1951 Swiss Grand Prix

Switzerland  1951 Swiss Grand Prix
Race details
Race 1 of 8 in the 1951 Formula One season

Circuit Bremgarten track layout
Date 27 May 1951
Official name XI Großer Preis der Schweiz
Location Bremgarten, Bern, Switzerland
Course Motorcycle track
Course length 7.28 km (4.524 mi)
Distance 42 laps, 305.760 km (190.008 mi)
Weather Overcast, rain
Pole position
Driver Alfa Romeo
Time 2:35.9
Fastest lap
Driver Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo
Time 2:51.1
Podium
First
  • Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio
Alfa Romeo
Second Ferrari
Third Alfa Romeo

The 1951 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Bremgarten on 27 May 1951. It was the first round of the 1951 World Drivers' Championship. The race saw the Formula One debut of British driver Stirling Moss.

Report

The Swiss Grand Prix, the first event of the 1951 World Championship due to the absence of Monaco from the calendar, saw the Alfa Romeo team continue their dominance of the previous season. All four of their drivers occupied positions on the front two rows of the grid; the highest non-Alfa qualifier was Ferrari's Luigi Villoresi, who was alongside Fangio and Farina on the front row.

The race took place in the rain, with Fangio initially leading from Farina. Ferrari's Piero Taruffi also challenged for the lead, having started from sixth on the grid. Fangio pitted, handing Nino Farina the lead for the 24th lap of the race. However, Farina's decision not to make a pitstop did not pay off, as Fangio was able to retake the lead on lap 29. Fangio maintained the lead for the remainder of the race, eventually winning by nearly a minute from Taruffi, who had overtaken Farina on the penultimate lap. This was Taruffi's first podium in just his second championship race. The remaining Alfa drivers—Consalvo Sanesi and Toulo de Graffenried—completed the points paying positions, ahead of Ferrari's Alberto Ascari, who competed despite suffering from burns from the previous weekend's Formula 2 race in Genoa. Stirling Moss, driving for HWM, was in seventh, but ran out of fuel on the final lap, therefore yielding the position to Louis Chiron, who was driving a Maserati for Enrico Platé.[1]

Entries

No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre
2 Belgium Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
4 France Philippe Étancelin Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
6 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
8 France Louis Rosier Ecurie Rosier Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
10 France Henri Louveau Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
12 United Kingdom George Abecassis HW Motors HWM-Alta HWM 51 Alta 1.5 L4s D
14 United Kingdom Stirling Moss HWM-Alta HWM 51 Alta 1.5 L4s D
16 United Kingdom Peter Whitehead Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 125 Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s D
18 Italy Luigi Villoresi Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
20 Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
22 Italy Nino Farina Alfa Romeo SpA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
24 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
26 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
28 Italy Consalvo Sanesi1 Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159 Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
30 Monaco Louis Chiron Enrico Platé Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
32 United States Harry Schell Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
38 Switzerland Rudi Fischer Ecurie Espadon Ferrari Ferrari 212 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
40 France Guy Mairesse Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
42 Argentina José Froilán González José Froilán González Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-GS Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
44 Italy Piero Taruffi Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
46 Switzerland Francis Rochat2 Francis Rochat Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T11 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
48 France Maurice Trintignant2 Equipe Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
50 France André Simon2 Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
52 Switzerland Peter Hirt Peter Hirt Veritas Veritas Meteor Veritas 2.0 L6 ?
Sources: [2][3]
^1 — Consalvo Sanesi qualified and drove the entirety of the race in the #28 Alfa Romeo. Gianbattista Guidotti, named substitute driver, was not used during the Grand Prix.[4]
^2 — Francis Rochat, Maurice Trintignant and André Simon all withdrew from the event prior to practice. Robert Manzon, who was entered in the #48 Simca Gordini alongside Trintignant, also withdrew.[5]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 24 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 2:35.9
2 22 Italy Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 2:37.8 + 1.9
3 18 Italy Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 2:39.3 + 3.4
4 28 Italy Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 2:40.3 + 4.4
5 26 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Alfa Romeo 2:41.8 + 5.9
6 44 Italy Piero Taruffi Ferrari 2:45.2 + 9.3
7 20 Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari 2:46.0 + 10.1
8 8 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:52.7 + 16.8
9 16 United Kingdom Peter Whitehead Ferrari 2:52.9 + 17.0
10 38 Switzerland Rudi Fischer Ferrari 2:54.1 + 18.2
11 10 France Henri Louveau Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:56.2 + 20.3
12 4 France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:57.3 + 21.4
13 42 Argentina José Froilán González Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:57.3 + 21.4
14 14 United Kingdom Stirling Moss HWM-Alta 2:58.4 + 22.5
15 6 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 3:00.3 + 24.4
16 52 Switzerland Peter Hirt Veritas 3:01.6 + 25.7
17 32 United States Harry Schell Maserati 3:02.4 + 26.5
18 2 Belgium Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 3:02.5 + 26.6
19 30 Monaco Louis Chiron Maserati 3:03.8 + 27.9
20 12 United Kingdom George Abecassis HWM-Alta 3:05.1 + 29.2
21 40 France Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago-Talbot 3:12.0 + 36.1
DNA 34 Thailand Prince Bira Maserati
DNA 36 Switzerland Toni Branca Maserati
DNA 46 France Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini
DNA 48 France Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini
DNA 50 France André Simon Simca-Gordini
Source:[6]

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 24 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 42 2:07:53.64 1 9
2 44 Italy Piero Taruffi Ferrari 42 + 55.24 6 6
3 22 Italy Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 42 + 1:19.31 2 4
4 28 Italy Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 41 + 1 Lap 4 3
5 26 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Alfa Romeo 40 + 2 Laps 5 2
6 20 Italy Alberto Ascari Ferrari 40 + 2 Laps 7  
7 30 Monaco Louis Chiron Maserati 40 + 2 Laps 19  
8 14 United Kingdom Stirling Moss HWM-Alta 40 + 2 Laps 14  
9 8 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 39 + 3 Laps 8  
10 4 France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 39 + 3 Laps 12  
11 38 Switzerland Rudi Fischer Ferrari 39 + 3 Laps 10  
12 32 United States Harry Schell Maserati 38 + 4 Laps 17  
13 2 Belgium Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 35 + 7 Laps 18  
14 40 France Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago-Talbot 31 + 11 Laps 21  
Ret 16 United Kingdom Peter Whitehead Ferrari 36 Accident 9  
Ret 10 France Henri Louveau Talbot-Lago-Talbot 30 Accident 11  
Ret 12 United Kingdom George Abecassis HWM-Alta 23 Magneto 20  
Ret 6 France Yves Giraud Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 14 Ignition 15  
Ret 18 Italy Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 12 Accident 3  
Ret 42 Argentina José Froilán González Talbot-Lago-Talbot 10 Oil pump 13  
Ret 52 Switzerland Peter Hirt Veritas 0 Fuel System 16  
Source:[7]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio 9
2 Italy Piero Taruffi 6
3 Italy Nino Farina 4
4 Italy Consalvo Sanesi 3
5 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried 2

References

  1. "Swiss GP, 1951 Race Report". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  2. "1951 Swiss Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  3. "1951 Swiss GP - Entry List". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  4. "Switzerland 1951 - Race entrants". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  5. "Switzerland 1951 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  6. "Grosser Preis der Schweiz". oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  7. "1951 Swiss Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
Previous race:
1950 Italian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1951 season
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1951 Indianapolis 500
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1950 Swiss Grand Prix
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