1951 Italian Grand Prix
The sixth round of the 1951 Formula 1 World Championship took place on September 16 in Italy at the famous Monza circuit. The length of the track was 6,3 km, while the drivers had to complete 80 laps. The Italian round was a home race for both of the championship’s leading teams, Alfa Romeo and Scuderia Ferrari, making victory here of particular significance.
Alfa Romeo once again, as in Germany, fielded four cars, driven by its regular drivers Juan Manuel Fangio, Giuseppe Farina and Felice Bonetto, as well as test driver Consalvo Sanesi, who did not miss the opportunity to compete in his home Grand Prix. Opposing them were four Ferrari drivers in their usual line-up: Alberto Ascari, José Froilán González, Luigi Villoresi and Piero Taruffi. In addition, the field was further strengthened by two private entrants in red machinery: Peter Whitehead in last year’s Ferrari 125, and the Brazilian Chico Landi, making his Formula 1 debut at the wheel of the new Ferrari 375.
After missing the German round, the BRM team returned to the track at Monza, with their lead driver Reg Parnell joined by test driver Ken Richardson. Équipe Gordini retained its regular trio of Robert Manzon, André Simon and Maurice Trintignant, with reserve driver Jean Behra completing the line-up.
The Italian Grand Prix also saw the debut of OSCA, the team founded by the Maserati brothers after leaving their original company. When Maserati decided to skip the 1951 F1 World Championship, the brothers recruited many specialists from their former team and built a racing car based on a Maserati chassis, fitted with a new 4.5-liter 12-cylinder engine. The team had originally planned to debut at the start of the season, but the attempt was postponed because the car lacked sufficient speed. At Monza, they intended to race with two drivers, Prince Bira and Franco Rol; however, the Siamese prince withdrew at the last moment, leaving the Spanish driver as the team’s sole representative.
Qualification
After two successive Ferrari victories, Alfa Romeo arrived in Italy with an updated 159M chassis, and the improvements immediately bore fruit, as the Milanese team once again set the pace. Juan Manuel Fangio claimed pole position with a time of 1'53.2, nearly five and a half seconds faster than the previous year, while Nino Farina secured second place, just 0.7 seconds adrift. Behind them came the four Ferraris, led once again by Alberto Ascari, who, however, remained almost two seconds slower than Fangio.
Meanwhile, misfortune befell Consalvo Sanesi in the third Alfa Romeo: during refuelling, fuel spilled onto the car’s hot components and burst into flames, leaving the Italian with serious burns and forcing him to announce his retirement from racing. The Milanese team promptly called upon Baron de Graffenried, who had already appeared for them in the opening round in Switzerland, and he duly recorded the ninth-fastest time, placing behind both his teammate Felice Bonetto and Reg Parnell's BRM. The British cars were once again quite competitive, with the team’s second driver, Ken Richardson, securing a place inside the top ten; however, it soon emerged that the BRM debutant did not possess a valid racing licence, and the organisers promptly excluded him from the Grand Prix. At the same time, team principal Raymond Mays initially protested the decision and even threatened to withdraw the entire team, but without success, leaving him scrambling to find a replacement. After failing to reach an agreement with Leslie Johnson, Mays found himself in a difficult position, until, by chance, the renowned German driver of the 1930s, Hans von Stuck, was spotted among the spectators and agreed to step in.
It is also worth noting the solid performance of the Simca-Gordini drivers, who occupied positions from 11th to 13th on the grid. By contrast, OSCA lacked pace, and Franco Rol could manage only the 18th result, some 20 seconds adrift of pole position.
Race
On race day, Maurice Trintignant was forced to withdraw due to indigestion, and his place in the Gordini cockpit was taken by the team’s reserve driver, Jean Behra. Meanwhile, even before the start, both BRM cars were plagued by gearbox problems, and as a result Raymond Mays was still forced to withdraw the team from the race — this time not of his own choosing.
Start. Alfa Romeos make a strong start from the first row, with Fangio and Farina leading into the first corner! In contrast, Ascari has a poor start and finds himself only in fourth, but he quickly fights his way through and, before the end of the first lap, passes two rivals to move into second! Meanwhile, already on the opening lap Landi suffers a transmission failure, which forces the Brazilian to retire from the race.
Position after the 1st lap: Fangio, Ascari, Farina, Gonzalez, Bonetto, Villoresi, Taruffi, Graffenried, Behra, Manzon.
Lap 2: Graffenried’s Alfa Romeo suffers a supercharger failure, forcing the Swiss driver to retire, and simultaneously Whitehead pulls off the track following an engine failure. Meanwhile, Simon overtakes Rosier to move up to 10th, while Claes leaves Rol behind.
Lap 3: Villoresi overtakes Bonetto in a battle for 5th.
Lap 4: Ascari launches an attack and snatches the race lead from Fangio!
Lap 5: Farina's engine starts to smoke, and he drives into the pits, losing 3rd place. After inspecting the engine, the Alfa Romeo mechanics discover a serious problem with the oil system, leaving the world champion with no choice but to retire.
