The 1950 German Grand Prix was a non-championship Formula Two race held on 20 August 1950 at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Report Formula 2 regulations had been chosen in order to attract a larger starting grid – especially for German teams and drivers, who would not have had time to prepare cars for the still-new Formula One regulations. This resulted in a large amount of interest – 37 cars started the race, and the event drew a crowd of 400,000 spectators.
During practice, German driver Paul Greifzu was involved in an accident where his car hit a paramedic at Pflanzgarten. The paramedic suffered fatal injuries and Greifzu was taken to hospital with fractured ribs and internal bruising.
The Grand Prix had attracted some of the top German drivers, but many of them retired due to the high level of attrition. Indeed, only 10 drivers completed the full distance. Hans Stuck ran sixth after the first lap, but had to stop to fix a stuck throttle. He received outside assistance whilst starting his engine again, and was disqualified. Manfred von Brauchitsch put in a fine performance trying to keep up with the leaders, running as high as seventh before retiring with engine failure.
The race was dominated by Alberto Ascari, who led from pole and pulled away comfortably each lap. The only slight drama came on the final tour: he had run the full distance without pitting, and some spokes on his right rear wheel broke in the banked Karussell. However, such was his lead that he could afford to significantly reduce his pace, nursing the car home to victory.
For his dominant performance, Ascari was presented with the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf), the highest award in German sport. The award had only been established two months prior, and he became its first foreign recipient.
Entries
No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis 2 Alberto AscariScuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 166 F2 4 Dorino Serafini Ferrari Ferrari 166 F2 8 Giovanni Bracco Giovanni Bracco Ferrari 16 Peter HirtEcurie Suisse Veritas-BMW Veritas Meteor 18 Paul Glauser Veritas-BMW Veritas Meteor 20 Kaspar Aebli Veritas-BMW Veritas Meteor 22 "J. M. Marcy" Veritas-BMW Veritas Meteor 24 Alfred Dattner Alfred Dattner Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T11 26 Ernst Seiler Ernst Seiler Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 28 Claude Bernheim Claude Bernheim Cisitalia-Fiat Cisitalia-Fiat D46 32 Roger LoyerEcurie Paris Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 34 "Robert" Cisitalia-Fiat Cisitalia-Fiat D46 36 René Bonnet Automobiles Deutsch-Bonnet DB-Citroën 40 Fergus AndersonHW Motors HWM-Alta 42 Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 44 Paul Pietsch Paul Pietsch Veritas-BMW Veritas Meteor II 46 Paco Godia Francisco Godia Cisitalia-Fiat Cisitalia-Fiat D46 52 Bertil Lundberg Bertil Lundberg BLG-BMW BLG-BMW 2000 54 Harry Schell Horschell Racing Corporation Cooper-JAP Cooper-JAP T12 56 Manfred von Brauchitsch Manfred von Brauchitsch AFM-BMW AFM 6 58 Hans Stuck Hans Stuck AFM-BMW 60 Fritz Riess Fritz Riess AFM-BMW AFM 3 62 Hermann Lang Hermann Lang Veritas-BMW 64 Karl Kling Karl Kling Veritas-BMW Veritas Meteor III Streamline 66 Toni Ulmen Toni Ulmen Veritas-BMW Veritas RS 68 Karl Gommann Karl Gommann AFM-BMW AFM 5 70 Willi Heeks Willi Heeks AFM-BMW AFM 2 72 Willi Krakau Willi Krakau BMW 76 Herman Roosdorp Herman Roosdorp Ferrari Ferrari 166 MM 78 Paul Greifzu Paul Greifzu BMW 78 Carl Bossong Carl Bossong Holbein-BMW Holbein-BMW HH48 82 Georges Berger Georges Berger Jicey-BMW 84 Maurice TrintignantEquipe Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 86 Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 88 André Simon Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 90 "Eymart" Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 94 Aldo Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 92 Toni Branca Mme de Walckiers Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T11 Sources:
Classification
Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/retired 1 2 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 16 2:55.00.8 2 88 André Simon Simca-Gordini 16 +2:20.9 3 84 Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini 16 +8:27.7 4 66 Toni Ulmen Veritas-BMW 15 +1 lap 5 26 Ernst Seiler Simca-Gordini 15 +1 lap 6 42 Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 15 +1 lap 7 68 Karl Gommann AFM-BMW 14 +2 laps 8 90 "Eymart" Simca-Gordini 14 +2 laps 9 82 Georges Berger Jicey-BMW 13 +3 laps 10 46 Paco Godia Cisitalia-Fiat 11 +5 laps Ret 86 Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini 13 Valves Ret 16 Peter Hirt Veritas-BMW 12 Ret 56 Manfred von Brauchitsch AFM-BMW 11 Engine Ret 44 Paul Pietsch Veritas-BMW 8 Clutch Ret 18 Paul Glauser Veritas-BMW 7 Ret 94 Aldo Gordini Simca-Gordini 7 Ret 4 Dorino Serafini Ferrari 6 Gearbox Ret 40 Fergus Anderson HWM-Alta 5 Differential Ret 32 Roger Loyer Simca-Gordini 5 Ret 34 "Robert" Cisitalia-Fiat 4 Ret 64 Karl Kling Veritas-BMW 3 Piston Ret 28 Claude Bernheim Cisitalia-Fiat 3 Ret 36 René Bonnet DB-Citroën 3 Ret 92 Toni Branca Simca-Gordini 2 Engine Ret 62 Hermann Lang Veritas-BMW 2 Engine Ret 70 Willi Heeks AFM-BMW 2 Ret 60 Fritz Riess AFM-BMW 2 Ret 8 Giovanni Bracco Ferrari 2 Ret 20 Kaspar Aebli Veritas-BMW 2 Ret 76 Herman Roosdorp Ferrari 2 Ret 24 Alfred Dattner Simca-Gordini 1 Ret 22 "J. M. Marcy" Veritas-BMW 1 Ret 52 Bertil Lundberg BLG-BMW 1 Ret 72 Willi Krakau BMW 0 Ret 54 Harry Schell Cooper-JAP 0 Engine DSQ 58 Hans Stuck AFM-BMW 0 Outside assistance ? 78 Carl Bossong Holbein-BMW 0 Unknown Source:
References