1952 Formula One season

In comparison to previous seasons, the 1952 Formula One season consisted of a relatively small number of Formula One races, following the FIA's decision to run the World Drivers' Championship to Formula Two regulations rather than Formula One.

The 3rd FIA World Drivers' Championship, which commenced on May 18, 1952, and ended on September 7 after eight 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

Alfa Romeo, unable to fund a new car, withdrew from racing, leaving Ferrari as the only serious Formula 1 contender. This led organizers to run their races for Formula 2, for 2 litre unsupercharged engines, which meant larger fields and a greater variety of cars, even if the victories all went to Ferrari. Ascari won the six grand prix he entered, missing the Swiss because he was at Indianapolis qualifying. Maserati and Gordini offered little challenge, but Mike Hawthorn's drives in his Cooper would earn him a works Ferrari drive in 1953. Fangio, badly injured in an early season crash, took no part in the championship.

Points were given to top 5 finishers (8, 6, 4, 3, 2). 1 point was given for fastest lap. Only the best four of eight scores counted towards the world championship. Points for shared drives were divided equally between the drivers, regardless of who had driven more laps. In 1952, all World Championship events were run under Formula 2 regulations.

World Championship season review

Rnd	Race	Date	Location	Winning driver	Constructor	Tyres	Report
1	Swiss Grand Prix	May 18	Bremgarten	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	P	Report
2	Indianapolis 500	May 30	Indianapolis	Troy Ruttman	Kuzma-Offenhauser	F	Report
3	Belgian Grand Prix	June 22	Spa-Francorchamps	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
4	French Grand Prix	July 6	Rouen-Les-Essarts	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
5	British Grand Prix	July 19	Silverstone	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
6	German Grand Prix	August 3	Nürburgring	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	E	Report
7	Dutch Grand Prix	August 17	Zandvoort	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report
8	Italian Grand Prix	September 7	Monza	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	P	Report

Teams and Drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1952 FIA World Championship.

1952 Driver line-ups

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Driver
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari 2.0 L4	P	Giuseppe Farina
					Piero Taruffi
					Andre Simon
					Alberto Ascari
					Luigi Villoresi
Equipe Gordini	Gordini	Gordini 16	Gordini 20. L6	E	Robert Manzon
					Jean Behra
					B. Bira
					Maurice Trintignant
Hersham & Walton Motors	HWM	HWM 52	Alta 20. L4	D	Lance Macklin
					Peter Collins
					George Abecassis
					Stirling Moss
					Roger Laurent
					Yves Giraud-Cabantous
					Duncan Hamilton
					Johnny Claes
					Dries van der Lof
		HWM 51/52			Paul Frere
Escuderia Bandeirantes	Maserati	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati 2.0 L6	P	Philippe Etancelin
					Gino Bianco
					Eitel Cantoni
					Chico Landi
					Jan Flinterman
Ecurie Espadon	Ferrari	Ferrari 500	Ferrari 2.0 L4	P	Rudi Fischer
		Ferrari 212	Ferrari 2.0 V12		Rudi Fischer
					Peter Hirt
					Rudolf Schoeller
Ecurie Richmond	Cooper	Cooper T20	Bristol 2.0 L6	D	Alan Brown
Ecurie Richmond	Cooper	Cooper T20	Bristol 2.0 L6	D	Eric Brandon
Connaught Engineering	Connaught	Connaught Type A	Lea Francis 2.0 L4	D	Kenneth McAlpine
					Dennis Poore
					Ken Downing
					Eric Thompson
					Stirling Moss
Enrico Plate	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48 Plate	Maserati PLate 2.0 L4	P	Toulo de Graffenried
Enrico Plate	Maserati	Maserati 4CLT/48 Plate	Maserati PLate 2.0 L4	P	Harry Schell
LD Hawthorn	Cooper	Cooper T20	Bristol 2.0 L6	D	Mike Hawthorn
Equipe Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini	Simca-Gordini 15	Gordini 1.5 L4	E	B. Bira
		Simca-Gordini 15	Gordini 1.5 L4		Maurice Trintignant
		Simca-Gordini 16S	Gordini 2.0 L6		Johnny Claes

