1953 Formula One Season

The 1953 Formula One season was the seventh season of the FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 4th World Championship of Drivers,World Championship of Drivers, 1974 FIA Yearbook, Grey section, pages 118 & 119 which was contested over nine races between 18 January and 13 September 1953.Mike Lang, ''Grand Prix! Volume 1: 1950 to 1965'', pages 53 to 66 The season also included several non-championship races and a separate East German Championship.

As in , all races counting towards the Formula One championship, except the Indianapolis 500, were held for cars complying with Formula Two regulations. A couple of non-championship races were still run under Formula One regulations.

The World Drivers' Championship was won by Alberto Ascari driving for Scuderia Ferrari. Ascari became the first driver since the inception of the championship in to successfully defend his title. It would be his last title, as well as the last for any Italian driver, .

For the first time, a championship event was included outside of Europe (with the exception of the Indianapolis 500): the 1953 Argentine Grand Prix. It was marred by an accident involving 1950 champion Nino Farina, who crashed into an unprotected crowd, killing nine spectators.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1953 FIA World Championship of Drivers. The list does not include those who only contested the Indianapolis 500. As of 2025, Hans Herrmann is the last living participant of 1953 Formula One season, which makes this season the earliest with currently living participants.

Team and driver changes

* After competing in just one race in , Maserati entered at least three cars in each race this year. They convinced champion Juan Manuel Fangio to return to the sport and to replace Franco Rol.
* Mike Hawthorn was offered a drive with Ferrari after displaying his talent in several non-championship races in 1952. He replaced Piero Taruffi, who took up a drive with the Lancia sports car racing team.
* After separating with their driver Prince Bira during the 1952 season, Gordini attracted American driver Harry Schell for this year.
* Connaught had made their debut halfway through last season. They expanded their operations and hired Roy Salvadori and Kenneth McAlpine to drive.
* Cooper entered with a works team for the first time, but initially only competed in the season opener.

Mid-season changes

* Robert Manzon left Gordini after just one race. He would return in with Louis Rosier's private team. Roberto Mieres made his debut as Manzon's replacement.
* From the Belgian Grand Prix on, Onofre Marimón joined Maserati as a full-time driver. José Froilán González left the team after the British Grand Prix. He would return to the grid with Ferrari in .
* Veteran racer Louis Chiron returned to F1 at the 1953 French Grand Prix with OSCA.
* After competing in the season opener, Cooper returned to the grid for the French Grand Prix, with Stirling Moss as their sole driver, after he left a part-time drive at Connaught.
* When Moss left, Prince Bira joined the Connaught team for three races.
* Peter Collins left HWM before the end of the season. He would return in with Vanwall.
* José Froilán González crashed a Lancia sports car before the German Grand Prix, got injured and was out of F1 for the rest of the season. Hermann Lang returned to Grand Prix racing after 14 years to replace him for one race, before Sergio Mantovani and Luigi Musso joined the team to make their F1 debut.

Calendar

Calendar changes

* On 18 January, the Argentine Grand Prix hosted its first World Championship Grand Prix.
* The Swiss Grand Prix was moved back from mid May to late August, while the Dutch Grand Prix was moved up from mid August to early June.
* After a year at Rouen-Les-Essarts, the French Grand Prix was moved back to Reims-Gueux.
* The Spanish Grand Prix was scheduled to be held on 26 October, but it was cancelled for monetary reasons.

Championship report

Rounds 1 to 3

The 1953 season started in Argentina, the first championship Formula One Grand Prix outside of Europe (with the exception of the Indianapolis 500). Alberto Ascari and Ferrari had dominated , but Juan Manuel Fangio, the champion returning after a year away, at the new Maserati works team were expected to put up a good fight. Ascari qualified on pole position, ahead of Fangio and Ferrari teammates Luigi Villoresi and Nino Farina. The race attracted so many spectators that they were able to break through the security parameter and sit by the track. Only the fear of a riot resisted the organisers from cancelling the race. Ascari held the lead at the start, ahead of Fangio, as the lines of people grew thicker. On lap 21, Adolfo Schwelm Cruz's Cooper lost a wheel, which bounced into the crowd, and eleven laps later, Farina spun off, crushing bodies until his Ferrari came to a halt. At least nine people were killed, which became ten when, amidst the panic, a little boy ran onto the track and was hit by the Cooper of Alan Brown. The race continued, Fangio retired with a broken transmission and Ascari finished a lap ahead of Villoresi and Maserati's José Froilán González.

The Indianapolis 500 was included in the Formula One championship, but no F1 drivers attended. Bill Vukovich won the race for the second year in a row.

The Dutch Grand Prix, being the first round of the year in Europe, attracted no less than twenty entrants, and Maserati brought upgraded cars. Still, the starting grid looked almost the same as in Argentina: Ascari, with Fangio and Farina next to him, and Villoresi and González on the second row. At the start, Ascari took the lead, while his teammates converged on Fangio, squeezing him almost to a standstill. The three prancing horses led away unchallenged. Both González and Fangio retired with a broken rear axle. Villoresi retired when his injection failed. Ascari and Farina finished 1–2, while González managed to get third after taking over the car from a teammate.

In the Drivers' Championship, Alberto Ascari (Ferrari) was leading with 17 points. Bill Vukovich was second with 9, but he would not enter any other races. Luigi Villoresi (Ferrari) was third with 7 points.

