Top 10 F1 drivers of the 1950s

The topic of the greatest racing drivers is often hotly debated and a definitive answer is impossible. Nevertheless, it remains entertaining to try and, in the latest series of Autosport top 10s, we’re taking on the challenge by selecting the best Formula 1 drivers in each decade.

For these lists, which kick off with the first decade of the world championship, we’ve considered many factors, including level of success, machinery at their disposal, longevity and how highly the drivers were rated by their contemporaries.

Successes (or failures) outside of the relevant decade are not considered and many drivers are eligible for more than one top 10.

So, here’s our pick of the best drivers who raced in the world championship between 1950 and 1959.

10. Jack Brabham

While Brabham's greatest successes were in the 1960s, his 1950s feats still gain him a place in this list

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 2
Decade poles: 1
Decade titles: 1 (1959)

The great Australian’s first world championship GP came in 1955 but Brabham didn’t become a serious F1 player until the final season of the decade, hence his position here.

The Coventry Climax-powered T51 made the rear-engined Coopers competitive almost everywhere in 1959. Brabham was perhaps fortunate to inherit his first points-paying victory at Monaco when runaway leader Stirling Moss’s Rob Walker-entered Cooper broke, but he followed it up with a second at Zandvoort and third – the only driver to prevent a Ferrari 1-2-3 – at Reims.

When Brabham won the British GP and left Aintree with a 13-point lead (when eight were awarded for victory) even he believed he was in the championship fight. Brabham then had two non-finishes (transmission failure and a crash) before a third at Monza gave him the advantage over title rivals Moss and Tony Brooks heading into the Sebring finale.

Misfortune befell both Moss and Brooks in the United States and Brabham took his first world title despite famously pushing his car over the line when it ran out of fuel.

As well as the on-track success, Brabham is here because of his contribution to the Cooper team, demonstrating a broad set of abilities that would become even more apparent in the 1960s.

9. Jean Behra

Behra leads at the start of the 1957 British GP - a race he'd come close to winning before reliability cruelly denied him

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Decade wins: 0
Decade poles: 0
Decade titles: 0

Behra was one of the leading drivers for much of the 1950s and it’s ridiculous he never won a world championship race. Had he lived during an era of greater reliability, he surely would have.

The Frenchman spent his early seasons driving for Gordini, trying his best to snipe at the faster Ferraris and Maseratis despite the equipment often failing him. His best result with Gordini was third in the 1952 Swiss GP, though he did score four non-championship race wins, most notably beating the Ferraris at the 1952 Marne GP.

Behra became a works Maserati driver in 1955 and stayed for three seasons. Although he usually played second fiddle to Moss in 1956 and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957, he was a consistent frontrunner and took seven podiums in the 250F.

He should have been a winner in 1957. Behra led for more than half of the 1957 British GP and still had a chance of staying out of reach of the recovering Moss’s Vanwall when the clutch exploded.

Non-championship wins with Maserati, BRM and Ferrari machinery – as well as his pace in sportscars – underlined that Behra was one of the best drivers of his era. He had just fallen out with Ferrari when he was killed racing his own Porsche at Avus in August 1959.

8. Peter Collins

Collins caught attention driving for HWM at the start of the decade

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 3
Decade poles: 0
Decade titles: 0

One of several British talents to emerge during the decade, Collins would surely have achieved more had he not been killed trying to beat Brook’s Vanwall at the Nurburgring in 1958.

Having cut his teeth with HWM and impressed in sportscar events driving for Aston Martin, Collins joined Ferrari in 1956. That meant he had the pacesetting D50 at his disposal.

Fangio was the team leader and duly jumped into Collins’ car at Monaco after the Argentinian had damaged his own Ferrari, the duo ending up second to Moss’s Maserati. Had Collins not done so, he would likely have scored six points rather than three, splitting the haul with Fangio, who also took a point for fastest lap in the Brit’s car.

Collins took advantage of problems for Fangio to win the Belgian and French GPs – and now led the world championship. Fangio rallied, taking a fortuitous victory in the British GP before dominating in Germany, where both D50s Collins drove retired.