1952 Drivers Championship final standings

Pos.	Driver	SUI	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	NED	ITA	Pts.
1	Alberto Ascari		Ret	1*	1*	1*	1*	1*	1**	36 (53.5)
2	Nino Farina	Ret / Ret†		2	2	6	2	2	4	24 (27)
3	Piero Taruffi	1*		Ret	3	2	4		7	22
4	Rudi Fischer	2			11†	13	3		Ret	10
5	Mike Hawthorn			4	Ret	3		4	Ret	10
6	Robert Manzon	Ret		3	4	Ret	Ret	5	14	9
7	Troy Ruttman		1							8
8	Luigi Villoresi							3	3	8
9	José Froilán González								2**	6.5
10	Jim Rathmann		2							6
11	Jean Behra	3		Ret	7		5	Ret	Ret	6
12	Sam Hanks		3							4
13	Ken Wharton	4		Ret				Ret	9	3
14	Dennis Poore					4			12	3
15	Duane Carter		4							3
16	Alan Brown	5		6		22			15	2
17	Maurice Trintignant				5	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	2
18	Paul Frère			5			Ret	Ret		2
19	Felice Bonetto						Ret		5	2
20	Art Cross		5							2
21	Eric Thompson					5				2
22	Bill Vukovich		17*							1
23	Roger Laurent			12			6			0
24	Toulo de Graffenried	6			Ret†	19			DNQ	0
25	Peter Collins	Ret		Ret	6	Ret			DNQ	0
26	André Simon	Ret†							6	0
27	Jimmy Bryan		6							0
28	Peter Hirt	7			11†					0
29	Charles de Tornaco			7				Ret	DNQ	0
30	Duncan Hamilton					Ret		7		0
31	Jimmy Reece		7							0
32	Reg Parnell					7				0
33	Fritz Riess						7			0
34	Lance Macklin	WD		11	9	15		8	DNQ	0
35	Eric Brandon	8		9		20			13	0
36	Chico Landi							9†	8	0
37	Johnny Claes			8	Ret	14	10		DNQ	0
38	Toni Ulmen	Ret					8			0
39	George Connor		8							0
40	Philippe Etancelin				8					0
41	Roy Salvadori					8				0
42	Ken Downing					9		Ret		0
43	Cliff Griffith		9							0
44	Helmut Niedermayr						9			0
45	Jan Flinterman							9†		0
46	Prince Bira	Ret		10	Ret	11				0
47	Louis Rosier	Ret		Ret	Ret				10	0
48	Peter Whitehead				Ret	10			DNQ	0
49	Johnnie Parsons		10							0
50	Yves Giraud Cabantous				10					0
51	Eitel Cantoni					Ret	Ret		11	0
52	Jack McGrath		11							0
53	Hans Klenk						11			0
54	Jim Rigsby		12							0
55	Franco Comotti				12					0
56	Graham Whitehead					12				0
57	Ernst Klodwig						12			0
58	Joe James		13							0
59	Bill Schindler		14							0
60	Robert O'Brien			14						0
61	Tony Gaze			15		Ret	Ret		DNQ	0
62	George Fonder		15							0
63	Kenneth McAlpine					16			Ret	0
64	Eddie Johnson		16							0
65	Harry Schell	Ret			Ret†	17				0
66	Gino Bianco					18	Ret	Ret	Ret	0
67	Chuck Stevenson		18							0
68	Henry Banks		19							0
69	Manny Ayulo		20							0
70	Johnny McDowell		21							0
71	Tony Crook					21				0
—	Stirling Moss	WD		Ret		Ret		Ret	Ret	0
—	Piero Carini				Ret		Ret			0
—	Bill Aston					DNS	Ret		DNQ	0
—	Hans Stuck	Ret							DNQ	0
—	George Abecassis	Ret								0
—	Max de Terra	Ret								0
—	Spider Webb		Ret							0
—	Rodger Ward		Ret							0
—	Tony Bettenhausen		Ret							0
—	Duke Nalon		Ret							0
—	Fred Agabashian		Ret							0
—	Bob Sweikert		Ret							0
—	Gene Hartley		Ret							0
—	Bob Scott		Ret							0
—	Chet Miller		Ret							0
—	Bobby Ball		Ret							0
—	Andy Linden		Ret							0
—	Robin Montgomerie-Charrington			Ret						0
—	David Murray					Ret				0
—	Willi Heeks						Ret			0
—	Adolf Brudes						Ret			0
—	Marcel Balsa						Ret			0
—	Bernd Nacke						Ret			0
—	Rudolf Krause						Ret			0
—	Rudolf Schoeller						Ret			0
—	Paul Pietsch						Ret			0
—	Theo Helfrich						Ret			0
—	Josef Peters						Ret			0
—	Dries van der Lof							Ret		0
—	Franco Rol								Ret	0
—	Elie Bayol								Ret	0
—	Alberto Crespo								DNQ	0
—	Piero Dusio								DNQ	0
Pos.	Driver	SUI	500	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	NED	ITA	Pts.

