The 2nd Formula One World Championship took place the very next year with Nino Farina the defending champion returning, along with last year's title contenders, Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Ascari. Luigi Fagioli who finished 3rd in the 1950 season only competed in one race. Alfa Romeo were coming back into the sport as the Mercedes of today, and Ferrari were the Ferrari of today, lighting a fire onto the ass of the front runner.
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| The 1951 drivers champion Juan Manuel Fangio |
However it didn't look like that from the first race in Switzerland, with Alfa Romeo's Juan Manuel Fangio taking pole, fastest lap and the win. Ascari in the Ferrari never had the pace as he had a badly burnt arm from a previous Formula 2 race. Round 2 was in Belgium at Spa, where Nino Farina got back to his winning ways beating the Ferrari's by over 3 minutes. Juan Manuel Fangio finished 9th after he jammed a wheel in a pit stop, costing him 15 minutes. Fangio did pick up a point for setting the fastest lap. Round 3 took the championship France at a fast track in Reims. As Ascari was chasing Fangio his gearbox failed, and so the newest Ferrari driver was pulled into the pits, and Ascari as the senior driver took over his car. Fangio finished first with Ascari second, and Ferrari were really getting onto the back of the Alfas. Then to the historic Silverstone, and Ascari had another gearbox failure and when his team mate, Gonzalez came into the pits, Ascari didn't swap cars with him, as he thought Gonzalez was in top form. As Fangio tryed to establish a lead, Gonzalez was right behind him in his Ferrari and had an advantage of only needing one more fuel stop, compared to Alfa's two. Gonzalez was to quick that day, and finished first, a minute ahead of Fangio. Alfa Romeo then added more upgrades for the next round, Germany. Fangio lead most of the race, but once again an extra fuel stop let him down, with Ascari overtaking him in the pits, and effectively winning the race, with Fangio coming in second. Onto Monza and Fangio had to retire, giving Ferrari a one two finish with Ascari in first and Gonzalez in second.
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| The 2nd Round at Circuit Spa Francorchamps |
Onto the final round of the championship, and it was in Spain at the Pedralbes circuit. The circuit is known for being extremely bumpy and hard on tires. For Ferrari it tore there tires apart, and left them unable to fight, giving Juan Manuel Fangio with an easy run to the line, and the world championship. Juan Manuel Fangio was the 2nd man to win the World Drivers Championship after Nino Farina in 1950, and both had driven for Alfa Romeo.
Race 1: Switzerland - Winner: Juan Manuel Fangio
Race 2: Belgium - Winner: Nino Farina
Race 3: France - Winner: Juan Manuel Fangio/Luigi Fagioli
Race 4: Silverstone - Winner: Jose Froilan Gonzalez
Race 5: Germany - Winner: Alberto Ascari
Race 6: Italy - Winner: Alberto Ascari
Race 7: Spain - Winner: Juan Manuel Fangio
Drivers Champion: Juan Manuel Fangio
After this season, funding dried up for the Alfa Romeo Formula One team, and they dropped out of Formula One, leaving Ferrari the front runner for the next season and they dominated, with a new Maserati team to be the next competition in 1953.
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