| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 5 of 9 in the 1953 Formula One season | ||
 Reims-Gueux layout | ||
| Date | 5 July 1953 | |
| Official name | XL Grand Prix de l'ACF | |
| Location | Reims Circuit, Reims, France | |
| Course | Temporary road course 8.347 km (5.187 mi) | |
| Distance | 60 laps, 500.820 km (311.195 mi) | |
| Weather | Hot, dry | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Alberto Ascari
|
Ferrari |
| Time | 2:41.2 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver |  Juan Manuel Fangio
|
Maserati |
| Time | 2:41.0 on lap 25 | |
| Podium | ||
| First |  Mike Hawthorn
|
Ferrari |
| Second | Juan Manuel Fangio
|
Maserati |
| Third | José Froilán González
|
Maserati |
The 1953 French Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 5 July 1953 at Reims. It was the fifth 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.
Not only had the Reims circuit's layout changed, the name was different – both in regards to the same thing. The new, faster and slightly longer circuit bypassed the town of Gueux and as a result, the circuit was now called "Reims".
It is popularly known as the race of the century because of the sixty lap battle between Briton Mike Hawthorn and Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.[1][2] Hawthorn won the duel after they reportedly swapped the lead at virtually every corner on the Reims circuit. In addition, after 500 km of racing, the four lead cars were less than 5 seconds apart.
Classification[]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Mike Hawthorn
|
Ferrari | 60 | 2:44:18.6 | 7 | 8 |
| 2 | 18 | Juan Manuel Fangio
|
Maserati | 60 | + 1.0 | 4 | 7 |
| 3 | 20 | José Froilán González
|
Maserati | 60 | + 1.4 | 5 | 4 |
| 4 | 10 | Alberto Ascari
|
Ferrari | 60 | + 4.6 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | 14 | Nino Farina
|
Ferrari | 60 | + 1:07.6 | 6 | 2 |
| 6 | 12 | Luigi Villoresi
|
Ferrari | 60 | + 1:15.9 | 3 | |
| 7 | 46 |  Toulo de Graffenried
|
Maserati | 58 | + 2 Laps | 9 | |
| 8 | 44 |  Louis Rosier
|
Ferrari | 56 | + 4 Laps | 10 | |
| 9 | 22 | Onofre Marimón
|
Maserati | 55 | + 5 Laps | 8 | |
| 10 | 2 | Jean Behra
|
Gordini | 55 | + 5 Laps | 22 | |
| 11 | 38 | Bob Gerard
|
Cooper-Bristol | 55 | + 5 Laps | 12 | |
| 12 | 48 |  Johnny Claes
|
Connaught-Lea-Francis | 53 | + 7 Laps | 21 | |
| 13 | 28 | Peter Collins
|
HWM-Alta | 52 | + 8 Laps | 17 | |
| 14 | 30 | Yves Giraud Cabantous
|
HWM-Alta | 50 | + 10 Laps | 18 | |
| 15 | 32 |  Louis Chiron
|
Osca | 43 | + 17 Laps | 25 | |
| Ret | 24 | Felice Bonetto
|
Maserati | 42 | Engine | 2 | |
| Ret | 36 | Stirling Moss
|
Cooper-Alta | 38 | Clutch | 13 | |
| Ret | 42 |  Prince Bira
|
Connaught-Lea-Francis | 29 | Differential | 11 | |
| Ret | 34 | Élie Bayol
|
Osca | 18 | Engine | 15 | |
| Ret | 40 | Ken Wharton
|
Cooper-Bristol | 17 | Wheel bearing | 14 | |
| Ret | 4 | Maurice Trintignant
|
Gordini | 14 | Transmission | 23 | |
| Ret | 26 | Lance Macklin
|
HWM-Alta | 9 | Clutch | 16 | |
| Ret | 6 |  Harry Schell
|
Gordini | 4 | engine | 20 | |
| Ret | 8 | Roberto Mieres
|
Gordini | 4 | Axle | 24 | |
| Ret | 50 | Roy Salvadori
|
Connaught-Lea-Francis | 2 | Ignition | 19 |
Drivers' Championship standings after the race[]
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alberto Ascari
|
28 |
| 2 | Mike Hawthorn
|
14 |
| 3 | Luigi Villoresi
|
13 |
| 4 | José Froilán González
|
11 |
| 5 | Bill Vukovich
|
9 |
- Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References[]
- ↑ "French GP 1953". sportscars.tv. http://www.sportscars.tv/Newfiles/frenchgp53.html. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
- ↑ Mathieu, Christian. ""The Grand Prix of the century" : Reims 1953". flyandrive.com. http://www.flyandrive.com/story6.htm. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
External links[]
| Previous race: 1953 Belgian Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1953 season |
Next race: 1953 British Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1952 French Grand Prix |
French Grand Prix | Next race: 1954 French Grand Prix |
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This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1953 French Grand Prix. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |