1952 United States Grand Prix

The 1952 United States Grand Prix was the ninth race of the 1952 Formula One World Championship and was held in Sebring on October 5th 1952. Dorino Serafini won the first United States Grand Prix, his second win of the season. Giuseppe Farina finished second to extend his championship lead to 7.5 points. Toulo de Graffenried followed his victory at Monza with a solid podium in Sebring.

Background

For the first time ever, Formula One headed to the new airfield circuit in Sebring, Florida. The United States Grand Prix replaced the Indianapolis 500 on the schedule, although drivers could and did take part in the classic anyway. Troy Ruttman won that race for the second year in succession, then showed that success in Europe was also possible by scoring a thrilling victory in the Dutch Grand Prix ahead of fellow American Tony Bettenhausen. Both were also present for their home race, but the focus would be on the championship fight, which is by no means over yet. Giuseppe Farina still les by the smallest of margins from B. Bira, with Robert Manzon, Reg Parnell, Alberto Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio in reasonable contention, although the entire top fifteen in the championship was still theoretically capable of stealing the championship!

With a grid capable of hosting 30, and with 29 drivers making the long trip, no drivers would fail to qualify for the first time since Germany the previous year. It also means that some of the braver smaller teams that decided to hop over the pond stood a reasonable chance at earning some prize money.

All-Ireland Motorsport's season was over, after a year that was certainly better than 1951. They would be back in 1953 under the name Reatherson Racing Development.

Due to the cost of transporting the cars, Motorsport Bleu had reverted to running two cars for the final races. Bira would of course be one of the drivers, with John Fitch being the local driver who would take part this time. André Simon's title bid was deemed over and the Frenchman was left on the sidelines in favour of his teammate who was fighting for the championship.

Due to Reg Parnell suddenly being in title contention, Ferrari had decided to momentarily scrap the driver rotation programme and give Reg the car for the final two races in order to keep their title hopes alive. Toulo's victory, meanwhile, meant that he kept his seat and would also avoid an eventual pre-qualifying session in Australia.

David Hampshire had also ended his season after Italy. After scoring his first top ten finishes in a still-uncompetitive Alta, he hoped to return better than ever in 1953 with HWMs. Unfortunately, HWM did not adapt to the new rules that were announced a few weeks later, and Hampshire would turn up in 1953 with an Aston Martin.

Harry Schell returned to Ferrari America for his home race. The American had been consistent over the season, scoring five points and marking himself down as a man to watch in the future. Despite this, success would not come until 1954.

Tony Bettenhausen's recent success meant that JAMR had entered him for the remaining races, causing a bit of a stir, as Tony was originally entered at Sebring by Johnny Claes. The Belgian let Bettenhausen go out of good faith and decided to hop into the cockpit once more.

Scuderia Aqua had also finished their very disappointing season, with Piero Carini having failed to even pre-qualify in either of his two attempts. They would return in 1953 without success before folding altogether.

Officine Alfieri Maserati's season could have gone better, to say the least. With 10 failures to make the grid in 14 attempts and only a single finish to show for, Maurice Trintignant had been hired for this race to bring the team back towards the front.

Scuderia Maremmana would again skip the race, preferring to send the three cars straight to Leyburn instead for the Australian Grand Prix.

Ecurie Nationale Belge would also not attend this race physically, but were still represented by local Belgian Charles Van Acker, who would be driving his own Kurtis-Kraft-Offenhauser under his national banner one last time before retiring from European racing once and for all.

Scuderia Ambrosiana's home race turned out to be a disaster, with Bracco's seventh place nothing short of a miracle. A good finish at Sebring was what they needed to bounce back.

O.S.C.A.'s season was also over, but de Filippis was still present in her own Alfa Romeo, being the main attraction for the average American spectator. Women racers, after all, were not very common.

After having spotted the short entry list, British Bentley Racing Motors quickly decided to field all three of their drivers to finally have a chance at some good results. Richardson, Hawthorn and Salvadori would all be hoping for a good, clean race.

Race weekend

Qualifying

In a gigantic surprise for the paddock, Giovanni Bracco took pole position for Ambrosiana ahead of Alberto Ascari, scoring his best qualifying result ever in the Phoenix and the equally impressive Lance Macklin, qualifying third for Johnny Claes. Farina would start the race in a safe sixth position with Bira only 18th, Manzon 13th and Parnell 15th! The Italian had the perfect opportunity to take a dominant lead going to Leyburn for the Australian Grand Prix, and was in fact in a position to secure the title in Sebring were he to win with none of his contenders scoring. As expected, at the back were the three Bentleys and Charles Van Acker, driving the woefully unadapted Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser.

