1951 F1 World Championship

The 1951 F1 season was the second running of the FIA World Championship of Drivers, starting on 27 May and concluding on 28 October 1951.

This season, drivers and their teams ran eight races, compared to seven in the 1950 season, each contributing points to the Drivers’ Championship.

Season

Beyond the championship races, the 1951 season was further enriched by an additional 14 races that welcomed Formula 1 spec cars. Although these races provided a platform for teams to test race strategies and their cars, they did not contribute to the championship standings. Significant in their own right, they were considered separate from the main championship to offer fans more action and Formula One drivers more opportunities to race throughout the season.

The 1951 Formula One season saw the rise of Ferrari and their advanced, naturally aspirated 4.5-litre cars, which emerged as formidable challengers to the dominant Alfa Romeos. The Alfa cars, while impressive, were beginning to reach their peak in their developmental curve, making it difficult to eke out further improvements.

Ferrari’s cars proved to be especially good at exploiting the main weakness of the Alfas—their fuel-guzzling engines. This advantage for Ferrari was showcased during the Silverstone race weekend, where the Alfa engines’ inefficiency was glaringly obvious. Even though Alfa Romeo clinched four victories, with the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio ultimately securing the championship title, Ferrari’s three impressive race wins saw a shift in team dominance. Those victories were seen as the beginning of the end for the once-dominant Alfa cars.

The season also witnessed the unique appearance of BRM with their V16 engine at Silverstone, a machine that added variety to the grid. On the other end of the spectrum, the older Talbot cars, lacking in speed and modern features, were progressively outpaced and overshadowed by their competitors.

1951 F1 Entries drivers and teams

Team	Driver	Race entries	Wins	Podiums	Poles	Fastest Laps
Alfa Romeo	Consalvo Sanesi	4
	Emmanuel de Graffenried	5
	Felice Bonetto	4		1
	Giuseppe Farina	8	1	4		2
	Juan Manuel Fangio	8	3	5	5	5
	Luigi Fagioli	2	1	1
	Paul Pietsch	1
Alta	Joe Kelly	1
BRM	Ken Richardson	1
	Peter Walker	1
Bromme	Rodger Ward	1
Deidt	Duane Carter	1
	Mack Hellings	1
	Mauri Rose	1
	Tony Bettenhausen Sr.	1
ERA	Bob Gerard	1
	Brian Shawe-Taylor	1
Ferrari	Alberto Ascari	7	2	4	2
	Francisco Landi	1
	Luigi Villoresi	7		3
	Peter Whitehead	4
	Piero Taruffi	5		1
	Rudi Fischer	2
Gordini	Aldo Gordini	1
	Andre Simon	4
	Maurice Trintignant	4
	Robert Manzon	4
Hall	Bill Mackey	1
HWM	George Abecassis	1
	Stirling Moss	1
Kurtis	Bill Schindler	1
	Carl Forberg	1
	Carl Scarborough	1
	Cecil Green	1
	Chet Miller	1
	Cliff Griffith	1
	Duke Nalon	1			1
	Freddie Agabashian	1
	Gene Force	1
	Jack McGrath	1		1
	Johnnie Parsons	1
	Lee Wallard	1	1	1		1
	Manny Ayulo	1		1
	Mike Nazaruk	1		1
	Sam Hanks	1
	Troy Ruttman	1
	Walt Brown	1
Kuzma	Walt Faulkner	1
Lago	Andre Pilette	1
	Duncan Hamilton	2
	Eugene Chaboud	1
	George Grignard	1
	Guy Mairesse	2
	Henri Louveau	1
	Jacques Swaters	2
	Johnny Claes	7
	Jose Froilan Gonzalez	6	1	5	1
	Louis Rosier	7
	Philippe Etancelin	5
	Pierre Levegh	3
	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	6
Lesovsky	George Connor	1
Marchese	Chuck Stevenson	1
Maserati	Antonio Branca	1
	Birabongse Bhanudej	1
	David Murray	2
	Harry Schell	2
	John James	1
	Johnny McDowell	1
	Juan Jover	1
	Louis Chiron	7
	Philip Fotheringham-Parker	1
Moore	Henry Banks	1
OSCA	Franco Rol	1
Pawl	Jimmy Davies	1
Schroeder	Bobby Ball	1
	Duke Dinsmore	1
Scuderia Milano	Francisco Godia	1
	Onofre Marimon	1
Sherman	Andy Linden	1
Trevis	Bill Vukovich	1
Vandervell	Reg Parnell	3
Veritas	Peter Hirt	1
Watson	Joe James	1

1951 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Date	Grand Prix	Laps	Lap Distance	Country
27 May	Bremgarten	42	7.28	Switzerland
30 May	Indianapolis	200	4.01	Indianapolis
17 Jun	Spa-Francorchamps	36	14.08	Belgium
01 Jul	Rheims	77	7.82	France
14 Jul	Silverstone	90	4.7	Great Britain
29 Jul	Nurburgring	20	22.77	Germany
16 Sep	Monza	80	6.276	Italy
28 Oct	Pedralbes	70	6.308	Spain

1951 Formula 1 Standings

In the scoring system of the 1951 Formula One season, drivers were allocated points based on their finishing positions in each Grand Prix. Specifically, the distribution was as follows:

• The race winner received 8 points.
• The second-place finisher was awarded 6 points.
• Third place earned 4 points.
• Fourth place got 3 points.
• The driver finishing fifth was given 2 points.

Furthermore, an additional point was up for grabs for the driver who set the fastest lap during the Grand Prix.

However, there was a notable caveat in the championship calculations: only a driver’s best four race results contributed to their championship total. This meant that even if a driver competed in more races and amassed points, only the points from their top four performances would count towards their championship standing.

Driver standings