1953 World Championship of Drivers

The 1953 Formula One season was the seventh season of the FIA's Formula One racing. It consisted only of a number of non-championship motor races. As in 1952, the FIA chose to limit all Grand Prix races counting towards the World Championship of Drivers to cars complying with Formula Two regulations rather than with Formula One.

The 4th FIA World Championship of Drivers, which commenced on 18 January and ended on 13 September after nine races, was won by Alberto Ascari, driving for a Scuderia Ferrari. Ascari became the first driver to successfully defend his title.

In addition to the non-championship Formula One races and the World Championship Formula Two races, numerous other non-championship Formula Two races were also held during the year.

Ferrari drivers again dominated the championship, taking seven of the eight grands prix, although Juan Manuel Fangio's challenge in his more fragile Maserati took him to second place in the championship and a win at Monza. Ascari extended his unbeaten run to nine consecutive World Championship grand prix wins before his teammate Mike Hawthorn broke the sequence in becoming the first ever British winner in the French Grand Prix at Reims after a thrilling battle with Fangio.

In 1953, all but one of the races counting towards the World Championship of Drivers were run under Formula 2 regulations, while the remaining one, the Indianapolis 500, was run under AAA Championship Car regulations. The 1953 championship was the first truly global World Championship of Drivers, with a championship event being stage outside of Europe or the United States for the first time. That race, the 1953 Argentine Grand Prix, was marred by an accident involving the Ferrari of Giuseppe Farina, which crashed into an unprotected crowd, killing nine spectators.

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