1950 F1 Championship Standings
Nino Farina
See all final 1950 F1 results for each race, driver and team. The 1950 Grand Prix season was the inaugural round of the F1 World Championship of Drivers as we know it today.
For the first season of what is now Formula One racing, the calendar was constructed by seven Grands Prix, six in Europe and the Indianapolis 500, which was run with AAA regulations and not the Formula 1 specifications.
The main Formula 1 specifications dictated that supercharged or turbocharged engines could not exceed the 1.5-litre engine displacement, while the naturally aspirated ones could have a 4.5-litre size.
Overview & Report
1950 F1 Championship Overview
| NO | Grand Prix | Date | Winner | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1950 British F1 GP | May 13 |  Nino Farina |  Alfa Romeo | 70 | 02:13:23.600 |
| 2 | 1950 Monaco F1 GP | May 21 |  Juan Manuel Fangio | Alfa Romeo | 100 | 03:13:18.700 |
| 3 | 1950 Indianapolis 500 | May 30 |  Johnnie Parsons | Kurtis Kraft | 138 | 02:46:55.970 |
| 4 | 1950 Swiss F1 GP | June 4 | Nino Farina | Alfa Romeo | 42 | 02:02:53.700 |
| 5 | 1950 Belgian F1 GP | June 18 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Alfa Romeo | 35 | 02:47:26.000 |
| 6 | 1950 French F1 GP | July 2 | Juan Manuel Fangio | Alfa Romeo | 64 | 02:57:52.800 |
| 7 | 1950 Italian F1 GP | September 3 | Nino Farina | Alfa Romeo | 80 | 02:51:17.400 |
1950 F1 Championship Report
The championship was dominated by the Alfa Romeo cars, with Giuseppe ‘Nino’ Farina winning three Grands Prix and Juan Manuel Fangio dominating the other three European rounds. Ultimately, Farina’s fourth place at Belgium was the difference in a closely-fought World Championship. Alfa Romeo’s Luigi Fagioli finished third and was the driver with the most podiums in the season, though he did not win a single event.
Only the four best results of the six races counted for the World Drivers’ Championship and the points-allocation was established with an 8-6-4-3-2 format for the first five finishers and one point for the driver with the Fastest Lap of the race, regardless if that driver finished the race or not.
The Battle of The Alfettas
Farina dominated the first-ever Grand Prix, held at Silverstone. Then, the Italian crashed at Monaco as Fangio reigned supreme and Ferrari made its World Championship debut with a second-place from Alberto Ascari in the 125 F1 with a V12 supercharged engine. The Indy 500 was celebrated on 30 May 1950 without participation from the European drivers and Johnnie Parsons took the win.
Engine woes for Pole-sitter Fangio meant Farina won the 1950 Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten on 4 June 1950. Fangio struck back at Belgium after winning from second on the grid on the 14.120-kilometre Spa-Francorchamps.
Then, the Argentine maestro won again in France. Fangio qualified almost two seconds ahead of everyone at Reims-Gueux and then won with a 25-second gap over Fagioli and three laps ahead of the third-placed Peter Whitehead, driving a Ferrari. Fuel pump failure for Farina meant Fangio led the championship heading to the final showdown at Monza with two points over Fagioli and four over ‘Nino’.
Farina needed a series of results to win the crown at his home country. The Italian driver needed at least third place to have a chance if Fangio had a difficult afternoon. The worst possible result that could’ve given the title to the Italian racer was third place with the Fastest Lap of the race. Fangio was in a good spot since he could’ve earned the championship even without scoring any points.
Championship Climax at Monza
For the race at the 6.300-kilometre Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Fangio qualified on Pole two tenths ahead of Ferrari’s first superstar in the World Championship, Ascari. Farina was third, 1.6 seconds off of Fangio’s lap.
Farina took the lead at the start and lost it briefly on lap 14 to Ascari, who was driving the Ferrari 375 with the new 4.5-litre V12 engine without a supercharger. Fangio, on the other hand, had gearbox issue in his car and borrowed Piero Taruffi’s Alfetta, only to retire again with engine issues.
Farina won comfortably ahead of the Ferrari driven by Dorino Serafini and Ascari. Ascari’s car had reliability issues, but he managed to get a podium place at home for Ferrari after finishing in Serafini’s own 375. It was Serafini’s only Grand Prix and he finished second. In third place was Fagioli in one of the other Alfa Romeos.
‘Nino’ Farina, the “Gentleman of Turin”, became the first World Drivers’ Champion in history and 70 years later, he is still the only driver to seal the Formula 1 championship in his home race.
The first Formula 1 season will be remembered forever, due to the utter dominance of the Alfettas, the battle between Farina and Fangio and because it gave way to the mega-sport the Formula 1 championship is today.
The beginning of a great sport, the origin of golden history.
Here you can find the 1950 F1 teams overview.
Drivers Standings
1950 Formula 1 Drivers Championship Table
1950 F1 results distribution of points: 1st = 9, 2nd = 6, 3rd = 4, 4th = 3, 5th = 2 point
DNQ = Did Not Qualify, DNS = Did Not Start, Ret = Retired, DSQ = Disqualified, NC = Not Classified
Drivers Stats
1950 F1 Drivers Statistics Table
Teams Standings
1950 F1 Constructors Championship Table
The World Constructors Championship did not exist until 1958.
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