1950 French Grand Prix

1950 French Grand Prix
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Race details
Date	2 July 1950
Official name	XXXVII Grand Prix de l'A.C.F.
Location	Reims-Gueux, Reims, France
Course	Temporary road course
Course length	7.815 km (4.856 miles)
Distance	64 laps, 500.160 km (310.785 miles)
Weather	Hot and sunny
Pole position
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo
Time	2:30.6
Fastest lap
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo
Time	2:35.6 on lap 7 [1]
Podium
First	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo
Second	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo
Third	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1950 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 July 1950 at Reims-Gueux. It was race 6 of 7 in the 1950 World Championship of Drivers. The 64-lap race was won by Alfa Romeo driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from pole position. His teammate Luigi Fagioli finished second and Peter Whitehead took third in a privateer Ferrari.

Report

A total of 22 cars entered the event, four of which did not start the race. Franco Comotti did not attend the event; Eugène Chaboud did not start in his own car, instead sharing Philippe Étancelin's Talbot-Lago; and the two Scuderia Ferrari entries of Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari withdrew in practice.

Fangio put in a stunning display with a 187 km/h (116 mph) practice lap. With Ferrari not starting their 3-litre cars, the main opposition was to come from the Talbots, complete with dual ignition engines with 12 spark plugs. However, they suffered from radiator problems and overheated, allowing Fangio and Fagioli to lead home another Alfa demonstration run, whilst Farina succumbed to fuel pump trouble. Peter Whitehead finished third despite a fractured head gasket in the last two laps.

Entries

No	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre
2	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 158	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8 s	P
4	Luigi Fagioli		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 158	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8 s	P
6	Juan Manuel Fangio		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 158	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8 s	P
8	Luigi Villoresi	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 275	Ferrari 275 F1 3.3 V12	P
10	Alberto Ascari		Ferrari	Ferrari 275	Ferrari 275 F1 3.3 V12	P
12	Raymond Sommer	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-GS	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
14	Peter Whitehead	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	Ferrari 125	Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 s	P
16	Philippe Étancelin [a]	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
18	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
20	Louis Rosier		Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
22	Pierre Levegh	Pierre Levegh	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
24	Eugène Chaboud	Ecurie Lutetia	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
26	Charles Pozzi [b]	Charles Pozzi	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
28	Franco Rol	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4 s	P
30	Louis Chiron		Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4 s	P
32	Reg Parnell	Scuderia Ambrosiana	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4 s	D
34	David Hampshire [c]		Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4 s	D
36	José Froilán González	Scuderia Achille Varzi	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4 s	P
38	Franco Comotti		Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4 s	P
40	Felice Bonetto	Scuderia Milano	Maserati-Milano	Maserati 4CLT/50	Milano 1.5 L4 s	P
42	Johnny Claes	Ecurie Belge	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
44	Robert Manzon	Equipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
Sources: [4] [5]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time
1	6	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	2:30.6
2	2	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	2:32.5
3	4	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo	2:34.7
4	16	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:39.0
5	18	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:42.7
6	20	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:46.0
7	28	Franco Rol	Maserati	2:46.7
8	36	José Froilán González	Maserati	2:48.0
9	22	Pierre Levegh	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:49.0
10	24	Eugène Chaboud	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	Unknown
11	40	Felice Bonetto	Maserati-Milano	2:51.0
12	32	Reg Parnell	Maserati	2:54.0
13	44	Robert Manzon	Simca-Gordini	2:55.5
14	30	Louis Chiron	Maserati	2:55.9
15	42	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:57.4
16	26	Charles Pozzi	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:58.0
17	12	Raymond Sommer	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:59.3
18	34	David Hampshire	Maserati	2:59.5
19	14	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	3:01.0
WD	8	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	–
WD	10	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	–
DNA	38	Franco Comotti	Maserati	–
Source: [6] [7]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	64	2:57:52.8	1	9 1
2	4	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo	64	+ 25.7	3	6
3	14	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	61	+ 3 Laps	18	4
4	44	Robert Manzon	Simca-Gordini	61	+ 3 Laps	12	3
5	16	Eugène Chaboud [a]	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	59	+ 5 Laps	4	1
		Philippe Étancelin [a]					1
6	26	Charles Pozzi [b]	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	56	+ 8 Laps	15
		Louis Rosier [b]
7	2	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	55	Fuel Pump	2
8	18	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	52	+ 12 Laps	5
Ret	22	Pierre Levegh	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	36	Engine	9
Ret	40	Felice Bonetto	Maserati-Milano	14	Engine	10
Ret	42	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	11	Overheating	14
Ret	20	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	10	Overheating	6
Ret	32	Reg Parnell	Maserati	9	Engine	11
Ret	28	Franco Rol	Maserati	6	Engine	7
Ret	30	Louis Chiron	Maserati	6	Engine	13
Ret	34	David Hampshire	Maserati	5	Engine	17
Ret	12	Raymond Sommer	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	4	Overheating	16
Ret	36	José Froilán González	Maserati	3	Engine	8
DNS	24	Eugène Chaboud	Talbot-Lago-Talbot		Practice only
DNS	8	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari		Withdrawn
DNS	10	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari		Withdrawn
Source: [8]

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Notes

1. Philippe Étancelin qualified and drove 26 laps of the race in the #16 Talbot-Lago. Eugène Chaboud, who did not start the race despite qualifying in his own car, took over Étancelin's vehicle for 33 laps of the race. ^[2] They shared the two points for fifth place.
2. Charles Pozzi qualified and drove 14 laps of the race in the #26 Talbot-Lago. Louis Rosier, whose own car had already retired, took over #26 for 42 laps of the race. ^[2]
3. David Hampshire qualified the #34 Maserati and drove it in the race until he was forced to retire. David Murray, named substitute driver for the car, was not used during the Grand Prix. ^[3]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
2	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	26
	2	Luigi Fagioli	24
2	3	Giuseppe Farina	22
	4	Louis Rosier	10
	5	Johnnie Parsons	9
Source: [9]

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

References

1. "Manipe F1". Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
2. "French Grand Prix 1950 - Results". ESPN F1. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
3. "France 1950 - Race entrants". Stats F1. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
4. "1950 French Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
5. "1950 ACF GP - Entry List". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
6. "XXXVII Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France". Silhouet.com. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
7. "France 1950". Stats F1. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
8. "1950 French Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
9. "France 1950 - Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.

Further reading

• Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. pp. 21–22. ISBN   0-85429-276-4.
• Sheldon and Rabagliati, A Record of Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing, Volume 5, 1950–1953, 1988

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