The 1951 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims-Gueux on 1 July 1951. It was race 4 of 8 in the 1951 World Championship of Drivers and was won by Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli driving an Alfa Romeo. It was the first of three occasions where two drivers would be credited with a Grand Prix win after sharing a car.

The race, which also carried the honorific title of European Grand Prix, saw the World Championship debuts of Aldo Gordini, André Simon and Onofre Marimón. Fagioli's victory, his first in a World Championship race, made him the oldest driver to win a World Championship Grand Prix, a record he still holds. This race also holds the record for the longest Formula One Grand Prix in terms of total distance needed to cover. 77 laps of the 4.856 mile Reims-Gueux circuit totaled to 373.961 miles.^[1]

Report

About 10 laps into the race, the engine in Fangio's car began misfiring, so he stopped at the pits to have the magneto changed, but only completed one further lap before stopping again. Around this time, the gearbox in Ascari's Ferrari had broken, and he retired, although he took over the car of González, who had been pushing very hard. When Fagioli came in for his fuel stop, the team ordered Fagioli and Fangio to swap cars; Fagioli's car was running healthily whereas Fangio's car had multiple mechanical problems. Fuel stops and problems for the Ferraris enabled Fangio to make his way into the lead and win the race, with Ascari in González's original car finishing 2nd, 52 seconds behind. Fagioli, in Fangio's original car, finished 11th, 22 laps behind.^[2] Fagioli, a veteran racing driver who had been racing Grand Prix cars since the 1920s and known for his fiery temperament was so furious over handing his car over to Fangio that he quit Grand Prix racing on the spot; he only raced this one championship race in 1951 and had not competed at the previous rounds at Bern and Spa.

Entries

No	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre
2	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159A	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
4	Juan Manuel Fangio¹		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159A	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
6	Consalvo Sanesi		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
8	Luigi Fagioli²		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159B	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
10	Luigi Villoresi	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	E
12	Alberto Ascari		Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	E
14	José Froilán González³		Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	E
16	Piero Taruffi⁴		Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari 375 F1 4.5 V12	E
18	Toulo de Graffenried	Enrico Platé	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT-50	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	P
20	Harry Schell	Enrico Platé	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT-48	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	P
22	Prince Bira⁴	Ecurie Siam	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT-48	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	P
24	Peter Whitehead	Graham Whitehead	Ferrari	Ferrari 125	Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 s	D
26	Reg Parnell⁵	G. A. Vandervell	Ferrari	Ferrari 375 tw	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	P
28	Johnny Claes	Ecurie Belge	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
30	Robert Manzon	Equipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
32	Maurice Trintignant		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
34	André Simon		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
36	Aldo Gordini		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T11	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
38	Philippe Étancelin	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
40	Louis Rosier	Ecurie Rosier	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
42	Louis Chiron	Ecurie Rosier	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
44	Eugène Chaboud⁶	Eugène Chaboud	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-GS	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
46	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
48	Guy Mairesse	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
50	Onofre Marimón	Scuderia Milano	Maserati-Milano	Maserati 4CLT-50	Milano 1.5 L4 s	P
Sources:^[3]^[4]^[5]

^1 — Juan Manuel Fangio qualified and drove 15 laps of the race in the #4 Alfa Romeo. Luigi Fagioli took over the car for a further 40 laps.^[6]

^2 — Luigi Fagioli qualified and drove 20 laps of the race in the #8 Alfa Romeo. Juan Manuel Fangio took over the car for the remaining 57 laps of the race.^[6]

^3 — José Froilán González qualified and drove 35 laps of the race in the #14 Ferrari. Alberto Ascari, whose own vehicle had already retired, took over the car for the remaining 42 laps of the race.^[6]

^4 — Piero Taruffi and Prince Bira both withdrew from the event prior to practice.^[7]

^5 — Reg Parnell qualified and drove the entire race in the #26 Ferrari. Brian Shawe-Taylor practiced in the car, but took no part in the race proper.^[8]