Race

Bracco was slow off the grid and lost the lead to Ascari, with Macklin fending off Serafini and Fangio. Farina's start was also sluggish, and he was passed by Sanesi and Trintignant. Bracco was still there though, and he slipstreamed past Ascari to take the lead once more on lap 2. Macklin couldn't keep up the pace, however, and he dropped behind Serafini. Ascari and Bracco's duel was slowing them down, though, and Serafini was right behind them at the start of lap 5. At the end of said lap, Ascari was in the lead ahead of Serafini and Bracco. Then came Macklin, Taruffi, de Graffenried, Sanesi, Farina, Manzon and Trintignant. Fangio was the first retirement when his engine failed on lap four.

Ascari was building up his lead, while Bracco and Serafini were unable to keep up and were joined by de Graffenried, Taruffi, Sanesi and Macklin, then Manzon. This was all approximate, of course, as positions were changing all the time. Serafini, however, was breaking away and gaining ground on Ascari, followed by de Graffenried and Taruffi, who was busy setting insanely quick laps (although Manzon held the fastest lap). After a quarter of the race (12 laps), Ascari still led from Taruffi, Serafini, de Graffenried and Macklin. Then came Sanesi, Bracco, Manzon, Schell (already?), Farina (tenth), Parnell, de Filippis, Pagani, Bira, Trintignant, Fitch, Bettenhausen, Rubirosa, Ruttman, Moss (20th), Gonzalez, Chiron, Claes, Barth, Salvadori, Van Acker, Hawthorn and Richardson, who had had a horrendous start to the race.

Ascari's lead was still uncertain, and Taruffi and Serafini were both quickly catching up. The battle for fifth was also getting more intense, with Bracco, Sanesi, Macklin and Schell all within three seconds of each other. Then, Bracco broke away, while Farina and Manzon joined the fight, while Sanesi fell back. Further back, Richardson was being very impressive after his initial setback, having already passed Hawthorn, Barth, Van Acker and Salvadori. The second retirement of the race came on lap 18, where Troy Ruttman span off at the Esses while fighting for fourteenth with Parnell, Fitch, Bettenhausen and de Filippis. On the next lap, Ascari finally lost his lead to Dorino Serafini, while Robert Manzon set what would remain the race's fastest lap. Reg Parnell also joined the tightly bunched battle for fifth place.

Taruffi was losing ground and getting caught by Giovanni Bracco and Robert Manzon. De Graffenried also passed Ascari for second place, making it a Ferrari 1-2. Taruffi was then passed by Bracco, who also caught Ascari. Manzon was also catching Taruffi, while Farina was also gaining ground on all of them. At the halfway mark of the race, Serafini led from de Graffenried, Ascari, Bracco, Manzon (fifth), Taruffi, Farina, Parnell, Schell, Macklin (tenth), Bettenhausen, Sanesi, Fitch, Bira, de Filippis, Trintignant, Pagani, Chiron, Moss, Rubirosa (20th), Claes, Richardson, Salvadori, Barth, Van Acker and Hawthorn. Gonzalez' race was also over, having crashed out on lap 23. He put a wheel on the grass at the first corner, lost control and was sent into the wall. He was in 21st position.

Gonzalez was followed by Nello Pagani, whose Maserati gearbox failed him on the next lap, out of seventeenth place, leaving 25 cars still in the race. Then, while Serafini was making sure he won the race, the race behind him changed massively from lap 30 onwards, with less than twenty lap remaining. On lap 31, de Filippis' Alfa Romeo broke down, leaving oil on the track. Alberto Ascari was following, and he skidded on the oil slick, sliding into the straw bales at high speed, the car digging into the grass and doing a barrell-roll in the air and landing on its wheels. Alberto was thrown out of the car, but walked back to the pits uninjured. Maria was 18th, Alberto fifth. On the following lap, Bracco's Ambrosiana suffered a suspension failure, throwing him out of the race as well, out of second position, no less! In the next two laps, Sanesi and Macklin both retired as well from mechanical failures, out of third and sixth respectively. This changed the whole order at the very front, and after Salvadori's retirement from 17th position, the minor points were much changed by lap 36 (three-quarters of the race).

