1952 Swiss Grand Prix

1952 Swiss Grand Prix
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Circuit Bremgarten track layout
Race details
Date	18 May 1952
Official name	XII Großer Preis der Schweiz
Location	Circuit Bremgarten, Bern, Switzerland
Course	Temporary street/road circuit
Course length	7.280 km (4.524 miles)
Distance	62 laps, 451.360 km (280.462 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari
Time	2:47.5
Fastest lap
Driver	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari
Time	2:49.1 on lap 46
Podium
First	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari
Second	Rudi Fischer	Ferrari
Third	Jean Behra	Gordini
Lap leaders

The 1952 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 18 May 1952 at Bremgarten Circuit. It was the first round of 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.

Pre-WWII Grand Prix great Rudolf Caracciola crashed heavily during a support sports car race. He survived with a broken leg, but this crash effectively ended his racing career. He was driving a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL; his brakes locked up going into a corner and the car skidded off the road and hit a tree.

Italian driver Piero Taruffi scored his only win in a World Championship race, driving for Ferrari.

Report

With the withdrawal of Alfa Romeo from the World Championship, Ferrari were left as the sole competitive team under the existing Formula One regulations. It was therefore decided to restrict the World Championship Grand Prix races to Formula Two cars.

The works Ferrari team brought three drivers to the Swiss Grand Prix, namely Farina, Taruffi and Simon. Regular Ferrari drivers Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi were both unavailable, the former due to his participation in the Indianapolis 500, and the latter because of his having had a road accident. Also running Ferraris were Rudi Fischer and Peter Hirt of Ecurie Espadon, and veteran Frenchman Louis Rosier. Gordini also had a three-car team for this race, consisting of Robert Manzon, B. Bira and the debutant Jean Behra. The HWM team, returning to the World Championship for the first time since the previous race at Bremgarten, fielded the all-British quartet of Abecassis, Collins, Macklin and Moss. Maserati had planned to enter defending World Drivers' Champion Juan Manuel Fangio and fellow Argentinian José Froilán González, but this did not come into fruition. Completing the field were the sole AFM entry of Hans Stuck and a number of privately run cars representing various constructors.

Former Alfa Romeo driver Nino Farina took pole position, alongside Taruffi and Manzon on the front row of the grid. Simon and Fischer started from the second row, in front of Collins, Behra and Toulo de Graffenried, who was driving an Enrico Platé-entered Maserati.

Polesitter Farina led the race until his car broke down. His Ferrari teammate assumed the lead, which he held for the remainder of the race. Moss was impressively running in third place in the early stages, behind Farina and Taruffi, before he had to stop. Moss and Macklin withdrew from the race. The main battle was between Behra and Simon, for second place (once Farina had retired). When Behra had to stop, due to his exhaust pipe having fallen off, Farina, who had taken over Simon's car, assumed second place. However, further problems meant that he once again had to retire, on lap 51, handing second to local driver Rudi Fischer. The Swiss driver took his first Championship podium, being the only driver not to be lapped by Taruffi, who took his first (and only) World Championship race victory. Behra completed the podium, taking third on debut, while Ken Wharton (fourth) and Alan Brown (fifth) took the first points finishes for Frazer Nash and Cooper, respectively.

Entries

No	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre
2	Hans Stuck	AFM	AFM-Küchen	AFM 6	Küchen 2.0 V8	E
4	Toni Ulmen	Toni Ulmen	Veritas	Veritas Meteor	Veritas 2.0 L6	D
6	Jean Behra	Equipe Gordini	Gordini	Gordini T16	Gordini 20 2.0 L6	E
8	Robert Manzon		Gordini	Gordini T16	Gordini 20 2.0 L6	E
10	Prince Bira		Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15	Gordini 1500 1.5 L4	E
12	Louis Rosier	Ecurie Rosier	Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4	D
14	Maurice Trintignant		Ferrari	Ferrari 166F2-50	Ferrari 166 2.0 V12	P
16	George Abecassis	HW Motors	HWM-Alta	HWM 52	Alta F2 2.0 L4	D
18	Peter Collins		HWM-Alta	HWM 52	Alta F2 2.0 L4	D
20	Lance Macklin		HWM-Alta	HWM 52	Alta F2 2.0 L4	D
22	Ken Wharton	Scuderia Franera	Frazer Nash-Bristol	Frazer Nash FN48	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6	D
24	Eric Brandon	Ecurie Richmond	Cooper-Bristol	Cooper T20	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6	D
26	Alan Brown		Cooper-Bristol	Cooper T20	Bristol BS1 2.0 L6	D
28	Nino Farina	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4	P
30	Piero Taruffi		Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4	P
32	André Simon1		Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4	P
34	Juan Manuel Fangio2	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6G 2.0 L6	P
36	José Froilán González2		Maserati	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6G 2.0 L6	P
38	Toulo de Graffenried	Enrico Platé	Maserati-Platé	Maserati 4CLT-48	Platé 2.0 L4	P
40	Harry Schell		Maserati-Platé	Maserati 4CLT-48	Platé 2.0 L4	P
42	Rudi Fischer	Ecurie Espadon	Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4	P
44	Peter Hirt3		Ferrari	Ferrari 212	Ferrari 166 2.0 V12	P
46	Stirling Moss	HW Motors	HWM-Alta	HWM 52	Alta F2 2.0 L4	D
50	Max de Terra4	Alfred Dattner	Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini T11	Gordini 1500 1.5 L4	E
Sources:

