Race details | |||
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Race 6 of 7 in the 1950 Formula One season | |||
Date | 2 July 1950 | ||
Official name | XXXVII GRAND PRIX DE L'A.C.F. | ||
Location | Reims | ||
Course | Reims-Gueux | ||
Course length | 7.815 km (4.856 mi) | ||
Distance | 64 laps, 500.160 km (310.785 mi) | ||
Weather | Hot and sunny | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Alfa Romeo | ||
Time | 2:30.6 | ||
Fastest lap | |||
Driver | Juan Manuel Fangio | Alfa Romeo | |
Time | 2:35.6 on lap 7 | ||
Podium | |||
First | Alfa Romeo | ||
Second | Alfa Romeo | ||
Third | Ferrari | ||
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The 1950 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 July 1950 at Reims-Gueux. It was the sixth round of the 1950 World Drivers' Championship. The 64-lap race was won by Alfa Romeo driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from pole position. His teammate Luigi Fagioli finished second and Peter Whitehead took third in a privateer Ferrari.
A total of 22 cars entered the event, four of which did not start the race. Gianfranco Comotti did not attend the event, Eugène Chaboud did not start in his own car, instead sharing Philippe Étancelin's Talbot-Lago, and the two Scuderia Ferrari entries of Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari withdrew in practice.
Fangio put in a stunning display with a 116 mph practice lap. With Ferrari not starting their 3-litre cars, the main opposition was to come from the Talbots, complete with dual ignition engines with 12 spark plugs. But they suffered from radiator problems and overheated to allow Fangio and Fagioli to lead home another Alfa demonstration run, whilst Farina succumbed to fuel pump trouble. Peter Whitehead took a deserved podium with 3rd place despite a fractured head gasket in the last two laps.