The 1950 season saw the first of many F1 title battles, this one contested between team-mates. Going into the final round at Monza, the three Alfa Romeos of Luigi Fagioli (36 points), Giuseppe Farina (31 points) and Juan Manuel Fangio (30 points) were all still in the hunt. Fagioli was the favourite: although the slowest and oldest of these three elderly gentlemen, Fagioli had one thing in his favour: reliability. Having finished all races except Monaco, where he was taken out by the lap one wave, he had made a virtue of coming in second place.
Now, in this final round, all he needed to secure his title was to place in the top five. In the early laps, Fagioli slipped down as far as seventh place but he was driving a sensible race. By staying safely ahead of Raymond Sommer without pushing the car at all, he was able to let attrition take its course: first Sanesi, then Ascari retired from the race. Fagioli was now up into Championship position, and all he had to do was see it home. He did just that, even with cars retiring around him, finishing the race in an excellent third place behind Farina and Ascari, who had taken over from Serafini in a shared drive.
Luigi Fagioli wins the 1950 World Championship of drivers
- Luigi Fagioli - 44 points
- Giuseppe Farina - 41 points (3 wins)
- Juan Manuel Fangio - 30 points (3 wins)
- Louis Rosier - 29 points
- Alberto Ascari - 19.5 points
- Prince Bira - 13 points
- Peter Whitehead - 12 points
- Philippe Etancelin - 12 points
- Johnnie Parsons - 10 points (1 win)
- Louis Chiron - 10 points
- Yves Giraud-Cabantous - 10 points
- Toulo de Graffenried - 10 points
- Bob Gerard - 10 points
- Bill Holland - 9 points
- Reg Parnell - 8 points
- Mauri Rose - 8 points
- Johnny Claes - 8 points
- Raymond Sommer - 7 points
- Robert Manzon - 7 points
- Cecil Green - 7 points
- Felice Bonetto - 6 points
- Luigi Villoresi - 5 points
- Lee Wallard - 5 points
- Dorino Serafini - 4.5 points
- Pierre Levegh - 4 points
- Cuth Harrison - 4 points
- Walt Faulkner - 4 points
- Nello Pagani - 4 points
- Eugene Chaboud - 3 points
- Tony Bettenhausen - 3 points
- Joie Chitwood - 3 points
- George Connor - 3 points
- Harry Schell - 3 points
- David Hampshire - 2 points
- Geoffrey Crossley - 2 points
- Paul Russo - 2 points
- Toni Branca - 1 point
- Pat Flaherty - 1 point
- Brian Shawe-Taylor - 0.5 points
- Joe Fry - 0.5 points
REST - 0 points
And obviously,
Alfa Romeo wins the 1950 International Cup for Manufacturers
- Alfa Romeo - 123 points (6 drivers, 7 wins)
- Talbot-Lago - 69 points (12 drivers)
- Ferrari - 48 points (6 drivers)
- Maserati - 47 points (18 drivers)
- Kurtis Kraft - 28 points (13 drivers, 1 win)
- Diedt - 17 points (3 drivers)
- ERA - 14 points (5 drivers)
- Simca-Gordini - 7 points (2 drivers)
- Moore - 5 points (1 driver)
- Lesovsky - 3 points (2 drivers)
- Alta - 2 points (2 drivers)
- Nichels - 2 points (1 driver)
REST - 0 points