1950 British Grand Prix

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United Kingdom  1950 British Grand Prix
Race details
Race 1 of 7 in the 1950 Formula One season
Silverstone Circuit in 1949–1950 configuration
Silverstone Circuit in 1949–1950 configuration
Date 13 May 1950
Official name III RAC British Grand Prix
XI Grand Prix d'Europe
Location Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone, England
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.649 km (2.889 mi)
Distance 70 laps, 325.430 km (202.213 mi)
Weather Sunny, Mild, Dry
Pole position
Driver Alfa Romeo
Time 1:50.8[1]
Fastest lap
Driver Italy Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo
Time 1:50.6[2] on lap 2
Podium
First Alfa Romeo
Second Alfa Romeo
Third Alfa Romeo
Lap leaders

The 1950 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1950 at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, England. It was the first World Championship Formula One race in the modern era, as well as the fifth British Grand Prix, and the third to be held at Silverstone after motor racing resumed after World War II. It was the first round of the 1950 World Drivers' Championship and the fifth race of the season.

The race, contested over 70 laps, was won by Giuseppe Farina for the Alfa Romeo team after starting from pole position timed 2:13:23.6, with an average speed of 146.378 km/h. Luigi Fagioli finished second in another Alfa Romeo, and Reg Parnell third in a third Alfa Romeo.

The race followed the non-championship Pau Grand Prix and San Remo Grand Prix (both won by Juan Manuel Fangio), the Richmond Trophy (won by Reg Parnell) and the Paris Grand Prix (won by Georges Grignard).

Report

Held on 13 May at Silverstone Circuit, and also designated as the Grand Prix of Europe for 1950, this very first World Championship round was attended by George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, and Earl & Countess Mountbatten of Burma.

Participants

In all, there were 22 competing, 21 qualified for race, and 11 classified. Numbers 7 and 13 were not assigned. The Alfa Romeo factory team arrived at the circuit with four 158s for Fangio, Farina, Fagioli & domestic driver Reg Parnell. Ferrari decided not to take part but there were a handful of Maseratis, one of them a factory car for Monegasque driver Louis Chiron. Scuderia Ambrosiana prepared two cars for David Hampshire and David Murray, Enrico Platé entered two drivers of aristocratic origin, Prince Bira of Siam and Baron Toulo de Graffenried. Joe Fry entered a private Maserati and Scuderia Milano entered Felice Bonetto, but he did not arrive. These cars were raced in Italian Rosso Corsa livery. Talbot-Lago sent over two factory cars in the traditional French pale blue colour to be driven by Yves Giraud-Cabantous and Eugène Martin. Other private Talbots were entered by Louis Rosier, Philippe Etancelin and Belgian Johnny Claes, in a yellow car. The rest of the field was made up of local machinery, which included four E.R.A.s and two Altas, in British racing green.

The race

Farina was fastest in qualifying and the other three Alfas were alongside him on the front row. The second row consisted of "B. Bira" in a Maserati and the two factory Talbots. In accordance with the standard at the time, the rest of the grid consisted of rows of four and three alternating, up to the sixth row. Felice Bonetto was the only driver who did not take part in qualifying and would not take part in the race. On 13 May, 21 drivers from 9 countries were represented at the old Silverstone airport, 4 from France, 2 from Italy, 1 each from Belgium, Ireland, Monaco, Argentina, Thailand and Switzerland. The UK was represented by 9 drivers. The race drew 200,000 spectators. At the start of the race, Farina took the lead with Fagioli and Fangio in pursuit. In the early laps they switched around between themselves several times to keep everyone amused. Fangio retired with engine troubles and so Farina led Fagioli home by 2.5 seconds with Parnell a distant third despite hitting a hare during the race. The nearest challenger was Giraud-Cabantous two laps down, Bira having retired with a fuel problem. Crossley and Murray duelled at the back before retiring, de Graffenried had done so on lap 34, while Chiron was demoted to the role of viewer 10 laps earlier. Giuseppe Farina led for 63 laps (1–9, 16–37 and 39–70). Luigi Fagioli led for 6 laps (10–15). Juan Manuel Fangio led for 1 lap (38). Joe Fry drove car #10 for the first 45 laps, then Brian Shawe-Taylor took over for 19 laps for a total 64 laps, distance 297.536 km. Peter Walker drove car #9 for 2 laps, then Tony Rolt drove for and additional 3 laps, totaling 5 laps, a distance of 23.245 km.

