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.
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.
Report 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. 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 No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre 2 Nino Farina Alfa Romeo SpA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s 4 Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s 6 Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159 Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s 8 Luigi Fagioli Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159B Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s 10 Luigi Villoresi Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 12 Alberto Ascari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 14 José Froilán González Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 16 Piero Taruffi Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari 375 F1 4.5 V12 18 Toulo de Graffenried Enrico Platé Maserati Maserati 4CLT-50 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s 20 Harry Schell Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s 22 Prince Bira Ecurie Siam Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s 24 Peter Whitehead Graham Whitehead Ferrari Ferrari 125 Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s 26 Reg Parnell G. A. Vandervell Ferrari Ferrari 375 tw Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 28 Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 30 Robert Manzon Equipe Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s 32 Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s 34 André Simon Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s 36 Aldo Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T11 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s 38 Philippe Étancelin Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 40 Louis Rosier Ecurie Rosier Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 42 Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 44 Eugène Chaboud Eugène Chaboud Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-GS Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 46 Yves Giraud-Cabantous Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 48 Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 50 Onofre Marimón Scuderia Milano Maserati-Milano Maserati 4CLT-50 Milano 1.5 L4s Sources:
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time 1 4 Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 2:25.7 2 2 Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 2:27.4 3 12 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 2:28.1 4 10 Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 2:28.5 5 6 Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 2:28.9 6 14 José Froilán González Ferrari 2:30.8 7 8 Luigi Fagioli Alfa Romeo 2:33.1 8 42 Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:43.7 9 26 Reg Parnell Ferrari 2:44.0 10 38 Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:44.8 11 46 Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:45.7 12 28 Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:46.6 13 40 Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:48.0 14 44 Eugène Chaboud Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:49.6 15 50 Onofre Marimón Maserati-Milano 2:49.9 16 18 Toulo de Graffenried Maserati 2:50.1 17 36 Aldo Gordini Simca-Gordini 2:50.3 18 32 Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini 2:50.4 19 48 Guy Mairesse Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:58.4 20 24 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 2:59.0 21 34 André Simon Simca-Gordini 2:59.5 22 20 Harry Schell Maserati 3:02.0 23 30 Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini 3:06.0 16 Piero Taruffi Ferrari – 22 Prince Bira Maserati –
Race Pos No Driver ConstructorLapsTime/Retired Grid Points 1 8 Luigi Fagioli Alfa Romeo 77 3:22:11.0 7 4 Juan Manuel Fangio5 2 14 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 77 + 58.2 6 3 José Froilán González 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 Luigi Fagioli Alfa Romeo 55 + 22 Laps 1 Juan Manuel Fangio 28 Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 54 Accident 12 40 Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 43 Transmission 13 38 Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 37 Engine 10 36 Aldo Gordini Simca-Gordini 27 Engine 17 20 Harry Schell Maserati 23 Overheating 22 32 Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini 11 Engine 18 12 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 10 Gearbox 3 34 André Simon Simca-Gordini 7 Engine 21 30 Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini 3 Engine 23 50 Onofre Marimón Maserati-Milano 2 Engine 15 18 Toulo de Graffenried Maserati 1 Transmission 16 24 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 1 Engine 20 Notes – Includes 1 point for fastest lap
Championship standings after the race 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 8Source:
Notes
References