1951 Formula One season

The 1951 Formula One season included the 2nd running of the FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on May 27, 1951, and ended on October 28 after eight races. There were also 14 races in 1951 that, while run to Formula One rules, did not count towards championship standings.

Season summary

Ferrari's newer, unsupercharged 4.5 litre cars offered a real challenge to the Alfas, which were nearing the end of their development potential. Although Alfas won four of the European races, with Fangio taking the championship, Ferrari's three victories spelled the end for the Alfas. BRM made their only championship appearance with the V16 at Silverstone, and the old, slow Talbots were increasingly outclassed.

Points were given to top 5 finishers (8, 6, 4, 3, 2). 1 point was given for fastest lap. Only the best four of eight scores counted towards the world championship. Points for shared drives were divided equally between the drivers, regardless of who had driven more laps.

Season review

Rnd	Race	Date	Location	Winning driver	Constructor	Tyres	Report
1	Swiss Grand Prix	May 27	Bremgarten	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	P	Report
2	Indianapolis 500	May 30	Indianapolis	Lee Wallard	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	F	Report
3	Belgian Grand Prix	June 17	Spa-Francorchamps	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	P	Report
4	French Grand Prix	July 1	Reims	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	P	Report
5	British Grand Prix	July 14	Silverstone	José Froilán González	Ferrari	P	Report
6	German Grand Prix	July 29	Nürburgring	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
7	Italian Grand Prix	September 16	Monza	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
8	Spanish Grand Prix	October 28	Pedralbes	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	P	Report

Teams and Drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1951 FIA Formula One World Championship.

1951 Driver line-ups

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Driver
Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 Supercharged	P	Giuseppe Farina
					Juan Manuel Fangio
					Consalvo Sanesi
					Toulo de Graffenried
					Luigi Fagioli
					Felice Bonetto
					Paul Pietsch
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari 4.5 V12	P	Alberto Ascari
					Luigi Villoresi
					Piero Taruffi
					Jose Froilan Gonzalez
					Chico Landi