Key
Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Other points position
Blue	Other classified position
Blue	Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple	Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
White	Race cancelled (C)
Light blue	Practiced only (PO)
Light blue	Thursday/Friday test driver (TD) (from 2003 onwards)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Excluded (EX)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Withdrawn (WD)
Text formatting	Meaning
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Fastest lap
^Superscript	Sprint race result
Abbreviation	Meaning
WDC	World Drivers' Championship position
WCC	World Constructors' Championship position
NC	Not classified

* Fastest lap (1 point awarded)
** Multiple drivers set equal fastest lap times, thus sharing the 1 point.
† Position shared between more drivers of the same car
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 Grand Prix races, which did not count towards the World Championship, also held in 1952.

Race Name	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Constructor	Report
XI Grande Prémio da Cidade de Rio de Janeiro	Gávea	January 20	José Froilán González	Ferrari	Report
II Gran Premio di Siracusa	Syracuse	March 16	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Report
VI Gran Premio del Valentino	Valentino Park	April 6	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	Report
IV Richmond Trophy	Goodwood	April 14	José Froilán González	Ferrari	Report
IV Lavant Cup	Goodwood	April 14	Mike Hawthorn	Cooper-Bristol	Report
XIII Grand Prix de Pau	Pau	April 14	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Report
I Ibsley Grand Prix	Ringwood	April 19	Mike Hawthorn	Cooper-Bristol	Report
X Grand Prix de Marseille	Marseille	April 27	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Report
IV BRDC International Trophy	Silverstone	May 10	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	Report
XIV Eläintarhanajot	Eläintarharata	May 11	Roger Laurent	Talbot-Lago	Report
V Gran Premio di Napoli	Posillipo	May 11	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	Report
XVI Internationales ADAC Eifelrennen	Nürburgring	May 25	Rudi Fischer	Ferrari	Report
VI Grand Prix de Paris	Montlhéry	May 25	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	Report
XIV Grand Prix de l'Albigeois	Albi	June 1	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	Report
XXII Grand Prix des Frontières	Chimay	June 1	Paul Frère	HWM-Alta	Report
VI Ulster Trophy	Dundrod	June 7	Piero Taruffi	Ferrari	Report
V Gran Premio dell'Autodromo di Monza	Monza	June 8	Giuseppe Farina	Ferrari	Report
IV Aix les Bains Circuit du Lac	Aix-les-Bains	June 8	Jean Behra	Gordini	Report
I West Essex CC Race	Boreham	June 21	Reg Parnell	Cooper-Bristol	Report
XX Grand Prix de la Marne	Reims	June 29	Jean Behra	Gordini	Report
II Grand Prix de Sables d'Olonne	Sables	July 13	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	Report
I Grand Prix de Caen	Caen	July 27	Maurice Trintignant	Gordini	Report
II Daily Mail Trophy	Boreham	August 2	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	Report
XVI Grand Prix de Comminges	Comminges	August 10	André Simon	Ferrari	Report
I National Trophy	Turnberry	August 23	Mike Hawthorn	Connaught	Report
XI Grand Prix de la Baule	La Baule	August 24	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Report
III Gran Premio di Modena	Modena	September 14	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	Report
IV Circuit de Cadours	Cadours	September 14	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	Report
V Madgwick Cup	Goodwood	September 27	Ken Downing	Connaught	Report
VIII Internationales Avusrennen	AVUS	September 28	Rudi Fischer	Ferrari	Report
Joe Fry Memorial Trophy	Castle Combe	October 4	Roy Salvadori	Ferrari	Report
I Newcastle Journal Trophy	Charterhall	October 11	Dennis Poore	Connaught	Report
XII Grande Prémio da Cidade de Rio de Janeiro	Gávea	December 14	Henrique Casini	Ferrari	Report