1932 Monaco Grand Prix Explained

The 1932 Monaco Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at the Circuit de Monaco on 17 April 1932. Tazio Nuvolari, driving for the works Alfa Romeo team, won the race by just 2.8 seconds from the privateer Alfa of Rudolf Caracciola, who, despite having a contract for 1932, was not yet part of the official works team. Caracciola might have had an opportunity to pass Nuvolari for the lead, after the Italian's car developed fuel pick-up issues, but he decided instead to remain behind the Alfa Romeo team leader. The 1931 Monaco Grand Prix runner-up Luigi Fagioli completed the podium in third for the Maserati team.^[1]

Entries

No	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine
2	Rudolf Caracciola	Private entry	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Monza	2.3 L8
4	Earl Howe	Private entry	Bugatti	Bugatti T51	2.3 L8
6	Clifton Penn-Hughes	Private entry	Bugatti	Bugatti T35B	2.3 L8
8	Juan Zanelli	Private entry	Nacional Pescara	Nacional Pescara	3.0 L6
10	Guy Bouriat	Automobiles E. Bugatti	Bugatti	Bugatti T51	2.3 L8
12	Louis Chiron	Automobiles E. Bugatti	Bugatti	Bugatti T51	2.3 L8
14	Albert Divo	Automobiles E. Bugatti	Bugatti	Bugatti T53 Bugatti T51	5.0 V16 2.3 L8
16	Achille Varzi	Automobiles E. Bugatti	Bugatti	Bugatti T51	2.3 L8
18	Stanisłas Czaykowski	Private entry	Bugatti	Bugatti T51	2.3 L8
20	Marcel Lehoux	Private entry	Bugatti	Bugatti T51	2.3 L8
22	William Grover-Williams	Private entry	Bugatti	Bugatti T51	2.3 L8
24	Baconin Borzacchini	SA Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Monza	2.3 L8
26	Giuseppe Campari	SA Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Monza	2.3 L8
28	Tazio Nuvolari	SA Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Monza	2.3 L8
30	Philippe Étancelin	Private entry	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Monza	2.3 L8
32	Goffredo Zehender	Private entry	Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo Monza	2.3 L8
34	René Dreyfus	Officine A. Maserati	Maserati	Maserati 8C 2800	2.8 L8
36	Luigi Fagioli	Officine A. Maserati	Maserati	Maserati 8C 2800	2.8 L8
38	Amedeo Ruggeri	Officine A. Maserati	Maserati	Maserati 26M	2.5 L8

— Divo drove the T53 during the practice sessions on Thursday and Friday, but switched to the T51 for Saturday practice and the race.^[1]

Practice

Official timing for practice sessions was introduced for this year.^[1]

Thursday

Driver	Car	Time	Laps
		2:08	16
		2:08	13
		2:08	18
Guy Bouriat		2:09	7
		2:09	7
		2:10	11
		2:11	6
		2:11	10
		2:12	15
		2:14	14
		2:18	7
		2:19	6
		—	4
Clifton Penn-Hughes		—	?

Friday

Driver	Car	Time	Laps
		2:05	22
		2:06	14
		2:06	22
		2:06	14
		2:06	9
		2:07	13
		2:07	18
		2:07	9
		2:07	19
		2:07	18
		2:09	11
		2:10	7
Guy Bouriat		2:10	13
		2:11	17
		2:15	9
		2:19	6
		2:29	8

Saturday

Driver	Car	Time	Laps
		2:04	22
		2:05	12
		2:06	9
		2:07	9
		2:07	13
		2:07	5
		2:07	13
		2:07	11
		2:07	15
		2:08	16
Amedeo Ruggeri		2:08	16
Guy Bouriat		2:10	23
		2:11	13
		2:11	11
		2:17	13

Starting grid

Although practice laps had been officially timed, the grid was still determined by ballot. This was changed for the following year's race.^[1]

Starting grid — 1932 Monaco Grand Prix
	width=150px		Grover-Williams Bugatti
Étancelin Alfa Romeo
	Ruggeri Maserati
		Chiron Bugatti
Campari Alfa Romeo
	Czaykowski Bugatti
		Lehoux Bugatti
Borzacchini Alfa Romeo
	Dreyfus Maserati
		Bouriat Bugatti
Nuvolari Alfa Romeo
		Varzi Bugatti
Caracciola Alfa Romeo
	Howe Bugatti
		Divo Bugatti
Zehender Alfa Romeo
	Fagioli Maserati

Classification

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
1	28	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo Monza	100	3:32:25.2	11
2	2	Rudolf Caracciola	Alfa Romeo Monza	100	+2.8	13
3	36	Luigi Fagioli	Maserati 8C 2800	100	+2:17.8	17
4	4	Earl Howe	Bugatti T51	98	+2 laps	14
5	32	Goffredo Zehender	Alfa Romeo Monza	96	+4 laps	16
6	20	Marcel Lehoux	Bugatti T51	95	+5 laps	7
7	22	William Grover-Williams	Bugatti T51	95	+5 laps	1
8	10	Guy Bouriat	Bugatti T51	93	+7 laps	10
9	14	Albert Divo	Bugatti T51	91	+9 laps	15
10	26	Giuseppe Campari	Alfa Romeo Monza	86	+14 laps	5
Ret	24	Baconin Borzacchini	Alfa Romeo Monza	85	Brakes	8
Ret	34	René Dreyfus	Maserati 8C 2800	57	Broken driveshaft, lost wheel	9
Ret	16	Achille Varzi	Bugatti T51	56	Rear axle	12
Ret	30	Philippe Étancelin	Alfa Romeo Monza	49	Gearbox	2
Ret	18	Stanisłas Czaykowski	Bugatti T51	49	Gearbox	6
Ret	12	Louis Chiron	Bugatti T51	29	Crash	4
Ret	38	Amedeo Ruggeri	Maserati 26M	12	Supercharger	3
DNS	6	Clifton Penn-Hughes	Bugatti T35B		Practice crash, injury
DNS	8	Juan Zanelli	Nacional Pescara		Broken spring
Sources:

Notes and References

1. Web site: IV GRAND PRIX DE MONACO. kolumbus.fi. 5 October 2013. 12 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210512081418/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp3202.htm#8. dead.