| 1950 Belgian Grand Prix | |||||
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 18 June 1950 | ||||
| Official name | XII Grand Prix Automobile de Belgique | ||||
| Location | Spa-Francorchamps,Spa,Belgium | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing circuit | ||||
| Course length | 14.120 km (8.825 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 35 laps, 494.2 km (308.875 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Warm, dry and sunny | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Alfa Romeo | ||||
| Time | 4:37.0 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Nino Farina | Alfa Romeo | |||
| Time | 4:34.1 on lap 18[1] | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Alfa Romeo | ||||
| Second | Alfa Romeo | ||||
| Third | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The1950 Belgian Grand Prix, formally titled theGrand Prix Automobile de Belgique,[2] was aFormula Onemotor race held on 18 June 1950 atSpa-Francorchamps. It was race five of seven in the1950 World Championship of Drivers. The 35-lap race was won byAlfa Romeo driverJuan Manuel Fangio after he started from second position. His teammateLuigi Fagioli finished second andTalbot-Lago driverLouis Rosier came in third.
By the time of the Belgian Grand Prix, the pace of the season was beginning to tell, with only 14 cars arriving at the Spa circuit. These included the dominantAlfa Romeos ofNino Farina,Juan Manuel Fangio andLuigi Fagioli.Scuderia Ferrari was down to two 125s forLuigi Villoresi andAlberto Ascari, although Ascari had a new V12 engine to try out. The factoryTalbot-Lago team had three cars forLouis Rosier,Yves Giraud-Cabantous andPhilippe Étancelin (standing in for the injuredEugène Martin). The rest of the field was made up of Talbot-Lagos (notably one forRaymond Sommer), a singleAlta and oneMaserati forToni Branca. This race was the final entry forGeoffrey Crossley, the sport's high costs forcing him, like many privateers, to retire after just a handful of races.
Farina and Fangio were fastest as usual in qualifying with Fagioli unable to match them. Sommer split the Ferraris in his old Talbot-Lago. The race would be a similar story. The Alfas went off on their own and Sommer battled with the two Ferraris. When the Alfa stopped for fuel, Sommer found himself in the unlikely position of being race leader. Unfortunately his engine blew up. Ascari took the lead but he had to stop for fuel and that meant that the Alfas went ahead again with Fangio leading Farina and Fagioli. Farina suffered transmission trouble in the closing laps and dropped to fourth behind the best of the surviving Talbot-Lagos being driven by Rosier. Ascari finished fifth.
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Nino Farina | Alfa Romeo | 4:37 |
| 2 | 10 |  Juan Manuel Fangio | Alfa Romeo | 4:37 |
| 3 | 12 | Luigi Fagioli | Alfa Romeo | 4:41 |
| 4 | 2 | Luigi Villoresi | Ferrari | 4:47 |
| 5 | 6 |  Raymond Sommer | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 4:47 |
| 6 | 16 | Philippe Étancelin | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 4:49 |
| 7 | 4 | Alberto Ascari | Ferrari | 4:52 |
| 8 | 14 | Louis Rosier | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 4:53 |
| 9 | 18 | Yves Giraud-Cabantous | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 4:56 |
| 10 | 22 | Pierre Levegh | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 5:01 |
| 11 | 20 | Eugène Chaboud | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 5:13 |
| 12 | 26 |  Geoffrey Crossley | Alta | 5:44 |
| 13 | 30 |  Toni Branca | Maserati | 5:45 |
| 14 | 24 |  Johnny Claes | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | No time |
| Source:[5] | ||||
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Alfa Romeo | 35 | 2:47:26 | 2 | 8 |
| 2 | 12 | Luigi Fagioli | Alfa Romeo | 35 | + 14 | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 14 | Louis Rosier | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 35 | + 2:19 | 8 | 4 |
| 4 | 8 | Nino Farina | Alfa Romeo | 35 | + 4:05 | 1 | 41 |
| 5 | 4 | Alberto Ascari | Ferrari | 34 | + 1 Lap | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | 2 | Luigi Villoresi | Ferrari | 33 | + 2 Laps | 4 | |
| 7 | 22 | Pierre Levegh | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 33 | + 2 Laps | 10 | |
| 8 | 24 | Johnny Claes | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 32 | + 3 Laps | 14 | |
| 9 | 26 | Geoffrey Crossley | Alta | 30 | + 5 Laps | 12 | |
| 10 | 30 | Toni Branca | Maserati | 29 | + 6 Laps | 11 | |
| Ret | 20 | Eugène Chaboud | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 22 | Oil Pipe | 13 | |
| Ret | 6 | Raymond Sommer | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 20 | Oil Pressure | 5 | |
| Ret | 16 | Philippe Étancelin | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 15 | Overheating | 6 | |
| Ret | 18 | Yves Giraud-Cabantous | Talbot-Lago-Talbot | 2 | Oil Pipe | 9 | |
Source:[6] | |||||||
| Pos | Driver | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1 | Nino Farina | 22 |
| 2 | Luigi Fagioli | 18 |
| 3 | Juan Manuel Fangio | 17 |
 2 | 4 | Louis Rosier | 10 |
 1 | 5 |  Johnnie Parsons | 9 |
| Source:[7] | |||
| Previous race: 1950 Swiss Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1950 season | Next race: 1950 French Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1949 Belgian Grand Prix | Belgian Grand Prix | Next race: 1951 Belgian Grand Prix |