Entries

No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre
1 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo SpA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 Alfa Romeo 159 LBC 1.5 L8s P
2 Italy Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 Alfa Romeo 159 LBC 1.5 L8s P
3 Italy Luigi Fagioli1 Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 Alfa Romeo 159 LBC 1.5 L8s P
4 United Kingdom Reg Parnell Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 158 Alfa Romeo 159 LBC 1.5 L8s P
5 United Kingdom David Murray Scuderia Ambrosiana Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s D
6 United Kingdom David Hampshire Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s D
8 United Kingdom Leslie Johnson T.A.S.O. Mathieson ERA ERA E ERA 1.5 L6s D
9 United Kingdom Peter Walker2 Peter Walker ERA ERA E ERA 1.5 L6s D
10 United Kingdom Joe Fry3 Joe Fry Maserati Maserati 4CL Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s D
11 United Kingdom Cuth Harrison Cuth Harrison ERA ERA B ERA 1.5 L6s D
12 United Kingdom Bob Gerard Bob Gerard ERA ERA B ERA 1.5 L6s D
14 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Automobiles Talbot-Darracq Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
15 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
16 France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
17 France Eugène Martin Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C-DA Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
18 Belgium Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Talbot-Lago Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6 D
19 Monaco Louis Chiron Officine Alfieri Maserati Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
20 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Enrico Platé Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
21 Thailand B. Bira Maserati Maserati 4CLT-48 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
22 Italy Felice Bonetto Scuderia Milano Maserati Maserati 4CLT-50 Maserati 4 CL 1.5 L4s P
23 Republic of Ireland Joe Kelly Joe Kelly Alta Alta GP Alta 1.5 L4s D
24 United Kingdom Geoffrey Crossley Geoffrey Crossley Alta Alta GP Alta 1.5 L4s D
26 United Kingdom Raymond Mays4 Raymond Mays ERA ERA D ERA 1.5 L6s D
Sources: [3][4]
^1 — Luigi Fagioli qualified and drove all 70 laps of the race in the #3 Alfa Romeo. Gianbattista Guidotti, named substitute driver for the car, was not used at the Grand Prix.[5]
^2 — Peter Walker qualified and drove 2 laps of the race in the #9 ERA. Tony Rolt took over the car for 3 laps of the race.[6]
^3 — Joe Fry qualified and drove 45 laps of the race in the #10 Maserati. Brian Shawe-Taylor took over the car for 19 laps of the race.[6]
^4 — Entry cancelled prior to event.[7]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 2 Italy Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo 1:50.8
2 3 Italy Luigi Fagioli Alfa Romeo 1:51.0 + 0.2
3 1 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 1:51.2 + 0.4
4 4 United Kingdom Reg Parnell Alfa Romeo 1:52.2 + 1.4
5 21 Thailand Prince Bira Maserati 1:52.6 + 1.8
6 14 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 1:53.4 + 2.6
7 17 France Eugène Martin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 1:55.4 + 4.6
8 20 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Maserati 1:55.8 + 5.0
9 15 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 1:56.0 + 5.2
10 9 United Kingdom Peter Walker ERA 1:56.6 + 5.8
11 19 Monaco Louis Chiron Maserati 1:56.6 + 5.8
12 8 United Kingdom Leslie Johnson ERA 1:57.4 + 6.6
13 12 United Kingdom Bob Gerard ERA 1:57.4 + 6.6
14 16 France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 1:57.8 + 7.0
15 11 United Kingdom Cuth Harrison ERA 1:58.4 + 7.6
16 6 United Kingdom David Hampshire Maserati 2:01.0 + 10.2
17 24 United Kingdom Geoffrey Crossley Alta 2:02.6 + 11.8
18 5 United Kingdom David Murray Maserati 2:05.6 + 14.8
19 23 Republic of Ireland Joe Kelly Alta 2:06.2 + 15.4
20 10 United Kingdom Joe Fry Maserati 2:07.0 + 16.2
21 18 Belgium Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:08.8 + 18.0
DNA 22 Italy Felice Bonetto Maserati

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 2 Italy Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo 70 2:13:23.6 1 9
2 3 Italy Luigi Fagioli Alfa Romeo 70 + 2.6 2 6
3 4 United Kingdom Reg Parnell Alfa Romeo 70 + 52.0 4 4
4 14 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 68 + 2 Laps 6 3
5 15 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 68 + 2 Laps 9 2
6 12 United Kingdom Bob Gerard ERA 67 + 3 Laps 13  
7 11 United Kingdom Cuth Harrison ERA 67 + 3 Laps 15  
8 16 France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 65 + 5 Laps 14  
9 6 United Kingdom David Hampshire Maserati 64 + 6 Laps 16  
10 10 United Kingdom Joe Fry
United Kingdom Brian Shawe-Taylor
Maserati 64 + 6 Laps 20  
11 18 Belgium Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 64 + 6 Laps 21  
Ret 1 Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio Alfa Romeo 62 Oil Leak 3  
NC 23 Republic of Ireland Joe Kelly Alta 57 Not classified 19  
Ret 21 Thailand Prince Bira Maserati 49 Out of fuel 5  
Ret 5 United Kingdom David Murray Maserati 44 Engine 18  
Ret 24 United Kingdom Geoffrey Crossley Alta 43 Transmission 17  
Ret 20 Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Maserati 36 Engine 8  
Ret 19 Monaco Louis Chiron Maserati 26 Clutch 11  
Ret 17 France Eugène Martin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 8 Oil pressure 7  
Ret 9 United Kingdom Peter Walker
United Kingdom Tony Rolt
ERA 5 Gearbox 10  
Ret 8 United Kingdom Leslie Johnson ERA 2 Compressor 12  
Source:[8]

Fastest laps in race

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap Lap Pts
1 2 Italy Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo 1:50.6 2 1
2 14 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous Talbot-Lago-Talbot 1:53.4 + 2.8 41  
3 15 France Louis Rosier Talbot-Lago-Talbot 1:55.4 + 4.8 10  
4 16 France Philippe Étancelin Talbot-Lago-Talbot 1:57.4 + 6.8 31  
5 18 Belgium Johnny Claes Talbot-Lago-Talbot 2:08.8 + 18.2 29  

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Italy Giuseppe Farina 9
2 Italy Luigi Fagioli 6
3 United Kingdom Reg Parnell 4
4 France Yves Giraud-Cabantous 3
5 France Louis Rosier 2
  • Note: Only the top five positions are listed. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.

References

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FIA Formula One World Championship
1950 season
Next race:
1950 Monaco Grand Prix
Previous race:
1949 British Grand Prix
British Grand Prix Next race:
1951 British Grand Prix
Previous race:
1949 Italian Grand Prix
European Grand Prix
(Designated European Grand Prix)
Next race:
1951 French Grand Prix