Roberto Casimiro Mieres Dasso (3 December 1924 – 26 January 2012) was an Argentine racing driver and Olympic sailor from Mar del Plata. He entered 17 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix between 1953 and 1955, scoring 13 points.
Driver Bio
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Birthplace | Mar del Plata, Argentina |
| Born | 3 December 1924 |
| Died | 26 January 2012 |
| First Grand Prix | 1953 Dutch Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 1955 Italian Grand Prix |
| Years Active | 1953–1955 |
| Current/Last Team | Maserati |
Formula One and sports cars
Mieres was a natural all-round athlete whose interests included rowing, sailing, rugby and tennis. Motor racing eventually took centre stage, beginning with an MG in Argentina. He progressed to a Mercedes-Benz SSK and then acquired a Bugatti previously raced by Achille Varzi.
Driving the Bugatti, Mieres won the Argentine sports-car championship. His reward was an invitation to travel through Europe with compatriots Juan Manuel Fangio and José Froilán González.
Mieres immediately demonstrated that he belonged in such company. At Geneva’s 1950 Circuit des Nations, he drove a Maserati 4CLT/48 Formula Two car to fourth place.
After returning to Argentina, he was recruited by Gordini as a replacement for the injured Jean Behra. The opportunity brought his Formula One World Championship debut at the 1953 Dutch Grand Prix.
Further appearances followed in France and Italy, with Mieres recording his best result of the season at Monza, where he finished sixth. Outside the championship, he placed fourth in the Grand Prix de l’Albigeois at Albi and took third in a sports-car handicap race at Caen.
Mieres opened 1954 with second place in the Buenos Aires Grand Prix. Maurice Trintignant won after Mike Hawthorn skidded near the finish, leaving Mieres to collect the runner-up position.
His Belgian Grand Prix ended in considerably more dramatic fashion. The rear of his Maserati caught fire at Spa-Francorchamps, and Mieres initially continued without realising the danger. Once alerted, he braked sharply and leapt from the burning car.
A far more productive afternoon followed at Silverstone, where he finished fifth in the British Grand Prix. Mieres went on to establish himself as a regular points scorer for Maserati, ultimately collecting 13 World Championship points.
He remained active in sports-car racing after his Formula One career. In the 1957 City of Buenos Aires race, Mieres shared a 3.5-litre Jaguar with Scotland’s Ninian Sanderson and finished fourth.
Two years later, he partnered Anton Van Dorey to victory in the Daytona 1,000 Kilometres, part of the USAC Road Racing Championship. The event was an early predecessor of today’s 24 Hours of Daytona.
Cuban Grand Prix accident
Mieres was also indirectly connected to the disastrous 1958 Cuban Grand Prix accident that killed at least four spectators and injured around 50.
A broken oil line on his Porsche had caused the car to lose lubricant, forcing Mieres into the pits for a refill. One lap later, Ferrari driver Armando García Cifuentes encountered a substantial oil slick, lost control and crashed into a grandstand.
The oil is believed to have come from Mieres’s damaged Porsche, although the precise cause could not be established with complete certainty.
Sailing and retirement
As his racing commitments diminished towards the end of the 1950s, Mieres returned to another of his sporting passions: sailing.
He represented Argentina at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, competing in the two-person Star class. One of his opponents was Prince Bira, another former Formula One driver.
Mieres finished 17th and defeated his old motor-racing rival in the final standings. His appearance placed him among a very small group of athletes—only six in total—to have competed both in the Formula One World Championship and at the Olympic Games.
Mieres died in Uruguay on 26 January 2012 at the age of 87.
Grand Prix Stats
| Race Entries | 17 |
| Race Starts | 17 |
| Did Not Start | 0 |
| Best Race Start | 6th |
| Best Race Finish | 4th |
| Retirements | 9 |
| First-Lap Retirements | 1 |
| Not Classified | 0 |
| Disqualified | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 0 |
Qualifying
| Qualifying Sessions | 17 |
| Reached Q3 | 0 |
| Q2 Eliminations | 0 |
| Q1 Eliminations | 0 |
| Did Not Qualify | 0 |
Fastest Laps
| Fastest Laps | 1 |
| First Fastest Lap | 1955 Dutch Grand Prix |
| Last Fastest Lap | 1955 Dutch Grand Prix |
| Win + Fastest Lap | 0 |
| Most Consecutive Fastest Laps | 1 |
| Most Fastest Laps in a Season | 1 |
| Seasons with Fastest Laps | 1 (1955) |
Points
| Points Scored | 13 |
| Points Finishes | 5 |
| Most Points in a Single Season | 7 (1955) |
| Seasons with Points | 2 (1954, 1955) |
Stats by Season
| Year | Constructor | Entries | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Poles | Fastest Laps | Front Rows | DNF | Best Start | Best Result | Pts Finishes | Points | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Gordini | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1954 | Privateer: Roberto Mieres Maserati / Maserati | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 11th |
| 1955 | Maserati | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 8th |
