1951 British Grand Prix

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox Grand Prix race report The 1951 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 July 1951 at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. It was race 5 of 8 in the 1951 World Championship of Drivers and was contested over 90 laps. The race was the first victory for José Froilán González, and was also the first of many for the Scuderia Ferrari team. Both the team and driver also achieved their first ever pole position during the weekend.

Report

José Froilán González was one second quicker than Juan Manuel Fangio in qualifying, achieving the first pole position of his career. It was also the first pole position for the Ferrari team, and the first in the World Championship (excluding the Indy 500 races) not scored by an Alfa Romeo. Nino Farina and Alberto Ascari qualified in third and fourth positions, completing the front row.<ref name=BritshGP51 />

González and Fangio shot away almost parallel from the front row of the grid, closely followed by the other Alfa Romeos and Ferraris. Alfa Romeo driver Felice Bonetto, who started in seventh position, was the first man at the first corner, with the Ferrari of González in second position. González took the lead from Bonetto on the second lap with Fangio chasing. The BRM cars of Reg Parnell and Peter Walker were in hot pursuit of the leaders. The team had arrived at the last minute, and had not practiced or even qualified for their debut race, and had started in 19th and 20th positions. Bonetto's Alfa Romeo teammates of Fangio and reigning World Champion, Nino Farina, managed to overtake him to move into second and third places. On lap 6, Fangio began to close in on González; he passed him on the straight on lap 10, and slowly began to draw away. Consalvo Sanesi then pulled into the pits for fuel and new tyres.

The Maserati of John James became the first retirement of the race on lap 23 with a radiator problem, but was soon joined on the sidelines by Louis Chiron, both his Maserati teammates, the Ferrari of Alberto Ascari and Farina. Farina pulled up at Abbey curve after 75 laps with a slipping clutch and his engine on fire. He had set the lap record on lap 38, with a time of 1 minute 44 seconds, an average speed of 100.0003981  mph,(some sources state 99.997382 mph) ensuring he still left the weekend with one point. González retook the lead on lap 39 with an overtake at Becketts corner. He kept his lead for the remainder of the race (excluding one lap when he pitted just before Fangio did) extending it to 1 minute and 5 seconds with 5 laps to go, before easing off at the end of the race. The BRM drivers of Parnell and Walker were still battling on, despite the fact they were suffering from hand and feet burns, and would eventually finish fifth and seventh respectively.

The Alfa Romeos of Fangio and Farina pitted twice for fuel, owing to the awful fuel consumption of their cars. They were doing Template:Frac miles to the gallon, and needed to take on 90 gallons for every stop. Both drivers needed to stop twice, and, owing to the lengthy, minutes-long pit stops of Formula One in 1951, the more fuel efficient Ferrari of González (who only needed to make one stop) was able to overtake the Alfa Romeos and pull out a considerable lead.

González eventually took his own and Ferrari's first victory in a World Championship race by 51 seconds. It was the first World Championship race (excluding the Indy 500) that was not won by an Alfa Romeo. An Alfa Romeo was still in second place though, in the form of the year's eventual champion Fangio. Luigi Villoresi became the second Ferrari on the podium after he finished in third place, two laps behind. Bonetto and Parnell were the other two-point scorers at the race, finishing in fourth and fifth positions respectively.

As it turned out, González had actually raced with an older chassis and engine than his teammates, Villoresi and Ascari.<ref name=BritshGP51>Template:Cite web</ref>

