These pages are dedicated to those drivers who reached the pinnacle of Grand Prix Racing, by winning the World Championship of Drivers for Formula One. We start in the year of 1950. The year in which the World Championship of Drivers was introduced into the modern era of Grand Prix Racing post World War Two.
Giuseppe Farina(I)
B:10/30/1906
D:6/30/1966
Wins: 5
Poles5
Fastest Laps 5
Points 127.33
Starts 33
World Champion 1950 Alfa-Romero
Farina was the first driver to win the World Drivers Championship and also the first driver to win a grand prix in the modern era .
Juan-Manuel Fangio(RA)
B: 6/24/1911
D: 7/ /1995
Wins 24
Poles 28
Fastest Laps 23
Points 277.14
Starts 51
World Champion 1951 Alfa Romero 3 wins
1954 Maserati 2 wins Mercedes 4 wins
1955 Mercedes 4 wins
1956 Lancia Ferrari 3 wins
1957 Maserati 4 wins
Fangio "the Maestro" was justifiably the best driver of the 1950'S. He only drove in 51 races! An amazing record.
Alberto Ascari(I)
B: 7/13/1918
D: 5/26/1955
Wins 13
Poles 14
Fastest Laps 13
Points 140.64
Starts 31
World Champion 1952 Ferrari 6 wins
1953 Ferrari 5 wins
Alberto Ascari was the first driver to win the World Championship in a Ferrari! Ascari was also the hero of future World Champion Mario Andretti. Alberto still holds the record for most consecutive wins with 9 wins from 1952 to 1953 seasons.
Mike Hawthorn(GB)
B: 4/10/1929
D: 1/22/1959
Wins 3
Poles 4
Fastest Laps 6
Points 127.64
Starts 45
World Champion 1958 Ferrari 1 win
Hawthorn was the first British driver to win the World Championship. Mike was well known for always wearing a bow tie while driving.
Jack Brabham(AUS)
B:4/2/1926
Wins 14
Poles 13
Fastest Laps 12
Points 261
Starts 126
World Champion 1959 Cooper/Climax 2.5L
1960 Cooper/Climax 1.5L
1966 Brabham/Repco V8 3L
Sir Jack Brabham was the first man to win in a chassis build by a British designer(John Copper). Brabham was also the first and only man ever to win a World Championship in a car that bared his own name and that he build! Sir Jack is also credited with starting the rear engine revolution at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he took one of John Copper's cars to Indy in 1961. His nickname while driving was "Black Jack" because of his jet black hair!
The 50'S
The 1950'S began the era of post World War Two racing. There had been racing between 1945 & 1949, but the introduction of the World Drivers Championship for Formula One was the beginning of the Modern era for Grand Prix racing.
The Formula use was very similar to what had been develop prior to 1939 when the Second World War broke out in Europe. "The Front Engine Roadster". These monster cars had to be manhandled through the corners with great care. The driving style was much different than today's modern grand prix cars.
We saw the Alfa-Romero's win in 1950 & 1951, with Maserati on their heels. However, it was a former Alfa-Romero Employee named Enzo Ferrari that was to take the crown away in 1952 & 1953 with Alberto Ascari driving.
Mercedes-Benz re-entered Formula One in 1954. The Famed Silver Arrows Team of the 1930's went on to win the Word Championship with the great Juan-Manuel Fangio at the wheel of the famed Silver cars. Sadly Mercedes return to grand prix racing was short lived. In 1955 at the 24 hours of Le Mans, A Mercedes sport car driven by Pierre Levegh crashed into a crowded grand stand and killed 84 spectators. The worst accident ever recorded in motorsports. Mercedes finished the season in Formula One winning it's second straight World Drivers Championship and then withdrew from all major motorsports. Mercedes later return to racing in the 1980'S. They all now involved in Formula One with the McLaren Team where they have won two World Championship with Mika Hakkinen of Finland driving the West/Mercedes/McLaren painted in Silver Arrows Livery. Mercedes is performing the R&D on the engines used by McLaren, but the engines themselves are built by Ilmor, and then rebadged as Mercedes-Benz.
Ferrari went on to win the Championship in 1956 with Fangio, but Fangio jumped ship to race with Maserarti in 1957 and beat the Ferrari's to win his 5th World Championship of the decade. In 1958 Mike Hawthorn won the 4th World Championship for Ferrari in the 1950's. Fangio had retired from racing earlier in the season.
In 1959, John Cooper beat all the Big Italian car manufacturers with Jack Brabham at the wheel of his Cooper chassis powered by a Coventry Climax engine. They went on to another World Championship in 1960.
