1951 Spanish Grand Prix

1951 Spanish Grand Prix
1951 Spanish Grand Prix
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	Pedralbes street circuit
Race details
Date	28 October 1951
Official name	XI Gran Premio de España
Location	Pedralbes Circuit, Barcelona, Catalonia
Course	Street circuit
Course length	6.316 km (3.925 miles)
Distance	70 laps, 442.120 km (274.721 miles)
Weather	Hot, Dry
Pole position
Driver	Alberto Ascari ;
Time	2:10.59
Fastest lap
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio
Time	2:16.93
Podium
First	Juan Manuel Fangio ;
Second	José Froilán González ;
Third	Nino Farina ;
	Lap leaders ;

Last updated January 11, 2026

The 1951 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 28 October 1951 at Pedralbes Circuit. It was the eighth and final race of the 1951 World Championship of Drivers.

This race was determined by tyre choice – Ferrari chose a 16-inch rear wheel, whilst Alfa Romeo settled for the 18 inch, which proved to be the better of the two options. Juan Manuel Fangio led Alberto Ascari by two points before the race. Ascari led the race from José Froilán González, but the Ferraris suffered numerous tread problems. Piero Taruffi threw a tyre tread on lap 6 and was followed on lap 7 by Luigi Villoresi, Ascari on lap 8 and Gonzalez on lap 14. The Ferraris were forced to stop frequently to change tyres and Fangio comfortably won the race and his first drivers' title, after Ascari finished 4th was not able to overhaul Fangio's total. After the race, Alfa Romeo announced that due to lack of finances, they would not be competing in the 1952 season.

Entries

No	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre
2	Alberto Ascari	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	P
4	Luigi Villoresi		Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	P
6	José Froilán González		Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	P
8	Piero Taruffi		Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari Type 375 4.5 V12	P
10	Peter Whitehead ¹	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	Ferrari 375	Ferrari 375 F1 4.5 V12	P
12	Maurice Trintignant	Equipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
14	Robert Manzon		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
16	André Simon		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	E
18	Prince Bira	Prince Bira	Maserati-OSCA	Maserati 4CLT-48	OSCA V12	P
20	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159M	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
22	Juan Manuel Fangio		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159M	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
24	Felice Bonetto		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159M	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
26	Toulo de Graffenried		Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 159M	Alfa Romeo 1.5 L8 s	P
28	Louis Rosier	Ecurie Rosier	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
30	Louis Chiron	Ecurie Rosier	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
32	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
34	Philippe Étancelin	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
36	Johnny Claes	Ecurie Belge	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
38	Georges Grignard	Georges Grignard	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
40	Reg Parnell ¹	BRM Ltd.	BRM	BRM P15	BRM 15 1.5 V16 s	D
44	Paco Godia	Scuderia Milano	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT-48	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	P
46	Juan Jover ²	Scuderia Milano	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT-48	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	P
48	Toni Branca ³	Antonio Branca	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT-48	Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4 s	P
Sources:^[1]^[2]

^1 — Peter Whitehead and Reg Parnell both withdrew from the event prior to practice.^[3]

^2 — Juan Jover qualified in the #46 Maserati, although he did not start the race. Joaquin Palacio had been entered in car #46, but he withdrew prior to practice.^[3]

^3 — Toni Branca withdrew from the event prior to practice. Chico Landi had also been entered in car #48, but he too withdrew from the Grand Prix before practice.^[3]

Championship permutations

Three drivers were fighting for the championship going into the race: Fangio on 27 points, Ascari on 25 points and González on 21 points. Championship leader Fangio only needed a second place in order to win his maiden drivers' title.

