Formula 1 is 60!

Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1951 Paris GP (Getty Images)

08 February 2010

The 2010 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix marks the 60th anniversary of the world’s biggest annual sporting series with the most illustrious gathering cars and drivers to have claimed the title in living memory. On March 12-14 these legends will join to celebrate Bahrain as ‘Race Number 1’ of the 2010 season and to mark the diamond anniversary of Formula One racing.

It was in 1950, after 44 years, two world wars and one abortive attempt, that Grand Prix racing gained the honour of an official world championship under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile. At the outset much still remained of the sport’s origins, taking place on circuits formed from closed public highways in Europe and it was presided over by the last of the true grandee teams: Alfa Romeo.

The astonishing 1.5-litre supercharged type 158 ‘Alfettas’ were designed during 1937-38 and kept hidden in a monastery during WW2, but emerged to dominate every Grand Prix they entered. In 1950 the team was known as the ‘three F’s’ for its driver line-up, consisting of Italian aces Giuseppe Farina and Luigi Fagioli plus the remarkable talent of the Argentinean driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

This trio were at their peak in time for the first ever round of the World Championship; the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on May 13 1950. Under the watchful eyes of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and up to a quarter of a million fans, the world championship began as a demonstration run for the ‘Three F’s’ from which Farina would emerge victorious.

The Alfa Romeo team remains statistically the most successful of all time, losing only three races between 1945 and 1951, and the 1950 Alfetta takes pride of place in the display at the BIC throughout the celebrations.

Although Alfa Romeo abandoned the sport at the end of 1951, a new superteam was already emerging. Enzo Ferrari had raced for Alfa Romeo in the 1920s and through the next decade established his privately-entered team under the name of Scuderia Ferrari.

After making a fortune producing ball bearings during World War 2 Ferrari decided to become a constructor in his own right and, at the 1951 British Grand Prix, his 4.5-litre unsupercharged car became the first to defeat Alfa Romeo in the hands of Argentinean star José Froilan Gonzales.

In 1952-53 Ferrari was insuperable. Due to an absence of Formula One machinery, the world championship was held for Formula Two cars and in this smaller category Ferrari was supreme thanks to its 500 F2 cars. With the dazzling talents of Alberto Ascari leading the team, Ferrari won 14 out of 15 races entered and one of these gem-like cars will also be present at the BIC from March 12-14.

In 1954-60 the 2.5-litre Formula One rules brought stability and a raft of new constructors – among which the return of Mercedes-Benz was far and away the most spectacular. With its heritage of success dating back to the 1900s, Mercedes had lain dormant since 1939.

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