# 1953 Argentine Grand Prix

The 1953 Argentine Grand Prix was race 1 of 9 in the 1953 World Championship of Drivers, which was run to Formula Two regulations in 1952 and 1953. The race was held in Buenos Aires on 18 January 1953, at the Autódromo Gálvez (official name: Autódromo Juan y Óscar Gálvez, also known as the Autódromo 17 de Octubre) and was the first World Drivers' Championship race in South America.

## Race report

The inaugural Argentine Grand Prix, held in mid-January, was attended by four of the major works teams: Maserati, Ferrari, Cooper, and Gordini. Former World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio, who had not competed in the Championship since clinching the 1951 title in Spain, raced for Maserati alongside fellow Argentines José Froilán González and Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, and Italian driver Felice Bonetto. Ferrari lined up with the familiar trio of reigning World Champion Alberto Ascari, Nino Farina, and Luigi Villoresi, as well as their new signing Mike Hawthorn, who had driven a privateer Cooper the previous year. The Cooper team entered the British pair of Alan Brown and John Barber alongside the local driver Adolfo Schwelm Cruz. Gordini retained their 1952 trio of Robert Manzon, Maurice Trintignant, and Jean Behra, who were joined by a pair of Argentines—Carlos Menditeguy and Pablo Birger—the latter of which drove a Simca-Gordini.
Ascari was once again the fastest qualifier, taking his fourth consecutive World Championship pole position. His teammates Villoresi and Farina lined up third and fourth, but the returning Fangio prevented a Ferrari front row lockout by qualifying second in his Maserati. González, in the second Maserati, started from row two alongside Hawthorn, making his first appearance for Ferrari, and the Gordini of Trintignant. The remaining Gordinis of Manzon, Menditeguy, and Behra made up the third row with Gálvez in his Maserati. Row four consisted of the Coopers of Brown and Schwelm Cruz, and Birger in the sole Simca-Gordini. At the back of the grid were the Maserati of Bonetto and Barber in the final Cooper.
Due to President Juan Perón's decision to allow free access to the circuit, there were an excessive number of spectators and they lined the track as the race began. One of the spectators wandered onto the track, and, in order to avoid hitting him, Nino Farina was forced to swerve. Farina ultimately lost control of his car and crashed into the crowd on lap 31, killing 13 spectators. In the resulting mass panic, a boy ran in front of Brown's Cooper and was killed.
Ascari, who started from pole, led the entirety of the race, taking his seventh consecutive World Championship race victory, and, in so doing, established an early lead in the Drivers' Championship. Fangio was in second until a transmission issue forced him to retire from the race. Manzon initially inherited the position, but Villoresi ultimately took second place, a lap behind his teammate. Hawthorn had been running in third, although he was eventually overtaken by González, preventing a Ferrari 1-2-3. Hawthorn finished fourth, ahead of Gálvez, who took the final points in his first and only World Championship race.

## Entries

| No | Driver | Entrant | Constructor | Chassis | Engine | Tyre |
| 2 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Officine Alfieri Maserati | Maserati | Maserati A6GCM-53 | Maserati A6G 2.0 L6 | P |
| 4 | José Froilán González | Officine Alfieri Maserati | Maserati | Maserati A6GCM-53 | Maserati A6G 2.0 L6 | P |
| 6 | Felice Bonetto | Officine Alfieri Maserati | Maserati | Maserati A6GCM-53 | Maserati A6G 2.0 L6 | P |
| 8 | Oscar Alfredo Gálvez | Officine Alfieri Maserati | Maserati | Maserati A6GCM-53 | Maserati A6G 2.0 L6 | P |
| 10 | Alberto Ascari | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | Ferrari 500 | Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 | P |
| 12 | Nino Farina | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | Ferrari 500 | Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 | P |
| 14 | Luigi Villoresi | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | Ferrari 500 | Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 | P |
| 16 | Mike Hawthorn | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari | Ferrari 500 | Ferrari Type 500 2.0 L4 | P |
| 20 | Alan Brown | Cooper Car Co. | Cooper-Bristol | Cooper T20 | Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 | D |
| 22 | John Barber | Cooper Car Co. | Cooper-Bristol | Cooper T23 | Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 | D |
| 24 | Adolfo Schwelm Cruz | Cooper Car Co. | Cooper-Bristol | Cooper T20 | Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 | D |
| 26 | Robert Manzon | Equipe Gordini | Gordini | Gordini T16 | Gordini 20 2.0 L6 | E |
| 28 | Maurice Trintignant | Equipe Gordini | Gordini | Gordini T16 | Gordini 20 2.0 L6 | E |
| 30 | Jean Behra | Equipe Gordini | Gordini | Gordini T16 | Gordini 20 2.0 L6 | E |
| 32 | Carlos Menditeguy | Equipe Gordini | Gordini | Gordini T16 | Gordini 20 2.0 L6 | E |
| 34 | Pablo Birger | Equipe Gordini | Simca-Gordini | Simca-Gordini T15 | Gordini 1500 1.5 L4 | E |
| Sources: |||||||
    ^1 — Maurice Trintignant qualified and drove 50 laps of the race in the #28 Gordini. Harry Schell took over the car for the remainder of the race.

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Time | Gap |
| 1 | 10 | Alberto Ascari | Ferrari | 1:55.4 | — |
| 2 | 2 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Maserati | 1:56.1 | +0.7 |
| 3 | 14 | Luigi Villoresi | Ferrari | 1:56.5 | +1.1 |
| 4 | 12 | Nino Farina | Ferrari | 1:57.1 | +1.7 |
| 5 | 4 | José Froilán González | Maserati | 1:58.5 | +3.1 |
| 6 | 16 | Mike Hawthorn | Ferrari | 1:59.4 | +4.0 |
| 7 | 28 | Maurice Trintignant | Gordini | 2:00.4 | +5.0 |
| 8 | 26 | Robert Manzon | Gordini | 2:00.9 | +5.5 |
| 9 | 8 | Oscar Alfredo Gálvez | Maserati | 2:01.3 | +5.9 |
| 10 | 32 | Carlos Menditeguy | Gordini | 2:01.8 | +6.4 |
| 11 | 30 | Jean Behra | Gordini | 2:02.6 | +7.2 |
| 12 | 20 | Alan Brown | Cooper-Bristol | 2:03.2 | +7.8 |
| 13 | 24 | Adolfo Schwelm Cruz | Cooper-Bristol | 2:03.7 | +8.3 |
| 14 | 34 | Pablo Birger | Simca-Gordini-Gordini | 2:03.8 | +8.4 |
| 15 | 6 | Felice Bonetto | Maserati | 2:04.2 | +8.8 |
| 16 | 22 | John Barber | Cooper-Bristol | 2:06.8 | +11.4 |
| Source: ||||||

### Race

| 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 | Oscar 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 Schwelm Cruz | Cooper-Bristol | 20 | Wheel | 13 | |
| Source: ||||||||

#### Notes

* ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

## Shared drives

* Car #28: Maurice Trintignant (50 laps) and Harry Schell (41 laps).

## Championship standings after the race
### Drivers' Championship standings

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