Why Bugatti entered F1 and quit after just one race

There’s something poetic about Bugatti’s single, disastrous Formula 1 appearance. Here was a company that dominated early Grand Prix racing with the legendary Type 35 – a car so successful it nearly bankrupted other manufacturers from winning too much. Yet when they returned to top-tier motorsport in 1956, their ambitious F1 effort lasted just 18 laps.

What happened?

The story begins with Roland Bugatti’s stubborn vision. In the mid-1950s, while rivals like Ferrari and Mercedes were pushing boundaries, Bugatti insisted on doing things their own way.

They hired brilliant engineer Gioacchino Colombo (father of Ferrari’s first V12) to create something radical – the Type 251 with its sideways-mounted straight-eight engine. On paper, it was revolutionary. In practice? A disaster waiting to happen.

When Maurice Trintignant wrestled the car during qualifying at Reims, the stopwatch didn’t lie – 18th place, behind privateer Maseratis and Coopers. The race was worse.

That beautifully complex engine gasped its last before half-distance, the throttle linkage failing in spectacular fashion. For a company used to dominating, the humiliation was too much. Bugatti packed up their tools and never returned.

Yet there’s beauty in this failure. That same stubbornness that doomed their F1 effort still lives in modern Bugattis. The Chiron’s quad-turbo W16? The Bolide’s insane aerodynamics?

These are the spiritual successors to the Type 251’s overambitious engineering. While the Formula 1 chapter lasted barely an afternoon, it proved Bugatti would rather fail spectacularly than think conventionally. And really, isn’t that why we love them?

Today, when you see those 24 Bugattis roaring down the Las Vegas Strip celebrating the Type 35’s centenary, remember – even the greatest stumble sometimes. But as any Bugatti owner will tell you, it’s not about the finish line… it’s about arriving in style.