1951 British Grand Prix

1951 British Grand Prix
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Silverstone Circuit in 1950–1951 configuration
Race details
Date	14 July 1951
Official name	IV RAC British Grand Prix
Location	Silverstone Circuit Silverstone, England
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.649 km (2.888 miles)
Distance	90 laps, 408.410 km (253.774 miles)
Weather	Mild, Dry
Pole position
Driver	José Froilán González	Ferrari
Time	1:43.4
Fastest lap
Driver	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo
Time	1:44.0 on lap 38
Podium
First	José Froilán González	Ferrari
Second	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo
Third	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1951 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 July 1951 at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. It was race 5 of 8 in the 1951 World Championship of Drivers and was contested over 90 laps. The race was the first victory for José Froilán González, and was also the first of many for the Scuderia Ferrari team. Both the team and driver also achieved their first ever pole position during the weekend.

Report

José Froilán González was one second quicker than Juan Manuel Fangio in qualifying, achieving the first pole position of his career. It was also the first pole position for the Ferrari team, and the first in the World Championship (excluding the Indy 500 races) not scored by an Alfa Romeo. Nino Farina and Alberto Ascari qualified in third and fourth positions, completing the front row.

González and Fangio shot away almost parallel from the front row of the grid, closely followed by the other Alfa Romeos and Ferraris. Alfa Romeo driver Felice Bonetto, who started in seventh position, was the first man at the first corner, with the Ferrari of González in second position. González took the lead from Bonetto on the second lap with Fangio chasing. The BRM cars of Reg Parnell and Peter Walker were in hot pursuit of the leaders. The team had arrived at the last minute, and had not practiced or even qualified for their debut race, and had started in 19th and 20th positions. Bonetto's Alfa Romeo teammates of Fangio and reigning World Champion, Nino Farina, managed to overtake him to move into second and third places. On lap 6, Fangio began to close in on González; he passed him on the straight on lap 10, and slowly began to draw away. Consalvo Sanesi then pulled into the pits for fuel and new tyres.

The Maserati of John James became the first retirement of the race on lap 23 with a radiator problem, but was soon joined on the sidelines by Louis Chiron, both his Maserati teammates, the Ferrari of Alberto Ascari and Farina. Farina pulled up at Abbey curve after 75 laps with a slipping clutch and his engine on fire. He had set the lap record on lap 38, with a time of 1 minute 44 seconds, an average speed of 100.0003981  mph,(some sources state 99.997382 mph) ensuring he still left the weekend with one point. González retook the lead on lap 39 with an overtake at Becketts corner. He kept his lead for the remainder of the race (excluding one lap when he pitted just before Fangio did) extending it to 1 minute and 5 seconds with 5 laps to go, before easing off at the end of the race. The BRM drivers of Parnell and Walker were still battling on, despite the fact they were suffering from hand and feet burns, and would eventually finish fifth and seventh respectively.

The Alfa Romeos of Fangio and Farina pitted twice for fuel, owing to the awful fuel consumption of their cars. They were doing 1+1⁄16 miles to the gallon, and needed to take on 90 gallons for every stop. Both drivers needed to stop twice, and, owing to the lengthy, minutes-long pit stops of Formula One in 1951, the more fuel efficient Ferrari of González (who only needed to make one stop) was able to overtake the Alfa Romeos and pull out a considerable lead.

González eventually took his own and Ferrari's first victory in a World Championship race by 51 seconds. It was the first World Championship race (excluding the Indy 500) that was not won by an Alfa Romeo. An Alfa Romeo was still in second place though, in the form of the year's eventual champion Fangio. Luigi Villoresi became the second Ferrari on the podium after he finished in third place, two laps behind. Bonetto and Parnell were the other two-point scorers at the race, finishing in fourth and fifth positions respectively.

As it turned out, González had actually raced with an older chassis and engine than his teammates, Villoresi and Ascari.

