1946 Turin Grand Prix

The 1946 Turin Grand Prix (formally known as the III Gran Premio del Valentino ) was a Grand Prix motor race held on 1 September 1946 on a temporary street circuit at Valentino Park in Turin , Italy . It was the first time the event had been held since the end of the Second World War , as well as the first ever Formula One Grand Prix, as the race regulations anticipated the official introduction of the new formula on 1 January 1947.

The 1946 Turin Grand Prix was the first Grand Prix to be held in Italy in the post-war era. Given the recentness of the Second World War , the vast majority of the cars on the grid were pre-war voiturette -class racing cars. With the absence of the German manufacturers that dominated the pre-war Grand Prix circuit, the field was instead dominated by the rivalry between fellow Italian manufacturers Alfa Romeo and Maserati . [ 1 ]

The Grand Prix was also the motor racing debut of Turin -based Cisitalia , who, despite not qualifying for the race itself, would go on to win the accompanying Coppa Brezzi at the same venue the following Tuesday, with founder Piero Dusio behind the wheel. [ 3 ]

Notes

† – Alternative Driver, car originally entered by Louis Chiron

While Maserati would go on to win the majority of Grands Prix in 1946, the dominance of Alfa Romeo under the new formula regulations would prove itself consistent as the team would go on to dominate the following years, ultimately resulting in their car winning the first two seasons of the Formula One Championship in an equally dominant fashion.

Notes

† – Alternative Driver, car originally entered by Guido Barbieri