Championship Watch
Juan Fangio won the 1951 Drivers' Championship for Alfa Romeo. Final 1951 standings — every driver ranked by points and wins.
Juan Fangio won the 1951 Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship driving for Alfa Romeo, finishing on 31 points, 6 clear of Alberto Ascari. Fangio won 3 races that season.
No Constructors' Championship was awarded in 1951 — the teams' title was not introduced until 1958, so the drivers' standings were the season's only championship.
6 different drivers won a Grand Prix, and 19 drivers scored championship points.
Championships in this era were decided on a "best results" basis — drivers counted only their highest-scoring finishes towards the title, so season totals can differ from the sum of every race result. Dropped scores were abolished from 1991.
Standings compiled from the Ergast/Jolpica Formula 1 results archive. Spotted an error? Tell us.
Juan Fangio leads the 1951 Drivers Championship with 31 points, holding a 6-point advantage over Alberto Ascari (Ferrari). A gap of fewer than 25 points — one race win — means the title race remains mathematically open every single weekend.
The 1951 Formula 1 Constructors Championship is contested across all 24 rounds of the season. Both drivers score for their constructor in every classified result — meaning a team can swing the standings dramatically with a double points finish or lose ground with a double retirement. The title typically follows the car with the broadest combination of pace, reliability, and strategy.
The current FIA points system awards points to the top ten finishers in every Grand Prix: 25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1. An additional point goes to the driver who sets the fastest lap of the race, provided they finish inside the top ten. Sprint events — held on Saturday at select rounds — offer a separate points structure: 8–7–6–5–4–3–2–1 for the top eight finishers, counting toward both championships independently of the main race result.
A driver must hold an FIA Super Licence and score at least one championship point to register on the standings. DNFs score zero, but a classified finish — completing at least 90% of the race distance — earns the driver’s finishing position even without a points reward.