1951 Italian Grand Prix

 1951 Italian Grand Prix

Racing data
7th of 8 races in the 1951 World Automobile Championship
Surname:	XXII Gran Premio d'Italia
Date:	September 16, 1951
Place:	Monza
Course:	Monza
Length:	504 km in 80 laps of 6.3 km
Weather:	hot
Pole position
Driver:	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo
Time:	1: 53.2 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo
Time:	1: 56,500 min (lap 64)
Podium
First:	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Second:	José Froilán González	Ferrari
Third:	Felice Bonetto / Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo

The 1951 Italian Grand Prix took place on September 16 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza and was the seventh race of the 1951 World Cup .

background

Before the Italian Grand Prix, the World Cup situation was as follows: Fangio led the World Cup with 27 points, 10 points ahead of Ascari . If he won the race including the fastest lap, he would be world champion, even if Ascari came in second. Although Fangio would lose the points from the French Grand Prix after the victory, while Ascari could still score fully, but should Ascari win the last Grand Prix in Spain, the points from the French race would also be deleted from him, so that he would get a maximum of 29 points, while Fangio already has 31. Under favorable conditions for them, Farina and González also had a chance of the title.

Alfa Romeo competed with three further developed 159M models . The vehicles had improved machines, a stiffened chassis, DeDion rear axles and a modified rear section. They were provided by Fangio, Farina and Bonetto , while Sanesi was supposed to drive a model without these modifications. However, de Graffenried took over the car due to burns he had suffered in another race .

Ferrari reported five official 375 works cars. In addition to the regular cast, other cars were given to Taruffi and the debutant Chico Landi . Private Ferraris brought Rudolf Fischer and Peter Whitehead to the start.

BRM was again registered with two vehicles. But after the training, which Parnell would have secured a starting position in the second row and the newcomer Ken Richardson one in the third row, the license was denied to the latter and so Hans Stuck , who was probably present by chance, took over the wheel. However, both vehicles had gearbox problems so the team decided not to start at all.

training

With the improved car, Fangio and Farina managed to distance the Ferrari again by 1–2 seconds. However, this was nowhere near as much as it was on courses with many long straights in the past. Fangio secured pole position in front of Farina, the front row of the grid completed the two Ferraris of Ascari and González. Ferrari debutant Landi did not get along so well and was only able to qualify for the fourth row.

run

Fangio used the pole position to get off to a good start and led the field for the first three laps before Ascari overtook him. The race ended early for Landi, Whitehead and de Graffenried, all of whom had to give up on the first two laps. Farina had to retire on the seventh lap with engine failure. One lap later, Fangio managed to get past Ascari again. In the 13th lap, however, Fangio suffered a flat tire and slowly had to return to the pits, dropping back to fifth place. With a pit stop from Villoresis and an overtaking maneuver against Bonetto, he was able to quickly work his way back to third place. On the 30th lap, the eliminated Farina took over Bonetto's car, which was in fourth place. Ascari and González were not displaced from their traditional positions by their pit stops, but Fangio had to end his chase for the leaders on lap 39 when he suffered an engine failure. In the whole of the second half of the race there were no more position shifts. Only Farina managed to maintain the pressure on the leaders, but an empty gas tank forced him to make an additional stop to refuel, albeit without losing a position. Ascari won with just under 45 seconds ahead of González. All other drivers were at least one lap behind. The decision in the drivers' world championship now had to be made in the last race.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Scuderia Ferrari	2	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari	P
	4th	Luigi Villoresi
	6th	José Froilán González
	8th	Piero Taruffi
	12	Francisco Landi
Ecurie espadon	14th	Rudolf Fischer	Ferrari 212	Ferrari	P
Team Peter Whitehead	16	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari 125	Ferrari	D.
Ecurie Rosier	18th	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot	D.
	20th	Louis Chiron
Team Pierre Levegh	22nd	Pierre Levegh	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot	D.
Team Yves Giraud-Cabantous	24	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot	D.
Ecurie Belge	26th	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot	D.
Ecurie Belgique	28	Jacques Swaters	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot	D.
British Racing Motors	30th	Reg Parnell	BRM P15	BRM	D.
	32	Hans Stuck
	32	Ken Richardson
Alfa Romeo Motorsport	34	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo 159	Alfa Romeo	P
	36	Emmanuel de Graffenried
	38	Juan Manuel Fangio
	40	Felice Bonetto
Automobili OSCA	44	Franco Rol	Osca 4500G	OSCA	P
Gordini	46	Robert Manzon	Gordini type 15	Gordini	E.
	48	André Simon
	50	Maurice Trintignant