Entries

No	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre
1	Template:Flagicon Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159B	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	Template:Pirelli
2	Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159B	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	Template:Pirelli
3	Template:Flagicon Consalvo Sanesi		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159B	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	Template:Pirelli
4	Template:Flagicon Felice Bonetto		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159A	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	Template:Pirelli
5	Template:Flagicon Joe Kelly	Joe Kelly	Alta	Alta GP	Alta 1.5 L4 s	Template:Dunlop
6	Template:Flagicon Reg Parnell	BRM Ltd.	BRM	BRM P15	BRM 15 1.5 V16 s	Template:Dunlop
7	Template:Flagicon Peter Walker		BRM	BRM P15	BRM 15 1.5 V16 s	Template:Dunlop
8	Template:Flagicon Bob Gerard	Bob Gerard	ERA	ERA B	ERA 1.5 L6 s	Template:Dunlop
9	Template:Flagicon Brian Shawe-Taylor	Brian Shawe-Taylor	ERA	ERA B/C	ERA 1.5 L6 s	Template:Dunlop
10	Template:Flagicon Luigi Villoresi	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	Template:Pirelli
11	Template:Flagicon Alberto Ascari		Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	Template:Pirelli
12	Template:Flagicon José Froilán González		Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	Template:Pirelli
14	Template:Flagicon Peter Whitehead	G. A. Vandervell	Ferrari	Ferrari 375 tw	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	Template:Pirelli
15	Template:Flagicon David Murray	Scuderia Ambrosiana	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT-48	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	Template:Dunlop
16	Template:Flagicon John James	John James	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT-48	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	Template:Dunlop
17	Template:Flagicon Philip Fotheringham-Parker	Philip Fotheringham-Parker	Maserati	Maserati 4CL	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	Template:Dunlop
18	Template:Flagicon Duncan Hamilton	Duncan Hamilton	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	Template:Dunlop
19	Template:Flagicon Maurice TrintignantTemplate:Ref	Equipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	Template:Englebert
20	Template:Flagicon Robert ManzonTemplate:Ref		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	Template:Englebert
21	Template:Flagicon André SimonTemplate:Ref		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	Template:Englebert
22	Template:Flagicon Louis Rosier	Ecurie Rosier	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	Template:Dunlop
23	Template:Flagicon Louis Chiron		Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	Template:Dunlop
24	Template:Flagicon Philippe ÉtancelinTemplate:Ref	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	Template:Dunlop
25	Template:Flagicon Johnny Claes	Ecurie Belge	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	Template:Dunlop
Sources:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Note – Maurice Trintignant, Robert Manzon, André Simon and Philippe Étancelin all withdrew from the event prior to practice.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	12	Template:Flagicon José Froilán González	Ferrari	1:43.4
2	2	Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	1:44.4
3	1	Template:Flagicon Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	1:45.0
4	11	Template:Flagicon Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	1:45.4
5	10	Template:Flagicon Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	1:45.8
6	3	Template:Flagicon Consalvo Sanesi	Alfa Romeo	1:50.2
7	4	Template:Flagicon Felice Bonetto	Alfa Romeo	1:52.0
8	14	Template:Flagicon Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	1:54.6
9	22	Template:Flagicon Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	1:56.0
10	8	Template:Flagicon Bob Gerard	ERA	1:57.0
11	18	Template:Flagicon Duncan Hamilton	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	1:57.2
12	9	Template:Flagicon Brian Shawe-Taylor	ERA	1:58.2
13	23	Template:Flagicon Louis Chiron	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:00.2
14	25	Template:Flagicon Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:05.8
15	15	Template:Flagicon David Murray	Maserati	2:06.0
16	17	Template:Flagicon Philip Fotheringham-Parker	Maserati	2:13.2
17	16	Template:Flagicon John James	Maserati	2:17.0
18	5	Template:Flagicon Joe Kelly	Alta	2:18.4
19	7	Template:Flagicon Peter Walker	BRM	No time
20	6	Template:Flagicon Reg Parnell	BRM	No time
Template:Abbr	19	Template:Flagicon Maurice Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	–
Template:Abbr	20	Template:Flagicon Robert Manzon	Simca-Gordini	–
Template:Abbr	21	Template:Flagicon André Simon	Simca-Gordini	–
Template:Abbr	24	Template:Flagicon Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	–
Source:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/retired	Grid	Points
1	12	Template:Flagicon José Froilán González	Ferrari	90	2:42:18.2	1	8
2	2	Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	90	+51.0	2	6
3	10	Template:Flagicon Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	88	+2 laps	5	4
4	4	Template:Flagicon Felice Bonetto	Alfa Romeo	87	+3 laps	7	3
5	6	Template:Flagicon Reg Parnell	BRM	85	+5 laps	20	2
6	3	Template:Flagicon Consalvo Sanesi	Alfa Romeo	84	+6 laps	6
7	7	Template:Flagicon Peter Walker	BRM	84	+6 laps	19
8	9	Template:Flagicon Brian Shawe-Taylor	ERA	84	+6 laps	12
9	14	Template:Flagicon Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	83	+7 laps	8
10	22	Template:Flagicon Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	83	+7 laps	9
11	8	Template:Flagicon Bob Gerard	ERA	82	+8 laps	10
12	18	Template:Flagicon Duncan Hamilton	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	81	+9 laps	11
13	25	Template:Flagicon Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	80	+10 laps	14
Template:Abbr	1	Template:Flagicon Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	75	Clutch	3	1Template:Ref
Template:Abbr	5	Template:Flagicon Joe Kelly	Alta	75	Not classified	18
Template:Abbr	11	Template:Flagicon Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	56	Gearbox	4
Template:Abbr	17	Template:Flagicon Philip Fotheringham-Parker	Maserati	46	Oil leak	16
Template:Abbr	15	Template:Flagicon David Murray	Maserati	45	Engine	15
Template:Abbr	23	Template:Flagicon Louis Chiron	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	41	Brakes	13
Template:Abbr	16	Template:Flagicon John James	Maserati	23	Radiator	17
Source:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Notes

• Template:Note – 1 point for fastest lap

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Template:Flagicon Juan Manuel Fangio	21
	2	Template:Flagicon Nino Farina	15
2	3	Template:Flagicon Luigi Villoresi	12
5	4	Template:Flagicon José Froilán González	11
2	5	Template:Flagicon Lee Wallard	9
Source:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Template:Small

References

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