^6 — Eugène Chaboud qualified and drove the entire race in the #44 Talbot-Lago. Lucien Vincent, named substitute driver for the car, was not used during the Grand Prix.^[8]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	4	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	2:25.7	–
2	2	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	2:27.4	+ 1.7
3	12	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	2:28.1	+ 2.4
4	10	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	2:28.5	+ 2.8
5	6	Consalvo Sanesi	Alfa Romeo	2:28.9	+ 3.2
6	14	José Froilán González	Ferrari	2:30.8	+ 5.1
7	8	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo	2:33.1	+ 7.4
8	42	Louis Chiron	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:43.7	+ 18.0
9	26	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	2:44.0	+ 18.3
10	38	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:44.8	+ 19.1
11	46	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:45.7	+ 20.0
12	28	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:46.6	+ 20.9
13	40	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:48.0	+ 22.3
14	44	Eugène Chaboud	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:49.6	+ 23.9
15	50	Onofre Marimón	Maserati-Milano	2:49.9	+ 24.2
16	18	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	2:50.1	+ 24.4
17	36	Aldo Gordini	Simca-Gordini	2:50.3	+ 24.6
18	32	Maurice Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	2:50.4	+ 24.7
19	48	Guy Mairesse	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:58.4	+ 32.7
20	24	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	2:59.0	+ 33.3
21	34	André Simon	Simca-Gordini	2:59.5	+ 33.8
22	20	Harry Schell	Maserati	3:02.0	+ 36.3
23	30	Robert Manzon	Simca-Gordini	3:06.0	+ 40.3
DNA	16	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	–	–
DNA	22	Prince Bira	Maserati	–	–
Source:^[9]

Guy Mairesse finished 9th in a Talbot-Lago T26C

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Luigi Fagioli Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	77	3:22:11.0	7	4 5¹
2	14	José Froilán González Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	77	+ 58.2	6	3 3
3	10	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	74	+ 3 Laps	4	4
4	26	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	73	+ 4 Laps	9	3
5	2	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	73	+ 4 Laps	2	2
6	42	Louis Chiron	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	71	+ 6 Laps	8
7	46	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	71	+ 6 Laps	11
8	44	Eugène Chaboud	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	69	+ 8 Laps	14
9	48	Guy Mairesse	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	66	+ 11 Laps	19
10	6	Consalvo Sanesi	Alfa Romeo	58	+ 19 Laps	5
11	4	Juan Manuel Fangio Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo	55	+ 22 Laps	1
Ret	28	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	54	Accident	12
Ret	40	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	43	Transmission	13
Ret	38	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	37	Engine	10
Ret	36	Aldo Gordini	Simca-Gordini	27	Engine	17
Ret	20	Harry Schell	Maserati	23	Overheating	22
Ret	32	Maurice Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	11	Engine	18
Ret	12	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	10	Gearbox	3
Ret	34	André Simon	Simca-Gordini	7	Engine	21
Ret	30	Robert Manzon	Simca-Gordini	3	Engine	23
Ret	50	Onofre Marimón	Maserati-Milano	2	Engine	15
Ret	18	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	1	Transmission	16
Ret	24	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	1	Engine	20
Source:^[10]

Notes

^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drives

Car #8: Fagioli (first 20 laps) then Fangio (57 laps). They shared the points for the win (Fangio scored one extra point for setting the fastest race lap).
Car #14: Gonzalez (first 35 laps) then Ascari (42 laps). They shared the points for 2nd position.
Car #4: Fangio (first 15 laps) then Fagioli (40 laps). When Fagioli rejoined the race in Fangio's car he was already 20 laps behind.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	15
1	2	Nino Farina	14
	3	Lee Wallard	9
	4	Alberto Ascari	9
2	5	Luigi Villoresi	8
Source: ^[11]

Note: Only the top five positions are listed. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.

References

^ "What was the longest Grand Prix of them all?". Ask Steven – ESPNF1.com. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
^ Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 31. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.
^ "1951 French Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
^ "1951 ACF GP - Entry List". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
^ "France 1951 - Race entrants". statsf1.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c "French Grand Prix 1951 - Results". ESPN F1. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
^ "France 1951 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
^ ^a ^b "France 1951 - Race entrants". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
^ "XXXVIII Grand Prix de l'ACF". silhouet.com. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
^ "1951 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
^ "France 1951 - Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.

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