Rounds 4 to 7

The Maseratis were favourites going into the Belgian Grand Prix because of their high top speed. Juan Manuel Fangio delivered and set pole position, ahead of championship leader Alberto Ascari and teammate José Froilán González. Ascari's Ferrari teammates Nino Farina and Luigi Villoresi occupied the second row. González took the lead at the start and the two Maseratis streaked away, until they retired with mechanical issues two laps from each other. Farina retired as well, leaving Ascari and Villoresi to finish 1–2, ahead of Onofre Marimón on his debut for Maserati.

Ascari continued his dominance with a pole position for the French Grand Prix, ahead of Maserati's Felice Bonetto (teammate González set the qualifying time, but it was in Bonetto's car) and Villoresi. Fangio and González stood on the second row, but the latter took the lead at the start. Farina had a good start, while Bonetto spun, so González was now under threat from a group of four Ferraris. But the Argentinian streaked away and it was Fangio who started pressuring the group from behind. At half-distance, González pitted to refuel, which explained his good pace. A tight group was formed of seven red cars, all fighting for the lead. The Ferraris were better through the corners, but the Maseratis had a higher top speed, and with two laps to go, Mike Hawthorn and Fangio were side-by-side over the line. Hawthorn managed to inch in front and won, ahead of Fangio and González.

At the British Grand Prix, the front row was divided between the two Italian teams: Ascari scored pole, ahead of González, Hawthorn and Fangio. Fangio tried to take the lead at the start, but drifted wide and Ascari went back through. Hawthorn spun off and returned to the pits for a check-up. González was in second place, before officials suspected his Maserati from losing oil and ordered him to pit. Ascari increased his lead over now-second Fangio, before rain and hail fell and the circuit flooded. A couple of drivers spun, but Ascari finished his faultless race to win, a minute ahead of Fangio and two laps ahead of Farina. Ascari and González set the same fastest lap (measured in whole seconds), so they both gained an extra half a point.

In the Drivers' Championship, Alberto Ascari (Ferrari) was leading with 33.5 points, ahead of Mike Hawthorn (Ferrari) with 16 and José Froilán González (Maserati) with 13.5.

Rounds 7 to 9

Championship leader Alberto Ascari qualified on pole position for the German Grand Prix, ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio, Nino Farina and Mike Hawthorn. Fangio took the lead at the start, but Ascari was back in front after half a lap. He looked set to score his fourth win of the year, until he suddenly appeared in the pits with just three wheels. Farina took the lead, while Ascari fell back to ninth place. On lap 10, he took over the car from teammate Luigi Villoresi, suddenly bringing the championship leader back to fourth place. He set the fastest lap since Hermann Lang in 1939 but then retired with a blown engine. Farina held on to the lead and won the race, ahead of Fangio and Hawthorn.

At this point, the Spanish Grand Prix was still scheduled for 26 October, so there were three races left to go. Farina, Fangio and Hawthorn could theoretically prevent Ascari from becoming champion, but they had to win all remaining races, while setting the fastest lap in at least two of them. At the Swiss Grand Prix, Fangio scored pole position, ahead of Ascari and Farina, while Hawthorn started seventh. Ascari passed Fangio on the opening lap, while Farina fell back. On lap 10, Fangio switched cars with teammate Felice Bonetto, since the Italian's seemed to be running better, but then Fangio had to pit again with a flat tyre, and on lap 28, dramatically retired with a blown engine. This let the recovering Farina into second place, which became the lead when Ascari's carburetor failed and he spent 11 minutes in the pits. He rejoined in third, but such was his pace, that he passed both Hawthorn and Farina and then won over a minute ahead of Farina. Mike Hawthorn finished third to make it an all-Ferrari podium. Hermann Lang finished fifth in his first Grand Prix since 1939.

With his win in Switzerland, Ascari had big enough of a lead to secure his second consecutive title. This became even clearer when the Spanish Grand Prix was cancelled and only one race was left in the season, the Italian Grand Prix. Ascari showed no signs of slowing down and reached a record total of six pole positions in a season. He started ahead of Fangio and Farina. Fourth-placed Onofre Marimón made a good start to pass both champions ahead of him, to slot in behind the now-double champion. Like in Reims, the four leaders formed a group that lapped the rest of the field and never separated more than a car length or two from each other. Just over half-distance, Marimón pitted with a damaged radiator, so it was now a three-horse race. On the very last corner, Ascari spun off into the grass, Farina went off the track to avoid him and, although the latter continued over the finish line, it let Fangio claim his first win since . Farina was second and, although Ascari retired just 200 yards from the finish, he was classified behind all cars still running, so Villoresi took third.

In the Drivers' Championship, Alberto Ascari (Ferrari) scored 34.5 points to clinch his second consecutive title, ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio (Maserati) with 28 and Nino Farina (Ferrari) with 26.

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top five classified finishers, with an additional point awarded for setting the fastest lap, regardless of finishing position or even classification. Only the best four results counted towards the championship. Shared drives result in half points for each driver if they finished in a points-scoring position. If more than one driver set the same fastest lap time, the fastest lap point would be divided equally between the drivers. Numbers without parentheses are championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored. Points were awarded in the following system:

World Championship of Drivers standings

* † Position shared between more drivers of the same car
* * Point for fastest lap shared between different drivers.
* ‡ Several cars were shared in this race. See the race page for details.

Non-championship races

The following Formula One/Formula Two/Formula Libre races, which did not count towards the World Championship of Drivers, were held in 1953.

East German races

The Bernau race was not part of the East German Championship.

East German Championship

The table below shows the points awarded for each race. Only East German drivers were eligible for points.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1953 Formula One Season
Formula One seasons

Formula Two series