1952 Italian GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Monza
* Location – Italy
* Corners – 8
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:30.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:53.200 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – 1:54.055 (Peter Whitehead)
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds
* Fuel Consumption – Medium
* Tyre Wear – Low

## Qualifying 1

With the rain looming large for Q2 it's likely that these positions will remain the same at the front of the grid. That Ferrari 1-2-3 will in all probability be how they line up for the race on Sunday.

What is worth focusing on is the battle at the back, as there are some improvements that could in theory be made in the times for some at the back of the grid if they time their runs correctly…keeping an eye on the weather will be crucial as Q2 gets under-way.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Peter Whitehead [F] – 1:54.000 (9)
* 2nd – Paul Pietsch [F] – 1:54.140 (12)
* 3rd – Bob Gerrard [F] – 1:54.180 (10)
* 4th – Franco Rol [M] – 1:54.480 (9)
* 5th – Peter Collins [M] – 1:54.600 (6)
* 6th – Rudi Fischer [G] – 1:54.680 (8)
* 7th – Elie Bayol [G] – 1:54.800 (6)
* 8th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 1:54.880 (10)
* 9th – Piero Taruffi [M] – 1:54.880 (8)
* 10th – Jean Behra [G] – 1:54.980 (8)
* 11th – Toulo de Graffenried [G] – 1:55.060 (8)
* 12th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 1:55.761 (7)
* 13th – Louis Rosier [CI] – 1:55.906 (7)
* 14th – David Murray [H] – 1:56.146 (5)
* 15th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [F] – 1:56.174 (3)
* 16th – Rudolf Krause [AF] – 1:57.032 (4)
* 17th – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 1:57.685 (3)
* 18th – Josef Peters [V] – 1:57.696 (3)
* 19th – Chico Landi [ B ] – 1:57.988 (4)
* 20th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [A] – 1:59.170 (3)
* 21st – Alan Brown [H] – 2:00.011 (3)
* 22nd – Bill Aston [E] – 2:00.244 (5)
* 23rd – Alberto Ascari [CP] – 2:00.306 (3)
* 24th – Dennis Poore [CP] – 2:04.680 (2)
* 25th – Hans Stuck [M] – 2:05.693 (2)
* 26th – Robert Manzon [G] – No Time Set (0)
* 27th – Stirling Moss [AB] – No Time Set (0)

## Qualifying 2

Q2 finishes with Maserati on top with Rol and Collins the rain-masters from Gerrard, Pietsch and Whitehead. Of course the grid is actually determined by the dry times set in Q1 so this is mostly for posterity, along with an indication of who should be quicker in the wet parts of the race.

Neither Poore nor Stuck bother to set a time here, and the efforts of Aston (21st), Brown (a credible 18th) and Ascari (20th) will sadly count for nothing as they were outside the top 20 in the dry session, granting a reprieve to Peters and Hawthorn who were outside the top 20 now.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Franco Rol [M] – 2:09.740 (7)
* 2nd – Peter Collins [M] – 2:09.800 (2)
* 3rd – Bob Gerrard [F] – 2:10.079 (10)
* 4th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 2:10.375 (7)
* 5th – Peter Whitehead [F] – 2:10.377 (6)
* 6th – Giuseppe Farina [M] – 2:10.399 (6)
* 7th – Elie Bayol [G] – 2:10.540 (13)
* 8th – Louis Rosier [CI] – 2:10.772 (7)
* 9th – Piero Taruffi [M] – 2:10.840 (6)
* 10th – Toulo de Graffenried [G] – 2:11.040 (6)
* 11th – Rudi Fischer [G] – 2:11.200 (3)
* 12th – Chico Landi [ B ] – 2:11.424 (6)
* 13th – Jean Behra [G] – 2:11.740 (3)
* 14th – Johnny Claes [CN] – 2:11.812 (3)
* 15th – David Murray [H] – 2:12.344 (6)
* 16th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [A] – 2:13.241 (3)
* 17th – Rudolf Krause [AF] – 2:14.221 (2)
* 18th – Alan Brown [H] – 2:14.801 (2)
* 19th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [F] – 2:15.012 (2)
* 20th – Alberto Ascari [CP] – 2:16.098 (3)
* 21st – Bill Aston [E] – 2:16.506 (4)
* 22nd – Josef Peters [V] – 2:16.250 (2)
* 23rd – Mike Hawthorn [CN] – 2:23.270 (1)
* 24th – Dennis Poore [CP] – No Time Set (0)
* 25th – Hans Stuck [M] – No Time Set (0)