classification

Starting grid

Item	driver	constructor	time	Starting row
1.	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	1: 53.200	1
2.	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	1: 53.900	1
3.	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	1: 55,100	1
4th	José Froilán González	Ferrari	1: 55,900	1
5.	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	1: 57.900	2
6th	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	1: 58.200	2
7th	Felice Bonetto	Alfa Romeo	1: 58,300	2
8th.	Reg Parnell	BRM	2: 02,200	DNS
9.	Emmanuel de Graffenried	Alfa Romeo	2: 05.200	3
10.	Ken Richardson	BRM	2: 05.600	DNS
11.	André Simon	Simca-Gordini	2: 08,000	3
12.	Maurice Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	2: 08.900	3
13.	Robert Manzon	Simca-Gordini	2: 09,000	3
14th	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago	2: 09,300	4th
15th	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago	2: 10.800	4th
16.	Francisco Landi	Ferrari	2: 11,200	4th
17th	Louis Chiron	Talbot-Lago	2: 12,100	4th
18th	Franco Rol	OSCA	2: 13,400	5
19th	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	2: 16,200	5
20th	Pierre Levegh	Talbot-Lago	2: 16,500	5
21st	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago	2: 18,600	5
22nd	Jacques Swaters	Talbot-Lago	2: 18,800	6th
	Rudolf Fischer	Ferrari		DNS
	Hans Stuck	BRM		DNS

Race result

Item	driver	constructor	Round	time	km / h	s. Rd.	guide
1.	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	80	2: 42: 39,300	185.91		71
2.	José Froilán González	Ferrari	80	2: 43: 23.900	185.07
3.	Felice Bonetto	Alfa Romeo	29	2: 42: 53,500	183.33
	Giuseppe Farina		50
4th	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	79	2: 44: 21,600	181.69
5.	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	78	2: 43: 17,900	180.55
6th	André Simon	Simca-Gordini	74	2: 43: 39,200	170.92
7th	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago	73	2: 42: 44,000	169.57	2: 11,400
8th.	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago	72	2: 43: 56,000	166.02	2: 13,400
9.	Franco Rol	OSCA	67	2: 42: 46,000	155.6
DNF	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	39	engine			9
DNF	Maurice Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	29	engine
DNF	Robert Manzon	Simca-Gordini	29	engine
DNF	Louis Chiron	Talbot-Lago	23	suspension		2: 16,000
DNF	Pierre Levegh	Talbot-Lago	9	engine		2: 18.700
DNF	Jacques Swaters	Talbot-Lago	7th	engine		2: 19,900
DNF	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	6th	engine		1: 56,500
DNF	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago	4th	engine		2: 17.400
DNF	Emmanuel de Graffenried	Alfa Romeo	1	engine
DNF	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	1	engine
DNF	Francisco Landi	Ferrari	0	Power transmission
DNS	Reg Parnell	BRM
DNS	Ken Richardson	BRM
DNS	Rudolf Fischer	Ferrari
DNS	Hans Stuck	BRM

World Cup stand after the race

The first five got 8, 6, 4, 3 and 2 points respectively; there was a point for the fastest lap. Only the four best results from eight races count. * includes the point for the fastest lap, fields marked in the same color indicate a vehicle pick-up (point sharing) and numbers in brackets are deleted results.

Item	driver	constructor									Points
1.	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	9 *		(1*)	5 *	6th	7 *			27 (28)
2.	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari			6th	3		8th	8th		25th
3.	José Froilán González	Ferrari				3	8th	4th	6th		21st
4th	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	4th		8th	2	(1*)		3 *		17 (18)
5.	Luigi Villoresi	Alfa Romeo			4th	4th	4th	3	(3)		15 (18)
6th	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	6th					2	2		10
7th	Lee Wallard	Kurti's power		9 *							9
8th.	Mike Nazaruk	Kurti's power		6th							6th
9.	Reg Parnell	Ferrari				3					5
		BRM					2
	Felice Bonetto	Alfa Romeo					3		2		5
11.	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo				4th					4th
12.	Consalvo Sanesi	Alfa Romeo	3								3
	Andy Linden	Sherman		3							3
	Louis Rosier	Talbot			3						3
15th	Emmanuel de Graffenried	Alfa Romeo	2								2
	Bobby Ball	Schroeder		2							2
	Jack McGrath	Kurti's power		2							2
	Manuel Ayulo	Kurti's power		2							2
	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot			2						2

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Lang, Mike; Grand Prix 1950-1965; Haynes Publishing Group, Sparkford Summer Set 1981 p34. ( ISBN 0-85429-276-4 ) (Engl.)
2. ↑ Lang, Mike; Grand Prix 1950-1965; Haynes Publishing Group, Sparkford Summer Set 1981 p34f. ( ISBN 0-85429-276-4 ) (English)

Web links

• Results