1953 Formula One Season

1953 FIA Formula One World Championship
Previous	1952
Next	1954
1953 World Champion, Alberto Ascari
Season Information
Number of races	9
Season opener	Argentine Grand Prix
Season finale	Italian Grand Prix
Drivers' World Championship
Champion	Alberto Ascari 34.5 points
Runner-Up	Juan Manuel Fangio 28 points
3rd	Nino Farina 26 points

As in 1952, the 1953 Formula One season consisted of a small number of Formula One races, following the FIA's decision to once again run the World Drivers' Championship to Formula Two regulations rather than Formula One.

The 4th FIA World Drivers' Championship, which commenced on January 18, 1953, and ended on September 13 after nine races, was won by Alberto Ascari, driving for Scuderia Ferrari.

In addition to the Formula One races and the World Championship Formula Two races, numerous other Formula Two races, which did not count towards the Championship, were also held during the year.

World Championship season summary

Ferrari again dominated the championship, taking seven of the eight grands prix, although Fangio's Maserati challenge took him to second place in the championship and a win at Monza. Ascari stretched his unbeaten run to nine grand prix before Hawthorn broke the sequence at Reims.

Points were given to top 5 finishers (8, 6, 4, 3, 2). 1 point was given for fastest lap. Only the best four of nine scores counted towards the world championship. Points for shared drives were divided equally between the drivers, regardless of who had driven more laps. In 1953, all World Championship events (except the Indianapolis 500) were run under Formula 2 regulations.

World Championship season review

Rnd	Race	Date	Location	Winning driver	Constructor	Tyres	Report
1	Argentine Grand Prix	January 18	Autódromo 17 de Octubre	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
2	Indianapolis 500	May 30	Indianapolis	Bill Vukovich	Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser	F	Report
3	Dutch Grand Prix	June 7	Zandvoort	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
4	Belgian Grand Prix	June 21	Spa- Francorchamps	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
5	French Grand Prix	July 5	Reims	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	P	Report
6	British Grand Prix	July 18	Silverstone	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
7	German Grand Prix	August 2	Nürburgring	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	P	Report
8	Swiss Grand Prix	August 23	Bremgarten	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
9	Italian Grand Prix	September 13	Monza	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	P	Report

