Ferrari vs Maserati at Indy

[D-Type]

It gets complicated. Here are a few key points:

Before and during WW1 European cars and drivers regularly competed at Indy with some success. In the 1920s Indy and Grand Prix frequently had the same limits up until the years of the so-called "Junk Formula". Indianapolis was a qualifying round for the fledgling World Championship (for manufacturers) and there was some crossover: Jimmy Murphy in a Duesenberg winning the [French] Grand Prix in 1921, Millers taking podium positions in grands prix, Ballots and Sunbeams competing at Indy.

In 1938 Indianapolis adopted the International Formula (predecessor of F1) of 4.5 litres unsupercharged / 3 litres supercharged complete with the CSI's sliding scale of minimum weights against capacity. But they didn't adopt the minimum body width requirements. They carried this formula on through the wartime races and immediately afterwards. When European racing restarted and in 1947 the new Formula 1 was introduced for 4.5 litres unsupercharged / 1.5 litres supercharged, the Indianapolis organiser was planning to follow suit. But the owners of the 3-litre Maseratis, Mercedes and Novi argued strongly for the 3-litre limit to be retained and Indianapolis acquiesced. One argument was that on an oval, 1.5 litres was not a fair equivalence.

Then, when the World Drivers' Championship was introduced initially with 6 European Grands Prix being qualifiers the US delegation at the FIA/CSI argued strongly that a World championship without the world's greatest race was pretty meaningless and Indianapolis was included.

The re-opening of the Monza banking led to the Two Worlds Races there. But the Europeans had no cars suitable for a high speed oval. Ecurie Ecosse vainly tried with stripped D-Type Jaguars in 1957. They could compete with the US cars for speed over a single lap but their Dunlop tyres could not sustain the speed for any length of time. In 1958 the Europeans made more of an effort with various hybrid cars. The only car designed for Indianapolis was the Maserati Eldorado Special driven by Stirling Moss which finished 4th and 5th in the first two heats but suffered a steering failure in the third. A Grand Prix Ferrari with a 3 litre engine finished 3rd driven by Musso, Hawthorn and Phil Hill. After theses two races the idea died away.

Then came Brabham in 1961 and Lotus and Lola a couple of years later and the 'rear-engined revolution' spread to Indy. And a few years later Dan Gurney's Eagles and Penske and Parnelli ran in GPs with limited success.