At the 1953 Belgian Grand Prix, the Maseratis were in a position to challenge the dominant Ferraris. With 1-2 at the start, the Argentine duo of Fangio and Gonzalez maintained the lead for the 13 laps when the leader Fangio retired owing to an engine failure, following the fate of his teammate two laps earlier. This gave the race to the Ferraris and Ascari was the first to take the chequered flag at the end of 36 laps. Fangio, after his retirement, drove in his other teammate Johnny Claes’ Maserati for another 22 laps before retiring on lap 35. The only cheer for Maserati was the third and fourth finishes by Onofre Marimon and the Swiss Toulo de Graffenried.
