| 1951 Swiss Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
 Circuit Bremgarten track layout | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | 27 May 1951 | ||||
| Official name | XIGroßer Preis der Schweiz | ||||
| Location | Bremgarten,Bern,Switzerland | ||||
| Course | Temporary street/road circuit | ||||
| Course length | 7.28 km (4.524 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 42 laps, 305.760 km (190.008 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Overcast, rain | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Alfa Romeo | ||||
| Time | 2:35.9 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Juan Manuel Fangio | Alfa Romeo | |||
| Time | 2:51.1 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Alfa Romeo | ||||
| Second | Ferrari | ||||
| Third | Alfa Romeo | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The1951 Swiss Grand Prix was aFormula Onemotor race held on 27 May 1951 inBern. The race was contested over 42 laps of theBremgarten Circuit with it also being the opening race of the1951 World Championship of Drivers. The race was the eleventh time that theSwiss 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 forFerrari. Fellow Italian driver,Nino Farina rounded out the podium in the second Alfa Romeo car.
The Swiss Grand Prix, the first event of the 1951 World Championship due to the absence ofMonaco from the calendar, saw theAlfa 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 wasFerrari'sLuigi Villoresi, who was alongsideFangio andFarina on the front row.
The race took place in the rain, with Fangio initially leading from Farina. Ferrari'sPiero 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 andToulo de Graffenried—completed the points paying positions, ahead of Ferrari'sAlberto Ascari, who competed despite suffering from burns from the previous weekend's Formula 2 race in Genoa.Stirling Moss, driving forHWM, was in seventh, but ran out of fuel on the final lap, therefore yielding the position toLouis Chiron, who was driving aMaserati forEnrico Platé.[1]
| 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 |
| DNA | 34 |  Prince Bira | Maserati | – |
| DNA | 36 | Toni Branca | Maserati | – |
| DNA | 46 | Francis Rochat | Simca-Gordini | – |
| DNA | 48 | Robert Manzon[a] | Simca-Gordini | – |
| Maurice Trintignant[a] | ||||
| DNA | 50 | André Simon | Simca-Gordini | – |
Source:[6] | ||||
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Alfa Romeo | 42 | 2:07:53.64 | 1 | 91 |
| 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 | |
| Ret | 16 | Peter Whitehead | Ferrari | 36 | Accident | 9 | |
| Ret | 10 | Henri Louveau | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 30 | Accident | 11 | |
| Ret | 12 | George Abecassis | HWM-Alta | 23 | Magneto | 20 | |
| Ret | 6 | Yves Giraud-Cabantous | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 14 | Ignition | 15 | |
| Ret | 18 | Luigi Villoresi | Ferrari | 12 | Accident | 3 | |
| Ret | 42 | José Froilán González | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 10 | Oil pump | 13 | |
| Ret | 52 | Peter Hirt | Veritas | 0 | Fuel System | 16 | |
Source:[7] | |||||||
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juan Manuel Fangio | 9 |
| 2 | Piero Taruffi | 6 |
| 3 | Nino Farina | 4 |
| 4 | Consalvo Sanesi | 3 |
| 5 | Toulo de Graffenried | 2 |
| Source:[8] | ||
| Previous race: 1950 Italian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1951 season | Next race: 1951 Indianapolis 500 |
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