1953 Swiss Grand Prix

1953 Swiss Grand Prix
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Circuit Bremgarten track layout
Race details
Date	23 August 1953
Official name	XIII Großer Preis der Schweiz
Location	Bremgarten, Bern, Switzerland
Course	Temporary street/road circuit
Course length	7.280 km (4.524 miles)
Distance	65 laps, 473.200 km (294.033 miles)
Weather	Sunny, mild, dry
Pole position
Driver	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati
Time	2:40:1
Fastest lap
Driver	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Time	2:41.3 on lap 50
Podium
First	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari
Second	Nino Farina	Ferrari
Third	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1953 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 23 August 1953 at Bremgarten Circuit. It was race 8 of 9 in the 1953 World Championship of Drivers, which was run to Formula Two rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the Formula One regulations normally used. World Champion Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari won the race, the last race win and finish of his career.

The race marked the brief return of Grand Prix-era legend Hermann Lang. He was given a chance to participate in Formula 1 racing driving for Officine Alfieri Maserati after one of their team drivers was injured. He raced in two World Drivers' Championship events overall—one in 1953 and one in 1954—and his result here, a fifth-place finish, was his best result.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	32	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	2:40.1	—
2	46	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	2:40.7	+ 0.6
3	24	Nino Farina	Ferrari	2:42.6	+ 2.5
4	8	Maurice Trintignant	Gordini	2:43.8	+ 3.7
5	36	Onofre Marimón	Maserati	2:44.5	+ 4.4
6	28	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	2:44.6	+ 4.5
7	26	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	2:48.1	+ 8.0
8	42	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	2:49.9	+ 9.8
9	20	Ken Wharton	Cooper-Bristol	2:51.5	+ 11.4
10	30	Felice Bonetto	Maserati	2:52.0	+ 11.9
11	34	Hermann Lang	Maserati	2:54.8	+ 14.7
12	6	Jean Behra	Gordini	2:55.0	+ 14.9
13	2	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	2:55.1	+ 15.0
14	10	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	2:55.4	+ 15.3
15	16	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	2:57.1	+ 17.0
16	14	Paul Frère	HWM-Alta	2:57.9	+ 17.8
17	38	Peter Hirt	Ferrari	3:01.5	+ 21.4
18	18	Albert Scherrer	HWM-Alta	3:07.4	+ 27.3
19	40	Max de Terra	Ferrari	3:21.1	+ 41.0
20	4	Chico Landi	Maserati	3:29.1	+ 49.0
21	12	Louis Chiron	OSCA	No time	—
22	22	Élie Bayol	OSCA	No time	—
23	44	Fred Wacker	Gordini	No time	—
Source:

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	46	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	65	3:01:34.40	2	9
2	24	Nino Farina	Ferrari	65	+ 1:12.93	3	6
3	26	Mike Hawthorn	Ferrari	65	+ 1:35.96	7	4
4	32	Juan Manuel Fangio Felice Bonetto	Maserati	64	+ 1 Lap	1	1.5 1.5
5	34	Hermann Lang	Maserati	62	+ 3 Laps	11	2
6	28	Luigi Villoresi	Ferrari	62	+ 3 Laps	6
7	20	Ken Wharton	Cooper-Bristol	62	+ 3 Laps	9
8	40	Max de Terra	Ferrari	51	+ 14 Laps	19
9	18	Albert Scherrer	HWM-Alta	49	+ 16 Laps	18
Ret	4	Chico Landi	Maserati	54	Gearbox	20
Ret	42	Toulo de Graffenried	Maserati	49	Transmission	8
Ret	36	Onofre Marimón	Maserati	46	Engine	5
Ret	8	Maurice Trintignant	Gordini	43	Axle	4
Ret	6	Jean Behra	Gordini	37	Oil Pressure	12
Ret	30	Felice Bonetto Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	29	Engine	10
Ret	16	Lance Macklin	HWM-Alta	29	Engine	15
Ret	38	Peter Hirt	Ferrari	17	Engine	17
Ret	14	Paul Frère	HWM-Alta	1	Engine	16
Ret	2	Jacques Swaters	Ferrari	0	Spun Off	13
Ret	10	Louis Rosier	Ferrari	0	Spun Off	14
DNS	12	Louis Chiron	OSCA	0	Did not start
DNS	22	Élie Bayol	OSCA	0	Did not start
DNS	44	Fred Wacker	Gordini	0	Did not start
Source:

Notes

• ^1 – Includes 1 point for fastest lap

Shared drives

• (Fangio and Bonetto switched cars)
  • Car #32: Fangio (12 laps) then Bonetto (52 laps). They shared the points for 4th place.
  • Car #30: Bonetto (12 laps) then Fangio (17 laps)

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Alberto Ascari	34.5 (46.5)
	2	Nino Farina	24 (26)
	3	Juan Manuel Fangio	20.5
	4	Mike Hawthorn	19 (24)
	5	José Froilán González	13.5 (14.5)
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included. Only the best 4 results counted towards the Championship. Numbers without parentheses are Championship points; numbers in parentheses are total points scored.