1950 Monaco GP

## Track Facts

* Name – Monaco
* Location – Monte Carlo
* Corners – 12
* Base (Worst) Lap Time – 2:30.000
* Lap Record (Real Life) – 1:50.200 (Juan Manuel Fangio)
* Lap Record (F1R) – None
* Pit Lane Length – 40 seconds
* Weather – N/A
* Temp – 15°C
* Fuel Consumption – Very Low
* Tyre Wear – None

## Qualifying 1

The 1st session ends (with the 2nd session starting almost instantly afterwards) with De Graffenried retaining his place at the top of the time-sheets ahead of Fagioli, Gonzalez and the former Ferrari Privateer who now splits the factory cars in his Alta - Cabantous really showing some intent at this incredible racetrack.

There can now only be a maximum of 16 cars that will race, as no other drivers have completed laps…surprisingly this includes last race's podium finishes Peter Whitehead who apparently does not have the budget to race here today. Also absent are top 10 finisher Schell and Fangio of Alfa Romeo amongst others, who could not be present at this session today.

**Qualifying 1 Results**

* 1st – Toulo de Graffenried [SA] – 1:50.500 (6)
* 2nd – Luigi Fagioli [AR] – 1:51.650 (1)
* 3rd – Jose Froilan Gonzales [F] – 1:51.790 (6)
* 4th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [A] – 1:52.100 (4)
* 5th – Paul Pietsch [F] – 1:52.710 (2)
* 6th – Alberto Ascari [F] – 1:53.090 (4)
* 7th – Maurice Trintignant [E] – 1:53.650 (1)
* 8th – Peter Walker [A] – 1:54.050 (2)
* 9th – Louis Rosier [T] – 1:54.100 (2)
* 10th – Dorino Serafini [E] – 1:54.400 (4)
* 11th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 1:55.350 (2)
* 12th – Nello Pagani [SA] – 1:55.400 (1)
* 13th – Reg Parnell [SA] – 1:55.800 (1)
* 14th – Raymond Sommer [F] – 1:56.060 (1)
* 15th – Louis Chiron [T] – 1:56.550 (1)
* 16th – Joe Kelly [A] – 1:57.650 (2)
* 17th – Peter Whitehead [T] – No Time
* 18th – Harry Schell [E] – No Time
* 19th – Franco Rol [E] – No Time
* 20th – Joe Fry [EP] – No Time
* 21st – Prince Bira [EP] – No Time
* 22nd – Juan Manuel Fangio [AR] – No Time
* 23rd – Toni Branca [E] – No Time

## Qualifying 2

With time in the session slowly running out (just till 23:59:59 tonight to go…) De Graffenired finds himself under pressure from Fagioli and Pietsch again…though the time difference is quite stunning! After a couple more Ferrari's Cabantous looks to be enjoying his position as a factory driver. Tough times for Kelly and especially Chiron, who is a long way off the pace as it stands.

Pietsch just goes faster than de Graffenried on the last attempt, while Serafini is the big mover to move up to 5th place behind Fagioli and Gonzales but ahead of Cabantous.

**Qualifying 2 Results**

* 1st – Paul Pietsch [F] – 1:50.350 (6)
* 2nd – Toulo de Graffenried [SA] – 1:50.550 (4)
* 3rd – Luigi Fagioli [AR] – 1:51.250 (4)
* 4th – Jose Froilan Gonzalez [F] – 1:51.370 (2)
* 5th – Dorino Serafini [E] – 1:51.550 (8)
* 6th – Yves-Girard Cabantous [A] – 1:51.700 (3)
* 7th – Maurice Trintignant [E] – 1:51.850 (2)
* 8th – Louis Rosier [T] – 1:52.300 (3)
* 9th – Alberto Ascari [F] – 1:52.530 (3)
* 10th – Peter Walker [A] – 1:52.700 (2)
* 11th – Piero Taruffi [AR] – 1:52.750 (3)
* 12th – Nello Pagani [SA] – 1:53.700 (2)
* 13th – Joe Kelly [A] -1:53.950 (3)
* 14th – Reg Parnell [SA] – 1:54.740 (1)
* 15th – Louis Chiron [T] – 1:57.150 (2)
* 14th – Raymond Sommer [F] – No Time

## Overall Qualifying Results

The only man not to improve on his Q1 lap time is Louis Chiron, who as a result lines up in 15th and last on the grid. Sommer fails to set a Q2 time and thus will not be able to race this time. Up front then it is championship leader Pietsch from de Graffenried, Fagioli and Gonzalez.