The championship would have been won by either of the top three drivers in the following manner:^[4]

	Fangio would have won if:
	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alberto Ascari	José Froilán González
Pos.	2nd or better	Any position	Any position
	3rd	Any position
	4th	3rd or lower
	5th	4th or lower
	lower than 5th + FL
	lower than 5th w/o FL		2nd or lower + FL

	Ascari would have won if:
	Alberto Ascari	Juan Manuel Fangio	José Froilán González
Pos.	1st	Any position	Any position
	2nd	3rd or lower	Any position

	González would have won if:
	José Froilán González	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alberto Ascari
Pos.	1st + FL	lower than 5th w/o FL	3rd or lower

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	2	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	2:10.59	–
2	22	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	2:12.27	+ 1.68
3	6	José Froilán González	Ferrari	2:14.01	+ 3.42
4	20	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	2:14.94	+ 4.35
5	4	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	2:16.38	+ 5.79
6	26	Toulo de Graffenried	Alfa Romeo	2:16.40	+ 5.81
7	8	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	2:16.80	+ 6.21
8	24	Felice Bonetto	Alfa Romeo	2:21.80	+ 11.21
9	14	Robert Manzon	Simca-Gordini	2:23.81	+ 13.22
10	16	André Simon	Simca-Gordini	2:24.60	+ 14.01
11	12	Maurice Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	2:25.25	+ 14.66
12	30	Louis Chiron	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:30.32	+ 19.73
13	34	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:31.00	+ 20.41
14	32	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:32.18	+ 21.59
15	36	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:34.46	+ 23.87
16	38	Georges Grignard	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:35.58	+ 24.99
17	44	Paco Godia	Maserati	2:37.45	+ 26.86
18	46	Juan Jover	Maserati	2:41.99	+ 31.40
19	18	Prince Bira	Maserati-OSCA	2:45.99	+ 35.40
20	28	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	2:46.78	+ 36.19

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/retired	Grid	Points
1	22	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	70	2:46:54.10	2	9¹
2	6	José Froilán González	Ferrari	70	+54.28	3	6
3	20	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	70	+1:45.54^[5]	4	4
4	2	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	68	+2 laps	1	3
5	24	Felice Bonetto	Alfa Romeo	68	+2 laps	8	2
6	26	Toulo de Graffenried	Alfa Romeo	66	+4 laps	6
7	28	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	64	+6 laps	20
8	34	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	63	+7 laps	13
9	14	Robert Manzon	Simca-Gordini	63	+7 laps	9
10	44	Paco Godia	Maserati	60	+10 laps	17
Ret	4	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	48	Ignition	5
Ret	16	André Simon	Simca-Gordini	48	Engine	10
Ret	36	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	37	Accident	15
Ret	8	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	30	Wheel	7
Ret	12	Maurice Trintignant	Simca-Gordini	25	Engine	11
Ret	38	Georges Grignard	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	23	Engine	16
Ret	32	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	7	Accident	14
Ret	30	Louis Chiron	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	4	Ignition	12
Ret	18	Prince Bira	Maserati-OSCA	1	Engine	19
DNS	46	Juan Jover	Maserati	0	Engine	18
Source:^[6]

Notes

^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Final Championship standings

Bold text indicates the World Champion.

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	31 (37)
	2	Alberto Ascari	25 (28)
	3	José Froilán González	24 (27)
	4	Nino Farina	19 (22)
	5	Luigi Villoresi	15 (18)
Source:^[7]

Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

References

↑ "1951 Spanish Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
↑ "1951 Spanish GP - Entry List". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
1 2 3 "Spain 1951 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
↑ "Looking back at the history of the Spanish GP". atlasf1.autosport.com. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
↑ Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 37. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.
↑ "1951 Spanish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
↑ "Spain 1951 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.

Previous race:
1951 Italian Grand Prix

FIA Formula One World Championship
1951 season

Next race:
1952 Swiss Grand Prix

Previous race:
1935 Spanish Grand Prix

Spanish Grand Prix

Next race:
1954 Spanish Grand Prix

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[1] "1951 Spanish Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.

[2] "1951 Spanish GP - Entry List". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 11 December 2013.

[statsf1-3] 1 2 3 "Spain 1951 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.

[4] "Looking back at the history of the Spanish GP". atlasf1.autosport.com. Retrieved 6 November 2017.

[LangP37-5] Lang, Mike (1981). Grand Prix! Vol 1. Haynes Publishing Group. p. 37. ISBN 0-85429-276-4.

[6] "1951 Spanish Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.

[7] "Spain 1951 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.

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