70 years ago: the first podium for Talbot-Lago and a French driver in F1

If the French Talbot-Lago team participated in the very first Grand Prix of the World Championship of Formula 1 on May 13, 1950 at Silverstone (Great Britain), the results were still awaited.

After three events, no blue car has climbed onto the podium; the same for French pilots. While Italy and Argentina are at the top of the general ranking thanks to Giuseppe Farina, Luigi Fagioli and Juan Manuel Fangio, the French are very discreet.

Yves Giraud-Cabantous finished fourth at Silverstone, a rank equaled by Raymond Sommer on a Ferrari private in Monaco a few days later, but the podium is long overdue. In 1949,  Louis Rosier finished on the bottom step of the podium at the British Grand Prix, but at the time the F1 World Championship was still just a project.

On the occasion of the Swiss Grand Prix, Talbot-Lago is pulling out all the stops, or rather triple, with the single-seaters T26C (T for Talbot, 26 for the number of fiscal horses and C for Course) factory for Yves Giraud-Cabantous, Eugène Martin and Louis Rosier. These have dual ignition and reach 275 to 280 horsepower, unlike the vehicles entered privately by Philippe Étancelin, Johnny Claes and Harry Schell with single ignition.

The 18 competitors meet not far from Bern on the Bremgarten circuit. This track, 7,28 km long, has fallen into disuse since motorsport was banned in Switzerland in 1955, but at the time, it is renowned for its dangerousness.

From the first race organized in 1934, a driver was killed there (Hugh Hamilton, victim of cardiac arrest before hitting a tree). In 1948, shortly after the tragic accident of Omobono Tenni during the motorcycle event, it was the Italian star Achille Varzi who died after his Alfa Romeo 158 rolled over on the wet road during testing. The black streak will continue with the death of public favorite Christian Kautz during the Grand Prix.

Mostly bordered by trees, extremely hilly and with an irregular surface (cobblestones in certain turns), the Bremgarten circuit therefore does not forgive any mistakes. Period records show 13 turns but the pilots made around 25 changes of direction, sign of an almost total absence of a straight line. 

During tests, the Alfa Romeos left the competition behind. The Ferraris are four seconds behind, and the Talbot-Lagos are almost 10 seconds behind! The French T26Cs, however, have a secret weapon: their consumption, which will allow you not to go to the pump during the Grand Prix, unlike the Italians with supercharged engines.

The start is given in front of 200 spectators. The Talbot-Lago team loses a representative in the first round. Yves Giraud-Cabantous spun and cannot restart. Eugène Martin is trapped and breaks his leg in a violent accident. As for Philippe Étancelin, he returned to the pits with a broken gearbox. 

The misfortunes ended fortunately at the end of the race. Juan Manuel Fangio retires eight loops from the end due to defective valves and who benefits? Louis Rosier, moved up from 10th place on the grid! We would forget the identity of the drivers present on the podium, Nino Farina (future world champion at the end of the year) and his compatriot Luigi Fagioli. 

Louis Rosier, Originally from the small region of Chapdes-Beaufort in Puy-de-Dôme, the former resistance fighter during the Second World War scored his first podium in F1. The winner of 24 Hours of Le Mans 1950 will repeat this performance two weeks later in Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), still within the firm of Suresnes (Hauts-de-Seine). He would finish fourth in the inaugural F1 season, his best result in the discipline.