1953 Drivers Championship final standings

Pos.	Driver										Pts.
1st	Alberto Ascari	1stP		1stP	1st	4thP	1stP	8thP‡ Ret	1st	RetP	34.5 (46.5)
2nd	Juan Manuel Fangio	Ret		Ret	RetP Ret‡	2nd	2nd	2nd	4thP‡ Ret	1st	28 (29.5)
3rd	Nino Farina	Ret		2nd	Ret	5th	3rd	1st	2nd	2nd	26 (32)
4th	Mike Hawthorn	4th		4th	6th	1st	5th	3rd	3rd	4th	19 (27)
5th	Luigi Villoresi	2nd		Ret	2nd	6th	Ret	8th‡ Ret	6th	3rd	17
6th	José Froilán González	3rd		3rd‡	Ret	3rd	4th				13.5 (14.5)
7th	Bill Vukovich		1stP								9
7th	Toulo de Graffenried			5th	4th	7th	Ret	5th	Ret	Ret	7
9th	Felice Bonetto	Ret		3rd‡		Ret	6th	4th	4th‡ Ret	Ret	6.5
10th	Art Cross		2nd								6
11th	Onofre Marimón				3rd	9th	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	4
12th	Maurice Trintignant	7th‡		6th	5th	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	5th	4
13th	Sam Hanks		3rd‡								2
14th	Duane Carter		3rd‡								2
15th	Óscar Alfredo Gálvez	5th									2
16th	Jack McGrath		5th								2
17th	Hermann Lang								5th		2
18th	Fred Agabashian		4th‡								1.5
19th	Paul Russo		4th‡								1.5
—	Stirling Moss			9th		Ret		6th		13th	0
—	Jean Behra	6th			Ret	10th	Ret	Ret	Ret		0
—	Roberto Mieres			Ret		Ret				6th	0
—	Jimmy Daywalt		6th								0
—	Harry Schell	7th‡		Ret	7th	Ret	Ret	Ret		9th	0
—	Louis Rosier			7th	8th	8th	10th	10th	Ret	16th	0
—	Ken Wharton			Ret		Ret	8th		7th	NC	0
—	Birabongse Bhanudej					Ret	7th	Ret		11th	0
—	Jacques Swaters				DNS			7th	Ret		0
—	Jim Rathmann		7th								0
—	Sergio Mantovani									7th‡	0
—	Luigi Musso									7th‡	0
—	Peter Collins			8th	Ret	13th	Ret				0
—	John Barber	8th									0
—	Ernie McCoy		8th								0
—	Max de Terra								8th		0
—	Umberto Maglioli									8th	0
—	Alan Brown	9th					Ret	Ret		12th	0
—	Fred Wacker			DNS	9th				DNS		0
—	Tony Bettenhausen		9th								0
—	Peter Whitehead						9th				0
—	Hans Herrmann							9th			0
—	Albert Scherrer								9th		0
—	Louis Chiron					15th	DNS		DNS	10th	0
—	Paul Frère				10th				Ret		0
—	Jimmy Davies		10th								0
—	Duke Nalon		11th								0
—	André Pilette				11th						0
—	Bob Gerard					11th	Ret				0
—	Rodney Nuckey							11th			0
—	Johnny Claes			NC	Ret‡	12th		Ret		Ret	0
—	Carl Scarborough		12th								0
—	Theo Helfrich							12th			0
—	Kenneth McAlpine			Ret			Ret	13th		NC	0
—	Manny Ayulo		13th								0
—	Yves Giraud-Cabantous					14th				15th	0
—	Hans Stuck							Ret		14th	0
—	Jimmy Bryan		14th								0
—	Rudolf Krause							14th			0
—	Bill Holland		15th								0
—	Ernst Klodwig							15th			0
—	Rodger Ward		16th								0
—	Wolfgang Seidel							16th			0
—	Walt Faulkner		17th								0
—	Jack Fairman						Ret			NC	0
—	Lance Macklin			Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret		Ret	Ret	0
—	Roy Salvadori			Ret		Ret	Ret	Ret		Ret	0
—	Élie Bayol					Ret			DNS	Ret	0
—	Chico Landi								Ret	Ret	0
—	Robert Manzon	Ret									0
—	Carlos Menditeguy	Ret									0
—	Pablo Birger	Ret									0
—	Adolfo Schwelm Cruz	Ret									0
—	Marshall Teague		Ret								0
—	Spider Webb		Ret								0
—	Bob Sweikert		Ret								0
—	Mike Nazaruk		Ret								0
—	Pat Flaherty		Ret								0
—	Jerry Hoyt		Ret								0
—	Johnnie Parsons		Ret								0
—	Don Freeland		Ret								0
—	Gene Hartley		Ret								0
—	Chuck Stevenson		Ret								0
—	Cal Niday		Ret								0
—	Bob Scott		Ret								0
—	Andy Linden		Ret								0
—	Johnny Thomson		Ret								0
—	Georges Berger				Ret						0
—	Arthur Legat				Ret						0
—	Jimmy Stewart						Ret				0
—	Tony Rolt						Ret				0
—	Ian Stewart						Ret				0
—	Duncan Hamilton						Ret				0
—	Tony Crook						Ret				0
—	Edgar Barth							Ret			0
—	Oswald Karch							Ret			0
—	Willi Heeks							Ret			0
—	Theo Fitzau							Ret			0
—	Kurt Adolff							Ret			0
—	Günther Bechem							Ret			0
—	Ernst Loof							Ret			0
—	Erwin Bauer							Ret			0
—	Peter Hirt								Ret		0
—	Piero Carini									Ret	0
—	John Fitch									Ret	0
—	Charles de Tornaco				DNS						0
—	Helmut Glöckler							DNS			0

Key
Symbol	Meaning		Symbol	Meaning
1st	Winner		Ret	Retired
2nd	Podium finish		DSQ	Disqualified
3rd			DNQ	Did not qualify
5th	Points finish		DNPQ	Did not pre-qualify
14th	Non-points finish		TD	Test driver
Italics	Fastest Lap		DNS	Did not start
18th†	Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance)		NC	Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4thP	Qualified for pole position		[+] More Symbols

• ^‡ Position shared between multiple drivers of the same car
• Fastest lap earns 1 point
• Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.

Non-Championship race results

Formula One/Two races also held in 1953, which did not count towards the World Championship.

