The 1951 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 27 May 1951 in Bern. The race was contested over 42 laps of the Bremgarten Circuit with it also being the opening race of the 1951 World Championship of Drivers. The race was the eleventh time that the Swiss Grand Prix was held with all of the races being held at Bremgarten.
After claiming pole position for the race, Argentine driver, Juan Manuel Fangio would go on win the race by 55 seconds over Italian driver, Piero Taruffi who drove for Ferrari. Fellow Italian driver, Nino Farina rounded out the podium in the second Alfa Romeo car.
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.
Entries No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre 2 Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 4 Philippe Étancelin Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 6 Yves Giraud-Cabantous Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 8 Louis Rosier Ecurie Rosier Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 10 Henri Louveau Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 12 George Abecassis HW Motors HWM-Alta HWM 51 Alta F2 2.0 L4 14 Stirling Moss HWM-Alta HWM 51 Alta F2 2.0 L4 16 Peter Whitehead Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 125 Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 s 18 Luigi Villoresi Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 20 Alberto Ascari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 22 Nino Farina Alfa Romeo SpA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s 24 Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s 26 Toulo de Graffenried Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s 28 Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159 Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s 30 Louis Chiron Enrico Platé Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s 32 Harry Schell Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s 38 Rudi Fischer Ecurie Espadon Ferrari Ferrari 212 Ferrari 212 2.5 V12 40 Guy Mairesse Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 42 José Froilán González José Froilán González Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-GS Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 44 Piero Taruffi Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 46 Francis Rochat Francis Rochat Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T11 Simca-Gordini 16 1.5 L4 48 Robert Manzon Equipe Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s Maurice Trintignant 50 André Simon Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s 52 Peter Hirt Peter Hirt Veritas Veritas Meteor Veritas 2.0 L6 ? Sources:
– Consalvo Sanesi qualified and drove 41 laps of the race in the #28 Alfa Romeo. Gianbattista Guidotti, named substitute driver for the car, was not used at the Grand Prix.
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time 1 24 Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 2:35.9 2 22 Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 2:37.8 3 18 Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 2:39.3 4 28 Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 2:40.3 5 26 Toulo de Graffenried Alfa Romeo 2:41.8 6 44 Piero Taruffi Ferrari 2:45.2 7 20 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 2:46.0 8 8 Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:52.7 9 16 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 2:52.9 10 38 Rudi Fischer Ferrari 2:54.1 11 10 Henri Louveau Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:56.2 12 4 Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:57.3 13 42 José Froilán González Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:57.3 14 14 Stirling Moss HWM-Alta 2:58.4 15 6 Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 3:00.3 16 52 Peter Hirt Veritas 3:01.6 17 32 Harry Schell Maserati 3:02.4 18 2 Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 3:02.5 19 30 Louis Chiron Maserati 3:03.8 20 12 George Abecassis HWM-Alta 3:05.1 21 40 Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago-Talbot 3:12.0 34 Prince Bira Maserati– 36 Toni Branca Maserati– 46 Francis Rochat Simca-Gordini– 48 Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini– Maurice Trintignant 50 André Simon Simca-Gordini–
Race Pos No Driver ConstructorLapsTime/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 Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 35 + 7 Laps 18 14 40 Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago-Talbot 31 + 11 Laps 21 16 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 36 Accident 9 10 Henri Louveau Talbot-Lago-Talbot 30 Accident 11 12 George Abecassis HWM-Alta 23 Magneto 20 6 Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 14 Ignition 15 18 Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 12 Accident 3 42 José Froilán González Talbot-Lago-Talbot 10 Oil pump 13 52 Peter Hirt Veritas 0 Fuel System 16 Notes – Includes 1 point for fastest lap
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 2Source:
Notes
References