1952 Formula One season

For the second successive season, the opening round of the Championship was the Swiss Grand Prix, held at the Bremgarten Circuit in Bern. Ferrari's lead driver Alberto Ascari was absent due to his participation in the Indianapolis 500 so it was left to his teammates Nino Farina and Piero Taruffi to secure the first two places on the grid. Farina led from the start until he retired with Magneto failure, leaving Taruffi to win his only championship Grand Prix and also to take the extra point for fastest lap. Farina took over the car of his other teammate, Andre Simon, and was battling debutant Jean Behra for second place before both hit mechanical trouble, Farina again unable to continue. It was therefore privateer Rudi Fischer who completed a Ferrari 1-2, with Jean Behra in third for Gordini. Ken Wharton finished fourth driving a Frazer-Nash, the manufacturer's only ever points finish.

As usual, the Indianapolis 500 had little bearing on the result of the Championship, although regular Ferrari driver Albero Ascari did compete, retiring after 40 laps. The race was dominated by Bill Vukovich, who led 150 laps before retiring. It was left to Troy Ruttman to win the race from Jim Rathmann and Sam Hanks.

Ascari returned to Ferrari for Round 3 of the Championship at Spa-Francorchamps, with Maserati still absent as they developed their A6GCM. The Ferrari cars dominated the whole weekend, with Ascari taking pole, the race win and fastest lap while leading every lap bar one. He was followed home by teammate Nino Farina and Robert Manzon finished in third for Gordini. Jean Behra again impressed as he led the opening lap before falling behind the Ferrari juggernaut and eventually retiring after a incident with the third Ferrari of Piero Taruffi.

Scuderia Ferrari dominated once again at Reims, taking all three podium places. Ascari led all the way from pole position to assume the Championship lead and achieve his fourth career victory, drawing him level to his teammate Nino Farina who finished second. Piero Taruffi finished third after falling behind the Gordinis of Robert Manzon and Jean Behra at the start. It was Manzon who was the highest Non-Ferrari finisher ahead of his teammate Maurice Trintignant who was driving an older model.

Although Ascari again dominated, it wasn't plain sailing for his teammates as Ferrari eventually dominated as they had done throughout the year. It was the Italian's third consecutive victory that further strengthened his eventually successful championship challenge as his main competitor, Nino Farina failed to score despite taking pole position. The third Ferrari of Piero Taruffi dropped down to ninth at the start but eventually recovered to take second place while a pitstop for new spark plugs meant Farina finished in sixth position. It was a triumphant day for British cars and drivers, with Mike Hawthorn taking his first podium driving a Cooper-Bristol, while British cars and drivers occupied the other points paying positions.

The belated arrival of the Maserati factory team failed to stop the dominance of Ferrari, with Alberto Ascari clinching his first World Title and eclipsing the injured Juan Manuel Fangio's win record. It was his fourth consecutive victory of the season, again leading every race lap from pole position. He did briefly lose the race lead to Farina after pitting for oil, but this is not reflected in the lap charts as he caught and passed his teammate before they crossed the line at the end of the lap. Farina finished second and privateer Ferrari driver Rudi Fischer finished third ahead of the works car of Taruffi to ensure a Ferrari 1-2-3-4. Jean Behra scored the final points for Gordini just ahead of another Ferrari car, this time driven by Roger Laurent.