That made Fangio the favourite to take the crown at the Monza finale, with Collins in mathematical contention. But when the reigning champion’s car suffered broken steering, it was Collins who came in to hand his car over, giving up his own chance.

Ferrari was less competitive in 1957 and Collins only scored two podiums but the 246 took the team back to the front in 1958. Collins and friend Mike Hawthorn battled the Vanwalls of Moss and Brooks for supremacy, Collins leading a Ferrari 1-2 at Silverstone. But just two weeks later Collins made a fatal mistake during the German GP; he was 26.

7. Jose Froilan Gonzalez

Gonzalez had a podium strike rate of nearly 60% across his career

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 2
Decade poles: 3
Decade titles: 0

Gonzalez only made 26 world championship starts but was a big figure during the decade in more ways than one. The Argentinian’s strength was an asset, playing its part in his famous success at Silverstone in 1951 – which gave Ferrari its first points-paying F1 win – and hauling the monster 375 Plus sportscar to Le Mans 24 Hours victory in 1954.

It’s also often forgotten that he came within 1.4 seconds of winning the ‘race of the century’, the 1953 French GP. Starting his Maserati on half-full fuel tanks, Gonzalez shot into the lead from fifth on the grid and led before stopping at half-distance. He then charged back, overtaking reigning champion Alberto Ascari for third and finishing within sight of the famous Hawthorn-Fangio lead duel.

Perhaps not quite on the consistent level of Fangio and Ascari – he was team-mates to both – Gonzalez was capable of beating them on his best days. He was third in the 1951 points table behind them and went one better in 1954, when he took another brilliant Silverstone victory, beating Fangio’s Mercedes W196 and Ferrari team-mate Hawthorn by over a minute.

Gonzalez only made sporadic outings after 1954 but his incredible podium strike rate of nearly 60% underlines that he was invariably a force to be reckoned with.

6. Giuseppe Farina

Farina was F1's first world champion - but it marked the start of his decline

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Decade wins: 5
Decade poles: 5
Decade titles: 1 (1950)

Farina’s best years were behind him when the 1950s – and the world championship for drivers – began, but he still became F1’s first title winner. One of Alfa Romeo’s leading exponents before the Second World War, Farina was part of the Italian team’s dominant line-up with the benchmark 158 in 1950.

Including the non-championship races (some of which were high status), team-mate Fangio was the strongest driver of 1950, but he didn’t have the luck across the six points-paying rounds. Fangio had no finishes beyond his three wins, whereas Farina took a fourth (hampered by falling oil pressure) in Belgium. When Fangio’s gearbox failed at the Monza finale, Farina took his third championship win of the season – and the title by three points.

It was Fangio who led Alfa’s defence against the rising Ferrari threat in 1951, leaving Farina to take one victory and fourth in the points.

Following Alfa’s withdrawal, Farina joined Ferrari. The 500 was the car to have in the world championship’s F2 era, but Farina was overshadowed by Ascari. While his fellow Italian romped to 11 wins and two titles across 1952-53, Farina was restricted to just one victory – his last – at the Nurburgring after Ascari lost a wheel.

There were only sporadic outings after that and Farina’s 20th and final podium finish in the world championship came at the 1955 Belgian GP, where his Ferrari finished over a minute and a half behind Mercedes duo Fangio and Moss.

5. Mike Hawthorn

Hawthorn with the reliable Ferrari 246 won the 1958 title through consistency

Photo by: Bernard Cahier / Getty Images

Decade wins: 3
Decade poles: 4
Decade titles: 1 (1958)

Just how good was Mike Hawthorn? Trying to answer that could fill a book, but there can be little doubt that on his best days he was capable of taking on and beating the finest drivers in the world, starring in sportscars as well as F1.

Having grabbed attention with impressive 1952 performances in a Cooper-Bristol – including a third place at the British GP – Hawthorn was signed by Ferrari. He sensationally won the 1953 French GP in a fight to the flag with Fangio and finished fourth in the world championship.

Ferrari was less competitive over the next couple of seasons, though Hawthorn won the Spanish GP at the end of 1954, one of only two races in which Fangio’s Mercedes W196 was beaten to victory.

