1950 F1 World Championship

The 1950 Formula 1 season introduced the first-ever FIA World Championship of Drivers, giving drivers an official seven-race championship calendar and setting the stage for F1 we know and love today.

In addition to the races that counted towards the World Championship, the 1950 season also had a number of non-championship races, offering teams and drivers other races to showcase their cars and on-track race craft.

Season

The championship started on May 13 at Silverstone and ran until September 3 at Monza. During the season, drivers competed in six official Grand Prix events across Europe, driving cars that adhered to the FIA’s specific Formula 1 regulations. Outside of the non-championship races, other cars were allowed to compete.

The Indianapolis 500 was also a counted event, unique to the championship, even though it operated under the AAA National Championship regulations, which were distinct from the standard F1 rules.

Giuseppe Farina emerged as the 1950 Drivers’ Champion, clinching the title ahead of other F1 legends Juan Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli. The win solidified Farina’s position in F1 history as the first-ever championship winner in Formula One.

1950 F1 Entries drivers and teams

Team	Driver	Race entries	Victories	Podiums	Poles	FastesLaps
Adams	Bayliss Levrett	1				
	Bill Cantrell	1				
Alfa Romeo	Consalvo Sanesi	1				
	Giuseppe Farina	6	3	3	2	3
	Juan Manuel Fangio	7	3	3	4	3
	Luigi Fagioli	6		5		
	Piero Taruffi	1				
	Reg Parnell	2		1		
Alta	Geoffrey Crossley	2				
	Joe Kelly	1				
Automobiles Talbot-Darracq	Charles Pozzi	1				
	Eugen Martin	2				
	Eugene Chaboud	2				
	Guy Mairesse	1				
	Henri Louveau	1				
	Johnny Claes	6				
	Louis Rosier	7		2		
	Philippe Etancelin	6				
	Pierre Levegh	3				
	Yves Giraud-Cabantous	4				
Cooper	Harry Schell	2				
Deidt	Bill Holland	1		1		
	Mauri Rose	1		1		
	Tony Bettenhausen Sr.	1				
Ewing	Jimmy Davies	1				
Ferrari	Alberto Ascari	6		2		
	Dorino Serafini	1		1		
	Luigi Villoresi	4				
	Raymond Sommer	5				
Ferrari-Jaguar	Clemente Biondetti	1				
Gordini	Maurice Trintignant	2				
	Robert Manzon	3				
Kurtis	Cecil Green	1				
	Duke Dinsmore	1				
	Freddie Agabashian	1				
	Jack McGrath	1				
	Jerry Hoyt	1				
	Jimmy Jackson	1				
	Johnnie Parsons	1	1	1		1
	Johnny McDowell	1				
	Joie Chitwood	1				
	Mack Hellings	1				
	Pat Flaherty	1				
	Sam Hanks	1				
	Walt Brown	1				
	Walt Faulkner	1			1	
Langley	Gene Hartley	1				
Lesovsky	George Connor	1				
	Troy Ruttman	1				
Marchese	Myron Fohr	1				
Maserati	Alfredo Pian	1				
	Antonio Branca	2				
	Birabongse Bhanudej	4				
	Bob Gerard	2				
	Brian Shawe-Taylor	1				
	David Hampshire	2				
	David Murray	2				
	Emmanuel de Graffenried	4				
	Felice Bonetto	4				
	Franco Rol	3				
	Henry Banks	1				
	Joe Fry	1				
	Jose Froilan Gonzalez	2				
	Leslie Johnson	1				
	Louis Chiron	5		1		
	Nello Pagani	1				
	Paul Pietsch	1				
	Peter Walker	1				
	Spider Webb	1				
	T. Cuth Harrison	3				
	Tony Rolt	1				
Moore	Lee Wallard	1				
Nichels	Paul Russo	1				
Olson	Jackie Holmes	1				
Peter Whitehead	Peter Whitehead	3		1		
Rae	Walt Ader	1				
Scuderia Milano	Gianfranco Comotti	1				
Snowberger	Bill Schindler	1				
Stevens	Duane Carter	1				
Watson	Dick Rathmann	1				
Wetteroth	Jim Rathmann	1				

1950 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Date	Grand Prix	Laps	Distance	Country
13 May	Silverstone	70	4.649	Great Britain
21 May	Monte Carlo	100	3.1801	Monaco
30 May	Indianapolis	200	4.01	Indianapolis
04 Jun	Bremgarten	42	7.28	Switzerland
18 Jun	Spa-Francorchamps	35	14.12	Belgium
02 Jul	Rheims	64	7.815	France
03 Sep	Monza	80	6.3	Italy

1950 Formula 1 Standings

In the scoring system of the 1950 Formula One season, drivers were allocated points based on their finishing positions in each Grand Prix. Specifically, the distribution was as follows:

• The race winner received 8 points.
• The second-place finisher was awarded 6 points.
• Third place earned 4 points.
• Fourth place got 3 points.
• The driver finishing fifth was given 2 points.

Furthermore, an additional point was up for grabs for the driver who set the fastest lap during the Grand Prix.

However, there was a notable caveat in the championship calculations: only a driver’s best four race results contributed to their championship total. This meant that even if a driver competed in more races and amassed points, only the points from their top four performances would count towards their championship standing.

Driver standings