1953 Dutch Grand Prix
The second round of the 1953 World Championship took place on June 7 in the Netherlands on the Zandvoort circuit. Compared to last year, the track configuration remained unchanged, and its length was still 4.193 km, while the drivers had to complete 90 laps. However, due to the new track surface and strong winds bringing sand from the nearby dunes, the circuit became extremely slippery, which has caused a lot of trouble for the drivers this year.
Unlike the first round of the World Championship in Argentina, which was attended by only four teams, the first European Grand Prix of the championship attracted many drivers and teams who did not have the opportunity to go overseas. At the same time, it was Scuderia Ferrari that was the Grand Prix favorite again, which won the first stage in Argentina, as well as several non-championship races held in the five-month period between the first two rounds. As in the previous round, the scarlet team was represented by four main drivers Alberto Ascari, Nino Farina, Luigi Villoresi and Mike Hawthorn, each of whom received the magnificent Ferrari 500 at his disposal, while another spare car was kept in reserve.
In addition to the factory drivers, another identical Ferrari was brought to the track by private driver Louis Rosier, who missed the first round in Argentina and was thus only opening his racing season here.
Meanwhile, the Maserati team did not participate in non-championship races, choosing to focus on refining their A6GCM cars, which were clearly inferior to Ferraris 500 in Buenos Aires, while, unlike the first stage, this time the Modena team decided to limit their line-up to the three main drivers Juan Manuel Fangio, Jose Froilan Gonzalez and Felice Bonetto, without involving local racers.
Nonetheless, the fourth Maserati A6GCM still appeared in the Netherlands, which was driven by Baron Tulo de Graffenried, who represented Enrico Plate team.
Meanwhile, unlike the two leading teams, the French Gordini has undergone major changes in their line-up before the Dutch Grand Prix. Robert Manzon, whose car once again lost one of the wheels during the first stage in Buenos Aires, considered that he had had enough and left the team, while Jean Behra was also forced to miss this round due to his injury, as a result of which Maurice Trintignant unexpectedly became the new leader of the French team, who was joined here by two debutants, Argentine Roberto Mieres and American Fred Wacker Jr. As for the team's fourth driver, it was American Harry Schell, who had already had some experience in previous world championships, but for the first time got the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a competitive car.
Meanwhile, the Cooper team, which could not boast with speed in the first Grand Prix of the season, decided to interrupt their participation in the World Championship, preferring to work on improvements of their cars. At the same time, one private Cooper car still took part in the Grand Prix, driven by Englishman Ken Wharton.
As for the British teams Connaught and HWM, which missed the first round, they, on the contrary, appeared in the Netherlands in full force. The Connaught team was represented by Stirling Moss, Roy Salvadori and Kenneth McAlpine, while HWM was represented by a pair of unchangeable drivers Peter Collins and Lance Macklin, who got at their disposal updated HWM 53 cars.
Qualification
Before the start of trainings, Scuderia installed wire nets on their cars to protect the faces of the drivers from the sand, and this idea was highly appreciated by thir rivals in Maserati, who immediately adopted it in their way.
Meanwhile, the qualification itself has developed almost according to the same scenario as in Argentina. Pole position was again easily won by Alberto Ascari, who was undoubtedly the fastest driver on the track, 1.6 seconds ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio. Farina and Villoresi this time switched places and took 3rd and 4th places respectively, while 5th and 6th places, as in Argentina, were taken by Gonzalez and Hawthorn. Tulo de Graffenried in the new Maserati immediately posted a good 7th result, while Louis Rosier also looked pretty good in his Ferrari, taking 8th place. Meanwhile, Stirling Moss was the fastest driver not to drive a Ferrari or a Maserati, but the last place in the top ten was taken by Harry Schell, who turned out to be the fastest Gordini driver in his first attempt. However, the American's joy was short-lived, as his main car soon developed serious technical problems, forcing Harry to spend all of his subsequent training behind the wheel of Walker's car, for whom this Grand Prix ended before it even began. As for Felice Bonetto, he, as in Argentina, was overcome by serious mechanical problems, and as a result, the Italian took only 13th position. Meanwhile, the HWM drivers, despite the new cars, weren't fast enough and took only 15th and 16th positions, while the only Cooper also did not shine with speed, allowing Ken Wharton to take only the penultimate place on the starting field.
Race
Start. Ascari has a great start, and the Italian immediately takes the lead in the race! Meanwhile, Fangio's start is not so good, and he let Villoresi and Farina through at once, but things are even worse for the Argentinean's teammate Gonzalez, who loses as many as nine positions and ends up in 14th!
Position after lap 1: Ascari, Villoresi, Farina, Fangio, Hawthorn, Graffenried, Moss, Schell, Rosier, Bonetto.
Lap 2: Ascari is the fastest driver on the track and he is already 2 seconds ahead of his pursuers!
Meanwhile, Bonetto attacks Rosier, taking 9th, while Gonzalez, after a disastrous start, immediately rushes into battle and gains four positions in one lap!
Besides, on the same lap, Salvadori also wins back one position, getting ahead of Collins.
Lap 3: Moss gets the most out of his Connaught but still can't hold back the faster cars of Schell and Bonetto, thus dropping to 9th.
Lap 4: Fangio seems to have gotten the most out of his Maserati in qualifying as he clearly can't keep up with the pace of the Ferraris in the race and falls behind the top three lap after lap.
Meanwhile, his teammate Gonzalez continues his breakthrough, and he wins back three more positions, thus moving up already to 7th!
Lap 5: For Rosier, the race doesn't go as well as the qualifying and the Frenchman misses both Trintignant and Salvadori, thus dropping to 13th. Meanwhile, Macklin has problems with the throttle, forcing him to let Mieres through..
