Team story
Origins
Roland Bugatti tried to bring the Molsheim marque back to Grands Prix with the Type 251. The project entrusted to Gioacchino Colombo did not simply recreate the victorious pre-war Bugattis: Formula 1 in the 1950s required a new single-seater. Maurice Trintignant, already a Monaco winner with Ferrari, was chosen to drive it.
The Formula 1 journey
The only World Championship appearance came at Reims in the 1956 French Grand Prix. Trintignant qualified near the back and retired during the race. The Type 251 did not return to the calendar: the Bugatti name in the World Championship archive concerns this attempt, not its many Grand Prix victories before the championship began.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Bugatti
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · French Grand Prix
Maurice Trintignant · French Grand Prix 1956. The recorded outcome is DNF. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Bugatti
No classified race result is documented for this part of Bugatti’s record. The entries and cars listed elsewhere on the page provide the available reference points; they should not be read as completed races.
Latest recorded appearance · French Grand Prix
Maurice Trintignant · French Grand Prix 1956. The recorded outcome is DNF. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
The straight-eight engine was mounted transversely behind the cockpit. This made the car technically distinct from the front-engined single-seaters still widely used, but did not solve its power and handling problems. The Type 251 family comprised two examples: the single designation in the catalogue does not equal the number of cars built.
What remains
Photographs preserved by the Bugatti Trust document the car's testing and Trintignant's presence at Reims. The Type 251 remains the last Bugatti project to reach a Formula 1 World Championship Grand Prix. The brand's continuity in road cars does not represent a continuation of this team, whose racing programme ended without points after the French appearance.