Review of 1952 season
The 1952 World Championship was probably the most boring season in the history of Formula-1, taking place in conditions of absolute superiority of Scuderia Ferrari and their leading driver Alberto Ascari over all rivals. After the departure of Alfa Romeo, no one doubted that the Italian team would win their first championship title this year, but the fact that Ferrari would arrange such a rout to competitors and win all the Grand Prix of the season came as a surprise to everyone. At the same time, the hope for an intra-team struggle was also blown to smithereens by Ferrari leader Alberto Ascari, who did not leave his teammates a single chance and won his first championship title in an absolutely dominant style: he won six victories, won five pole positions, received two Grand Slams and set a unique record which to this day has not been repeated by any Formula-1 driver: the Italian won all the races of the season in which he participated!
Even before the start of the championship, Farina was predicted to be Ascari's main rival, but the past season again did not justify the hopes of the first world champion. With the best car of the championship at his disposal, Nino regularly lost to Ascari and ended up finishing the season without a single victory for the first time. At the same time, Giuseppe could have won two races, but in Switzerland, where Ascari was absent, his car let him down and the victory sailed to Taruffi, and in Germany, where Farina unexpectedly turned out to be the leader of the race on the last lap, he could not restrain Ascari's pressure and once again became only the second. And although at the end of the season Giuseppe became the vice-champion, this was a small consolation for the Italian, who was used to fighting for the highest positions.
Piero Taruffi, on the contrary, has made the most of this season. Being inferior in speed to both Ascari and Farina, Piero used every opportunity to get ahead of his teammates, and in Switzerland, where Ascari was absent and Farina had problems with the car, the Italian won his first victory. Having won two more podiums, Taruffi eventually took third place in the championship, but unfortunately, Commendatore saw only the merits of his car in this and did not renew the Italian's contract for the next season.
As for Ferrari's rivals, the only cars that could compete with them were Maseratis, but the Modena team was initially in a losing position, missing half of the championship due to the preparation of their new bolids. The situation was further worsened by the injury of Juan Manuel Fangio, who was the only driver capable of fighting Ascari on equal terms, but because of his accident in Monza, the Argentine was forced to miss the entire season. Thus, Maserati took part in only two races of the championship: in Germany, Bonetto spinned already on the first lap, and in Italy, both Bonetto and Gonzalez looked more than worthy, and the Argentine took 2nd place, losing the lead only after refueling.
Given the problems of Maserati, Gordini became the second strongest team in the championship, and this was a serious achievement for the French team. In addition to an excellent car that compensated for the lack of power with its lightness, the team had three strong French drivers, among whom it was difficult to single out an unambiguous leader. The most stable of them was Robert Manzon, and it was he who took the highest place in the championship, becoming 6th. For Jean Behra, this season was his debut, and he managed to impress everyone by taking 3rd place in the first race, but still the lack of experience made itself felt, which was shown by his collisions with Taruffi in Belgium and France. Trintignant was faster than his teammates in the second half of the championship, but, as before, he was plagued by technical problems, which is why he only managed to finish in points once.
But the real discovery of the year was Mike Hawthorn. The Englishman, driving a single-seater car for the first time this season, immediately showed his skills, earning points in the debut race. Moreover, in the UK, Hawthorn became the first Briton to win the podium at the wheel of a British car; in the Netherlands, Mike started from the first row of the starting field for the first time, and at the end of the championship, the Englishman took a high 5th place, losing only to Ferrari. All these successes, of course, could not go unnoticed, and Enzo Ferrari himself laid eyes on the Englishman, offering him a contract for the next season. Naturally, Mike did not miss the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the best car of the championship and accepted the Commendatore's offer, replacing Piero Taruffi in Ferrari.
Meanwhile, speaking of Hawthorn's successes, it is impossible not to mention the excellent car provided at his disposal by Charles and John Cooper. Despite the fact that it was the first car created by the Coopers in the Formula 2 class, it immediately showed its speed and became the best British car, surpassing HWM, Connaught and ERA.
The HWM team held their first full-fledged World Championship this season and earned the first points, taking 5th place in Belgium. Nevertheless, the season turned out to be difficult for the team, with their cars being often beset by technical problems, and the limited budget not allowing to engage in serious refinement of the cars. In addition, the drivers line-up was constantly changing from race to race, and the only stable pair of drivers were Collins and Macklin, who never managed to score a single point for the season. The last race in Italy was a disaster for the team at all, as the HWM cars clearly lacked power on the Monza high-speed straights, and both team drivers could not even qualify.
The only driver who could have changed the position of HWM was Stirling Moss, but the Englishman decided to leave the team after one race, joining ERA, which was a huge mistake on his part. In addition to the obvious lack of speed, ERA cars experienced serious problems with engine reliability, as a result of which Stirling went down in all three races due to power unit failures. Disappointed with ERA, Stirling joined Connaught in the last race of the season, having already changed the third team for the season. In the race, he was clearly superior to his teammates, but even here another breakdown was waiting for him, and thus in no race of the season did Stirling manage to get to the finish line!
The Connaught team made their World Championship debut in Great Britain, and their cars performed well in the first race, allowing team drivers Poore and Thompson to finish in the points. But the team failed to develop success, and two more races in the Netherlands and Italy were held to no avail.
Quite a few private drivers also took part in the 1952 World Championship, and, in addition to Hawthorn, Rudy Fischer should be especially noted. Driving a Ferrari 500, the Swiss managed to finish on the podium twice, which allowed him to take no more nor less than 4th place in the overall standings! However, Rudy owed such high places at the finish mainly to the problems of his rivals, therefore, realizing that this season was the peak of his career, the Swiss hung up his helmet on a nail at the end of the championship and left the world of the Grand Prix forever.
Alternative driver standings
Alternative team standings