A switch to BRM was not a success, but he did show the P25’s pace by leading the British GP before trouble struck, and Hawthorn returned to Ferrari for 1957.

The 801 was not one of Ferrari’s best but it was reliable and Hawthorn took two podiums on his way to fourth in the standings. That included being on the receiving end of Fangio’s greatest drive at the Nurburgring, Hawthorn succumbing to the Maserati’s famous charge but chasing the Argentinian on the final lap and finishing well clear of friend and team-mate Collins.

It all came together in 1958. Armed with the reliable 246, Hawthorn put in a consistent campaign to score seven podiums. There was only one win – in France – but second place at the Moroccan finale was enough for Hawthorn to beat rival Moss by a single point.

Hawthorn, who had been diagnosed with kidney disease, then retired from racing, but died in a road accident on the Guildford bypass in January 1959.

4. Tony Brooks

Brooks missed out on a drivers' title, but did help Vanwall to the inaugural constructors’ title

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Decade wins: 6
Decade poles: 3
Decade titles: 0

The world championship records show that Brooks first arrived with BRM during its troubled 1956 campaign, but he’d already made his mark on F1 the year before. While studying for his dentistry exams, Brooks travelled to the non-championship Syracuse GP for the cash-strapped Connaught and duly beat the works Maserati team. It was the first GP win for a British car-driver combination since 1924.

Brooks joined the British superteam alongside Moss and Stuart Lewis-Evans as Vanwall boss Tony Vandervell pushed to end the Italian stranglehold on F1 in 1957. Brooks started the season with a battling second behind Fangio at Monaco after avoiding early chaos but his season was hampered by a crash at the Le Mans 24 Hours while driving for Aston Martin.

His injuries meant he missed the French GP and failed to score any more points for the rest of the F1 season – except for a famous day at Aintree. Brooks kept his Vanwall in the top six and, still suffering, handed it to Moss when his team-mate’s car hit engine trouble. Moss charged on to score a famous breakthrough victory.

Brooks ably supported team leader Moss in 1958 and took three victories at the Belgian, German and Italian GPs. He regarded his Nurburgring victory as his greatest drive and Brooks’s contribution helped Vanwall pip Ferrari to the inaugural constructors’ title.

One of the great drivers never to be world champion, Brooks’s best chance came in 1959. Leading the Ferrari charge with the powerful but front-engined 246, Brooks won the French and German GPs, but the cancellation of the Spa round, clutch failure at Monza and startline incident at the Sebring finale meant he finished second in the table to Brabham.

3. Alberto Ascari

Excluding the anomalous Indianapolis 500s that counted for points, Ascari went undefeated in F1 for more than a year

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Decade wins: 13
Decade poles: 14
Decade titles: 2 (1952-53)

Perhaps the only driver on Fangio’s level for the first half of the decade, Ascari could have won the 1951 title and dominated the two seasons that the world championship was run to F2 regulations. Had he not missed much of 1954 amid Lancia’s struggles to get the D50 ready and then been killed testing a sportscar in May 1955, Ascari might have been higher on this list.

The son of pre-Second World War racer Antonio Ascari, Alberto proved himself to be an F1 frontrunner during 1949. He was then part of Ferrari’s growing challenge to the dominant Alfa Romeo team when the world championship began and won both the German and Italian GPs in 1951.

That gave Ascari a shot at the title but Ferrari’s decision to switch to smaller wheels for the Spanish GP finale proved disastrous and Ascari finished second to Fangio in the final table.

Ascari was the benchmark in the championship’s F2 era, winning all but one points-paying GP in 1952 and winning five more the following season. Indeed, if you exclude the anomalous Indianapolis 500s that counted for points in the period, Ascari went undefeated in the championship for more than a year!

Sporadic appearances in 1954 meant Ascari could not defend his crown, but he starred in a cameo for Ferrari at Monza and the new D50 looked like having the potential to challenge the dominant Mercedes W196 heading into 1955.

Ascari started second at the opening two rounds but accidents – including his infamous harbour dip when poised to inherit Monaco victory – meant he was still yet to score when he climbed aboard a Ferrari sportscar for the final time at the ill-fated Monza test.

