1950 Belgian Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Country:Belgium
Grand Prix:Belgian
Official Name:Grand Prix Automobile de Belgique
Date:18 June
Year:1950
Previous Round:1950 Swiss Grand Prix
Next Round:1950 French Grand Prix
Location:Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
Course:Permanent racing circuit
Course Mi:8.825
Course Km:14.120
Distance Laps:35
Distance Mi:308.875
Distance Km:494.2
Weather:Warm, dry and sunny
Pole Driver:Nino Farina
Pole Team:Alfa Romeo
Pole Time:4:37.0
Pole Country:Italy
Fast Driver:Nino Farina
Fast Team:Alfa Romeo
Fast Time:4:34.1
Fast Lap:18[1]
Fast Country:Italy
First Driver:Juan Manuel Fangio
First Team:Alfa Romeo
First Country:Argentina
Second Driver:Luigi Fagioli
Second Team:Alfa Romeo
Second Country:Italy
Third Driver:Louis Rosier
Third Team:Talbot-Lago-Talbot
Third Country:France

The 1950 Belgian Grand Prix, formally titled the Grand Prix Automobile de Belgique,[2] was a Formula One motor race held on 18 June 1950 at Spa-Francorchamps. It was race five of seven in the 1950 World Championship of Drivers. The 35-lap race was won by Alfa Romeo driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from second position. His teammate Luigi Fagioli finished second and Talbot-Lago driver Louis Rosier came in third.

Report

By the time of the Belgian Grand Prix, the pace of the season was beginning to tell, with only 14 cars arriving at the Spa circuit. These included the dominant Alfa Romeos of Nino Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli. Scuderia Ferrari was down to two 125s for Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari, although Ascari had a new V12 engine to try out. The factory Talbot-Lago team had three cars for Louis Rosier, Yves Giraud-Cabantous and Philippe Étancelin (standing in for the injured Eugène Martin). The rest of the field was made up of Talbot-Lagos (notably one for Raymond Sommer), a single Alta and one Maserati for Toni Branca. This race was the final entry for Geoffrey Crossley, the sport's high costs forcing him, like many privateers, to retire after just a handful of races.

Farina and Fangio were fastest as usual in qualifying with Fagioli unable to match them. Sommer split the Ferraris in his old Talbot-Lago. The race would be a similar story. The Alfas went off on their own and Sommer battled with the two Ferraris. When the Alfa stopped for fuel, Sommer found himself in the unlikely position of being race leader. Unfortunately his engine blew up. Ascari took the lead but he had to stop for fuel and that meant that the Alfas went ahead again with Fangio leading Farina and Fagioli. Farina suffered transmission trouble in the closing laps and dropped to fourth behind the best of the surviving Talbot-Lagos being driven by Rosier. Ascari finished fifth.

Entries

No Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Tyre
2 Luigi VilloresiScuderia FerrariFerrariFerrari 125Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12s
4 Alberto AscariFerrariFerrari 275Ferrari 275 F1 3.3 V12
6 Raymond SommerRaymond SommerTalbot-LagoTalbot-Lago T26CTalbot 23CV 4.5 L6
8 Nino FarinaAlfa Romeo SpAAlfa RomeoAlfa Romeo 158Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s
10 Juan Manuel FangioAlfa RomeoAlfa Romeo 158Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s
12 Luigi FagioliAlfa RomeoAlfa Romeo 158Alfa Romeo 158 1.5 L8s
14 Louis RosierAutomobiles Talbot-DarracqTalbot-LagoTalbot-Lago T26C-DATalbot 23CV 4.5 L6
16 Philippe ÉtancelinTalbot-LagoTalbot-Lago T26C-DATalbot 23CV 4.5 L6
18 Yves Giraud-CabantousTalbot-LagoTalbot-Lago T26C-DATalbot 23CV 4.5 L6
20 Eugène ChaboudEcurie LutetiaTalbot-LagoTalbot-Lago T26C-DATalbot 23CV 4.5 L6
22 Pierre LeveghPierre LeveghTalbot-LagoTalbot-Lago T26CTalbot 23CV 4.5 L6
24 Johnny ClaesEcurie BelgeTalbot-LagoTalbot-Lago T26CTalbot 23CV 4.5 L6
26 Geoffrey CrossleyGeoffrey CrossleyAltaAlta GPAlta 1.5 L4s
30 Toni BrancaAntonio BrancaMaseratiMaserati 4CLMaserati 4CL 1.5 L4s
Sources:[3] [4]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
18 Nino FarinaAlfa Romeo4:37
210 Juan Manuel FangioAlfa Romeo4:37+ 0
312 Luigi FagioliAlfa Romeo4:41+ 4
42 Luigi VilloresiFerrari4:47+ 10
56 Raymond SommerTalbot-Lago-Talbot4:47+ 10
616 Philippe ÉtancelinTalbot-Lago-Talbot4:49+ 12
74 Alberto AscariFerrari4:52+ 15
814 Louis RosierTalbot-Lago-Talbot4:53+ 16
918 Yves Giraud-CabantousTalbot-Lago-Talbot4:56+ 19
1022 Pierre LeveghTalbot-Lago-Talbot5:01+ 24
1120 Eugène ChaboudTalbot-Lago-Talbot5:13+ 36
1226 Geoffrey CrossleyAlta5:44+ 1:07
1330 Toni BrancaMaserati5:45+ 1:08
1424 Johnny ClaesTalbot-Lago-TalbotNo time
Source: [5]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
110 Juan Manuel FangioAlfa Romeo352:47:2628
212 Luigi FagioliAlfa Romeo35+ 1436
314 Louis RosierTalbot-Lago-Talbot35+ 2:1984
48 Nino FarinaAlfa Romeo35+ 4:0514
54 Alberto AscariFerrari34+ 1 Lap72
62 Luigi VilloresiFerrari33+ 2 Laps4 
722 Pierre LeveghTalbot-Lago-Talbot33+ 2 Laps10 
824 Johnny ClaesTalbot-Lago-Talbot32+ 3 Laps14 
926 Geoffrey CrossleyAlta30+ 5 Laps12 
1030 Toni BrancaMaserati29+ 6 Laps11 
Ret20 Eugène ChaboudTalbot-Lago-Talbot22Oil Pipe13 
Ret6 Raymond SommerTalbot-Lago-Talbot20Oil Pressure5 
Ret16 Philippe ÉtancelinTalbot-Lago-Talbot15Overheating6 
Ret18 Yves Giraud-CabantousTalbot-Lago-Talbot2Oil Pipe9 
Notes

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Nino Farina22
2 Luigi Fagioli18
3 Juan Manuel Fangio17
24 Louis Rosier10
15 Johnnie Parsons9
Source: [6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Belgium 1950 - Best Laps • STATS F1 . STATS F1 . 4 July 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120814043250/http://www.statsf1.com/en/1950/belgique/meilleur-tour.aspx . 14 August 2012 . live .
  2. Book: Grand Prix Automobile de Belgique . 1950 . Royal Automobile Club of Belgium . 16 January 2018 .
  3. Web site: 1950 Belgian Grand Prix - Race Entries. https://web.archive.org/web/20120509151043/http://www.manipef1.com/results/1950/belgium/entries/. 9 May 2012. manipef1.com. 6 January 2016.
  4. Web site: 1950 Belgian GP - Entry List. chicanef1.com. 15 November 2013.
  5. Web site: Belgium 1950 - Qualifications • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 5 March 2019.
  6. Web site: Belgium 1950 - Championship. statsf1.com. 1 March 2019.