1952 F1 World Championship

The 1952 F1 season was distinctly different from the previous two seasons, with fewer official Formula 1 races and a twist to the regulations of those races.

The reduced official races resulted from the FIA’s decision to conduct all Grand Prix events pivotal to the World Championship of Drivers under Formula 2 regulations, as opposed to the traditional Formula 1 regulations. The iconic Indianapolis 500, a race that also contributed to the World Championship standings, maintained its consistency by following AAA regulations, as in the previous two seasons.

Season

The 3rd FIA World Championship of Drivers featured eight races from 18 May to 7 September, with Alberto Ascari, driving for Scuderia Ferrari, emerging as the Drivers’ Champion. The season also saw a significant safety milestone as racing helmets were made compulsory for all drivers. 1952 also witnessed many other Formula 2 races in addition to the official Formula 1 and World Championship Formula 2 races. However, these didn’t contribute any points to the championship standings.

Alfa Romeo, grappling with financial issues, stepped away from racing. At the same time, BRM had developed two V16-powered cars with plans to debut them in the season. However, they pulled these cars from the April race at Valentino Park in Turin. The team had ambitions of having Juan Manuel Fangio join Stirling Moss as a teammate, but this plan didn’t materialise. Consequently, Ferrari’s cars stood unrivalled. This situation prompted the FIA to shift their races to cater to Formula Two, featuring 2-litre naturally aspirated engines. While this change made for a varied grid, Ferrari claimed every victory.

Ascari dominated the six Grand Prix he participated in. He skipped the Swiss Grand Prix to make his mark at the Indianapolis 500 qualifiers, becoming the first European to do so during the World Championship period.

Maserati and Gordini posed minimal competition. Yet, Mike Hawthorn’s impressive performances in his Cooper led to his signing with Ferrari’s main team in 1953. The current World Champion of 1951, Fangio, was sidelined due to severe injuries from a crash at Monza early in the season. He didn’t compete in the championship but later drove with BRM in non-championship races.

1952 F1 Entries drivers and teams

Team	Driver	Race entries	Wins	Podiums	Poles	FastesLaps
AFM	Hans Stuck	2
	Helmut Niedermayr	1
	Ludwig Fischer	1
	Willi Heeks	1
	Willi Krakau	1
Alta	Graham Whitehead	1
	Peter Whitehead	3
Aston	Robin Montgomerie-Charrington	1
Aston Martin	Bill Aston	3
BMW	Ernst Klodwig	1
	Harry Merkel	1
	Karl-Gunther Bechem	1
	Marcel Balsa	1
	Rudolf Krause	1
Bromme	Spider Webb	1
Cisitalia D46	Piero Dusio	1
Connaught	Dennis Poore	2
	Eric Thompson	1
	Ken Downing	2
	Kenneth McAlpine	2
Cooper	Alan Brown	4
	David Murray	1
	Eric Brandon	4
	Mike Hawthorn	5		1
	Reg Parnell	1
Deidt	Tony Bettenhausen Sr.	1
Enrico Plate	Alberto Crespo	1
Escuderia Bandeirantes	Jan Flinterman	2
Ferrari	Alberto Ascari	7	6	6	5	6
	Andre Simon	2
	Charles de Tornaco	3
	Gianfranco Comotti	1
	Giuseppe Farina	8		4	2
	Louis Rosier	4
	Luigi Villoresi	2		2
	Maurice Trintignant	6
	Peter Hirt	3
	Piero Carini	2
	Piero Taruffi	6	1	3		1
	Roy Salvadori	1
	Rudi Fischer	5		2
	Rudolf Schoeller	1
Frazer	Ken Wharton	4
	Tony Crook	1
Gordini	Birabongse Bhanudej	4
	Jean Behra	6		1
	Johnny Claes	5
	Robert Manzon	7		1
HWM	Dries van der Lof	1
	Duncan Hamilton	2
	George Abecassis	1
	Lance Macklin	6
	Paul Frere	3
	Peter Collins	6
	Roger Laurent	2
	Stirling Moss	5
	Tony Gaze	4
	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	1
Kurtis	Andy Linden	1
	Art Cross	1
	Bill Vukovich	1				1
	Bob Scott	1
	Bob Sweikert	1
	Chet Miller	1
	Chuck Stevenson	1
	Cliff Griffith	1
	Duke Nalon	1
	Freddie Agabashian	1			1
	Gene Hartley	1
	George Connor	1
	Jack McGrath	1
	Jim Rathmann	1		1
	Jimmy Bryan	1
	Jimmy Reece	1
	Joe James	1
	Johnnie Parsons	1
	Johnny McDowell	1
	Rodger Ward	1
	Sam Hanks	1		1
Kuzma	Troy Ruttman	1	1	1
Lesovsky	Duane Carter	1
	Henry Banks	1
	Manny Ayulo	1
Maserati	Eitel Cantoni	3
	Emmanuel de Graffenried	4
	Felice Bonetto	2
	Francisco Landi	2
	Franco Rol	1
	Gino Bianco	4
	Harry Schell	4
	Jose Froilan Gonzalez	1		1		1
	Philippe Etancelin	1
OSCA	Elie Bayol	1
Robert O’Brien	Robert O’Brien	1
Sherman	George Fonder	1
Simca	Max de Terra	1
Stevens	Bill Schindler	1
	Bobby Ball	1
Trevis	Eddie Johnson	1
Veritas	Adolf Brudes von Breslau	1
	Arthur Legat	1
	Fritz Riess	1
	Hans Klenk	1
	Josef Peters	1
	Paul Pietsch	1
	Theo Helfrich	1
	Toni Ulmen	2
Watson	Jim Rigsby	1

1952 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Date	Grand Prix	Laps	Distance	Country
18 May	Bremgarten	62	7.28	Switzerland
30 May	Indianapolis	200	4.01	Indianapolis
22 Jun	Spa-Francorchamps	36	8.77361111	Belgium
06 Jul	Rouen	77	4.02597402	France
19 Jul	Silverstone	85	4.71047058	Great Britain
03 Aug	Nurburgring	18	22.81	Germany
17 Aug	Zandvoort	90	4.193	Netherlands
07 Sep	Monza	80	6.3	Italy

1952 Formula 1 Standings

Driver standings

In the scoring system of the 1952 Formula One season, drivers were allocated points based on their finishing positions in each Grand Prix. Specifically, the distribution was as follows:

• The race winner received 8 points.
• The second-place finisher was awarded 6 points.
• Third place earned 4 points.
• Fourth place got 3 points.
• The driver finishing fifth was given 2 points.

Furthermore, an additional point was up for grabs for the driver who set the fastest lap during the Grand Prix.

However, there was a notable caveat in the championship calculations: only a driver’s best four race results contributed to their championship total. This meant that even if a driver competed in more races and amassed points, only the points from their top four performances would count towards their championship standing.