^1 — André Simon qualified and drove 21 laps of the race in the #32 Ferrari. Nino Farina, whose own vehicle had already retired, took over the car for a further 30 laps before again being forced to retire.

^2 — Juan Manuel Fangio and José Froilán González, whose cars were unavailable, withdrew from the event prior to practice.

^3 — Peter Hirt qualified and drove the entire race in the #44 Ferrari. Rudolf Schoeller, named substitute driver for the car, was not used during the Grand Prix.

^4 — Max de Terra drove the #50 Simca-Gordini in the race. Alfred Dattner, who was also entered in the same car, was unable to take part in the Grand Prix due to illness.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	28	Nino Farina	Ferrari	2:47.5	–
2	30	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	2:50.1	+ 2.6
3	8	Robert Manzon	Gordini	2:52.1	+ 4.6
4	32	André Simon	Ferrari	2:52.4	+ 4.9
5	42	Rudi Fischer	Ferrari	2:53.3	+ 5.8
6	18	Peter Collins	HWM-Alta	2:55.9	+ 8.4
7	6	Jean Behra	Gordini	2:55.9	+ 8.4
8	38	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati-Platé	2:56.4	+ 8.9
9	46	Stirling Moss	HWM-Alta	2:56.4	+ 8.9
10	16	George Abecassis	HWM-Alta	2:56.9	+ 9.4
11	10	Prince Bira	Simca-Gordini	2:59.3	+ 11.8
12	20	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	3:00.2	+ 12.7
13	22	Ken Wharton	Frazer Nash-Bristol	3:00.9	+ 13.4
14	2	Hans Stuck	AFM	3:01.7	+ 14.2
15	26	Alan Brown	Cooper-Bristol	3:02.5	+ 15.0
16	4	Toni Ulmen	Veritas	3:05.6	+ 18.1
17	24	Eric Brandon	Cooper-Bristol	3:05.8	+ 18.3
18	40	Harry Schell	Maserati-Platé	3:07.6	+ 20.1
19	44	Peter Hirt	Ferrari	3:10.2	+ 22.7
20	12	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	No time	–
21	50	Max de Terra	Simca-Gordini	No time	–
22	14	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	No time	–

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	30	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	62	3:01:46.1	2	91
2	42	Rudi Fischer	Ferrari	62	+2:37.2	5	6
3	6	Jean Behra	Gordini	61	+1 lap	7	4
4	22	Ken Wharton	Frazer Nash-Bristol	60	+2 laps	13	3
5	26	Alan Brown	Cooper-Bristol	59	+3 laps	15	2
6	38	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati-Platé	58	+4 laps	8
7	44	Peter Hirt	Ferrari	56	+6 laps	19
8	24	Eric Brandon	Cooper-Bristol	55	+7 laps	17
Ret	10	Prince Bira	Simca-Gordini	52	Engine	11
Ret	32	André Simon Nino Farina	Ferrari	51	Magneto	4
Ret	40	Harry Schell	Maserati-Platé	31	Engine	18
Ret	46	Stirling Moss	HWM-Alta	24	Withdrew	9
Ret	20	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	24	Withdrew	12
Ret	8	Robert Manzon	Gordini	20	Radiator	3
Ret	28	Nino Farina	Ferrari	16	Magneto	1
Ret	18	Peter Collins	HWM-Alta	12	Halfshaft	6
Ret	16	George Abecassis	HWM-Alta	12	Halfshaft	10
Ret	2	Hans Stuck	AFM	4	Engine	14
Ret	4	Toni Ulmen	Veritas	4	Fuel leak	16
Ret	12	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	2	Accident	20
Ret	50	Max de Terra	Simca-Gordini	1	Magneto	21
DNS	14	Maurice Trintignant	Ferrari	0	Engine	22
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drive

• Farina (33 laps) took over from Simon (18) after Farina retired from the race.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Piero Taruffi	9
2	Rudi Fischer	6
3	Jean Behra	4
4	Ken Wharton	3
5	Alan Brown	2
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are listed. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.