## Race Commentary

*Lap 1* - De Graffenried gets a brilliant start here, to avenge Pietsch sneaking the Pole Position away at the last minute…Fagioli and Gonzalez hold station in 3rd and 4th with Serafini not quite getting the traction off the line and thus dropping behind both Cabantous and the fast-starting Ascari who gains 3 positions in the 1st corner.

There is a disaster at the 1st corner for Trintignant, who comes together with Parnell and careens head first into the wall…we can only hope that the driver is ok there. Parnell drops behind Chiron as a result of this, with Pagani holding 12th place and Kelly benefiting to move up to 11th behind Taruffi, Rosier and Walker respectively.

*Lap 10* - Pietsch and de Graffenried are really keeping the crowds entertained with some incredibly tight racing…the German using his quicker pace out of the chicane to slip up the inside at Tabac and re-claim the lead.

Fagioli holds a very steady 3rd, but Gonzalez really struggles with the pressure of being near the front and pushes far too hard at many corners to drop down the field behind several drivers, including the man who is really on form at the moment. Walker is either very light on fuel or he has an extra engine in that car as he scythes past all in his way.

Ascari and Serafini continue to follow on, with Gonzalez and Rosier just behind them. Further back Cabantous gets it all wrong into Sainte Devote and spins it, almost hitting the stricken Trintignant! As he recovers, first Taruffi and then Chiron spin in sympathy to lose time also…and that promotes Pagani to 10th, Kelly stays 11th and Taruffi is thus 12th overall.

*Lap 20* - De Graffenried forces past Pietsch with a great move up the inside at the Station Hairpin, and then he begins to build a lead with some brilliantly consistent lap times. Pietsch has now begun to drop back towards Fagioli and these 3 are now significantly ahead of the others.

The 'best of the rest' is Walker at the moment, with a few seconds ahead of Ascari and then Rosier, who passes Serafini at Sainte Devote in style. These 3 have all begun to pull clear of Gonzales…the Argentine is clearly struggling with the handling of the car as he pushes incredibly hard. He will soon need to look behind him though, as Cabantous is recovering from his spin and looks likely to pass the entire group in the next few laps!

Further back Kelly has a big moment at the Chicane, which allows Taruffi to pass him back and sees Parnell get right on his tail…and Chiron's poor start gets worse as he is lapped by both leading groups with only 1/5 of the race gone.

*Lap 30* - Both de Graffenried and Piestch pit from the top 2 positions, which leaves Fagioli the lead…though the Alfa Romeo driver really grasps the opportunity to move away from the rest of the pack! Walker also pits and drops a long way back down the order due to cold tyres straight after the pitstop causing him to almost crash into the wall at Beau Rivage!

Ascari is up to 3rd as a result, and Cabantous' recovery is almost complete as he now sits in 4th position, ahead of Rosier and then the now heavily fuelled Pietsch…Gonzalez is up to 7th despite another big moment, which almost collects Serafini whose down to 8th due to the evasive action he takes to stop from colliding with the erratic Gonzalez.

Pagani and Taruffi also gain from Walker's troubled pitstop, with Kelly, Parnell and Chiron all now a lap down on the leaders…

*Lap 40* - De Graffenried goes back into the lead, as Fagioli pits…the Italian could have even inherited the lead, but as the rain begins to come down in certain areas a slight slip drops Fagioli a little further behind the Swiss in the lead. However de Graffenried also has a brief moment at the Gazometre hairpin that closes the gap down to less than 3 seconds.

