Following the lead set by the FIM (Federation Internationale Motocycliste), who organised a World Championship for riders in 1949, the FIA followed suit granting World Championship status to seven races for the 1950 season.

Given that all the Grands Prix were held in Europe and in the hope that European drivers might participate  in the Indianapolis 500, it was decided to include the 'Blue Riband' oval race. This turned out to be a rather artificial contrivance which was discontinued after the1960 season.

The first season was an Alfa Romeo benefit as their T158 won all six 'true" Championship rounds with hard as nails veteran Guiseppe Farina just edging out the challenge of team mate Juan-Manuel Fangio. The fields were made up of a mixture of basic pre-war (voiturette) cars with 1.5 litre supercharged  engines and 4.5 litre (unblown) cars such as the Talbot Lagos.

Points were awarded to the first five finishers on the basis of 8-6-4-3-2. Also a single point was awarded to the driver (or divided between drivers) who set the fastest race lap. A driver's best four scores were allowed to count for the final championship standings.