1950 British Grand Prix

1950 British Grand Prix
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Silverstone Circuit in 1950–1951 configuration
Race details
Date	13 May 1950
Official name	The Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d'Europe Incorporating The British Grand Prix
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.
Attendance	100,000
Pole position
Driver	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo
Time	1:50.8
Fastest lap
Driver	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo
Time	1:50.6 on lap 2
Podium
First	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo
Second	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo
Third	Reg Parnell	Alfa Romeo
Lap leaders

The 1950 British Grand Prix, formally known as The Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d'Europe Incorporating The 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, 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 race of seven in the 1950 World Championship of Drivers.

The 70-lap race was won by Nino Farina for the Alfa Romeo team, after starting from pole position, with a race time of 2:13:23.6 and an average speed of 146.378 km/h (90.955 mph). 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).

Background

RAF Silverstone airport in 1945

Early Formula One racing

See also: History of Formula One § Early years and continuation of pre-World War II supercharged engines (1946–1950)

In 1946, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's Commission Sportive Internationale first defined the "International Formula", a premier single-seater racing series to start in 1947. While the first Formula One race was the 1947 Pau Grand Prix, the 1950 British Grand Prix was the first Grand Prix of the new World Championship of Drivers.

Four non-championship races were held all across Europe in 1950 prior to the Grand Prix: Juan Manuel Fangio won the races in Pau and San Remo, Reg Parnell won in Douglas, and Georges Grignard won in Paris.

The First World Championship race

The 1950 edition of the British Grand Prix was fifth held since 1926 and the third held at Silverstone Circuit since its first time in 1948. It was also the designated European Grand Prix for the year, making it the 11th time the circuit has held the title since the first race in 1923.

The race was also supported by an international 500cc Formula Three race the same weekend, which was won by Stirling Moss driving a Cooper-JAP. There was also a demonstration run for the BRM P15, which was due to enter the sport later in the year. The race was attended by George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, and the Earl & Countess Mountbatten of Burma.

Entries

Maserati 4CLT/48

Alfa Romeo Alfetta 158

Talbot-Lago T26C

24 drivers were entered for the first race with them competing in 22 different cars. The numbers 7 and 13 were not assigned. The biggest absence was the Scuderia Ferrari who would not compete in the opening race with Enzo Ferrari not sending any cars to Britain with the team debuting at the next round in Monaco, due to the small amount of appearance money the organisers were willing to pay him to participate.

This meant that Alfa Romeo were favourites with their four drivers Farina, Fangio, Fagioli, and British driver, Reg Parnell, while their main competition came from the Maseratis of the Scuderia Ambrosiana and Enrico Platé teams. Felice Bonetto also entered a Maserati but would not arrive for the race.

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 car painted in Belgium's national yellow colour. The rest of the field was made up of local machinery, which included four ERAs and two Altas in British racing green.

No	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre
1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 158	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s	P
2	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 158	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s	P
3	Luigi Fagioli1	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 158	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s	P
4	Reg Parnell	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 158	Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s	P
5	David Murray	Scuderia Ambrosiana	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s	D
6	David Hampshire	Scuderia Ambrosiana	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s	D
8	Leslie Johnson	T.A.S.O. Mathieson	ERA	ERA E	ERA 1.5 L6s	D
9	Peter Walker2	Peter Walker	ERA	ERA E	ERA 1.5 L6s	D
10	Joe Fry3	Joe Fry	Maserati	Maserati 4CL	Maserati 4CL 1.5 L4s	D
11	Cuth Harrison	Cuth Harrison	ERA	ERA B	ERA 1.5 L6s	D
12	Bob Gerard	Bob Gerard	ERA	ERA B	ERA 1.5 L6s	D
14	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
15	Louis Rosier	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
16	Philippe Étancelin	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
17	Eugène Martin	Automobiles Talbot-Darracq	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C-DA	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
18	Johnny Claes	Ecurie Belge	Talbot-Lago	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6	D
19	Louis Chiron	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s	P
20	Toulo de Graffenried	Enrico Platé	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s	P
21	B. Bira	Enrico Platé	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s	P
22	Felice Bonetto	Scuderia Milano	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/50	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s	P
23	Joe Kelly	Joe Kelly	Alta	Alta GP	Alta 1.5 L4s	D
24	Geoffrey Crossley	Geoffrey Crossley	Alta	Alta GP	Alta 1.5 L4s	D
26	Raymond Mays4	Raymond Mays	ERA	ERA D	ERA 1.5 L6s	D
Sources:

^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.

^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.

^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.

^4 – Entry cancelled prior to the event.

Qualifying

Qualifying took place on Friday and saw the Alfa Romeos end up on the front row of the grid as Farina claimed the first pole position in the history of Formula One with a time of 1:50.8. Fagioli and Fangio and Parnell would fill the remaining spots on the front row of the grid. Prince Bira was the fastest non-Alfa, 1.8 seconds back with the two Talbot's cars filling in the second row.

Qualifying classification

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

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, while Cabantous got a poor start and lost 4 positions. In the early laps, they switched around between themselves several times to keep everyone amused. Fangio retired with engine troubles caused by a broken oil pipe 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, with 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 the viewer 10 laps earlier.

Nino 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).

Nino Farina achieved the fastest lap of the race, with a 1:50.6 on Lap 2.

Shared drives

Joe Fry drove car #10 for the first 45 laps, then Brian Shawe-Taylor took over for 19 laps for a total of 64 laps, a distance of 297.536 km.

Peter Walker drove car #9 for 2 laps, then Tony Rolt drove for an additional 3 laps, totaling 5 laps, a distance of 23.245 km.

Race classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Nino Farina	Alfa Romeo	70	2:13:23.6	1	91
2	3	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo	70	+ 2.6	2	6
3	4	Reg Parnell	Alfa Romeo	70	+ 52.0	4	4
4	14	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	68	+ 2 Laps	6	3
5	15	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	68	+ 2 Laps	9	2
6	12	Bob Gerard	ERA	67	+ 3 Laps	13
7	11	Cuth Harrison	ERA	67	+ 3 Laps	15
8	16	Philippe Étancelin	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	65	+ 5 Laps	14
9	6	David Hampshire	Maserati	64	+ 6 Laps	16
10	10	Joe Fry Brian Shawe-Taylor	Maserati	64	+ 6 Laps	20
11	18	Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	64	+ 6 Laps	21
Ret	1	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	62	Oil pipe	3
NC	23	Joe Kelly	Alta	57	Not Classified	19
Ret	21	Prince Bira	Maserati	49	Out of fuel	5
Ret	5	David Murray	Maserati	44	Engine	18
Ret	24	Geoffrey Crossley	Alta	43	Transmission	17
Ret	20	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	36	Engine	8
Ret	19	Louis Chiron	Maserati	24	Clutch	11
Ret	17	Eugène Martin	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	8	Oil pressure	7
Ret	9	Peter Walker Tony Rolt	ERA	5	Gearbox	10
Ret	8	Leslie Johnson	ERA	2	Compressor	12
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Nino Farina	9
2	Luigi Fagioli	6
3	Reg Parnell	4
4	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	3
5	Louis Rosier	2
Source:

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

External links

• BBC newsreel of the event
• Digital scan of programme