- Login or Register
No account yet? Sign up
After skipping 1949 for reasons that are still not well understood, Alfa Corse returned to Formula 1 in 1950 with the Alfetta 158. With Achille Varzi, Count Felice Trossi and Jean-Pierre Wimille all dead, their places in the team were taken by Giuseppe 'Nino' Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli. With an average age of 45, this was hardly an injection of youth.
The FIA had announced a new World Championship for 1950, consisting of the five Grandes Épreuves from 1949 plus the Monaco GP. This competition climaxed at Monza with Farina clinching the title after Fangio had two Alfas break under him during the race.
The main competition was from Ferrari, who tried to overwhelm Alfa with numbers at the start of the season, and Maserati's 4CLT. Neither the lumbering Lago-Talbots or the new Simca-Gordinis were anywhere near as quick although reliability sometimes brought some rewards. The Alfetta were dominant: the first three places on almost every grid and enough reliability to be running 1st and 2nd at almost every finish. Only the new Ferrari 375, emerging towards the end of the season, looked like a serious rival.
click photo for videoFerrari's newer, unsupercharged 4.5 litre cars offered a real challenge to the Alfas, which were nearing the end of their development potential. Although Alfas won four of the European races, with Fangio taking the championship, Ferrari's three victories spelled the end for the Alfas. BRM made their only championship appearance with the V16 at Silverstone, and the old, slow Talbots were increasingly outclassed.
Points were given to top 5 finishers (8, 6, 4, 3, 2). 1 point was given for fastest lap. Only the best four of eight scores counted towards the world championship. Points for shared drives were divided equally between the drivers, regardless of who had driven more laps
There is a classic video in that picture, is there not?strad wrote:No video...but a great shot
