1951 F1 Italian Grand Prix-Monza

FERRARI CLAIMS HISTORIC FIRST ITALIAN GRAND PRIX VICTORY, TOPPLES ALFA ROMEO'S REIGN AT MONZA

In the inaugural FIA Formula One World Championship of Drivers in 1950, there was only one real contender: the Alfa Romeo Works team with its pre-war supercharged 1.5L inline V8 “gas guzzler,” which won every race of the season and seemed poised to repeat the feat in 1951. That is until another Italian constructor emerged as a contender, largely thanks to a fuel-efficient, 4.5L naturally aspirated V12 courtesy of Enzo Ferrari.

Ferrari first snapped Alfa’s winning streak at Silverstone in R5, thanks in large part to better fuel economy. They followed it up with a second win at the first post-war Grand Prix allowed in Germany in R6. Now, the F1 circus was rolling into the Po Valley for R7, the XXII Gran Premio d'Italia-Monza, carrying with them hope for a first win on Italian soil for Ferrari.

Held at the iconic Autodromo Nazionale di Monza southeast of Milan on a sunny September day, the grid was set as expected, with the Alfa piloted by Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio on pole. However, once the flag dropped, he was quickly overtaken by a Ferrari driven by Milan native Alberto Ascari. Fangio briefly regained the lead before mechanical gremlins forced his retirement, allowing Ascari to secure Ferrari's third win of the season, but more importantly, their first Grand Prix victory on home turf. This race marked a significant moment, even with Alfa Romeo again taking the title in ’51, as it was the year the Prancing Horse emerged as a force to be reckoned with in Formula One, starting a long period of dominance for the storied Italian constructor.

Key Sources:

MotorSport Magazine Race Results (Free):

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1951-italian-grand-prix/

MotorSport Magazine digitized Race Report (Subscription required):

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1951/13/xxii-gp-ditalia/