The 1953 Formula One season was the seventh season of the FIA's Formula One racing. It consisted only of several non-championship motor races. As in 1952, all races counting towards the World Championship of Drivers, apart from the Indianapolis 500, were held for cars complying with Formula Two regulations rather than with Formula One, with the Indianapolis 500 held to AAA regulations.
The 4th FIA World Championship of Drivers,[1] which commenced on 18 January and ended on 13 September after nine races,[2] was won by Alberto Ascari,[1] driving for Scuderia Ferrari.[3] Ascari became the first driver to successfully defend his title.
In addition to the non-championship Formula One races and the World Championship Formula Two races, numerous other non-championship Formula Two races were also held during the year.
Teams and drivers
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Calendar
| Round | Grand Prix | Circuit | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Argentine Grand Prix |
Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires | 18 January |
| 2 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Indianapolis 500 |
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway | 30 May[lower-alpha 1] |
| 3 |  Dutch Grand Prix |
Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort | 7 June |
| 4 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Belgian Grand Prix |
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot | 20 June |
| 5 |  French Grand Prix |
Reims-Gueux, Gueux | 4 July |
| 6 |  British Grand Prix |
Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone | 17 July |
| 7 |  German Grand Prix |
Nürburgring, Nürburg | 1 August |
| 8 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Swiss Grand Prix |
Circuit Bremgarten, Bern | 22 August |
| 9 |  Italian Grand Prix |
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza | 5 September |
Calendar changes
The Argentine Grand Prix hosted its first World Championship Grand Prix in 1953, the race was held at Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez on 18 January.
The Dutch Grand Prix was moved from mid August to early June.
The French Grand Prix was moved from Rouen-Les-Essarts to Reims-Gueux.
The Swiss Grand Prix was moved from mid May to late August.
The Spanish Grand Prix was scheduled to be held on 26 October but it was cancelled for monetary reasons.[2]
World Championship season summary
Ferrari drivers again dominated the championship, taking seven of the eight Grands Prix. However, Juan Manuel Fangio's challenge in his more fragile Maserati took him to second place in the championship and a win at Monza. Ascari extended his unbeaten run to nine consecutive World Championship Grand Prix wins before his teammate Mike Hawthorn broke the sequence in becoming the first-ever British winner in the French Grand Prix at Reims after a thrilling battle with Fangio.
In 1953, all but one of the races counting towards the World Championship of Drivers were run under Formula 2 regulations, while the remaining one, the Indianapolis 500, was run under AAA Championship Car regulations. The 1953 championship was the first genuinely global World Championship of Drivers, with a championship event staged outside of Europe or the United States for the first time. That race, the 1953 Argentine Grand Prix, was marred by an accident involving the Ferrari of Giuseppe Farina, which crashed into an unprotected crowd, killing nine spectators.
Results and standings
Grands Prix
World Championship of Drivers standings
Championship points were awarded to the first five finishers in each race on an 8–6–4–3–2 basis. Points for shared drives were divided equally between the drivers, regardless of the number of laps driven by each. One point was also awarded for the fastest lap in each race. The point was shared equally between drivers sharing the fastest lap. Only the best four results from the nine races counted towards a driver's total points in the World Championship. In the points column, numbers without parentheses are retained championship points, and numbers within parentheses are total points scored.
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- † 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
| Race name | Circuit | Date | Winning driver | Constructor | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I Strassen-Rennen Karl-Marx-Stadt |
Karl-Marx-Stadt | 3 May | Rudolf Krause |
BMW-Reif |
Report |
| I Paul Greifzu Gedachtnisrennen |
Dessau | 7 June | Edgar Barth |
EMW |
Report |
| IV Strassen-rennen Halle-Saale-Schleife |
Halle-Saale-Schleife | 5 July | Edgar Barth |
EMW |
Report |
| I Dresden Autobahnspinne |
Dresden-Hellerau | 26 July | Edgar Barth |
EMW |
Report |
| V Sachsenringrennen |
Sachsenring | 6 September | Edgar Barth |
EMW-BMW |
Report |
| II Bernau Autobahnschleife |
Bernau | 27 September | Arthur Rosenhammer |
EMW |
Report |
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.
| Place | Driver | Entrant | Car | KAR | DES | HAL | DRE | SAC | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edgar Barth |
EMW Rennkollektiv | EMW 52/53-BMW 328 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 24 | |
| 2 | Rudolf Krause |
Greifzu-Sühl | Greifzu-BMW 328 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 18 | |
| 3 | Karl Weber |
BSG Motor | Werkmeister-BMW 328 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 4 | Ernst Klodwig |
BSG Motor | Lodwig-Heck-BMW 328 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |||
| 5 | Kurt Straubel |
BSG Motor | Eigenbau-BMW 328 | 4 | 4 | ||||
| 6 | Paul Thiel |
EMW Rennkollektiv | EMW 52/53-BMW 328 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| = | Heinz Melkus |
BSGN Sedlitz | ARO-Veritas-Alfa Romeo | 3 | 3 | ||||
| 8 | Bobby Kohlrauch |
Greifzu-Sühl | Greifzu-BMW 328 | 2 | 2 |
Notes
- ↑ The Indianapolis 500 also counted towards the 1953 AAA Championship Car season, and was run for AAA Championship cars, but was not run to Formula One regulations.