Serafini's lead was now nigh on unassailable, but the fight for second was unbelievably tight, with Parnell (how?), Bettenhausen (HOW?), Farina, de Graffenried and Manzon all within ten seconds of each other! A bit further behind, Bira and Schell (how on Earth...?) were fighting over seventh place, with Trintignant and Chiron (I'm lost) doing the same over ninth. Then came Taruffi, Moss, Claes, Richardson (IMPOSSIBRU!), Rubirosa, Fitch, Barth, Van Acker and Hawthorn. Two laps later, Mike Hawthorn span out. The Bentley hit a straw bale awkwardly, and Mike tried to block it with his hand. It worked, but he got out of the car in visible pain and holding his wrist. At the almost very front, Farina was making a mockery out of the battle for second, setting quick lap after quick lap to easily put de Graffenried et al a fair way behind him. On lap 41, Johnny Claes retired from 13th position, having just been passed by the staggering Geoff Richardson.

In the end, while Serafini and Farina easily finished 1-2, de Graffenried eased home to take third place, while Parnell and Schell had to be separated by a photo-finish for fourth place. Bira and Manzon were the big losers of the race, finishing only seventh and eighth, leaving Bira as the only mathematical contender to Farina. Maurice Trintignant delighted Maserati by taking a commendable ninth place, the team's first top ten finish under its new identity, while Geoff Richardson somehow managed to drag his Bentley kicking and screaming to eleventh place, the team's first finish, and ahead of five different cars, believe it or not! Tony Bettenhausen was contending for points when he retired with two laps remaining, and he was eventually classified in twelfth position.

Classification

Entry list

No	Driver	Entrant	Chassis	Engine
1	B. Bira	Motorsport Bleu	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6
2	John Fitch	Motorsport Bleu	Talbot-Lago T26C	Talbot 23CV 4.5 L6
3	Louis Chiron	Scuderia Commesso	Maserati 4CLT/48	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
4	Toulo de Graffenried	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 375B	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
5	Dorino Serafini	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 375B	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
6	Reg Parnell	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 375B	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
7	Robert Manzon	/ Alexander Racing Team	Gordini T16	Gordini 1.5 L4s
8	Consalvo Sanesi	/ Alexander Racing Team	Gordini T16	Gordini 1.5 L4s
9	Lance Macklin	Claes Racing Developments	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
10	Johnny Claes	Claes Racing Developments	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
11	Harry Schell	Ferrari America	Ferrari 375	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
12	Troy Ruttman	Ferrari America	Ferrari 375	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
14	José Froilan Gonzalez	Jaguar - Aston Martin Racing	Aston Martin AM-03	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
15	Piero Taruffi	Jaguar - Aston Martin Racing	Aston Martin AM-03	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6
16	Edgar Barth	Team Ultimate	Ultimate 001	BMW 328 2.0 L6
17	Maurice Trintignant	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6
18	Charles Van Acker	Ecurie Nationale Belge	Kurtis Kraft 500B	Offenhauser 3.0 L4C
19	Nello Pagani	Redman Racing Team	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6
20	Giovanni Bracco	Scuderia Ambrosiana	Ambrosiana A-001	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
21	Porfirio Rubirosa	Scuderia Ambrosiana	Ambrosiana A-001	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4s
22	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Alfa Romeo 159/52	Alfa Romeo 159 1.5 L8s
23	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo 159/52	Alfa Romeo 159 1.5 L8s
24	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo 159/52	Alfa Romeo 159 1.5 L8s
25	Stirling Moss	Alfa Romeo SpA	Alfa Romeo 159/52	Alfa Romeo 159 1.5 L8s
26	Alberto Ascari	Phoenix Racing Organisation	Phoenix P-03	Ferrari 375 4.5 V12
27	Mike Hawthorn	British Bentley Racing Motors	Bentley Speed 2	Bentley 3.0 V16
28	Geoff Richardson	British Bentley Racing Motors	Bentley Speed 2	Bentley 3.0 V16
29	Roy Salvadori	British Bentley Racing Motors	Bentley Speed 2	Bentley 3.0 V16
30	Tony Bettenhausen	Jaguar - Aston Martin Racing	Aston Martin AM-03	Jaguar XK 3.4 L6