## Overall Qualifying Results

Pole Position goes to Peter Whitehead for Ferrari, who currently leads the drivers championship after back to back victories in Germany and the Netherlands. 2nd place is Paul Pietsch, also of Ferrari, the 1950 champion…he needs to get on the podium and hope that Whitehead scores at least 3 points less than him, which could be a tough demand.

For the defending champion Gerrard in 3rd the equation is not so simple; a win for Gerrard would mean he wins the title if Whitehead is 4th or lower, whilst 2nd place would mean Whitehead would have to be 5th or lower and 3rd place would mean the championship leader could not score a point or he would win.

Rol in 4th place can win the title if he comes 1st or 2nd and Whitehead is lower than 3rd in the race. And with the whole Maserati squadron behind him that should be quite achievable as the Ferrari's fight each other for supremacy!

There is one other title contender in the shape of Elie Bayol for Gordini who has the same odds as Gerrard of winning, but has the entire force of the French marque behind him…which must make him a dangerous proposition at least, albeit that he does start from 7th on the grid and has Collins of Maserati in 5th in his way and team-mate Fischer in 6th place.

There are other permutations between the contenders, but it would take a very long time to go into them. Needless to say Whitehead is the favourite, but if he is not on the podium then it could be anyone's title to take!

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - Off the start Whitehead does not get away properly and quickly loses a position to Pietsch…but the German is forced wide as a result and is helpless to prevent both Gerrard and Rol taking advantage to sit 1st and 2nd at the start.

Collins and Fischer are 5th and 6th as they started with the quick-starting Murray up to 7th from 14th in a brilliant get-away, followed by the Ferrari of Cabantous who is up to 8th from 15th! Going the other way though are both Farina and Taruffi, who drop from 8th and 9th to 14th and 15th respectively as they both have to swerve wildly to avoid the damage caused by Peters accident at Curva Grande! The German ends his season on the grass verge with one wheel up in the air spinning wildly…hardly ideal.

*Lap 10* - Gerrard continues to lead the way, but Rol gets it all wrong at Vialone and drops down to 7th place behind Pietsch and Whitehead in 5th and 6th as the two lose time avoiding the recovering Maserati. That puts Fischer into 2nd and Murray into a stunning podium position for HWM!

Also making a big move on lap 2 is Bayol, who slipstreams his way past no fewer than 4 drivers to sit 4th at the end of lap 2. Collins makes an error here too, and falls back into 12th place behind Rosier in 11th, Claes in 10th, the recovering Taruffi in 9th and de Graffenried for Gordini in 8th place.

Rol looks really up for this today…he regains all of the lost time by passing both Ferrari's of Pietsch and Whitehead who almost run into each other and fall to 8th and 9th as a result! Murray is back down to 7th as expected, with Fischer also dropping into 6th place. Bayol falls to 5th position with the 2 biggest movers being Taruffi and de Graffenried who rise to the top of the challenging group…however all of these position changes mean that Gerrard is beginning to open up a gap at the front!

The pack from 2nd down to 15th or so are so closely packed that multiple overtakes are easily possible. Taruffi retains 2nd, but is now there ahead of Bayol in 3rd, de Graffenried 4th and Pietsch back into 5th place. Murray is into 6th position as he refuses to drops back off the pace, Fischer sits 7th ahead of Whitehead in 8th, Rol who makes another big error to drop into 9th from Claes in 10th. Farina and Collins are still yet to figure in the top 10 after a poor beginning to the race for them so far.

Taruffi has the misfortune to be leading the chasing pack this lap, as he falls to 5th position behind Pietsch who is now back in 2nd place, Bayol and de Graffenried in 3rd and 4th. Murray is 6th, Rol is up to 7th position and Rosier is in to the top 10 in 9th ahead of defending champion Whitehead.