Lap 6: McAlpine passes Wharton to 15th, while Macklin misses Claes, thus dropping to last.
Lap 7: Gonzalez makes up another position thanks to Graffenried, thus moving up to 6th!.
Lap 8: Trintignant attacks Moss for 10th and leaves the Englishman behind. Meanwhile, the problems in Macklin's car become so severe that he has no choice but to retire.
Lap 10: Farina attacks Villoresi for 2nd and gets ahead of him!
Meanwhile, at the same lap, Collins also gains one position, leaving Rosier behind.
Position after 10 laps: Ascari, Farina, Villoresi, Fangio, Hawthorn, Gonzalez, Graffenried, Schell, Bonetto, Trintignant.
Ascari continues to fly along the track and is already 10 seconds ahead of his pursuers!
Lap 15: The engine on Salvadori's Connaught begins to lose power due to a blown valve, and the Englishman turns into the pits, retiring. Meanwhile, Claes has serious problems with rear suspension in his car, forcing the Belgian to also pull in for repairs.
Lap 16: Gonzalez manages to catch up with Hawthorn's Ferrari and José-Froilan immediately goes on the attack on the Englishman, leaving him behind! However, even after losing his position, Mike does not give up and immediately hangs on his opponent's tail, preparing for a counterattack!. Meanwhile, on the same lap, Mieres is ahead of Wharton.
Lap 17: Hawthorn counterattacks Gonzalez and retakes 5th!
Besides, on the same lap, Bonetto manages to get ahead of Schell.
Lap 20: Wharton becomes another retirement in this race, due to broken rear wishbone.
Lap 22: Schell and Bonetto continue their fight, and this time it is the American that takes the lead!
Lap 23: Gonzalez, who had been having a great race, pulls over with a broken half-shaft! However, given that his car has stopped on the back straight leading to the pits, the Argentine immediately leaves the cockpit and runs to his garage, hoping to still continue the race behind the wheel of another car!.
Lap 26: Gonzalez finally makes it to the pits and immediately announces that he is ready to continue the fight! Deeply impressed by his efforts, the team immediately signals Bonetto to pull in and, taking his place in the Italian's car, Gonzalez is back on the track, albeit in 9th position!
Lap 28: Gonzalez is flying around the track again and begins his new breakthrough, leaving Trintignant behind!
Lap 29: Mieres leaves the race due to transmission failure.
Position after 30 laps: Ascari, Farina, Villoresi, Fangio, Hawthorn, Graffenried, Schell, Gonzalez, Trintignant, Moss.
Lap 33: Gonzalez passes another Gordini of Schell and thus the Argentinean is already 7th!
Lap 36: Gonzalez passes Graffenried for the second time in the race, moving up to 6th place, and despite already being almost a full lap behind Hawthorn, he sets about chasing the Englishman with unwavering determination!
Lap 37: Fangio has the same problem as Gonzalez and the Argentine has to retire for the second race in a row due to mechanical problems!
Lap 39: Farina and Villoresi, who have been fighting for 2nd almost half the race, switch places again, and now it is Gi-Gi that takes the lead!
Lap 43: Collins, blinded by the flying sand, makes a mistake and is immediately overtaken by Rosier and McAlpine!
Lap 47: The battle between Farina and Villoresi continues, and the world champion leaves his teammate behind again!
Lap 48: Maintaining a terrific pace, Gonzalez still makes a mistake at the Tarzan hairpin and spins, but, having managed to avoid stalling his engine, he only loses about ten seconds there and is back in pursuit of Hawthorn!
Lap 49: After a long chase Trintignant still manages to get ahead of his teammate Schell, thus moving up to 7th.
Lap 50: Collins wins back one position, overtaking McAlpine.
Position after 50 laps: Ascari, Farina, Villoresi, Hawthorn, Gonzalez, Graffenried, Trintignant, Schell, Moss, Rosier.
Lap 52: McAlpine does not give up and, counterattacking Collins, he leaves him behind again!
Lap 57: A stone from a car in front damages the oil pipe on Moss' Connaught, causing him to lose power and be easily passed by Rosier!
Lap 58: Moss drives even slower and, unable to withstand the onslaught of McAlpine, he loses another position!
Lap 59: Moss eventually stops in the pits for repairs, thus dropping to last place! Meanwhile, it is Villoresi who now is the fastest driver on the track, who sets the new best lap in the race with the result of 1'52.8!
Lap 60: Transmission problems force Schell to pull in and retire.
Lap 64: McAlpine becomes another retirement in this race due to engine failure!
Lap 67: Throttle issues end Villoresi's superb run and his chances of a second place in a row, and after the Italians retirement it is Hawthorn who now finds himself in the top three!
Lap 78: Gonzalez' long pursuit of Hawthorn turns out to be not in vain, and having won a whole lap back from the Englishman, Jose still leaves Mike behind, thus taking third position away from him!
Last lap: Ascari after another superb race maintains another clear victory, which becomes already the tenth in his career, but his teammate Villoresi's fastest lap still prevents Alberto from achieving another Grand Slam. Meanwhile, Farina is the second to cross the finish line, who spent almost the entire race fiighting with Villoresi, and due to this success, the former champion scores his first points this season. However, the main hero of the day is undoubtedly Gonzalez, who, having shown a simply phenomenal performance today, wins his second podium this season, sharing it with his teammate Bonetto, and thus allows the Modena team to retain honor after several failures of their cars. As for Hawthorn, having missed the opportunity to get on the podium in this race, Mike finishes 4th again, while de Graffenried gets the last two points for fifth place, for whom this result was his best in the last two years.
Interesting facts:
- Alberto Ascari's 10th victory.
Driver standings
Alternative GP results
