1952 Italian Grand Prix

The 1952 Italian Grand Prix was the eighth race of the 1952 Formula One World Championship and was held in Monza on September 7th 1952. The race was won by Toulo de Graffenried, who scored his first win of the season and indeed his first finish. It was his second consecutive victory in Italy. Reg Parnell finished second ahead of American Tony Bettenhausen, who had finished second in the Netherlands three weeks earlier.

Background

The previous two races had failed to change the situation in the championship battle, as just five points separated the top three drivers. Even better, with three races remaining, any driver still had a mathematical chance of winning the title. The challenge this week would be even tougher than usual, as a then-record 41 drivers had made their way to Monza for the final race of the European season.

All-Ireland Motorsport skipped the Dutch Grand Prix to have a better chance at making the larger grid in Monza. Now, they were back for their final entry of the year.

Scuderia Commesso were back to a single car this time, having failed to find a suitable second driver for the race.

Ferrari stayed true to their rotating policy for the third car, and the German GP winner Reg Parnell returned to the drive. Whitehead wouldn't be sitting on the sidelines though, as he would be driving the second Ferrari for Group Ultimate.

David Hampshire ran two car this time, for himself and Ken Downing. Riseley-Prichard was not scheduled to enter a third race.

José Froilan Gonzalez returned from his injury at Silverstone, but Tony Bettenhausen's impressive performances had justified the construction and entry of a third car for the rest of the season.

Scuderia Aqua are back for their second and final planned entry, with Piero Carini attempting to do better than at Monaco.

Birmingham Motorsport had completed their final entry of the year, and had failed to start any of them. The next year would be more successful for them.

Maserati had handed the second car to Chico Landi again for this race before passing it back to Marcel Balsa for Australia. The driver in Sebring was not yet known but would turn out to be Maurice Trintignant.

Scuderia Maremmana were back once again with their usual three drivers. Their last entry would be in Australia, before the planned and controversial merger with Mercedes-Benz for the 1953 season.

The Garage Francorchamps Maseratis would be driven by 25-year-old Charles de Tornaco and team owner Jacques Swaters.

As usual, Scuderia Ambrosiana entered a third car for the Italian Grand Prix, this time driven by team founder Giovanni Lurani, who would attempt to make the grid for the first time in his final race entry.

O.S.C.A. were back for their final race of the season, with experienced hand Felice Bonetto at the wheel. Making the grid was a noble objective.

Maria Teresa de Filippis was back, driving an Alfa Romeo instead of a Maserati, and looking for a grid spot.

British Bentley Racing Motors still entered a single car, this time for the promising Mike Hawthorn.

Race weekend

Prequalifying

Great performances were seen from the Belgians, with the three Belgian drivers and Lance Macklin all making the cut. Good surprises as well from Mike Hawthorn and Maria Teresa de Filippis, who made it through in the most crowded pre-qualifying session of the year. Major disappointments came from Chico Landi and Clemente Biondetti, failing at the first hurdle. This meant that Biondetti would miss what would have been, in all likelihood, his final Grand Prix, as it was now common knowledge that the 54-year-old was losing his fight with cancer. Piero Carini and Ken Downing were gutted at failing to make the cut by such a small margin.

Qualifying

Toulo de Graffenried was the eighth different pole sitter in eight races (after Whitehead, Moss, Fangio, Farina, Serafini, Parnell and Sanesi), Bira was in a good position to take the championship advantage, though Farina was not far behind. Troy Ruttman continued to impress with third place, Bracco and Claes were very satisfied with top ten runs, Swaters was delighted with twelfth (the only Francorchamps driver to make it apart from Pilette), as was David Hampshire with 18th and Lance Macklin with 21st. Maria Teresa de Filippis stunned the paddock by scraping onto the grid, in the incredibly close midfield scrap (19 drivers grouped within 2 seconds).

Ascari and Gonzalez were disappointed with their lowly starting spots, although only a few tenths would have seen them much higher. Gonzalez himself was satisfied at making the grid on his comeback. Eric Brandon, Porfirio Rubirosa and Paul Frère were massively disappointed as well after their previous races, while Maurice Trintignant had a shocker and failed to qualify for the first time since Monaco the previous year. He was even outpaced by the complete rookie Charles de Tornaco, who turned quite a few heads by coming within a few tenths of making the grid! With a promising grid, a very exciting race was on the cards for Sunday.