Pietsch only loses 1 position as the man in the cursed 2nd place drops behind Elie Bayol for Gordini. Rol is into 5th now from Fischer in 6th, Murray, Rosier, Taruffi and Whitehead rounding out the top 10.

And back into 2nd place goes Pietsch who re-passes Bayol; but finally the moment comes that Whitehead chooses to attack! He moves past Taruffi, Rosier, Murray, Rol and Fischer to take up 5th positions with Fischer, Murray, Rol, Rosier and Taruffi behind in that order. Farina and Collins outside the top 10 are starting to get caught up behind Claes in 11th and lose time as a result.

Can no-one keep hold of 2nd position!?! Pietsch loses out to de Graffenried now, who is up to 2nd place. Bayol is 4th from Rol, who has done well to make his way back through the field in what has been a breathtakingly quick race thus far…barely giving the commentator chance to breathe!!!

On lap 9 de Graffenried becomes the 1st person to hold 2nd position for more than a lap since Taruffi right at the start. Indeed the race has settled down somewhat with the top 4 holding place ahead of 5th position Fischer, Whitehead in 6th and Rol in 7th place. Rosier, Murray and now Behra are starting to fall back on the outskirts of the top 10.

But the Swiss can not hold on to 2nd position, as he lets his team-mate (and championship contender!) Bayol into 2nd position, with Pietsch now in 4th place ahead of Fischer et al. Behra is now into 8th position, dragging Rosier in 9th up to the back of the pack ahead. Farina, Murray, Taruffi and Claes are fighting over the last spot in the top 10 whilst at the back Hawthorn is being incredibly cautious as he is clearly just looking for a finish today and nothing more.

*Lap 20* - Whitehead is finally in the points as he gets past Fischer for 5th…but the big move on lap 11 is Farina up to 8th from 10th ahead of Rosier, Murray and Behra. Lap 12 sees de Graffenried move into 2nd place ahead of Bayol, whilst the rest stay pretty much where they are…

In a real championship battle Rol passes Whitehead and Fischer to move into 5th position on lap 13…but the real focus is on Chico Landi, who makes a real hash of Curva del Vialone, as he skids wide and ends up in the hay bales at the side of the course.

Rol passes Pietsch for 4th position, whilst Murray moves into the top 10 again as the HWM driver refuses to lie down and let the collective might of the Ferrari, Maserati and Gordini clans get the better of him!

Whitehead is still battling hard, shown by his determination to hold the inside line and move past Fischer, with Behra following him through to 7th position. Lap 17 sees Murray come in for the 1st pit-stop of the race and drop down to 17th place as a result.

On lap 18 Paul Pietsch makes the first big mistake for a while, losing positions to Behra and Rol in the process…meaning the former is now into a points paying position! Whitehead is up to 4th, with the Englishman looking more threatening as the race continues. Gonzalez pits this lap, coming out in 17th place behind Murray in 16th.

Lap 19 sees the leader come in and emerge in 13th position. And that moves de Graffenried into the lead of the race, followed by Bayol, Whitehead, Behra and Rol in 5th. But lap 20 really shakes things up as almost every driver piles into the pits with the dark clouds above looming large and potent with rain. Indeed it's easier to detail the drivers who do not pit…as Pietsch, Farina, Cabantous and Hawthorn stay out on a track that is officially still dry.

And so Pietsch now leads from Farina and Gerrard in 3rd place from de Graffenried in 4th, Whitehead in 5th, Cabantous in 6th (though yet to pit), Bayol in 7th, Fischer in 8th, Rol in 9th and Taruffi in 10th. Behra's pit crew really let him down as he falls to 11th place now…

*Lap 30* - Lap 21 has Farina coming into the pits and emerging in 11th position behind Taruffi, Behra, Rol, Fischer and Cabantous who is in 6th right now and still yet to pit. 5th place is now Bayol, as the Gordini driver is fighting his way back into the points-scoring positions. Claes has an accident on this lap, in the 2nd part of Curva Sud, and drops out of the race as a result.

