Juan Manuel Fangio won all but two rounds for Mercedes to successfully defend his drivers’ title. These included a home victory in Buenos Aires, in which he drove without relief while most of his competitors suffered from heat exhaustion in possibly the hottest weather ever experienced for a World Championship Grand Prix. New Mercedes recruit Stirling Moss scored his first Grand Prix victory at Aintree. Fangio shadowed him across the line with Karl Kling and Piero Taruffi completing a 1-2-3-4 for the team.
Mercedes’ only defeat came at Monaco, which had been restored to the World Championship calendar for the first time since 1950. Maurice Trintignant scored his breakthrough victory that day after Fangio, Moss, Ascari and Roberto Mieres had all retired ahead of him.
Tony Brooks won the non-championship Syracuse GP for Connaught – the first continental Grand Prix win for a British car since the 1920s.