Race

The start was clean, and while Toulo de Graffenried got a good getaway, Troy Ruttman and B. Bira had blinders and jumped ahead of de Graffenried! At the end of the lap, the three were coverd by less than two tenths, with Bira ahead, then Farina fourth, Sanesi fifth and Bracco sixth. But Toulo was angry. He desperately needed points to save his drive after retiring from every race of the season. He responded by setting what would remain the fastest lap of the race, on lap 2!

Behind the top three, everything was moving around, with Stirling Moss in fourth place ahead of Farina, Sanesi and Manzon, who also passed Bracco. This all changed on lap 5. Sanesi had just passed Farina for fourth place when the championship leader braked too late at Vedano, slamming into the back of Sanesi. After a second consecutive retirement due to an early accident, Consalvo was seen in tears by the side of the track, and rightly too. With more luck, he could have been right in the championship fight, as he was fighting for points in Monaco and second in Britain, and could have scored major points as well in Germany, the Netherlands and that day at Monza.

This left a mission for Bira and Manzon, to score when they had failed to do so in the previous two races. Bracco and Moss were now fighting over fourth place, with Manzon and Parnell just behind. On lap 9, David Hampshire span out at Vialone. He was in 14th position. The battle for fourth now involved Parnell, Bracco, Moss, Fangio and Manzon. At the very front, de Graffenried was casually increasing his lead, making sure that the win would be his. On lap 14, Ruttman got a puncture on the cobblestones at Vedano, getting passed by Fangio. He decided not to pit, and therefore span off at the Curva Grande on the next lap, out of fourth place. With the order constantly changing below third place, here was the order on lap 20: de Graffenried with a huge lead over Bira, Moss and Fangio. Further back, the battle for fifth included (in that order) Parnell, Bracco, Bettenhausen, Claes, Schell and Manzon. Then came Whitehead, Serafini, Pagani, Taruffi, Swaters, de Filippis, Simon, Ascari, Gonzalez, Macklin, von Brauchitsch and Pilette.

Very quickly, the number of drivers dropped from 22 to 19, as von Brauchitsch, Simon and Macklin all retired within five laps of each other. Simon span off, while the other two suffered mechanical failures. Manfred was last, André 17th and Lance last as well. With all that confusion, the order changed a lot (though de Graffenried just extended his lead even more), and at the halfway point, de Graffenried still had a considerable lead over Bira, Fangio and Moss, who were still fighting hard. Parnell was still fifth, but defending from Bettenhausen, Claes and Whitehead, with Schell, Pagani and Bracco following closely as well. Then came Manzon, Taruffi and de Filippis (doing very well indeed in 14th position), then Serafini, Swaters, Gonzalez, Ascari and Pilette.

The man on the move now was Tony Bettenhausen, who had long passed Parnell for fifth and was closing in on Moss for fourth position. Parnell was left to defend from Claes, who was pressurising the Briton, smelling those elusive first points. However, in was Peter Whitehead who passed Parnell, in the first race where both competed against each other since Belgium. In the meantime, Bettenhausen passed Moss on lap 36, with Fangio the next target on his list. Sure enough, two laps later, the Argentine made a mistake, letting the American through into third place! Then, on lap 41, the race for the championship changed dramatically. Giuseppe Farina would be thanking his lucky stars, as Bira and Manzon's engines simultaneously suffered earth-shattering kabooms, also causing the retirement of Peter Whitehead, who span off on the oil.

Therefore, de Graffenried's lead was now even larger and now over Moss, who had just passed Bettenhausen again. Fangio was now fourth and defending from Parnell. Then came Pagani, Schell, Claes and Bracco, with Dorino Serafini now ending the top ten. Almost immediately though, Tony passed Stirling for second, before the Briton passed him once more. All of this let Fangio catch the two, as well as Parnell, who had left Pagani and Claes a bit behind. Dorino Serafini then retired, lazily spinning off at Lesmo. By lap 49, Fangio was ahead and in second place. By lap 50, Parnell was ahead, and Moss, Fangio and Bettenhausen were literally side by side for third place! On the very next lap, Parnell was behind Moss and Fangio, with Bettenhausen further behind in fifth place. On the very next lap, the whole course of the race changed with barely 12 laps remaining. Fangio span off, while Moss, Pagani (in sixth) and Ascari (in twelfth) all suffered mechanical failures.

