The 1951 French grand prix was notable for several reasons; it was the first such race to credit two drivers with the victory, one of whom holds the record as the oldest driver to win a grand prix, plus it is credited as being the longest Formula 1 grand prix on record at almost 374 miles (602 kilometres), covering 77 laps of the Reims-Gueux circuit in northern France.
1951 ACF GP Fangio-Alfa
The history books will show the winning driver (seen in the photograph at the end of the race) was Juan Manuel Fangio who had started from pole position in his factory-entered Alfa Romeo 159A, recorded the fastest lap and took the chequered flag in an Alfa Romeo even though it was not the car he was driving when the race started. This was due to his car developing a misfire after ten laps. Fangio stopped in the pits to change the magneto but he was back at the end of the next lap, complaining of multiple problems. Around this time the Alfa Romeo of the veteran driver Luigi Fagioli, whose car was running faultlessly, stopped to refuel. He was promptly ordered to swap cars with Fangio who then set off to retake the lead while Fagioli struggled to drive Fangio’s misfiring car to 11th place overall, the last car running and 22 laps behind.
However, as he drove the winning car for the opening laps he was credited as being the joint victor which did nothing to stem his anger at having been forced to surrender his car. The 53-year old Fagioli, who had been racing since the 1920s, was noted for his fiery temperament and he immediately left the Alfa Romeo team and retired from grand prix racing but he still holds the record as the oldest winning driver. Only Fangio and the Ferrari 375 of Alberto Ascari and Jose Frolian Gonzalez completed the full 77 laps, three laps ahead of the competition. Ascari and Gonzalez had also swapped cars due to Ascari’s car stopping with a broken gearbox and it required a driver of Ascari’s skill to keep pace with Fangio, even though he finished almost one minute behind.
