Argentina bulls

Two confident Argentinians, Juan Manuel Fangio and José Froilán Gonzalez, seem ready for the battle, in their Maserati A6, at the 1953 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps (picture above).

Fangio started the race from pole position (2 seconds faster than Ascari and González), but was forced to retire on lap 13 with a broken engine, while fellow Argentinian González had to retire on lap 11, with throttle problems.

It was race 4 of 9 in the 1953 World Championship for drivers, run to Formula 2 rules in 1952 and 1953, rather than the F1 regulations normally used. The 36-lap race, on the 14 km Spa-Francorchamps circuit, was won by Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari with team mate Luigi Villoresi second and Maserati driver, Argentinian Onofre Marimón in third (picture below).