the engine played havoc
with the oil system and the largevalves were prone to damage,
which ledBRM to withdraw fromMonaco, where the P25 was
supposed tomake its championship debut.Broo ksrecorded in
his diary the cars hadthe wronggear ratios for the course and
insufficient steering lock to get aroundthe ha irpins, anyway.
At Sil verstonefor the British Grand Prix– where Raymond
Mays hadteased spectators with a demo of theType 15 back
at the fi rst world championshipround in 1950 – BRM went
all-in with a third entry forRon Flockhart.All the P25s had
reinforced valves and therace sta rted wellas Ha wthorn and
Brooksroared past Stirling Moss’s Maserati and Juan Manuel
Fangio’s Ferrarito run 1-2. Butthen disa ster: Flockhart
stopped when his engine’s timinggear ate itself, BrooksbrokeB
NOW
THAT
WAS
A
CAR
No.83