The 1953 German Grand Prix was a Formula Two motor racing event held on 2 August 1953 at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It was race 7 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. This race had the highest number of cars on the grid of any World Drivers' Championship race, with 34 starters.
This race was won by Nino Farina in a Ferrari, just over 1 minute ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio. This was Farina's last victory in Formula One.
Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari clinched his second consecutive World Drivers' Championship as neither Mike Hawthorn nor Juan Manuel Fangio won the race and now could not beat his points total with two races left. Ascari became the first back-to-back World Drivers' Champion.
Four East German drivers partook in this race; these four drivers were the only ever drivers to race under an East German licence. This race was the last time any driver competed under an East German licence: Theo Fitzau, Ernst Klodwig and Rudolf Krause would never race in Formula One again, while Edgar Barth would race again under a West German licence.
During his tour of Europe that saw Japan's 19-year old Crown Prince Akihito visit the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, he also attended the German Grand Prix.
Entries +TeamNoDriverCarEngineTyre Scuderia Ferrari1 Alberto AscariFerrari Tipo 500Ferrari 500 2.0 L42 Nino Farina3 Mike Hawthorn4 Luigi Villoresi Officine Alfieri Maserati5 Juan Manuel FangioMaserati A6GCMMaserati A6 2.0 L67 Felice Bonetto8 Onofre Marimón Equipe Gordini9 Jean BehraGordini Type 16Gordini 20 2.0 L610 Maurice Trintignant11 Harry Schell Ecurie Belge12 Johnny ClaesConnaught Type ALea-Francis 2.0 L4 Connaught Engineering14 Prince Bira15 Roy Salvadori16 Kenneth McAlpine Emmanuel de Graffenried17 Toulo de GraffenriedMaserati A6GCMMaserati A6 2.0 L6 Ecurie Francorchamps18 Jacques SwatersFerrari Tipo 500Ferrari 500 2.0 L4 Cooper Car Company19 Stirling MossCooper T24Alta GP 2.5 L4 Ecurie Rosier20 Louis RosierFerrari Tipo 500Ferrari 500 2.0 L4 Hans Stuck21 Hans StuckAFM 6Bristol BS1 2.0 L6 Wolfgang Seidel22 Wolfgang SeidelVeritas RSVeritas 2.0 L6 Willi Heeks23 Willi HeeksVeritas Meteor Theo Helfrich24 Theo HelfrichVeritas RS Oswald Karch26 Oswald Karch Helmut Niedermayr28 Theo FitzauAFM U8BMW 328 2.0 L6 Ernst Loof30 Ernst LoofVeritas MeteorVeritas 2.0 L6 Hans Herrmann31 Hans Herrmann Erwin Bauer32 Erwin BauerVeritas RS Ecurie Espadon34 Kurt AdolffFerrari Tipo 500Ferrari 500 2.0 L4 Rennkollektiv EMW35 Edgar BarthEMW R2EMW 6 2.0 L6 Dora Greifzu36 Rudolf KrauseEigenbauBMW 328 2.0 L6 Ernst Klodwig37 Ernst KlodwigEigenbau Equipe Anglaise38 Alan BrownCooper T23Bristol BS1 2.0 L639 Helm Glöckler Rodney Nuckey40 Rodney Nuckey Günther Bechem41 Günther BechemAFM 50-5BMW 328 2.0 L6
