1952 British Grand Prix

The 1952 British Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 19 July 1952 at Silverstone Circuit. It was race 5 of 8 in the 1952 World Championship of Drivers, in which each Grand Prix was run to Formula Two rules rather than the Formula One regulations normally used.

Photo from Grandstand

1952 British Grand Prix
Silverstone Circuit in 1952–1973 configuration
Race details
Date 19 July 1952
Official name 5th RAC British Grand Prix
Location Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone, England
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.7105 km (2.927 mi)
Distance 85 laps, 400.307 km (248.739 mi)
Weather Overcast, Dry
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:50.0
Fastest lap
Driver Alberto Ascari Ferrari
Time 1:52.0
Podium
First
  • Alberto Ascari
 Ferrari
Second
Ferrari
Third
Cooper-Bristol

New pit facilities had been built on the straight between Woodcote and Copse corners; the original pits were located between Abbey and Woodcote.

Report

Jean Behra was unable to take part in the British Grand Prix, having broken his shoulder blade at the non-championship Grand Prix de Sables d'Olonne the previous weekend. Consequently, Maurice Trintignant took over Behra's Gordini T16 for Silverstone, having driven a Simca-Gordini T15 at Rouen-Les-Essarts. The Gordini team also fielded regular drivers Robert Manzon and Prince Bira. As in the previous race, Belgian driver Johnny Claes entered a privateer Simca-Gordini under the 'Ecurie Belge' moniker. Ferrari stuck with the same three drivers — Alberto Ascari, Nino Farina and Piero Taruffi — who had monopolised the podium positions at the French Grand Prix. There were also a number of privateer Ferrari entrants: Fischer and Hirt for Ecurie Espadon, Peter Whitehead and Roy Salvadori. HWM continued their policy of partnering regulars Peter Collins and Lance Macklin with a local driver, in this case Duncan Hamilton. The Connaught team ran a quartet of Lea Francis-engined entries — McAlpine, Downing, Thompson and Poore — while the remainder of the grid was made up of a series of privateers of various constructors, including Coopers and Maseratis.

The three works Ferraris, led on this occasion by Farina, again qualified in the top three positions on the grid, this time being joined on the four-car front row by Manzon. The second row consisted of Downing alongside Reg Parnell and Mike Hawthorn in a pair of Cooper-Bristols. The Connaughts of Poore and Thompson shared row three with Bira's Gordini and Hamilton in his HWM.

Ascari took the lead at the start of the race and held onto it for the whole 85 laps, taking his third consecutive victory in the World Championship. Polesitter Nino Farina was in second place for the first 26 laps but he dropped down the field when he needed to pit to change spark plugs, eventually finishing in sixth, just outside the points. Despite making a bad start that saw him drop to ninth by the end of the first lap, fellow Ferrari driver Taruffi recovered to take second place, finishing a lap behind Ascari. Dennis Poore, who had been running in third after Farina's pit stop, needed to make a stop of his own in order to refuel his car. This allowed Hawthorn to inherit third place, which he held for the remainder of the race. He finished a lap behind Taruffi and took his first World Championship podium in just his third race. Poore took fourth, ahead of Connaught teammate Eric Thompson in the fifth and final points position.[1]

Ascari's win, coupled with yet another fastest lap, allowed him to extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship once again. He now enjoyed an eight-point lead over fellow Ferrari driver Taruffi. Farina, having not scored any points, was seven points adrift of Taruffi.