1951 Drivers Championship final standings

Pos.	Driver	SUI	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	ESP	Pts.
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	1*		9*	1*† / 11†	2	2*	Ret	1*	31 (37)
2	Alberto Ascari	6		2	2†	Ret	1	1	4	25 (28)
3	José Froilán González	Ret			2†	1	3	2	2	24 (27)
4	Nino Farina	3		1	5	Ret*	Ret	3† / Ret*	3	19 (22)
5	Luigi Villoresi	Ret		3	3	3	4	4	Ret	15 (18)
6	Piero Taruffi	2		Ret			5	5	Ret	10
7	Lee Wallard		1*							9
8	Felice Bonetto					4	Ret	3†	5	7
9	Mike Nazaruk		2							6
10	Reg Parnell				4	5		DNS		5
11	Luigi Fagioli				1† / 11†					4
12	Consalvo Sanesi	4		Ret	10	6				3
13	Louis Rosier	9		4	Ret	10	8	7	7	3
14	Andy Linden		4							3
15	Manny Ayulo		3†							2
16	Jack McGrath		3†							2
17	Toulo de Graffenried	5			Ret		Ret	Ret	6	2
18	Yves Giraud Cabantous	Ret		5	7		Ret	8	Ret	2
19	Bobby Ball		5							2
20	Louis Chiron	7		Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	0
21	Rudi Fischer	11					6			0
22	André Simon				Ret		Ret	6	Ret	0
23	Henry Banks		6							0
24	Andre Pilette			6						0
25	Robert Manzon				Ret		7	Ret	9	0
26	Johnny Claes	13		7	Ret	13	11	Ret	Ret	0
27	Carl Forberg		7							0
28	Peter Walker					7				0
29	Pierre Levegh			8			9	Ret		0
30	Philippe Etancelin	10		Ret	Ret		Ret		8	0
31	Stirling Moss	8								0
32	Duane Carter		8							0
33	Eugene Chaboud				8					0
34	Brian Shawe Taylor					8				0
35	Guy Mairesse	14			9					0
36	Peter Whitehead	Ret			Ret	9		Ret		0
37	Franco Rol							9		0
38	Jacques Swaters						10	Ret		0
39	Paco Godia								10	0
40	Bob Gerard					11				0
41	Harry Schell	12			Ret					0
42	Duncan Hamilton					12	Ret			0
—	Maurice Trintignant				Ret		Ret	Ret	Ret	0
—	Henri Louveau	Ret								0
—	George Abecassis	Ret								0
—	Peter Hirt	Ret								0
—	Tony Bettenhausen		Ret							0
—	Duke Nalon		Ret							0
—	Gene Force		Ret							0
—	Sam Hanks		Ret							0
—	Bill Schindler		Ret							0
—	Mauri Rose		Ret							0
—	Walt Faulkner		Ret							0
—	Jimmy Davies		Ret							0
—	Fred Agabashian		Ret							0
—	Carl Scarborough		Ret							0
—	Bill Mackey		Ret							0
—	Chuck Stevenson		Ret							0
—	Johnnie Parsons		Ret							0
—	Cecil Green		Ret							0
—	Troy Ruttman		Ret							0
—	Duke Dinsmore		Ret							0
—	Chet Miller		Ret							0
—	Walt Brown		Ret							0
—	Rodger Ward		Ret							0
—	Cliff Griffith		Ret							0
—	Bill Vukovich		Ret							0
—	George Connor		Ret							0
—	Mack Hellings		Ret							0
—	Joe James		Ret							0
—	Johnny McDowell		Ret							0
—	Aldo Gordini				Ret					0
—	Onofre Marimon				Ret					0
—	Joe Kelly					Ret				0
—	Philip Fotheringham-Parker					Ret				0
—	David Murray					Ret				0
—	John James					Ret				0
—	Paul Pietsch						Ret			0
—	Toni Branca						Ret			0
—	Chico Landi							Ret		0
—	Georges Grignard								Ret	0
—	Prince Bira								Ret	0
—	Ken Richardson							DNS		0
Pos.	Driver	SUI	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	ESP	Pts.

Key
Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Other points position
Blue	Other classified position
Blue	Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple	Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
White	Race cancelled (C)
Light blue	Practiced only (PO)
Light blue	Thursday/Friday test driver (TD) (from 2003 onwards)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Excluded (EX)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Withdrawn (WD)
Text formatting	Meaning
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Fastest lap
^Superscript	Sprint race result
Abbreviation	Meaning
WDC	World Drivers' Championship position
WCC	World Constructors' Championship position
NC	Not classified

* Fastest lap (1 point awarded)
† Position shared between more drivers of the same car
Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

Non-Championship race results

Other Formula One races, which did not count towards the World Championship, also held in 1951.

Race Name	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
I Gran Premio di Siracusa	Syracuse	March 11	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	Report
XII Grand Prix de Pau	Pau	March 26	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	Report
III Richmond Trophy	Goodwood	March 26	B. Bira	Maserati	Report
VI Gran Premio di Sanremo	Ospedaletti	April 22	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Report
I Grand Prix de Bordeaux	Bordeaux	April 29	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago	Report
III BRDC International Trophy	Silverstone	May 5	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	Report
V Grand Prix de Paris	Bois de Boulogne	May 20	Giuseppe Farina	Maserati	Report
V Ulster Trophy	Dundrod	June 2	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	Report
I Scottish Grand Prix	Winfield	July 21	Philip Fotheringham-Parker	Maserati	Report
II Grote Prijs van Nederland	Zandvoort	July 22	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago	Report
XIII Grand Prix de l'Albigeois	Albi	August 5	Maurice Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	Report
XX Circuito di Pescara	Pescara	August 15	José Froilán González	Ferrari	Report
V Gran Premio di Bari	Bari	September 2	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	Report
IV Goodwood Trophy	Goodwood	September 29	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	Report

Notes