The rain finally comes down on lap 22, as Pietsch pits right at the best time possible…dropping to 6th place only. Cabantous is now 5th though still yet to pit, Bayol is 4th behind Whitehead in 3rd, de Graffenried in 2nd with Gerrard leading the race as it stands. Hawthorn's cautious approach finally seems to be yielding some results in this weather though, as he is back on the pace of the others at last…albeit several laps down.

Pietsch passes Cabantous on lap 23 for 5th position, with Rol following him through on the next lap. Fischer is dropping off the pace at the moment, whilst Hawthorn pits finally on lap 25 with Cabantous coming in on lap 26.

Taruffi passes Behra for 7th position next lap, and thereafter we witness the demise of Cabantous, as the Ferrari driver also has an accident at Sud 2 that throws him off the track in the slick conditions and ends his race there.

*Lap 40* - Taruffi is up to 7th place ahead of Behra now, as the Maserati driver begins to perk up in these wet conditions. But Behra hits back the next time around to reclaim the position as Bayol passes Whitehead for a podium position, but the Gordini man still needs to do a lot more if he is to close the points gap to Gerrard.

Once again Taruffi surges past Behra on lap 33 and to within striking distance of Rol in 6th. And Taruffi does pass Rol on lap 35 with the gap to Pietsch dropping lap by lap…another gap coming down slowly but surely is that to Gerrard in the lead who has lost a good 5 seconds in the last few laps to de Graffenried in 2nd place.

Gonzalez pits on lap 36, still losing time to Hawthorn in the process. Taruffi takes 5th place from Pietsch as he interferes in the championship battle…however Rol is really not making the most of it as he is now down to 8th behind Behra in 7th. Murray pits on lap 39, only losing 1 place to Fischer in 12th overall.

After all of his progress Taruffi comes into the pits on lap 40, but a flawless stop means he only drops to 11th place. The gap from Gerrard to de Graffenried is now only 1/3 of what it used to be as the Englishman's championship chances are beginning to slowly fade…

*Lap 50* - As the race continues Krause makes a bad error at the 1st part of the Lesmo curves and drops out of the race on lap 42. Other casualties (besides much of the commentary) due to the onset of a brief dry spell are Gerrard's lead as he loses out to Pietsch through the pit-stops. Collins moves up to 3rd with some strong lap times, whilst Taruffi's charge into the points was only halted by a pit-stop that dropped him to the outskirts of the top 10.

Rol and de Graffenried close out the points paying positions as it stands, ahead of Bayol, Farina and Taruffi. Whitehead is back down to 9th as it stands after a recent stop dropped him, Behra and Rosier back down the order.

*Lap 60* - Farina passes Bayol for 6th on lap 51, whilst lap 52 sees the Italian's team-mate Collins pit from 3rd place to emerge in 9th position…though all attention is focused on track, as Rol's pace sees him catch and pass Bob Gerrard for 2nd position, whilst Farina does likewise with de Graffenried for 4th position as the Maserati's really come into their own in this phase of the race (which is wet by the way…).

Several drivers have opted for dry tyres at this point and consequently miles off the pace…those seemingly on the correct tyres are Pietsch in 1st, Rol in 2nd, Farina in 3rd, Collins in 7th and Fischer in 13th position; all of whom are romping away from the others as it stands.

On lap 54 Collins makes another couple of places up as he puts both de Graffenried and Bayol in his shade…Fischer is up to 11th and Gonzalez pits on this lap too.

Next time around Pietsch, Rol and Farina all pit…with the former pair coming out in 1st and 2nd respectively, with Pietsch retaining his substantial lead as it stands. Collins is now into 3rd position ahead of Gerrard and de Graffenried. Meanwhile Farina drops to 9th place and will have a tough time to come back from there…

Lap 56 sees Collins pass Rol for 2nd place in a move that does nothing for the Maserati team-leader's hopes of claiming the title. Though Taruffi does get the better of Whitehead, and is in turn passed by Farina…the Italian really turns on the style this time around as he also passes de Graffenried and Bayol through the Lesmo curves.