Entries

No	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre
1	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159B	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
2	Juan Manuel Fangio		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159B	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
3	Consalvo Sanesi		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159B	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
4	Felice Bonetto		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159A	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
5	Joe Kelly	Joe Kelly	Alta	Alta GP	Alta 1.5 L4 s	D
6	Reg Parnell	BRM Ltd.	BRM	BRM P15	BRM 15 1.5 V16 s	D
7	Peter Walker		BRM	BRM P15	BRM 15 1.5 V16 s	D
8	Bob Gerard	Bob Gerard	ERA	ERA B	ERA 1.5 L6 s	D
9	Brian Shawe-Taylor	Brian Shawe-Taylor	ERA	ERA B/C	ERA 1.5 L6 s	D
10	Luigi Villoresi	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	P
11	Alberto Ascari		Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	P
12	José Froilán González		Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	P
14	Peter Whitehead	G. A. Vandervell	Ferrari	Ferrari 375 tw	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	P
15	David Murray	Scuderia Ambrosiana	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT-48	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	D
16	John James	John James	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT-48	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	D
17	Philip Fotheringham-Parker	Philip Fotheringham-Parker	Maserati	Maserati 4CL	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	D
18	Duncan Hamilton	Duncan Hamilton	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
19	Maurice Trintignant1	Equipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
20	Robert Manzon1		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
21	André Simon1		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
22	Louis Rosier	Ecurie Rosier	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
23	Louis Chiron		Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
24	Philippe Étancelin1	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
25	Johnny Claes	Ecurie Belge	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
Sources:

^1 – Maurice Trintignant, Robert Manzon, André Simon and Philippe Étancelin all withdrew from the event prior to practice.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	12	José Froilán González	Ferrari	1:43.4	–
2	2	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	1:44.4	+ 1.0
3	1	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	1:45.0	+ 1.6
4	11	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	1:45.4	+ 2.0
5	10	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	1:45.8	+ 2.4
6	3	Consalvo Sanesi	Alfa Romeo	1:50.2	+ 6.8
7	4	Felice Bonetto	Alfa Romeo	1:52.0	+ 8.6
8	14	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	1:54.6	+ 11.2
9	22	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	1:56.0	+ 12.6
10	8	Bob Gerard	ERA	1:57.0	+ 13.6
11	18	Duncan Hamilton	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	1:57.2	+ 13.8
12	9	Brian Shawe-Taylor	ERA	1:58.2	+ 14.8
13	23	Louis Chiron	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:00.2	+ 16.8
14	25	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:05.8	+ 22.4
15	15	David Murray	Maserati	2:06.0	+ 22.6
16	17	Philip Fotheringham-Parker	Maserati	2:13.2	+ 29.8
17	16	John James	Maserati	2:17.0	+ 33.6
18	5	Joe Kelly	Alta	2:18.4	+ 35.0
19	7	Peter Walker	BRM	No time	–
20	6	Reg Parnell	BRM	No time	–
DNA	19	Maurice Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	–	–
DNA	20	Robert Manzon	Simca-Gordini	–	–
DNA	21	André Simon	Simca-Gordini	–	–
DNA	24	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	–	–
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/retired	Grid	Points
1	12	José Froilán González	Ferrari	90	2:42:18.2	1	8
2	2	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	90	+51.0	2	6
3	10	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	88	+2 laps	5	4
4	4	Felice Bonetto	Alfa Romeo	87	+3 laps	7	3
5	6	Reg Parnell	BRM	85	+5 laps	20	2
6	3	Consalvo Sanesi	Alfa Romeo	84	+6 laps	6
7	7	Peter Walker	BRM	84	+6 laps	19
8	9	Brian Shawe-Taylor	ERA	84	+6 laps	12
9	14	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	83	+7 laps	8
10	22	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	83	+7 laps	9
11	8	Bob Gerard	ERA	82	+8 laps	10
12	18	Duncan Hamilton	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	81	+9 laps	11
13	25	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	80	+10 laps	14
Ret	1	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	75	Clutch	3	11
NC	5	Joe Kelly	Alta	75	Not classified	18
Ret	11	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	56	Gearbox	4
Ret	17	Philip Fotheringham-Parker	Maserati	46	Oil leak	16
Ret	15	David Murray	Maserati	45	Engine	15
Ret	23	Louis Chiron	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	41	Brakes	13
Ret	16	John James	Maserati	23	Radiator	17
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – 1 point for fastest lap

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	21
	2	Nino Farina	15
2	3	Luigi Villoresi	12
5	4	José Froilán González	11
2	5	Lee Wallard	9
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are listed. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.