1951 Formula One season


The 1951 Formula One season was the fifth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the second World Championship of Drivers, which was contested over eight races between 27 May and 28 October 1951. The season also included several non-championship races for Formula One cars.
Juan Manuel Fangio won his first Drivers' Championship, beating reigning champion and Alfa Romeo teammate Nino Farina, as well as several drivers from their main rival, Ferrari. Alfa Romeo has not won any Formula One championship since.
Multiple teams, including Alfa Romeo, were running chassis from before World War II. Regulation changes for, however, would make them obsolete.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1951 FIA World Championship of Drivers. The list does not include those that only contested the Indianapolis 500.
EntrantConstructorChassisEngineTyreDriverRounds
Dunlop

Team and driver changes

  • Alfa Romeo replaced their full-time driver Luigi Fagioli with Consalvo Sanesi, who had joined the team at the end of. Toulo de Graffenried also drove three races for the team, his only Grands Prix for a works team.
  • Ferrari hired Piero Taruffi, who had made his F1 debut with Alfa Romeo at the end of last season, and José Froilán González, coming from a private Maserati team.
  • Gordini waited until the fourth race in the calendar to compete. They added André Simon to their line-up.
  • Talbot-Lago did not enter their works team for 1951. Three of their drivers decided to each take over a Talbot chassis and race it under their own name.
  • Maserati, likewise, did not enter their works team. Driver Louis Chiron moved to Louis Rosier's private Talbot team, while Franco Rol would return later in 1951 with O.S.C.A.
  • HWM made their debut with drivers George Abecassis and Stirling Moss. They would only enter the season opener, before returning in.

    Mid-season changes

  • Future champions BRM made their debut in the British Grand Prix with Peter Walker and Reg Parnell. It would be their only start, before returning in.
  • Luigi Fagioli made his return with Alfa Romeo in the French Grand Prix, in which the team manager ordered him to hand over his car to teammate Juan Manuel Fangio. Fagioli was allegedly so disappointed that he chose to retire from the sport immediately. Felice Bonetto replaced him as Alfa Romeo's third driver, while Consalvo Sanesi left the team.

    Calendar

Calendar changes

  • The Monaco Grand Prix was dropped from the calendar due to budgetary concerns and a lack of regulations in the sport.
  • The Swiss Grand Prix was moved from June to May to become the season opener.
  • The British Grand Prix was moved back from May to July.
  • For the first time, the German and Spanish Grand Prix featured on the calendar as championship rounds.

    World Championship season summary

Ferrari's newer, naturally aspirated 4.5-litre cars offered a real challenge to the Alfas, which were nearing the end of their development potential. The Ferraris were able to capitalize on the inefficiency of the Alfa's very thirsty engines, particularly at Silverstone. Although Alfas won four races, with Fangio taking the championship, Ferrari's three victories spelled the end for the Alfas. BRM made their only championship appearance with the V16 at Silverstone, and the old, slow Talbots were increasingly outclassed.
Points were given to the top 5 finishers. One point was given for the fastest lap. Only the best four of eight scores counted towards the world championship. Points for shared drives were divided equally between the drivers, regardless of who had driven more laps.

Pre-season non-championship races

Although the official championship season would start in late May in Switzerland, a handful of non-championship events were to be run. The first was the first-ever Syracuse Grand Prix near the ancient city of Syracuse on the southern island of Sicily. This race was won by Italian Luigi Villoresi driving the new 4 1/2 litre Ferrari 375 on the public road circuit. Villoresi would triumph again two weeks later at Pau in southwest France over homeland hero Louis Rosier and Nino Farina, driving a Maserati for this race. On the same day, Thai driver Birabongse Bhanudej would triumph at the Richmond Trophy race at Goodwood in southern England in his Maserati.
Three weeks after the Goodwood and Pau races, it was the San Remo Grand Prix in western Italy, not far from Monaco. Alberto Ascari made his first appearance of the season and promptly won in a Ferrari 375 on this twisty and demanding street circuit, ahead of his countryman Dorino Serafini and Swiss Rudi Fischer, both in Ferraris. A week later was the Bordeaux Grand Prix in western France, and it was won by Rosier in a Talbot, ahead of Fischer and Briton Peter Whitehead in a Ferrari. Besides Farina, this race did not feature any Italians because they were competing in the Mille Miglia.
A week later was the BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone, with the Alfa Romeos making their first appearance in 1951. Of the first two heats, Fangio won the first while Farina won the second, and Reg Parnell won the final all-important event, which was stopped because of torrential rain and flooding. Two weeks after this was the Paris Grand Prix in the Bois de Boulogne Park in the French capital city, which Farina won in a Maserati.