Pietsch was also on the leader's pace, but he really overcooks it at the 1st part of Portier, clips the wall and has to make an unscheduled pit to repair the damage. Cabantous and Ascari are thus right on the back of the German, with Gonzalez quite far off just outside the points being chased by the duo of Rosier and Walker.

Taruffi has a terrible time in this stint with a spin that breaks his front bumper off and causes him to pit once to change the tyres and then again to fix the damage.

*Lap 50* - As we reach the halfway point of the Grand Prix de Graffenried is yet again pulling away from Fagioli at a rate of about 0.5 seconds per lap…with Cabantous inheriting the final podium position from Pietsch, as the German pits for his 2nd scheduled stop (3rd in total) to drop down to 5th behind the aforementioned Frenchman and Ascari in 4th.

Behind them Serafini and Rosier are the next two in line, but there is a good 20 seconds between them and the Top 5 points paying positions…with Gonzalez now down to 8th place due to yet another unforced error! Walker pits again to drop to 10th position behind Pagani, with Taruffi 1 lap down and both Parnell and Chiron with only each other for company 2 laps down.

*Lap 60* - De Graffenried moves even further away from Fagioli, as the only drivers to change positions in this stint are Walker and Pagani, as the Brit manages to move into 9th position behind Gonzalez in 8th.

Cabantous opens up a gap on Ascari, with Pietsch beginning to drop into the clutches of Serafini, Rosier et al at a somewhat alarming rate for last time's race winner.

*Lap 70* - The top 2 stay where they are despite their pit-stops, and few would count against it being de Graffenried from Fagioli at the finish. Behind them both Cabantous and Ascari pit to allow Pietsch to claim 3rd spot…though the German has one more scheduled stop to make.

In much the same vein Walker is into 6th position, but the Alta driver has one more stop to make, which will surely promote Serafini at least up one spot. After that it is very much status quo, with Kelly being the latest driver to make a mistake as the one-stopping Irishman almost bins it going in to Cassino!

*Lap 80* - Pietsch makes his final pitstop to restore Cabantous and Ascari to 3rd and 4th respectively…though the German is not far behind the latter on track now and will at least give the crowd something to watch for the final few laps, given that that is now the only real battle of consequence.

Serafini and Rosier lose a very large amount of time on those in front of them, as they battle hard for 6th place, whilst Pagani is now up to 9th as Gonzalez must pit once more to have his gearbox looked at. Walker is another who pits, but though his stop is a scheduled one the mechanics simply do not seem ready and as a result the Alta driver drops from 6th to 10th in the space of 1 lap.

*Lap 90* - Pietsch takes Ascari around the outside through the tunnel! What an audacious manoeuvre to demote the Italian to 5th place!!! There is a question of whether this was a team order, given Pietsch's win last time out though. Good job the 1950 rules don't say anything about that eh…

Serafini's race goes from bad to worse, as he spins at Sainte Devote to drop behind Rosier and Gonzalez…Pagani also has a moment through the Station Hairpin that demotes him down the order, as both of the aforementioned drivers lose places to the resurgent Walker.

At the back Parnell goes into Sainte Devote just as Serafini comes out of the corner and the Englishman misjudges the apex horrendously ending his race in the barriers there. Later in the same lap Chiron, clearly delighted to be ahead of Parnell finally, loses concentration and manages to take the Chicane with too much speed to ensure his race ends there too!

*Lap 100* - De Graffenried takes a relatively easy win, despite having a big moment near the end that he lost a lot of time to Fagioli in, and it gets worse as the Italian claims the Fastest Lap on the final lap of the race…Cabantous takes a deserved podium ahead of Pietsch and Ascari, who rounds out the points finishers today.

Rosier stays in 6th, with Walker up from 8th to 7th place as Gonzalez has a tough end to the race with a big moment in Mirabeau…with the other drivers behind him in the same order as before.