1953 Argentine Grand Prix

  1953 Argentine Grand Prix

Race details
Race 1 of 9 in the 1953 Formula One season
Date	18 January 1953
Official name	I Gran Premio de la Republica Argentina
Location	Autódromo 17 de Octubre, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Course	Permanent racing facility 3.912 km (2.431 mi)
Distance	97 laps, 379.464 km (235.788 mi)
Weather	Hot, dry
Pole position
Driver	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Time	1:55.4
Fastest lap
Driver	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Time	1:48.4 on lap 73
Podium
First	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Second	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari
Third	José Froilan González	Maserati
Lap leaders

The 1953 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 18 January 1953 at the Autódromo 17 de Octubre, Buenos Aires. It was the first round of the 1953 World Drivers' Championship, which was run to Formula Two rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the Formula One regulations normally used.

Race report

The Maseratis lived up to their testing potential – and with improved fuel consumption and better reliability – gave the Ferraris a run for their money. It was to be another dominant race for Alberto Ascari from Luigi Villoresi. This was Ascari's seventh consecutive Formula One race victory. José Froilán González came home third in the Maserati in his home race – the first time a Championship round had been to Argentina, whilst new Ferrari signing Mike Hawthorn came home fourth in the 2-litre Ferrari. The race was marred by an accident involving Nino Farina who crashed into the crowd on lap 31, killing 13 spectators.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	10	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	97	3:01:04.6	1	9
2	14	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	96	+1 lap	3	6
3	4	José Froilán González	Maserati	96	+1 lap	5	4
4	16	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	96	+1 lap	6	3
5	8	Óscar Alfredo Gálvez	Maserati	96	+1 lap	9	2
6	30	Jean Behra	Gordini	94	+3 laps	11
7	28	Maurice Trintignant† Harry Schell†	Gordini	91	+6 laps	7
8	22	John Barber	Cooper-Bristol	90	+7 laps	16
9	20	Alan Brown	Cooper-Bristol	87	+10 laps	12
Ret	26	Robert Manzon	Gordini	67	Wheel	8
Ret	2	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	36	Transmission	2
Ret	6	Felice Bonetto	Maserati	32	Transmission	15
Ret	12	Nino Farina	Ferrari	31	Accident	4
Ret	32	Carlos Menditeguy	Gordini	24	Gearbox	10
Ret	34	Pablo Birger	Simca-Gordini-Gordini	21	Differential	14
Ret	24	Adolfo Schewelm Cruz	Cooper-Bristol	20	Wheel	13

† Shared Drive – Car #28: Trintignant (50 laps) then Schell (41 laps)

Drivers' Championship standings after the race

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Alberto Ascari	9
2	Luigi Villoresi	6
3	José Froilán González	4
4	Mike Hawthorn	3
5	Óscar Alfredo Gálvez	2

• Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship.