Race details | |||
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Race 3 of 8 in the 1951 Formula One season | |||
Date | 17 June 1951 | ||
Official name | XIII GROTE PRIJS VAN BELGIE | ||
Location | Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium | ||
Course | Grand Prix Circuit | ||
Course length | 14.12 km (8.774 mi) | ||
Distance | 36 laps, 508.320 km (315.864 mi) | ||
Weather | Sunny, Mild, Dry | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Alfa Romeo | ||
Time | 4:25.0 | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver | Juan Manuel Fangio | Alfa Romeo | |
Time | 4:22.1 | ||
Podium | |||
First | Alfa Romeo | ||
Second | Scuderia Ferrari | ||
Third | Scuderia Ferrari | ||
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The 1951 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 17 June 1951 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. It was the third round of the 1951 World Drivers' Championship.
Despite there being just 13 starters representing 3 makes of car, the race attracted a record crowd. There were a further 3 entries, including 2 Maseratis, which did not attend the event. Fangio had a new suspension with special wheels, which had to be concave to make room for the brake drums. These proved an expensive novelty. At his first pit stop, they jammed and his stop lasted over 14 minutes. Farina's Alfa Romeo dominated, holding off the Ferraris of Ascari and Villoresi. A lightning stop of 39 seconds for wheel change and refuelling preserved his lead until the finish.