1951 Italian Grand Prix

The 1951 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 16 September 1951 at Monza. It was race 7 of 8 in the 1951 World Championship of Drivers.

1951 Italian Grand Prix
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Race details
Date 16 September 1951
Official name XXII GRAN PREMIO D'ITALIA
Location Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 6.300 km (3.915 miles)
Distance 80 laps, 504.000 km (313.171 miles)
Weather Warm and sunny
Pole position
Driver Alfa Romeo
Time 1:53.2[1]
Fastest lap
Driver Italy Nino Farina Alfa Romeo
Time 1:56.5 on lap 64[2]
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third Alfa Romeo
Lap leaders
The Ferrari 375 F1s of Chico Landi and Piero Taruffi during the race weekend

Report

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Franco Rol of OSCA Automobili leading Ferrari's Alberto Ascari during the race

Toulo de Graffenried returned to Alfa Romeo's four-car line up, in place of Paul Pietsch, having raced for Enrico Platé in France and Germany. He raced alongside the regular Alfa drivers, Fangio, Farina and Bonetto. The works Ferrari team retained the same four drivers from the race at the Nürburgring — Ascari, Villoresi, González and Taruffi — while Brazilian Chico Landi made his World Championship debut in a privately run Ferrari. The field was completed by works teams from BRM, Simca-Gordini and OSCA, as well as the usual Talbot-Lago entries.

The front row positions on the grid were shared equally between Alfa Romeo and Ferrari, with Fangio, Farina, Ascari and González posting the four fastest qualifying times. The second row consisted of the remaining works Ferraris of Villoresi and Taruffi, alongside Felice Bonetto. Reg Parnell, in a BRM, was also supposed to be on the second row, but was unable to start due to lubrication problems.

Fangio was the initial race leader, having started from pole position, but he soon had to cede the position to Ascari. He retook the lead on lap eight before pitting for a tyre change, which dropped him to fifth. Early retirements for Farina and de Graffenried left José Froilán González in second, behind his teammate Ascari. Fangio attempted to bridge the gap to the Ferraris, but engine problems eliminated his chances. The sole remaining Alfa driver, Nino Farina, who had taken over Bonetto's car on lap 30, inherited third place as a result of Fangio's retirement. He was fast, but fuel leakages meant that he needed to make two further pitstops; he therefore had to settle for third. Alberto Ascari took his second, and Ferrari's third, consecutive Championship race victory, ahead of British Grand Prix winner González. The other works Ferraris of Villoresi and Taruffi completed the points positions in what was another successful race for the Scuderia.[3]

Ascari's victory took him to within two points of Championship leader Fangio, while González was a further four points behind in third.

 
Ascari's winning Ferrari 375 F1 during the race weekend.

Entries

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No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre
2   Alberto Ascari Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
4   Luigi Villoresi Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
6   José Froilán González Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
8   Piero Taruffi Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
10   Gianni Marzotto1 Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari 375 F1 4.5 V12 P
12   Chico Landi Francisco Landi Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
14   Rudi Fischer Ecurie Espadon Ferrari Ferrari 212 Ferrari 212 2.5 V12 P
16   Peter Whitehead Peter Whitehead Ferrari Ferrari 125 Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s P
18   Louis Rosier Ecurie Rosier Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
20   Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
22   Pierre Levegh Pierre Levegh Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
24   Yves Giraud-Cabantous Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
26   Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
28   Jacques Swaters Ecurie Belgique Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
30   Reg Parnell BRM Ltd. BRM BRM P15 BRM 15 1.5 V16s D
32   Ken Richardson2 BRM BRM P15 BRM 15 1.5 V16s D
34   Nino Farina Alfa Romeo SpA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159M Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
36   Toulo de Graffenried3 Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159M Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
38   Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159M Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
40   Felice Bonetto4 Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
44   Franco Rol OSCA Automobili OSCA OSCA 4500G OSCA 4.5 V12 P
46   Robert Manzon Equipe Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
48   André Simon Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
50   Maurice Trintignant5 Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
Sources:[4][5]
^1 — Gianni Marzotto withdrew from the event prior to practice[6]
^2 — Ken Richardson qualified the #32 BRM, although he did not start the race. Hans Stuck was also entered in the same car, but he took no part in either qualifying or the race.[6]
^3 — Toulo de Graffenried qualified and drove the race in the #36 Alfa Romeo. Consalvo Sanesi was also entered in the car, but injury prevented his participation in the Grand Prix.[6]
^4 — Felice Bonetto qualified and drove 29 laps of the race in the #40 Alfa Romeo. Nino Farina, whose own vehicle had already retired, took over the car for a further 50 laps.[7]
^5 — Maurice Trintignant qualified the #50 Simca-Gordini but was secretly replaced for the race by Jean Behra.[8][9]

