| 1953 French Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
 Reims-Gueux layout | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | 5 July 1953 | ||||
| Official name | XL Grand Prix de l'ACF | ||||
| Location | Reims Circuit, Gueux, France | ||||
| Course | Temporary road course | ||||
| Course length | 8.347 km (5.187 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 60 laps, 500.820 km (311.195 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Hot, dry | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||||
| Time | 2:41.2 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |
 Juan Manuel Fangio[a] | Maserati | |||
| Time | 2:41.1 on lap 25 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Ferrari | ||||
| Second | Maserati | ||||
| Third | Maserati | ||||
|
Lap leaders | |||||
The 1953 French Grand Prix was a Formula Two race held on 5 July 1953 at Reims. It was race 5 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.
It is popularly known as The Race of the Century because of the sixty lap battle between Briton Mike Hawthorn and Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.[3][4] Hawthorn won the duel after they reportedly swapped the lead at virtually every corner on the Reims circuit. In addition, after 500 km of racing, the four lead cars were less than 5 seconds apart.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Hodgeswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Higham, Peter (2020). Formula 1: Car by Car 1950-59. p. 129. ISBN 9781910505441.
- ^ "French GP 1953". sportscars.tv. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
- ^ Mathieu, Christian. ""The Grand Prix of the century" : Reims 1953". flyandrive.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).