French GP 1951

French GP, 1951

The French GP was the third round of the World Championship of 1951 to feature the regular participants. Turning up was a quartet of Alfa Romeo 159s against three Ferrari 375s and the Ferrari-built Thinwall Special of Reg Parnell. There were also seven Talbot Lagos and four Gordinis.

Alfa Romeo had brought back Luigi Fagioli while the Ferrari line-up included Froilan Gonzalez.

Fangio and Farina were quickest in qualifying for Alfa with Ascari's Ferrari the third car on the front row. At the start Ascari took the lead with Fangio chasing. Both were to retire early and, with Villoresi also in trouble, this enabled Farina to make up for a bad start and take the lead.

Gonzalez chased with Fagioli behind him. At his pit stop Fagioli handed over to Fangio and Gonzalez was replaced by Ascari. This did not trouble Farina who was a long way ahead until his second pit stop when he began to suffer magneto problems and dropped back.

With Ascari running into brake problems Fangio was left to win by a minute with Ascari second and Villoresi third - three laps behind. Parnell was fourth a further lap behind but he was still ahead of Farina at the finish.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL POS
1= Luigi Fagioli Alfa Romeo 159   
1= Juan-Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 159 77 3h22m11.000s   
2= 14 Froilan Gonzalez Ferrari 375   
2= 14 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 375 77 3h23m09.200s   
10 Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 375 74  
26 Reg Parnell Thin Wall Ferrari-Ferrari 375 TW 73  
Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo 159 73  
42 Louis Chiron Talbot Lago-Talbot T26C 71  
46 Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot Lago-Talbot T26C 71  11 
44 Eugene Chaboud Talbot Lago-Talbot T26C-GS 69  14 
48 Guy Mairesse Talbot Lago-Talbot T26C 66  19 
10 Consalvo Sanesi Alfa Romeo 159 58  
11= Juan-Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 159   
11= Luigi Fagioli Alfa Romeo 159 55   
28 Johnny Claes Talbot Lago-Talbot T26C-DA 54 Accident 12 
40 Louis Rosier Talbot Lago-Talbot T26C-DA 43 Mechanical 13 
38 Philippe Etancelin Talbot Lago-Talbot T26C-DA 37 Inlet Manifold 10 
36 Aldo Gordini Simca Gordini-Gordini T11 27 Engine 17 
20 Harry Schell Maserati 4CLT/48 24 Overheating 22 
32 Maurice Trintignant Simca Gordini-Gordini T15 11 Engine 18 
12 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 375 10 Gearbox 
34 Andre Simon Simca Gordini-Gordini T15 Engine 21 
30 Robert Manzon Simca Gordini-Gordini T15 Engine 23 
50 Onofre Marimon Maserati Milano 4CLT/50 Engine 15 
18 Emmanuel de Graffenried Maserati 4CLT/48 Transmission 16 
24 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 125 Engine 20 
ns 26 Brian Shawe-Taylor Thin Wall Ferrari-Ferrari 375 TW  Car Raced By Parnell 27