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 38   Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 1:53.2
2 34   Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 1:53.9 + 0.7
3 2   Alberto Ascari Ferrari 1:55.1 + 1.9
4 6   José Froilán González Ferrari 1:55.9 + 2.7
5 4   Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 1:57.9 + 4.7
6 8   Piero Taruffi Ferrari 1:58.2 + 5.0
7 40   Felice Bonetto Alfa Romeo 1:58.3 + 5.1
8 30   Reg Parnell BRM 2:02.2 + 9.0
9 36   Toulo de Graffenried Alfa Romeo 2:05.2 + 12.0
10 32   Ken Richardson BRM 2:05.6 + 12.4
11 48   André Simon Simca-Gordini 2:08.0 + 14.8
12 50   Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini 2:08.9 + 15.7
13 46   Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini 2:09.0 + 15.8
14 24   Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:09.3 + 16.1
15 18   Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:10.8 + 17.6
16 12   Chico Landi Ferrari 2:11.2 + 18.0
17 20   Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:12.1 + 18.9
18 44   Franco Rol OSCA 2:13.4 + 20.2
19 16   Peter Whitehead Ferrari 2:16.2 + 23.0
20 22   Pierre Levegh Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:16.5 + 23.3
21 26   Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:18.6 + 25.4
22 28   Jacques Swaters Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:18.8 + 25.6
23 14   Rudi Fischer Ferrari No time
24 32   Hans Stuck BRM No time
Source:[10]

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/retired Grid Points
1 2   Alberto Ascari Ferrari 80 2:42:39.3 3 8
2 6   José Froilán González Ferrari 80 +24.6[2] 4 6
3 40   Felice Bonetto
  Nino Farina
Alfa Romeo 79 +1 lap 7 2
36
4 4   Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 79 +1 lap 5 3
5 8   Piero Taruffi Ferrari 78 +2 laps 6 2
6 48   André Simon Simca-Gordini 74 +6 laps 11
7 18   Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 73 +7 laps 15
8 24   Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 72 +8 laps 14
9 44   Franco Rol OSCA 67 +13 laps 18
Ret 38   Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 39 Engine 1
Ret 50   Jean Behra7 Simca-Gordini 29 Engine 12
Ret 46   Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini 29 Engine 13
Ret 20   Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago-Talbot 23 Ignition 17
Ret 22   Pierre Levegh Talbot-Lago-Talbot 9 Engine 20
Ret 28   Jacques Swaters Talbot-Lago-Talbot 7 Overheating 22
Ret 34   Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 6 Engine 2
Ret 26   Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 4 Oil pump 21
Ret 36   Toulo de Graffenried Alfa Romeo 1 Compressor 9
Ret 16   Peter Whitehead Ferrari 1 Magneto 19
Ret 12   Chico Landi Ferrari 0 Transmission 16
DNS 30   Reg Parnell BRM 0 Non Starter 8
DNS 32   Ken Richardson BRM 0 Non Starter 10
DNS 14   Rudi Fischer Ferrari 0 Non Starter
DNS 32   Hans Stuck BRM 0 Reserve Driver
DNS 50   Maurice Trintignant7 Simca-Gordini 0 Driver Unwell
Source:[11]
Notes
  • ^6 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap
  • ^7 – Behra secretly replaced the unwell Trintignant for the race. Team principal Amédée Gordini did not inform the race organizers about the switch as it would have cut the team's starting fee. Behra even wore his compatriot's helmet to disguise the switch.[8][9]

Shared drive

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  • Farina (50 laps) took over from Bonetto (29) after Farina's car retired. Points for 3rd position were shared between the drivers (Farina received 1 extra point for setting the fastest race lap).

Championship standings after the race

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Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
  1   Juan Manuel Fangio 27 (28)
  2   Alberto Ascari 25
  3   José Froilán González 21
  4   Nino Farina 17 (18)
  5   Luigi Villoresi 15 (18)
Source:[12]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are listed. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

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  1. ^ Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 34. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.
  2. ^ a b Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 35. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.
  3. ^ "Italian GP, 1951 Race Report". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  4. ^ "1951 Italian Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  5. ^ "1951 Italian GP - Entry List". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  6. ^ a b c "Italy 1951 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Italian Grand Prix 1951 - Results". ESPN F1. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Jean Behra - Biography". MotorSportMagazine. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Seasons - Italy 1951". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  10. ^ "Italy 1951 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  11. ^ "1951 Italian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Italy 1951 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.


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1951 season
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