1950 Swiss Grand Prix

1950 Formula One Season
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1950 Swiss Grand Prix
Date	June 4, 1950
Round	4
Track	Bremgarten
Laps	42
Weather	Hot & Sunny
Pole Position
Driver
Time
Fastest Lap
Driver
Time

The tenth Swiss Grand Prix was held at Bremgarten as Round Four of the 1950 World Drivers' Championship. After the last European race at Monte Carlo, the Alfa Romeo's continued their dominance, and Bremgarten was to be a chance for the other teams to close the gap.

As a result of the pile up in Monaco, Jose Froilan Gonzalez was absent from the race due to the burns he recieved, as was the lesser known Franco Rol.

The two principle Alfa Romeo protagonists, Juan Manuel Fangio and Giuseppe Farina were the top two in qualifying by over two seconds. Luigi Fagioli made it an Alfa Romeo 1-2-3. Then came the Ferrari's of Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari. There was then a gap of five seconds to the rest of the field.

Come race day, Alberto Ascari immediately rose through the pack, determind not to let the trio of Alfa Romeo's battle it out. However, Ascari was unable to maintain his pace in the Ferrari, and the Alfa's retook their position at the head of the pack.

The two favourites for the championship, Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio were locked in a fierce battle at the front. Luigi Fagioli was unable to keep up with the two leaders and fell back. Farina and [[Juan Manuel Fangio|Fangio were swapping positions all the time.

Disaster struck for the Ferrari's though, as both Ascari and Villoresi were soon forced to retire from the race. Prince Bira and Louis Rosier were the beneficiaries.

Talbot-Lago-Talbot driver Eugene Martin crashed badly on Lap 20, as he hit the barriers and was thrown from his car.

With the battle between the top two in earnest, Fangio was forced to retire with an electrical fault ten laps from the end. This left Farina well in the lead. This left Louis Rosier to inherit a podium position, with Prince Bira right behind him.

Farina then eased off, sensing an easy victory, but was suddenly cought by a flying Luigi Fagioli, who had suddenly found some pace. That coupled with Farina's easing helped Fagioli to make a race of it towards the end.

But Giuseppe Farina held on, with Luigi Fagioli 0.4 seconds behind - the closest finish yet in the championship. The Alfa Romeo's were so dominant again, as they were over a lap ahead of the third placed Louis Rosier for Talbot-Lago-Talbot.

With the Ferrari's not finishing, it was clear that not only was the Alfa Romeo faster than the Ferrari, other than in Juan Manuel Fangio's hands, it was more reliable too. Unreliability was becoming a problem for Fangio, who appeared to be the best driver, but his car wasn't getting him to the end of races, thus Giuseppe Farina's lead grew.

Results

Bold type denotes bonus point for setting the fastest lap.

Pos/Lap		Driver	Team	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1		Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	2:02:53.7	2	9
2		Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo	+ 0.4	3	6
3		Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	+ 1 lap	10	4
4		Prince Bira	Maserati	+ 2 laps	8	3
5		Felice Bonetto	Maserati	+ 2 laps	12	2
6		Toulu de Graffenried	Maserati	+ 2 laps	11
7		Nello Pagani	Maserati	+ 3 laps	15
8		Harry Schell	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	+ 3 laps	18
9		Louis Chiron	Maserati	+ 3 laps	16
10		Johnny Claes	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	+ 4 laps	14
11		Toni Branca	Maserati	+ 7 laps	17
32		Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	Engine	1
25		Philippe Etancelin	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	Gearbox	6
19		Eugene Martin	Alfa Romeo	Accident	9
19		Raymond Sommer	Ferrari	Suspension	13
9		Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	Engine	4
4		Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Oil Pump	5
0		Yves Giraud Cabantous	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	Engine	7