Entries
NoDriverEntrantConstructorChassisEngineTyre
1 Graham Whitehead Peter Whitehead Alta Alta F2 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
2 Bill Aston W.S. Aston Aston Butterworth Aston NB41 Aston Butterworth F4 2.0 F4 D
3 Kenneth McAlpine Connaught Engineering Connaught-Lea Francis Connaught A Lea Francis 2.0 L4 D
4 Ken Downing Connaught-Lea Francis Connaught A Lea Francis 2.0 L4 D
5 Eric Thompson Connaught-Lea Francis Connaught A Lea Francis 2.0 L4 D
6 Dennis Poore Connaught-Lea Francis Connaught A Lea Francis 2.0 L4 D
7 David Murray Ecurie Ecosse Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
8 Reg Parnell AHM Bryde Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
9 Mike Hawthorn Leslie D. Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
10 Eric Brandon Ecurie Richmond Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
11 Alan Brown Cooper-Bristol Cooper T20 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
12 Stirling Moss English Racing Automobiles Ltd. ERA-Bristol ERA G Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
14 Roy Salvadori1 G. Caprara Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 D
15 Alberto Ascari Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
16 Nino Farina Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
17 Piero Taruffi Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
18 Louis Rosier2 Ecurie Rosier Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 D
19 Rudi Fischer Ecurie Espadon Ferrari Ferrari 500 Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 P
20 Peter Hirt Ferrari Ferrari 212 Ferrari 166 2.0 V12 P
21 Peter Whitehead Peter Whitehead Ferrari Ferrari 125 Ferrari 166 2.0 V12 D
22 Ken Wharton2 Scuderia Franera Frazer Nash-Bristol Frazer Nash FN48 Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 D
23 Tony Crook Tony Crook Frazer Nash-BMW Frazer Nash 421 BMW 328 2.0 L6 D
24 Robert Manzon Equipe Gordini Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
25 Maurice Trintignant Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
26 Prince Bira Gordini Gordini T16 Gordini 20 2.0 L6 E
27 Johnny Claes Ecurie Belge Simca-Gordini Simca-Gordini T15 Gordini 1500 1.5 L4 E
28 Tony Gaze Tony Gaze HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
29 Peter Collins HW Motors HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
30 Duncan Hamilton HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
31 Lance Macklin HWM-Alta HWM 52 Alta F2 2.0 L4 D
32 Toulo de Graffenried Enrico Platé Maserati-Platé Maserati 4CLT-48 Platé 2.0 L4 P
33 Harry Schell Maserati-Platé Maserati 4CLT-48 Platé 2.0 L4 P
34 Gino Bianco Escuderia Bandeirantes Maserati Maserati A6GCM Maserati A6G 2.0 L6 P
35 Eitel Cantoni Maserati Maserati A6GCM Maserati A6G 2.0 L6 P
Sources: [2][3]
^1 — Roy Salvadori qualified and drove the entire race in the #14 Ferrari. Bobbie Baird, named substitute driver for the car, was not used during the Grand Prix.[4]
^2 — Louis Rosier and Ken Wharton both withdrew from the event prior to practice.[5]

Classification

Qualifying
PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
1 16 Nino Farina Ferrari 1:50 –
2 15 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 1:50 + 0
3 17 Piero Taruffi Ferrari 1:53 + 3
4 24 Robert Manzon Gordini 1:55 + 5
5 4 Ken Downing Connaught-Lea Francis 1:56 + 6
6 8 Reg Parnell Cooper-Bristol 1:56 + 6
7 9 Mike Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol 1:56 + 6
8 6 Dennis Poore Connaught-Lea Francis 1:56 + 6
9 5 Eric Thompson Connaught-Lea Francis 1:57 + 7
10 26 Prince Bira Gordini 1:57 + 7
11 30 Duncan Hamilton HWM-Alta 1:57 + 7
12 1 Graham Whitehead Alta 1:58 + 8
13 11 Alan Brown Cooper-Bristol 1:58 + 8
14 29 Peter Collins HWM-Alta 1:58 + 8
15 19 Rudi Fischer Ferrari 1:58 + 8
16 12 Stirling Moss ERA-Bristol 1:59 + 9
17 3 Kenneth McAlpine Connaught-Lea Francis 2:00 + 10
18 10 Eric Brandon Cooper-Bristol 2:00 + 10
19 14 Roy Salvadori Ferrari 2:00 + 10
20 21 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 2:00 + 10
21 25 Maurice Trintignant Gordini 2:00 + 10
22 7 David Murray Cooper-Bristol 2:02 + 12
23 27 Johnny Claes Simca-Gordini-Gordini 2:02 + 12
24 20 Peter Hirt Ferrari 2:03 + 13
25 23 Tony Crook Frazer Nash-BMW 2:03 + 13
26 28 Tony Gaze HWM-Alta 2:05 + 15
27 35 Eitel Cantoni Maserati 2:06 + 16
28 34 Gino Bianco Maserati 2:07 + 17
29 31 Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 2:08 + 18
30 2 Bill Aston Aston Butterworth 3:28 + 1:38
31 32 Toulo de Graffenried Maserati-Platé No time –
32 33 Harry Schell Maserati-Platé No time –

