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 |
 Juan Manuel Fangio | Alfa Romeo | |
| Time | 2:51.1 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |
| 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
- ^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
Race
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Juan Manuel Fangio |
Alfa Romeo | 42 | 2:07:53.64 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 44 |  Piero Taruffi |
Ferrari | 42 | + 55.24 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | 22 | Nino Farina |
Alfa Romeo | 42 | + 1:19.31 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | 28 | Consalvo Sanesi |
Alfa Romeo | 41 | + 1 Lap | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | 26 |  Toulo de Graffenried |
Alfa Romeo | 40 | + 2 Laps | 5 | 2 |
| 6 | 20 | Alberto Ascari |
Ferrari | 40 | + 2 Laps | 7 | |
| 7 | 30 |  Louis Chiron |
Maserati | 40 | + 2 Laps | 19 | |
| 8 | 14 |  Stirling Moss |
HWM-Alta | 40 | + 2 Laps | 14 | |
| 9 | 8 |  Louis Rosier |
Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 39 | + 3 Laps | 8 | |
| 10 | 4 | Philippe Étancelin |
Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 39 | + 3 Laps | 12 | |
| 11 | 38 | Rudi Fischer |
Ferrari | 39 | + 3 Laps | 10 | |
| 12 | 32 |  Harry Schell |
Maserati | 38 | + 4 Laps | 17 | |
| 13 | 2 | .svg.png){kind=small} Johnny Claes |
Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 35 | + 7 Laps | 18 | |
| 14 | 40 | Guy Mairesse |
Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 31 | + 11 Laps | 21 | |
| Ret | 16 | Peter Whitehead |
Ferrari | 36 | Accident | 9 | |
| Ret | 10 | Henri Louveau |
Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 30 | Accident | 11 | |
| Ret | 12 | George Abecassis |
HWM-Alta | 23 | Magneto | 20 | |
| Ret | 6 | Yves Giraud Cabantous |
Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 14 | Ignition | 15 | |
| Ret | 18 | Luigi Villoresi |
Ferrari | 12 | Accident | 3 | |
| Ret | 42 | José Froilán González |
Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 10 | Oil pump | 13 | |
| Ret | 52 | Peter Hirt |
Veritas | 0 | Fuel System | 16 | |
Source:[7] | |||||||
Championship standings after the race
- Drivers' Championship standings
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juan Manuel Fangio |
9 |
| 2 | Piero Taruffi |
6 |
| 3 | Nino Farina |
4 |
| 4 | Consalvo Sanesi |
3 |
| 5 | Toulo de Graffenried |
2 |
- Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 4 results counted toward the Championship.
References
- ↑ "Swiss GP, 1951 Race Report". Grandprix.com. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ↑ "1951 Swiss Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ↑ "1951 Swiss GP - Entry List". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ↑ "Switzerland 1951 - Race entrants". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ↑ "Switzerland 1951 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ↑ "Grosser Preis der Schweiz". oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ↑ "1951 Swiss Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
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