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	20	Giovanni Bracco	Ambrosiana-Maserati	3:40.2	-
2	26	Alberto Ascari	Phoenix-Ferrari	3:40.4	+ 0.2
3	9	Lance Macklin	Maserati	3:41.3	+ 1.1
4	5	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari	3:41.4	+ 1.2
5	24	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	3:41.5	+ 1.3
6	23	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	3:41.7	+ 1.5
7	8	Consalvo Sanesi	Gordini	3:42.2	+ 2.0
8	15	Piero Taruffi	Aston Martin-Jaguar	3:42.3	+ 2.1
9	17	Maurice Trintignant	Maserati	3:42.4	+ 2.2
10	4	Toulo de Graffenried	Ferrari	3:42.5	+ 2.3
11	21	Porfirio Rubirosa	Ambrosiana-Maserati	3:42.6	+ 2.4
12	19	Nello Pagani	Maserati	3:43.1	+ 2.9
13	7	Robert Manzon	Gordini	3:43.3	+ 3.1
14	22	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Alfa Romeo	3:43.4	+ 3.2
15	6	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	3:43.5	+ 3.3
16	2	John Fitch	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	3:43.7	+ 3.5
17	12	Troy Ruttman	Ferrari	3:43.8	+ 3.6
18	1	B. Bira	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	3:43.9	+ 3.7
19	14	José Froilan Gonzalez	Aston Martin-Jaguar	3:44.6	+ 4.4
20	16	Edgar Barth	Ultimate-BMW	3:44.7	+ 4.5
21	25	Stirling Moss	Alfa Romeo	3:44.8	+ 4.6
22	11	Harry Schell	Ferrari	3:45.0	+ 4.8
23	3	Louis Chiron	Maserati-Ferrari	3:45.1	+ 4.9
24	30	Tony Bettenhausen	Aston Martin-Jaguar	3:46.8	+ 6.6
25	10	Johnny Claes	Maserati	3:47.7	+ 7.5
26	27	Mike Hawthorn	Bentley	3:47.9	+ 7.7
27	29	Roy Salvadori	Bentley	3:48.1	+ 7.9
28	18	Charles Van Acker	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	3:48.8	+ 8.6
29	28	Geoff Richardson	Bentley	3:49.0	+ 8.8

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	8	Dorino Serafini	Ferrari	48	3:04:09.6	7	8
2	23	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	48	+ 1:39.4	6	6
3	4	Toulo de Graffenried	Ferrari	47	+ 1 lap	10	4
4	6	Reg Parnell	Ferrari	47	+ 1 lap	15	3
5	11	Harry Schell	Ferrari	47	+ 1 lap	22	2
6	15	Piero Taruffi	Aston Martin-Jaguar	46	+ 2 laps	8
7	1	B. Bira	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	46	+ 2 laps	18
8	7	Robert Manzon	Gordini	46	+ 2 laps	13	1
9	17	Maurice Trintignant	Maserati	46	+ 2 laps	9
10	3	Louis Chiron	Maserati-Ferrari	46	+ 2 laps	23
11	28	Geoff Richardson	Bentley	46	+ 2 laps	29
12	30	Tony Bettenhausen	Aston Martin-Jaguar	45	Overheating	24
13	25	Stirling Moss	Alfa Romeo	45	+ 3 laps	21
14	2	John Fitch	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	45	+ 3 laps	16
15	21	Porfirio Rubirosa	Ambrosiana-Maserati	45	+ 3 laps	11
16	16	Edgar Barth	Ultimate-BMW	44	+ 4 laps	20
17	18	Charles Van Acker	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	43	+ 5 laps	28
Ret	10	Johnny Claes	Maserati	40	Transmission	25
Ret	27	Mike Hawthorn	Bentley	38	Spin	26
Ret	29	Roy Salvadori	Bentley	35	Engine	27
Ret	9	Lance Macklin	Maserati	33	Gearbox	3
Ret	8	Consalvo Sanesi	Gordini	32	Gearbox	7
Ret	20	Giovanni Bracco	Ambrosiana-Maserati	31	Suspension	1
Ret	26	Alberto Ascari	Phoenix-Ferrari	30	Accident	2
Ret	22	Maria Teresa de Filippis	Alfa Romeo	29	Oil leak	14
Ret	19	Nello Pagani	Maserati	24	Transmission	12
Ret	14	José Froilan Gonzalez	Aston Martin-Jaguar	23	Accident	19
Ret	12	Troy Ruttman	Ferrari	17	Spin	17
Ret	24	Juan Manuel Fangio	Alfa Romeo	3	Engine	5

Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Giuseppe Farina	28.5
2	B. Bira	21
3	Robert Manzon	18.5
4	Reg Parnell	18
5	Dorino Serafini	17

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Ferrari	43
2	Alfa Romeo	35.5
3	Talbot-Lago-Talbot	32
4	Gordini	22.5
5=	Aston Martin-Jaguar	14
5=	Phoenix-Ferrari	14

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Scuderia Ferrari	36
2	Alfa Romeo SpA	35.5
3	Motorsport Bleu	32
4	/ Gordini	22.5
5=	Jaguar - Aston Martin Racing	14
5=	Phoenix Racing Organisation	14

• Only the top five positions are listed.

Previous race: 1952 Italian Grand Prix	Alternate Formula 1 World Championship 1952 Season	Next race: 1952 Australian Grand Prix
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