Race
PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 15 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 85 2:46:11 2 91
2 17 Piero Taruffi Ferrari 84 +1 lap 3 6
3 9 Mike Hawthorn Cooper-Bristol 83 +2 laps 7 4
4 6 Dennis Poore Connaught-Lea Francis 83 +2 laps 8 3
5 5 Eric Thompson Connaught-Lea Francis 82 +3 laps 9 2
6 16 Nino Farina Ferrari 82 +3 laps 1
7 8 Reg Parnell Cooper-Bristol 82 +3 laps 6
8 14 Roy Salvadori Ferrari 82 +3 laps 19
9 4 Ken Downing Connaught-Lea Francis 82 +3 laps 5
10 21 Peter Whitehead Ferrari 81 +4 laps 20
11 26 Prince Bira Gordini 81 +4 laps 10
12 1 Graham Whitehead Alta 80 +5 laps 12
13 19 Rudi Fischer Ferrari 80 +5 laps 15
14 27 Johnny Claes Simca-Gordini-Gordini 79 +6 laps 23
15 31 Lance Macklin HWM-Alta 79 +6 laps 29
16 3 Kenneth McAlpine Connaught-Lea Francis 79 +6 laps 17
17 33 Harry Schell Maserati-Platé 78 +7 laps 32
18 34 Gino Bianco Maserati 77 +8 laps 28
19 32 Toulo de Graffenried Maserati-Platé 76 +9 laps 31
20 10 Eric Brandon Cooper-Bristol 76 +9 laps 18
21 23 Tony Crook Frazer Nash-BMW 75 +10 laps 25
22 11 Alan Brown Cooper-Bristol 69 +16 laps 13
Ret 29 Peter Collins HWM-Alta 73 Ignition 14
Ret 30 Duncan Hamilton HWM-Alta 44 Engine 11
Ret 12 Stirling Moss ERA-Bristol 36 Engine 16
Ret 25 Maurice Trintignant Gordini 21 Gearbox 21
Ret 28 Tony Gaze HWM-Alta 19 Engine 26
Ret 7 David Murray Cooper-Bristol 14 Engine 22
Ret 24 Robert Manzon Gordini 9 Clutch 4
Ret 20 Peter Hirt Ferrari 3 Brakes 24
Ret 35 Eitel Cantoni Maserati 0 Brakes 27
DNS 2 Bill Aston Aston Butterworth 0 Non Starter
Source: [6]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Notes
  • Final Grand Prix drive for: David Murray
  • First podium: Cooper

Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Alberto Ascari 27
2 Piero Taruffi 19
3 Nino Farina 12
4 Troy Ruttman 8
5 Robert Manzon 7
Source: [7]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.

References
  1. "British GP, 1952 Race Report". Grand Prix.com. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  2. "1952 British Grand Prix - Race Entries". manipef1.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  3. "1952 British GP - Entry List". chicanef1.com. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  4. "Britain 1952 - Race entrants". statsf1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  5. "Britain 1952 - Result". statsf1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  6. "1952 British Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  7. "Britain 1952 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
Previous race:
1952 French Grand Prix		 FIA Formula One World Championship
1952 season		 Next race:
1952 German Grand Prix
Previous race:
1951 British Grand Prix		 British Grand Prix Next race:
1953 British Grand Prix
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.