This left just eleven cars in the race, with de Graffenried in a now-unassailable lead ahead of Parnell, Bettenhausen, Schell and Claes, for whom points were finally becoming a certainty. Fighting for the lower places, Bracco was having to fend off the decidedly impressive Maria Teresa de Filippis, who was in an incredible seventh position, ahead of Swaters, Taruffi, Gonzalez and Pilette. Sadly, Maria Teresa would not be able to collect her finishing position, as her Alfa Romeo heartbreakingly failed with just a few laps remaining. With all the points positions pretty much locked up, the real fight was now for the honour of sixth position, as Giovanni Bracco was under attack from the impressive Jacques Swaters, who passed the Ambrosiana on lap 56, with eight laps remaining.

Swaters proceeded to build a gap on Bracco, leaving only one battle remaining, for eighth position between team mates Piero Taruffi and José Froilan Gonzalez (Bettenhausen was third in the third car). The Argentine almost won the battle, but just as he was about to pass Taruffi, de Graffenried lapped him before crossing the line, ending the race. De Graffenried completely dominated the field, winning from pole with the fastest lap, and coming within one lap of a Grand Chelem. Reg Parnell completed the Ferrari 1-2, while Tony Bettenhausen scored his third career podium. Harry Schell scored his best result and salvaged three points for Motorsport Bleu, while Johnny Claes was overjoyed at finally scoring his first career points. At the back, André Pilette managed to finally get his act together and finish 7 laps behind, leaving de Filippis unclassified.

Classification

Entry list

No	Driver	Entrant	Chassis	Engine
1	Joe Kelly	All-Ireland Motorsport	ERA G-Type	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
2	B. Bira	Motorsport Bleu	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6
3	Harry Schell		Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6
4	André Simon		Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6
5	Louis Chiron	Scuderia Commesso	Maserati 4CLT/48	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
6	Toulo de Graffenried	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 375B	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
7	Dorino Serafini		Ferrari 375B	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
8	Reg Parnell		Ferrari 375B	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
9	David Hampshire	Hampshire Racing Alliance	Alta GP	Alta 1.5 L4s
10	Robert Manzon	/ Alexander Racing Team	Gordini T16	Gordini 1.5 L4s
11	Consalvo Sanesi		Gordini T16	Gordini 1.5 L4s
12	Johnny Claes	Claes Racing Developments	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
14	Lance Macklin		Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
15	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari America	Ferrari 375	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
16	Troy Ruttman		Ferrari 375	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
17	José Froilán González	Jaguar - Aston Martin Racing	Aston Martin AM-03	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
18	Piero Taruffi		Aston Martin AM-03	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
19	Piero Carini	Scuderia Aqua	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6
20	Edgar Barth	Team Ultimate	Ultimate 001	BMW 328 2.0 L6
21	Paul Frère	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6
22	Chico Landi		Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6
23	Clemente Biondetti	Scuderia Maremmana	Ferrari 166S	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
24	Manfred von Brauchitsch		Ferrari 166S	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
25	Eric Brandon		Ferrari 166S	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
26	Maurice Trintignant	Bugatti Grand Prix	Bugatti Type Alfa	Bugatti 15C 1.5 L4s
27	André Pilette		Bugatti Type Alfa	Bugatti 15C 1.5 L4s
28	Charles de Tornaco	Ecurie Nationale Belge	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6
29	Nello Pagani	Redman Racing Team	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6
30	Giovanni Bracco	Scuderia Ambrosiana	Ambrosiana A-001	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
31	Porfirio Rubirosa		Ambrosiana A-001	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
32	Giovanni Lurani		Ambrosiana A-001	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
33	Felice Bonetto	O.S.C.A. Automobili	O.S.C.A. 4500G	O.S.C.A. 4.5 V12
34	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Alfa Romeo 159/52	Alfa Romeo 159 1.5 L8s
35	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo 159/52	Alfa Romeo 159 1.5 L8s
36	Juan Manuel Fangio		Alfa Romeo 159/52	Alfa Romeo 159 1.5 L8s
37	Stirling Moss		Alfa Romeo 159/52	Alfa Romeo 159 1.5 L8s
38	Alberto Ascari	Phoenix Racing Organisation	Phoenix P-03	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
39	Jacques Swaters	Ecurie Nationale Belge	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6
40	Mike Hawthorn	British Bentley Racing Motors	Bentley Speed 2	Bentley 3.0 V16
41	Ken Downing	Hampshire Racing Alliance	Alta GP	Alta 1.5 L4s
42	Tony Bettenhausen	Jaguar - Aston Martin Racing	Aston Martin AM-03	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6

Prequalifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	6	Toulo de Graffenried	Ferrari	1:58.3	-
2	28	Charles de Tornaco	Maserati	2:00.0	+ 1.7
3	21	Paul Frère	Maserati	2:00.4	+ 2.1
4	39	Jacques Swaters	Maserati	2:00.5	+ 2.2
5	5	Louis Chiron	Maserati-Ferrari	2:00.6	+ 2.3
6	14	Lance Macklin	Maserati	2:00.7	+ 2.4
7	40	Mike Hawthorn	Bentley	2:00.8	+ 2.5
8	34	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Alfa Romeo	2:00.8	+ 2.5
9	19	Piero Carini	Maserati	2:00.9	+ 2.6
10	41	Ken Downing	Alta	2:01.0	+ 2.7
11	22	Chico Landi	Maserati	2:01.1	+ 2.8
12	23	Clemente Biondetti	Ferrari-Jaguar	2:01.2	+ 2.9
13	32	Giovanni Lurani	Ambrosiana-Maserati	2:01.3	+ 3.0
14	1	Joe Kelly	ERA-Maserati	2:01.8	+ 3.5
15	33	Felice Bonetto	O.S.C.A.	2:02.3	+ 4.0

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	6	Toulo de Graffenried	Ferrari	1:57.2	-
2	2	B. Bira	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	1:57.3	+ 0.1
3	16	Troy Ruttman	Ferrari	1:57.7	+ 0.5
4	11	Consalvo Sanesi	Gordini	1:58.0	+ 0.8
5	35	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	1:58.1	+ 0.9
6	30	Giovanni Bracco	Ambrosiana-Maserati	1:58.2	+ 1.0
7	37	Stirling Moss	Alfa Romeo	1:58.3	+ 1.1
8	8	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	1:58.6	+ 1.4
9	10	Robert Manzon	Gordini	1:58.7	+ 1.5
10	12	Johnny Claes	Maserati	1:58.8	+ 1.6
11	36	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	1:59.0	+ 1.8
12	39	Jacques Swaters	Maserati	1:59.1	+ 1.9
13	15	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	1:59.2	+ 2.0
14	3	Harry Schell	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	1:59.3	+ 2.1
15	18	Piero Taruffi	Aston Martin-Jaguar	1:59.4	+ 2.2
16	42	Tony Bettenhausen	Aston Martin-Jaguar	1:59.5	+ 2.3
17	4	André Simon	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	1:59.6	+ 2.4
18	9	David Hampshire	Alta	1:59.7	+ 2.5
19	7	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari	1:59.8	+ 2.6
20	29	Nello Pagani	Maserati	1:59.9	+ 2.7
21	14	Lance Macklin	Maserati	2:00.0	+ 2.8
22	17	José Froilán González	Aston Martin-Jaguar	2:00.1	+ 2.9
23	38	Alberto Ascari	Phoenix-Ferrari	2:00.2	+ 3.0
24	34	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Alfa Romeo	2:00.3	+ 3.1
25	24	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Ferrari-Jaguar	2:00.4	+ 3.2
26	27	André Pilette	Bugatti	2:00.5	+ 3.3
27	20	Edgar Barth	Ultimate-BMW	2:01.1	+ 3.9
28	28	Charles de Tornaco	Maserati	2:01.2	+ 4.0
29	26	Maurice Trintignant	Bugatti	2:01.3	+ 4.1
30	25	Eric Brandon	Ferrari-Jaguar	2:01.4	+ 4.2
31	31	Porfirio Rubirosa	Ambrosiana-Maserati	2:01.8	+ 4.6
32	5	Louis Chiron	Maserati-Ferrari	2:02.1	+ 4.9
33	21	Paul Frère	Maserati	2:02.5	+ 5.3
34	40	Mike Hawthorn	Bentley	2:02.6	+ 5.4

