1951 French Grand Prix

France  1951 French Grand Prix
Race details
Race 4 of 8 in the 1951 Formula One season
Date 1 July 1951
Official name XXXVIII GRAND PRIX DE L'A.C.F.
Location Reims, France
Course Reims-Gueux
Course length 7.816 km (4.856 mi)
Distance 77 laps, 601.832 km (373.961 mi)
Weather Sunny, Hot, Dry
Pole position
Driver Alfa Romeo
Time 2:25.7
Fastest lap
Driver Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo
Time 2:27.8 on lap 32
Podium
First Alfa Romeo
Second Ferrari
Third Ferrari

The 1951 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims-Gueux on 1 July 1951. It was the fourth round of the 1951 World Drivers' Championship and was won by Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli driving an Alfa Romeo. It was the first of three occasions where two drivers would be credited with a Grand Prix win after sharing a car.

The race, which also carried the honorific title of European Grand Prix, saw the World Championship debuts of Aldo Gordini, André Simon and Onofre Marimón. Fagioli's victory, his first in a World Championship race, made him the oldest driver to win a World Championship Grand Prix, a record he still holds.

This race also holds the record for the longest Formula One Grand Prix in terms of total distance needed to cover. 77 laps of the 4.856 mile Reims-Gueux circuit totaled to 373 miles.[1]

Report

About 10 laps into the race, the engine in Fangio's car began misfiring, so he stopped at the pits to have the magneto changed, but only completed one further lap before stopping again. Around this time, the gearbox in Ascari's Ferrari had broken, and he retired, although he took over the car of González, who had been pushing very hard. When Fagioli came in for his fuel stop, the team ordered Fagioli and Fangio to swap cars. Fuel stops and problems for the Ferraris enabled Fangio to make his way into the lead and win the race, with Ascari in González's original car finishing 2nd, 52 seconds behind. Fagioli, in Fangio's original car, finished 11th, 22 laps behind.[2]

Entries

No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre
2 Italy Nino Farina Alfa Romeo SpA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
4 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio1 Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
6 Italy Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159 Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
8 Italy Luigi Fagioli2 Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159B Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
10 Italy Luigi Villoresi Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 E
12 Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 E
14 Argentina José Froilán González3 Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 E
16 Italy Piero Taruffi4 Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari 375 F1 4.5 V12 E
18 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Enrico Platé Maserati Maserati 4CLT-50 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
20 United States Harry Schell Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
22 Thailand Prince Bira4 Ecurie Siam Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
24 United Kingdom Peter Whitehead Graham Whitehead Ferrari Ferrari 125 Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s D
26 United Kingdom Reg Parnell5 G. A. Vandervell Ferrari Ferrari 375 tw Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
28 Belgium Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
30 France Robert Manzon Equipe Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
32 France Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
34 France André Simon Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
36 France Aldo Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T11 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
38 France Philippe Étancelin Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
40 France Louis Rosier Ecurie Rosier Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
42 Monaco Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
44 France Eugène Chaboud6 Eugène Chaboud Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-GS Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
46 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
48 France Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
50 Argentina Onofre Marimón Scuderia Milano Maserati-Milano Maserati 4CLT-50 Milano 1.5 L4s P
Sources:[3][4][5]
^1 — Juan Manuel Fangio qualified and drove 15 laps of the race in the #4 Alfa Romeo. Luigi Fagioli took over the car for a further 40 laps.[6]
^2 — Luigi Fagioli qualified and drove 20 laps of the race in the #8 Alfa Romeo. Juan Manuel Fangio took over the car for the remaining 57 laps of the race.[6]
^3 — José Froilán González qualified and drove 35 laps of the race in the #14 Ferrari. Alberto Ascari, whose own vehicle had already retired, took over the car for the remaining 42 laps of the race.[6]
^4 — Piero Taruffi and Prince Bira both withdrew from the event prior to practice.[7]
^5 — Reg Parnell qualified and drove the entire race in the #26 Ferrari. Brian Shawe-Taylor practiced in the car, but took no part in the race proper.[8]
^6 — Eugène Chaboud qualified and drove the entire race in the #44 Talbot-Lago. Lucien Vincent, named substitute driver for the car, was not used during the Grand Prix.[8]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 4 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 2:25.7
2 2 Italy Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 2:27.4 + 1.7
3 12 Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari 2:28.1 + 2.4
4 10 Italy Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 2:28.5 + 2.8
5 6 Italy Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 2:28.9 + 3.2
6 14 Argentina José Froilán González Ferrari 2:30.8 + 5.1
7 8 Italy Luigi Fagioli Alfa Romeo 2:33.1 + 7.4
8 42 Monaco Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:43.7 + 18.0
9 26 United Kingdom Reg Parnell Ferrari 2:44.0 + 18.3
10 38 France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:44.8 + 19.1
11 46 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:45.7 + 20.0
12 28 Belgium Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:46.6 + 20.9
13 40 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:48.0 + 22.3
14 44 France Eugène Chaboud Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:49.6 + 23.9
15 50 Argentina Onofre Marimón Maserati-Milano 2:49.9 + 24.2
16 18 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Maserati 2:50.1 + 24.4
17 36 France Aldo Gordini Simca-Gordini 2:50.3 + 24.6
18 32 France Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini 2:50.4 + 24.7
19 48 France Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:58.4 + 32.7
20 24 United Kingdom Peter Whitehead Ferrari 2:59.0 + 33.3
21 34 France André Simon Simca-Gordini 2:59.5 + 33.8
22 20 United States Harry Schell Maserati 3:02.0 + 36.3
23 30 France Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini 3:06.0 + 40.3
DNA 16 Italy Piero Taruffi Ferrari
DNA 22 Thailand Prince Bira Maserati
Source:[9]
Guy Mairesse finished 9th in a Talbot-Lago T26C