Furthermore, Claes is also forced to retire after his oil pump failed, while Swaters drops to the back of the field as his engine began to overheat.
Lap 7: Chiron overtakes Levegh for 12th.
Lap 8: After several laps in pursuit, Fangio catches up with Ascari once again and regains the lead in the race! Meanwhile, at the back of the field, Swaters finally retires due to engine overheating.
Lap 10: Levegh’s engine begins to smoke as well, bringing his race to an end.
Position after 10 laps: Fangio, Ascari, Gonzalez, Villoresi, Bonetto, Taruffi, Behra, Manzon, Simon, Rosier.
Lap 12: Behra makes a mistake and is immediately passed by Manzon, Simon and Rosier!
Lap 14: Fangio suffers a puncture and is forced to yield the lead to Ascari once again! At the same time, the subsequent pit stop to replace the damaged tyre costs him several more positions, and the Argentine rejoins the race in only 5th!
Meanwhile, on the same lap, one of Taruffi’s tyres burst, but the Italian manages to reach the pits safely and, remarkably, does not lose any positions after his stop!
Lap 16: Bonetto attacks and passes Villoresi, rising to 3rd!
Lap 18: Fangio also overtakes Villoresi, pushing the Italian back to 5th!
Lap 19: Fangio is quickly closing in on Bonetto, and the Italian yields his position to his teammate without resistance! However, Villoresi also takes advantage of the situation and passes the Italian's Alfa Romeo as well!
Position after 20 laps: Ascari, Gonzalez, Fangio, Villoresi, Bonetto, Taruffi, Manzon, Simon, Rosier, Behra.
Lap 24: Hampered by ignition problems, Chiron — who had not been among the frontrunners in this race — is forced to pull off the track.
Lap 26: Villoresi drives into the pits for wheels change and lets Bonetto through into 4th.
Lap 27: Fangio is also heading for a scheduled refueling, with Bonetto now moving up to 3rd!
Lap 29: Following the Alfa Romeo leader, Bonetto also pulls in for a refueling stop, where he is ordered to give up the car to Farina. The world champion rejoins the race in 4th, with Villoresi close on his heels!
Lap 30: At the same moment, the Simca-Gordinis of Manzon and Behra both encounter engine troubles, and the two Frenchmen are forced to retire from the race!
Lap 31: Villoresi’s chase paid off as he passes Farina, advancing to 4th!
Lap 32: Farina counterattacks and regains his position, yet Villoresi is clearly determined not to give in!
Lap 35: Rosier overtakes Simon, taking 7th.
Lap 36: Villoresi launches another attack and overtakes the world champion again, while Simon counterattacks Rosier, regaining 7th!
Lap 37: Farina fights back, passing Villoresi to regain 4th!
Lap 38: Gonzalez pulls in for a refueling stop and returns to the track still holding 2nd!
Lap 39: A lap after his teammate, Ascari also makes a refueling stop and rejoins the track still in the lead!
Lap 40: Fangio, confidently in 3rd, drops out of the race due to ignition problems!
Thus, the final Alfa Romeo remains on the track in the hands of the world champion, who inherits third place from his teammate and charges after the two Ferraris, some 40 seconds behind Gonzalez in 2nd!
Position after 40 laps: Ascari, Gonzalez, Farina, Villoresi, Taruffi, Simon, Rosier, Giraud-Cabantous, Rol.
Lap 55: After 15 laps of relentless attack, Farina had regained half a minute on Gonzalez, only to be forced into the pits as his fuel ran low! At the same time, a hitch during the wheel change costs him an additional 2.5 minutes, but the Italian refuses to give in, resuming his pursuit of the Ferraris!
Lap 64: Farina shows the fastest lap in the race with a result of 1'56.5!
Lap 70: After another series of fastest laps, Farina’s engine suddenly begins misfiring, forcing the Italian to pit again! Having discovered a crack in the fuel tank, the Alfa Romeo mechanics refuel the car and send Farina back onto the track, with any hope of challenging the leading Ferrari now completely gone!
Last lap: Ascari, having taken the lead on the 14th lap, calmly brings the race to a victorious finish, winning the second Grand Prix in a row! His teammate Gonzalez secures second place, 45 seconds behind, thus giving Scuderia Ferrari its first Formula 1 double finish on home soil! Meanwhile, Farina and Bonetto share third place, ensuring that Alfa Romeo claim the last spot on the podium. As for the remaining points positions, as in the previous race, they went to the other two Ferrari drivers, Villoresi and Taruffi.
In the battle for the championship, Ascari closed in on Fangio, trailing by just two points, while Farina finally lost the chance to defend his title. Whatever the outcome of the final race in Spain, one thing was certain: Formula 1 would have a new champion!
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Interesting facts:
- Felice Bonetto's first podium;
- Jean Behra's debut;
- Scuderia Ferrari's first double;
- Alfa Romeo's 10th pole position.
Driver standings
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Alternative GP results
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