Formula One - The Championship Years

In 1950, as an answer to the Motorcycle World Championships introduced in 1949, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) organized the first ever official World Championship for Drivers using the Formula One rules. The organization of the championship, to be held across six of the 'major' Grands Prix of Europe, plus the Indianapolis 500, was a mere formalization of what had already been developing in Grand Prix racing during the previous years. It was the Italian teams of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Maserati which were best positioned to dominate the initial years of the championship. Other national manufacturers – such as the French manufacturer Talbot or the British effort BRM – competed, although less successfully. A number of private cars also took View the rest of this article