Round 1: Switzerland

A week after the BRDC International Trophy race, the Formula One Championship season started in Switzerland at the very dangerous and tree-lined Bremgarten public road circuit near Bern around the time the Monaco Grand Prix would have been held, but that historic race was not held this year. Alfa Romeo, the dominant team in 1950 with its supercharged 159 Alfetta, took the first five places on the grid, except 3rd, which Luigi Villoresi took in a Ferrari. Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio was on pole position, with his Italian teammate Giuseppe "Nino" Farina alongside him. The race started while it was raining, and with its overhanging trees lining the road, this circuit was even more dangerous in the wet. But Fangio made no mistake and won the race from Piero Taruffi in a Ferrari and Farina, whose decision to run the race without changing tires proved wrong.

Round 2: Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500 in the United States was run three days after the Swiss Grand Prix on a Wednesday. It was the only non-European championship round and the only round that was not run to FIA Grand Prix regulations. Lee Wallard won this demanding race in his Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser.

Round 3: Belgium

Farina had won again at Ulster Trophy held at the very dangerous and fast Dundrod circuit in Northern Ireland in an Alfa, and the next championship Grand Prix was in Belgium at the fastest circuit of the year: the spectacular and rural Spa-Francorchamps circuit. With Fangio and Farina once again 1–2 with the Ferraris of Villoresi and Alberto Ascari taking 3rd and 4th, the Alfas and Ferraris dueled around this circuit, with only 13 entries – small grids in all kinds of motorsports in Europe were commonplace at Spa, because of the fear most drivers had of the circuit. Farina, already on a high after winning at Dundrod, won by three minutes over Ascari and Villoresi, with Fangio finishing four laps down in 9th after one of his Alfa's wheels jammed on its hub.

Round 4: France

The French Grand Prix, given the honorary designation of the European Grand Prix this year, was held at the very fast Reims-Gueux circuit deep in northern French champagne country played the host for an exciting race. Fangio, on pole again, was beaten off the line by 3rd-placed qualifier Ascari, with 2nd-placed qualifier Farina making a terrible start and dropping to 11th. On this triangular public road circuit, made up entirely of long straights, slight kinks, and slow, angular corners saw Ascari retire his car with a broken gearbox and Fangio nursing a sick car. Farina pushed very hard and eventually took the lead. Argentine José Froilán González was 2nd in a Ferrari, and 53-year old pre-war great Luigi Fagioli in an Alfa was 3rd in a one-off appearance this year. González was chasing Farina very hard, but Farina's car developed magneto problems and had to fall back, which put González in the lead, with Fagioli in 2nd. However, during both the leader's pitstops, as was commonplace in Grand Prix racing up until 1957, when shared drives were banned – González handed his car over to Ascari, and Fagioli had to exchange his healthy car with Fangio's mechanically unhealthy car, so Ascari and Fangio were back in 1st and 2nd where they had been before. But Fangio took advantage of Ascari's brake problems on his Ferrari to win a race that holds the record for the longest racing distance ever completed for a Grand Prix,. Fagioli, finishing 22 laps down and furious over having to swap cars with Fangio, quit Alfa and Grand Prix racing on the spot. The veteran Italian would die in 1952 after crashing a Lancia during practice for a sportscar race, the 1952 Monaco Grand Prix.

Round 5: Britain

The British Grand Prix at the Silverstone airfield circuit in England played host to round 5 of the World Championship, and this race was to make history. The Alfa Romeos, with their powerful 420 hp supercharged 1.5L engines were fast but had horrendous fuel consumption: 6.5 km/L per gallon, meaning that Fangio and Farina had to stop twice to refuel, José Froilán González in the more fuel-efficient 4.5L naturally aspirated V12 Ferrari went on to win, with Fangio second. This was the first time Enzo Ferrari had won a Grand Prix with a car of his own company's construction, and this team went on to be the most successful in Formula One history.

Round 6: Germany

A week after the British Grand Prix, the non-championship Dutch Grand Prix at the fast beachside Zandvoort circuit near Amsterdam was won by Louis Rosier in a Talbot, ahead of veteran Phillippe Etancelin and up-and-comer Stirling Moss in an HWM.
West Germany had been banned from international sports competitions until 1951, so the German Grand Prix was able to be a Grand Prix championship round for the first time since 1939. The venue was the same as it had been in 1939 – it was the dauntingly challenging, dangerous, and twisty Nürburgring Nordschleife. Ascari took pole position in front of his teammate González and Alfa drivers Fangio and Farina. At the start, Farina took the lead, but the Alfas started to develop overheating problems, and Farina soon retired. In addition to engine problems, the gearbox in Fangio's Alfa lost 1st and 2nd of four gears. After trading the lead with Fangio during pitstops, Ascari took the lead and won his first championship Formula One Grand Prix.