2. Stirling Moss

One of the greatest drivers of his generation, the only thing missing from Moss's record was an F1 title

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Decade wins: 12
Decade poles: 11
Decade titles: 0

It’s a close-run thing between Moss and Ascari for second on this list. Despite not winning a title, the Briton takes it because he was an F1 frontrunner for longer, took victories with more teams and was regarded as the undisputed top dog following Fangio’s retirement.

Having appeared in sporadic races in a variety of uncompetitive British machinery, Moss’s first ‘proper’ F1 season came in 1954, when he drove a privateer Maserati 250F as advised by Mercedes boss Alfred Neubauer. Moss did well enough to be both invited into the factory Maserati team during the campaign and get signed by Mercedes for 1955.

Moss played the dutiful understudy to Fangio, finishing second at Spa and Zandvoort before taking his first world championship race victory at Aintree. It was easily enough for Moss to finish second in the drivers’ table.

Moss rejoined Maserati after the motorsport withdrawal of Mercedes and was the biggest challenger to Ferrari, scoring two wins and splitting Fangio and Collins in the points.

Moss took his third consecutive runner-up spot in 1957, having joined Vanwall. Fangio and Moss were head and shoulders above the rest, winning all the points-paying GPs between them.

With Fangio waning and then retiring, Moss became the driver to beat in 1958. He won four of the 10 world championship GPs – three for Vanwall and one in a privateer Cooper – but unreliability cost him and Moss lost the title to Hawthorn by a single point.

The championship meant less to Moss from that point and he was happy to play the underdog role at Rob Walker’s team. Despite gearbox problems early in the season, Moss charged into 1959 championship contention with wins in Portugal and Italy. He was leading the US GP finale from pole when his Cooper’s transmission failed and Moss finished third in the standings to Brabham and Brooks.

It was the fifth time (of an eventual seven) he had finished in the top three. Moss had scored more points than anyone else since 1955 and only Fangio took more wins during F1’s 2.5-litre era.

1. Juan Manuel Fangio

There will be no surprise seeing Fangio top this list

Photo by: LAT Photographic

Decade wins: 24
Decade poles: 29
Decade titles: 5 (1951, 1954-57)

Nearly twice as many wins as the next-best, five world titles scored with four different teams, and regarded as the best by many of his peers. And Fangio never finished lower than second in the championship when he contested a full season! No other driver was going to top this list.

Fangio was perhaps unfortunate not win the 1950 world championship, narrowly losing to Alfa Romeo team-mate Farina. He led the team in 1951 and secured his first crown when Ferrari blundered in the Spanish GP finale.

A serious crash early in 1952 prevented a title defence and, when he returned, Fangio’s Maserati was no match for main rival Ascari’s Ferrari. He still took victory at a dramatic Italian GP and finished second in the standings.

Fangio won the first two points-paying GPs of 1954 in a 250F before joining the returning Mercedes team. He won four GPs from his six 1954 starts in the W196 to easily take his second crown.

Mercedes domination continued in 1955, Fangio ably backed up by Moss and winning four times in a shortened campaign thanks to the Le Mans disaster that led to the Silver Arrows’ withdrawal at season’s end.

Fangio joined Ferrari for 1956 and, though it was an unhappy season for the Argentinian, he nevertheless took the title again. Team-mate and title contender Collins handing his car over to Fangio in the Monza decider underlined just how highly the maestro was regarded by his rivals.

Fangio’s best season was perhaps 1957, winning four of the seven championship GPs in the 250F. That included his sensational and famous victory at the Nurburgring, repeatedly smashing the lap record to catch the Ferraris of Hawthorn and Collins after a slow pitstop.

That secured Fangio’s fifth crown, but Moss was a growing threat with Vanwall, winning the final two rounds. Fangio, by then 47, bowed out of F1 after finishing a distant fourth at the 1958 French GP, his incredible strike rate of 24 wins and 29 poles from just 51 world championship starts ensuring his place among the all-time greats.

Where does Fangio rank in the all-time F1 greats?

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