Race Name	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
III Gran Premio di Siracusa	Syracuse	March 22	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	Report
XIV Grand Prix de Pau	Pau	April 6	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Report
V Lavant Cup	Goodwood	April 6	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	Report
II Aston Martin Owners Club F2 Race	Snetterton	April 18	Eric Thompson	Connaught-Lea-Francis	Report
III Grand Prix de Bordeaux	Bordeaux	May 3	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Report
I Strassen-Rennen Karl-Marx-Stadt	Karl-Marx-Stadt	May 3	Rudolf Krause	BMW-Reif	Report
V BRDC International Trophy	Silverstone	May 9	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	Report
XV Eläintarhanajot	Eläintarharata	May 10	Rodney Nuckey	Cooper-Bristol	Report
VI Gran Premio di Napoli	Posillipo	May 10	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	Report
VII Ulster Trophy	Dundrod	May 16	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	Report
I Winfield JC Formula 2 Race	Charterhall	May 23	Ken Wharton	Cooper-Climax	Report
III Coronation Trophy	Crystal Palace	May 23	Tony Rolt	Connaught-Lea-Francis	Report
XXIII Grand Prix des Frontières	Chimay	May 24	Maurice Trintignant	Gordini	Report
I Snetterton Coronation Trophy	Snetterton	May 30	Tony Rolt	Connaught-Lea-Francis	Report
XVII Internationales ADAC Eifelrennen	Nürburgring	May 31	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	Report
XV Grand Prix de l'Albigeois	Albi	May 31	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	Report
I Coupe de Printemps	Montlhéry	May 31	Marcel Balsa	BMW	Report
I Paul Greifzu Gedachtnisrennen	Dessau	June 7	Edgar Barth	EMW	Report
II West Essex CC Race	Snetterton	June 27	Kenneth McAlpine	Connaught-Lea-Francis	Report
I Midlands MECC Race	Silverstone	June 27	Tony Crook	Cooper-Alta	Report
III Grand Prix de Rouen-les-Essarts	Rouen-les-Essarts	June 28	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	Report
IV Strassen-rennen Halle-Saale-Schleife	Halle-Saale-Schleife	July 5	Edgar Barth	EMW	Report
I Crystal Palace Trophy	Crystal Palace	July 11	Tony Rolt	Connaught-Lea-Francis	Report
IX Internationales Avusrennen	AVUS	July 12	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	Report
II United States Air Force Trophy	Snetterton	July 25	Tony Rolt	Connaught-Lea-Francis	Report
V Circuit du Lac	Aix-les-Bains	July 26	Élie Bayol	OSCA	Report
I Dresden Autobahn-spinne	Dresden-Hellerau	July 26	Edgar Barth	EMW	Report
I Bristol MC & LCC Race	Thruxton	August 3	Tony Rolt	Connaught-Lea-Francis	Report
I Mid-Cheshire MC Race	Oulton Park	August 8	Tony Rolt	Connaught-Lea-Francis	Report
III Grand Prix de Sables d'Olonne	Les Sables-d'Olonne	August 9	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	Report
II Newcastle Journal Trophy	Charterhall	August 15	Ken Wharton	Cooper-Bristol	Report
V Circuit de Cadours	Cadours	August 30	Maurice Trintignant	Gordini	Report
V Sachsenringrennen	Sachsenring	September 6	Edgar Barth	EMW-BMW	Report
I RedeX Trophy	Snetterton	September 12	Eric Thompson	Connaught-Lea-Francis	Report
III Skarpnäcksloppet	Skarpnäck	September 13	Erik Lundgren	Ford	Report
I London Trophy	Crystal Palace	September 19	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Alta	Report
IV Gran Premio di Modena	Modena	September 20	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	Report
VI Madgwick Cup	Goodwood	September 26	Roy Salvadori	Connaught-Lea-Francis	Report
II Bernau Autobahnschleife	Bernau	September 27	Artur Rosenhammer	EMW	Report
II Joe Fry Memorial Trophy	Castle Combe	October 3	Bob Gerard	Cooper-Bristol	Report
I Curtis Trophy	Snetterton	October 17	Bob Gerard	Cooper-Bristol	Report

See Also

• List of fatal accidents

v·d·e

Nominate this page for Featured Article