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 1 Alberto Ascari Ferrari 9:59.8 — 2 5 Juan Manuel Fangio Maserati 10:03.7 + 3.9 3 2 Nino Farina Ferrari 10:04.1 + 4.3 4 3 Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 10:12.6 + 12.8 5 10 Maurice Trintignant Gordini 10:21.7 + 21.9 6 4 Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 10:22.8 + 23.0 7 7 Felice Bonetto Maserati 10:40.8 + 41.0 8 8 Onofre Marimón Maserati 10:41.0 + 41.2 9 9 Jean Behra Gordini 10:45.5 + 45.7 10 11 Harry Schell Gordini 10:46.2 + 46.4 11 17 Toulo de Graffenried Maserati 10:46.6 + 46.8 12 19 Stirling Moss Cooper-Alta 10:48.3 + 48.5 13 15 Roy Salvadori Connaught-Lea-Francis 10:57.5 + 57.7 14 31 Hans Herrmann Veritas 10:59.8 + 1:00.0 15 14 Prince Bira Connaught-Lea-Francis 11:02.1 + 1:02.3 16 16 Kenneth McAlpine Connaught-Lea-Francis 11:07.3 + 1:07.5 17 38 Alan Brown Cooper-Bristol 11:08.7 + 1:08.9 18 23 Willi Heeks Veritas 11:18.0 + 1:18.2 19 18 Jacques Swaters Ferrari 11:18.9 + 1:19.1 20 40 Rodney Nuckey Cooper-Bristol 11:22.1 + 1:22.3 21 28 Theo Fitzau AFM-BMW 11:23.4 + 1:23.6 22 20 Louis Rosier Ferrari 11:27.4 + 1:27.6 23 21 Hans Stuck AFM-Bristol 11:37.2 + 1:37.4 24 35 Edgar Barth EMW 11:40.8 + 1:41.0 25 12 Johnny Claes Connaught-Lea-Francis 11:45.5 + 1:45.7 26 36 Rudolf Krause Greifzu-BMW 11:49.5 + 1:49.7 27 34 Kurt Adolff Ferrari 11:53.1 + 1:53.3 28 24 Theo Helfrich Veritas 11:56.3 + 1:56.5 29 22 Wolfgang Seidel Veritas 11:59.3 + 1:59.5 30 41 Günther Bechem AFM-BMW 12:13.3 + 2:13.5 31 30 Ernst Loof Veritas 12:16.8 + 2:17.0 32 37 Ernst Klodwig Heck-BMW 12:24.6 + 2:24.8 33 32 Erwin Bauer Veritas No time — 34 26 Oswald Karch Veritas No time — 35 39 Helm Glöckler Cooper-Bristol No time —
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Nino Farina Ferrari 18 3:02:25.0 3 8 2 5 Juan Manuel Fangio Maserati 18 + 1:04.0 2 6 3 3 Mike Hawthorn Ferrari 18 + 1:43.6 4 4 4 7 Felice Bonetto Maserati 18 + 8:48.6 7 3 5 17 Toulo de Graffenried Maserati 17 + 1 Lap 11 2 6 19 Stirling Moss Cooper-Alta 17 + 1 Lap 12 7 18 Jacques Swaters Ferrari 17 + 1 Lap 19 8 1 Alberto Ascari Luigi Villoresi Ferrari 17 + 1 Lap 1 9 31 Hans Herrmann Veritas 17 + 1 Lap 14 10 20 Louis Rosier Ferrari 17 + 1 Lap 22 11 40 Rodney Nuckey Cooper-Bristol 16 + 2 Laps 20 12 24 Theo Helfrich Veritas 16 + 2 Laps 28 13 16 Kenneth McAlpine Connaught-Lea-Francis 16 + 2 Laps 16 14 36 Rudolf Krause Greifzu-BMW 16 + 2 Laps 26 15 37 Ernst Klodwig Heck-BMW 15 + 3 Laps 32 16 22 Wolfgang Seidel Veritas 14 + 4 Laps 29 4 Luigi Villoresi Alberto Ascari Ferrari 15 Engine 6 1 38 Alan Brown Cooper-Bristol 15 Engine 17 8 Onofre Marimón Maserati 13 Suspension 8 35 Edgar Barth EMW 12 Exhaust 24 12 Johnny Claes Connaught-Lea-Francis 12 Engine 25 26 Oswald Karch Veritas 10 Engine 34 23 Willi Heeks Veritas 8 Transmission 18 9 Jean Behra Gordini 7 Gearbox 9 11 Harry Schell Gordini 6 Engine 10 14 Prince Bira Connaught-Lea-Francis 6 Suspension 15 28 Theo Fitzau AFM-BMW 3 Engine 21 34 Kurt Adolff Ferrari 3 Transmission 27 41 Günther Bechem AFM-BMW 2 Engine 30 10 Maurice Trintignant Gordini 1 Differential 5 15 Roy Salvadori Connaught-Lea-Francis 1 Engine 13 32 Erwin Bauer Veritas 1 Engine 33 21 Hans Stuck AFM-Bristol 0 Engine 23 30 Ernst Loof Veritas 0 Fuel Pump 31 39 Helm Glöckler Cooper-Bristol 0 Engine Notes – 1 point for fastest lap
Shared drives : (Ascari and Villoresi switched cars) Car #1: Ascari (9 laps) then Villoresi (8 laps) Car #4: Villoresi (10 laps) then Ascari (5 laps)
Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Alberto Ascari 33.5 (37.5) 4 2 Nino Farina 20 2 3 Juan Manuel Fangio 19 2 4 Mike Hawthorn 18 (20) 2 5 José Froilán González 13.5 (14.5)Source:
References