The 1951 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 16 September 1951 at Monza. It was race 7 of 8 in the 1951 World Championship of Drivers.

Report

Toulo de Graffenried returned to Alfa Romeo's four-car line up, in place of Paul Pietsch, having raced for Enrico Platé in France and Germany. He raced alongside the regular Alfa drivers, Fangio, Farina and Bonetto. The works Ferrari team retained the same four drivers from the race at the Nürburgring — Ascari, Villoresi, González and Taruffi — while Brazilian Chico Landi made his World Championship debut in a privately run Ferrari. The field was completed by works teams from BRM, Simca-Gordini and OSCA, as well as the usual Talbot-Lago entries.

The front row positions on the grid were shared equally between Alfa Romeo and Ferrari, with Fangio, Farina, Ascari and González posting the four fastest qualifying times. The second row consisted of the remaining works Ferraris of Villoresi and Taruffi, alongside Felice Bonetto. Reg Parnell, in a BRM, was also supposed to be on the second row, but was unable to start due to lubrication problems.

Fangio was the initial race leader, having started from pole position, but he soon had to cede the position to Ascari. He retook the lead on lap eight before pitting for a tyre change, which dropped him to fifth. Early retirements for Farina and de Graffenried left José Froilán González in second, behind his teammate Ascari. Fangio attempted to bridge the gap to the Ferraris, but engine problems eliminated his chances. The sole remaining Alfa driver, Nino Farina, who had taken over Bonetto's car on lap 30, inherited third place as a result of Fangio's retirement. He was fast, but fuel leakages meant that he needed to make two further pitstops; he therefore had to settle for third. Alberto Ascari took his second, and Ferrari's third, consecutive Championship race victory, ahead of British Grand Prix winner González. The other works Ferraris of Villoresi and Taruffi completed the points positions in what was another successful race for the Scuderia.

Ascari's victory took him to within two points of Championship leader Fangio, while González was a further four points behind in third.

Entries No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre 2 Alberto Ascari Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 4 Luigi Villoresi Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 6 José Froilán González Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 8 Piero Taruffi Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 10 Gianni Marzotto Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari 375 F1 4.5 V12 12 Chico Landi Francisco Landi Ferrari Ferrari 375 Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12 14 Rudi Fischer Ecurie Espadon Ferrari Ferrari 212 Ferrari 212 2.5 V12 16 Peter Whitehead Peter Whitehead Ferrari Ferrari 125 Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s 18 Louis Rosier Ecurie Rosier Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 20 Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 22 Pierre Levegh Pierre Levegh Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 24 Yves Giraud-Cabantous Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 26 Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 28 Jacques Swaters Ecurie Belgique Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 30 Reg Parnell BRM Ltd. BRM BRM P15 BRM 15 1.5 V16s 32 Ken Richardson BRM BRM P15 BRM 15 1.5 V16s 34 Nino Farina Alfa Romeo SpA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159M Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s 36 Toulo de Graffenried Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159M Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s 38 Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159M Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s 40 Felice Bonetto Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 159A Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8s 44 Franco Rol OSCA Automobili OSCA OSCA 4500G OSCA 4.5 V12 46 Robert Manzon Equipe Gordini Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s 48 André Simon Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s 50 Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4s Sources:

Classification

Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 38 Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 1:53.2 – 2 34 Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 1:53.9 + 0.7 3 2 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 1:55.1 + 1.9 4 6 José Froilán González Ferrari 1:55.9 + 2.7 5 4 Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 1:57.9 + 4.7 6 8 Piero Taruffi Ferrari 1:58.2 + 5.0 7 40 Felice Bonetto Alfa Romeo 1:58.3 + 5.1 8 30 Reg Parnell BRM 2:02.2 + 9.0 9 36 Toulo de Graffenried Alfa Romeo 2:05.2 + 12.0 10 32 Ken Richardson BRM 2:05.6 + 12.4 11 48 André Simon Simca-Gordini 2:08.0 + 14.8 12 50 Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini 2:08.9 + 15.7 13 46 Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini 2:09.0 + 15.8 14 24 Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:09.3 + 16.1 15 18 Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:10.8 + 17.6 16 12 Chico Landi Ferrari 2:11.2 + 18.0 17 20 Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:12.1 + 18.9 18 44 Franco Rol OSCA 2:13.4 + 20.2 19 16 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 2:16.2 + 23.0 20 22 Pierre Levegh Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:16.5 + 23.3 21 26 Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:18.6 + 25.4 22 28 Jacques Swaters Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:18.8 + 25.6 23 14 Rudi Fischer Ferrari No time – 24 32 Hans Stuck BRM No time –Source:

Race Pos No Driver ConstructorLapsTime/retired Grid Points 1 2 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 80 2:42:39.3 3 8 2 6 José Froilán González Ferrari 80 +24.6 4 6 3 40 Felice Bonetto Alfa Romeo 79 +1 lap 7 2 Nino Farina3 4 4 Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 79 +1 lap 5 3 5 8 Piero Taruffi Ferrari 78 +2 laps 6 2 6 48 André Simon Simca-Gordini 74 +6 laps 11 7 18 Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 73 +7 laps 15 8 24 Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 72 +8 laps 14 9 44 Franco Rol OSCA 67 +13 laps 18 38 Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 39 Engine 1 50 Jean Behra Simca-Gordini 29 Engine 12 46 Robert Manzon Simca-Gordini 29 Engine 13 20 Louis Chiron Talbot-Lago-Talbot 23 Ignition 17 22 Pierre Levegh Talbot-Lago-Talbot 9 Engine 20 28 Jacques Swaters Talbot-Lago-Talbot 7 Overheating 22 34 Nino Farina Alfa Romeo 6 Engine 2 26 Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 4 Oil pump 21 36 Toulo de Graffenried Alfa Romeo 1 Compressor 9 16 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 1 Magneto 19 12 Chico Landi Ferrari 0 Transmission 16 30 Reg Parnell BRM 0 Non Starter 8 32 Ken Richardson BRM 0 Non Starter 10 14 Rudi Fischer Ferrari 0 Non Starter 32 Hans Stuck BRM 0 Reserve Driver 50 Maurice Trintignant Simca-Gordini 0 Driver Unwell Source: Notes – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Juan Manuel Fangio 27 (28) 2 Alberto Ascari 25 3 José Froilán González 21 4 Nino Farina 17 (18) 5 Luigi Villoresi 15 (18)Source:

Notes

References