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	6	Toulo de Graffenried	Ferrari	64	2:07:02.4	1	9
2	8	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	62	+ 2 laps	8	6
3	42	Tony Bettenhausen	Aston Martin-Jaguar	62	+ 2 laps	16	4
4	3	Harry Schell	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	61	+ 3 laps	14	3
5	12	Johnny Claes	Maserati	61	+ 3 laps	10	2
6	39	Jacques Swaters	Maserati	60	+ 4 laps	12
7	30	Giovanni Bracco	Ambrosiana-Maserati	60	+ 4 laps	6
8	18	Piero Taruffi	Aston Martin-Jaguar	59	+ 5 laps	15
9	17	José Froilán González	Aston Martin-Jaguar	58	+ 6 laps	22
10	27	André Pilette	Bugatti	57	+ 7 laps	26
Ret	34	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Alfa Romeo	53	Gearbox	24
Ret	37	Stirling Moss	Alfa Romeo	51	Transmission	7
Ret	36	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	51	Spin	11
Ret	29	Nello Pagani	Maserati	51	Oil leak	20
Ret	38	Alberto Ascari	Phoenix-Ferrari	51	Gearbox	23
Ret	7	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari	46	Spin	19
Ret	15	Peter Whitehead	Ferrari	41	Spin	13
Ret	2	B. Bira	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	40	Engine	2
Ret	10	Robert Manzon	Gordini	40	Overheating	9
Ret	14	Lance Macklin	Maserati	29	Transmission	21
Ret	4	André Simon	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	27	Spin	17
Ret	24	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Ferrari-Jaguar	25	Engine	25
Ret	16	Troy Ruttman	Ferrari	14	Spin	3
Ret	9	David Hampshire	Alta	8	Spin	18
Ret	11	Consalvo Sanesi	Gordini	5	Collision	4
Ret	35	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	5	Collision	5
DNQ	20	Edgar Barth	Ultimate-BMW
DNQ	28	Charles de Tornaco	Maserati
DNQ	26	Maurice Trintignant	Bugatti
DNQ	25	Eric Brandon	Ferrari-Jaguar
DNQ	31	Porfirio Rubirosa	Ambrosiana-Maserati
DNQ	5	Louis Chiron	Maserati-Ferrari
DNQ	21	Paul Frère	Maserati
DNQ	40	Mike Hawthorn	Bentley
DNPQ	19	Piero Carini	Maserati
DNPQ	41	Ken Downing	Alta
DNPQ	22	Chico Landi	Maserati
DNPQ	23	Clemente Biondetti	Ferrari-Jaguar
DNPQ	32	Giovanni Lurani	Ambrosiana-Maserati
DNPQ	1	Joe Kelly	ERA-Maserati
DNPQ	33	Felice Bonetto	O.S.C.A.

Notes

Drivers

• Final pole position, fastest lap and race victory for Toulo de Graffenried.
• First and only points for Johnny Claes.
• First entry for Charles de Tornaco.
• Final entry for Felice Bonetto, Clemente Biondetti, Piero Carini, Ken Downing and Giovanni Lurani.

Constructors

• Final points for Maserati.
• Final start for Bugatti, Alta and ERA.
• Final entry for Bugatti and Alta.

Entrants

• Final points for Claes Racing Development.
• Final entry for All-Ireland Motorsport under that name.

Lap leaders

• B. Bira: 1 lap (1)
• Toulo de Graffenried: 63 laps (2-64)

Drivers

• Most career starts: Giuseppe Farina, Dorino Serafini and Juan Manuel Fangio (21)
• Most career entries: Piero Taruffi, Giuseppe Farina, Dorino Serafini, Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Ascari (22)

Constructors

• Most total fastest laps: Ferrari (10)
• Most total points: Ferrari (165.5)

Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Giuseppe Farina	22.5
2	B. Bira	21
3	Robert Manzon	17.5
4	Reg Parnell	15
5	Alberto Ascari	14

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Ferrari	35
2	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	32
3	Alfa Romeo	29.5
4	Gordini	22.5
5=	Aston Martin-Jaguar	14
5=	Phoenix-Ferrari	14

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Motorsport Bleu	32
2	Alfa Romeo SpA	29.5
3	Scuderia Ferrari	28
4	/ Gordini	22.5
5=	Jaguar - Aston Martin Racing	14
5=	Phoenix Racing Organisation	14

• Only the top five positions are listed.

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