1951 French Grand Prix

The 1951 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims-Gueux on 1 July 1951. It was race 4 of 8 in the 1951 World Championship of Drivers 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.

1951 French Grand Prix
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Race details
Date 1 July 1951
Official name XXXVIII Grand Prix de l'ACF
Location Reims, France
Course Reims-Gueux
Course length 7.816 km (4.856 miles)
Distance 77 laps, 601.832 km (373.961 miles)
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
Lap leaders

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 373.961 miles.[1]

Report

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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; Fagioli's car was running healthily whereas Fangio's car had multiple mechanical problems. 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] Fagioli, a veteran racing driver who had been racing Grand Prix cars since the 1920s and known for his fiery temperament was so furious over handing his car over to Fangio that he quit Grand Prix racing on the spot; he only raced this one championship race in 1951 and had not competed at the previous rounds at Bern and Spa.

Entries

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No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre
2   Nino Farina Alfa Romeo SpA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
4   Juan Manuel Fangio1 Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
6   Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159 Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
8   Luigi Fagioli2 Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159B Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s P
10   Luigi Villoresi Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 E
12   Alberto Ascari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 E
14   José Froilán González3 Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 E
16   Piero Taruffi4 Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari 375 F1 4.5 V12 E
18   Toulo de Graffenried Enrico Platé Maserati Maserati 4CLT-50 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
20   Harry Schell Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
22   Prince Bira4 Ecurie Siam Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
24   Peter Whitehead Graham Whitehead Ferrari Ferrari 125 Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s D
26   Reg Parnell5 G. A. Vandervell Ferrari Ferrari 375 tw Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 P
28   Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
30   Robert Manzon Equipe Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
32   Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
34   André Simon Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
36   Aldo Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T11 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s E
38   Philippe Étancelin Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
40   Louis Rosier Ecurie Rosier Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
42   Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
44   Eugène Chaboud6 Eugène Chaboud Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-GS Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
46   Yves Giraud-Cabantous Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
48   Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
50   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

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Qualifying

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

Race

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Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 8   Luigi Fagioli
  Juan Manuel Fangio
Alfa Romeo 77 3:22:11.0 7 4
51
2 14   José Froilán González
  Alberto Ascari
Ferrari 77 + 58.2 6 3
3
3 10   Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 74 + 3 Laps 4 4
4 26   Reg Parnell Ferrari 73 + 4 Laps 9 3
5 2   Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 73 + 4 Laps 2 2
6 42   Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago-Talbot 71 + 6 Laps 8  
7 46   Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 71 + 6 Laps 11  
8 44   Eugène Chaboud Talbot-Lago-Talbot 69 + 8 Laps 14  
9 48   Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago-Talbot 66 + 11 Laps 19  
10 6   Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 58 + 19 Laps 5  
11 4   Juan Manuel Fangio
  Luigi Fagioli
Alfa Romeo 55 + 22 Laps 1  
Ret 28   Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 54 Accident 12  
Ret 40   Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 43 Transmission 13  
Ret 38   Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 37 Engine 10  
Ret 36   Aldo Gordini Simca-Gordini 27 Engine 17  
Ret 20   Harry Schell Maserati 23 Overheating 22  
Ret 32   Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini 11 Engine 18  
Ret 12   Alberto Ascari Ferrari 10 Gearbox 3  
Ret 34   André Simon Simca-Gordini 7 Engine 21  
Ret 30   Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini 3 Engine 23  
Ret 50   Onofre Marimón Maserati-Milano 2 Engine 15  
Ret 18   Toulo de Graffenried Maserati 1 Transmission 16  
Ret 24   Peter Whitehead Ferrari 1 Engine 20  
Source:[10]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drives

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  • Car #8: Fagioli (first 20 laps) then Fangio (57 laps). They shared the points for the win (Fangio scored one extra point for setting the fastest race lap).
  • Car #14: Gonzalez (first 35 laps) then Ascari (42 laps). They shared the points for 2nd position.
  • Car #4: Fangio (first 15 laps) then Fagioli (40 laps). When Fagioli rejoined the race in Fangio's car he was already 20 laps behind.

Championship standings after the race

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Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
  1 1   Juan Manuel Fangio 15
  1 2   Nino Farina 14
  3   Lee Wallard 9
  4   Alberto Ascari 9
  2 5   Luigi Villoresi 8
Source: [11]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are listed. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.

References

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  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. ^ a b c "French Grand Prix 1951 - Results". ESPN F1. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  7. ^ "France 1951 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  8. ^ a b "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.
  11. ^ "France 1951 - Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.


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