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 8 Italy Luigi Fagioli
Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio
Alfa Romeo 77 3:22:11.0 7 4
5
2 14 Argentina José Froilán González
Italy Alberto Ascari
Ferrari 77 + 58.2 6 3
3
3 10 Italy Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 74 + 3 Laps 4 4
4 26 United Kingdom Reg Parnell Ferrari 73 + 4 Laps 9 3
5 2 Italy Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 73 + 4 Laps 2 2
6 42 Monaco Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago-Talbot 71 + 6 Laps 8  
7 46 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 71 + 6 Laps 11  
8 44 France Eugène Chaboud Talbot-Lago-Talbot 69 + 8 Laps 14  
9 48 France Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago-Talbot 66 + 11 Laps 19  
10 6 Italy Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 58 + 19 Laps 5  
11 4 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio
Italy Luigi Fagioli
Alfa Romeo 55 + 22 Laps 1  
Ret 28 Belgium Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 54 Accident 12  
Ret 40 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 43 Transmission 13  
Ret 38 France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 37 Engine 10  
Ret 36 France Aldo Gordini Simca-Gordini 27 Engine 17  
Ret 20 United States Harry Schell Maserati 23 Overheating 22  
Ret 32 France Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini 11 Engine 18  
Ret 12 Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari 10 Gearbox 3  
Ret 34 France André Simon Simca-Gordini 7 Engine 21  
Ret 30 France Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini 3 Engine 23  
Ret 50 Argentina Onofre Marimón Maserati-Milano 2 Engine 15  
Ret 18 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Maserati 1 Transmission 16  
Ret 24 United Kingdom Peter Whitehead Ferrari 1 Engine 20  
Source:[10]

Shared drives

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 1 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio 15
1 2 Italy Nino Farina 14
3 United States Lee Wallard 9
4 Italy Alberto Ascari 9
2 5 Italy Luigi Villoresi 8

References

  1. "What was the longest Grand Prix of them all?". Ask Steven – ESPNF1.com. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  2. Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 31. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.
  3. "1951 French Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  4. "1951 ACF GP - Entry List". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  5. "France 1951 - Race entrants". statsf1.com.
  6. 1 2 3 "French Grand Prix 1951 - Results". ESPN F1. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  7. "France 1951 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  8. 1 2 "France 1951 - Race entrants". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  9. "XXXVIII Grand Prix de l'ACF". silhouet.com. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  10. "1951 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
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