With the rain still falling those who gambled on dry tyres are losing quite a bit of time here…at the last stops both Pietsch, Rol and Farina all opted for those dry tyres and are losing time as a result. And that means that Peter Collins now leads the race, with Rol closing in on Pietsch at the moment too. Farina also passes Gerrard for 4th place, with Taruffi putting a move on Bayol for 7th position on the same lap too.

On lap 59 Rol finally catches up with Paul Pietsch and overtakes him around the outside of Curva Grande. Bayol makes a move on Whitehead for 8th position this time around as well…but many of the drivers are poised and simply surviving before the big push when the rain stops. Whenever that may be…

The only action on lap 60 is both Taruffi and Fischer coming in to the pits to fit dry tyres, meaning the only people left on wet tyres are the leader Collins and David Murray for HWM.

*Lap 70* - As the rain ceases to come down and the track looks quite dry now Pietsch in the Ferrari takes advantage to bear down on Rol, who in turn is chasing down Collins hand over fist. Murray pits on this lap and somewhat bafflingly puts on wet tyres, meaning he and Collins still have their rain tyres on in what looks to be a quite audacious gamble from the Englishmen!!!

But by lap 63 the gamble is over, as Pietsch roars past with the Maserati driver helpless to do a thing about it. And he loses 2nd to Rol the lap afterwards, 3rd to Farina on lap 65 and will surely drop out of the points in the coming lap.

On lap 68 Collins finally loses position to Gerrard, and slips further back behind de Graffenried and Whitehead too. Bayol follows them through on lap 69, but the attention is on Pietsch up front who has a 10 second lead over the next man Rol in what is a genuine championship battle!

*Lap 80* - On lap 71 Whitehead passes de Graffenried to move into the points…he would need to gain at least 2 more positions though, should Piestch continue to lead the race. Behra passes Collins, and Fischer passes Rosier on this lap too.

Taruffi also makes a move on Collins this time around, as the bold gambit from the Maserati man fails to come off and really costs him some serious time. Pietsch's lead is down to about 9 seconds now…but it is not falling anywhere near quickly enough. Whitehead is 6 seconds behind Gerrard but nearly 25 behind Farina, who looks unlikely to lose his podium position thus far. Gonzalez pits on lap 72 also, for the 4th time in total.

The gap is down to 7 seconds on lap 73, but Pietsch looks to have it pegged on 74 as it increases back to 9 seconds again. Meanwhile Fischer passes Collins for 11th place on lap 75, and Rosier also gains a position the very next time around.

Rol reduces the gap to 8 seconds once again as he refuses to give up on lap 76…and the excitement rises in the crowd as the gap reduces to just 5 seconds on lap 77! Further back Gerrard is only 3 seconds ahead of Whitehead…this championship battle could still have a sting in the tail for someone!!!

The gap at the front is 4.3 seconds on lap 78! It's 2.2 between Gerrard and Whitehead!!!

However reality bites on the penultimate lap as Pietsch steadies the ship and keeps the gap at 4.3 seconds for another lap…and Whitehead makes an error, which surely ends his title chances as he drops to 4.1 seconds behind the defending champion Bob Gerrard.

And so the race ends with Pietsch taking a crucial victory (indeed the German almost set the fastest lap on the last time around!) ahead of Franco Rol who was so determined even to the last. Farina did all he could for Maserati with a credible podium position, putting him ahead of the two other Ferrari title contenders Gerrard and Whitehead in 4th and 5th respectively.

The Gordini's of de Graffenried and Bayol finish 6th and 7th as the Frenchman came up short when it was needed, but nevertheless put in a gallant attempt. Behra finishes 8th ahead of the fast-finishing Taruffi in 9th, Fischer 10th, Rosier a credible 11th for Cisitalia in his only race of the season. Collins comes 12th, but respect where it's due for being willing to try something different - albeit ultimately fruitless.

Murray finishes 13th in what has been a consistent season for the HWM driver, with Gonzalez in 14th and Hawthorn rounding out the finishers in 15th. Failing to finish are Krause, Cabantous, Claes, Landi and Peters…better luck to them next season.