The race was the third round of the 1954 World Championship of Drivers and the first championship round on European soil that season, held five months after the Argentine season opener. Fangio had signed with Mercedes-Benz for 1954 but their new W196 was not yet ready for racing, so he competed in the Maserati 250F as he had done in Argentina. The works Maserati team also fielded Onofre Marimón and Sergio Mantovani, while Stirling Moss ran a privately-entered 250F. Ferrari brought cars for Nino Farina, José Froilán González, Mike Hawthorn, and Maurice Trintignant. Jacques Swaters entered a private Ferrari for the home crowd under the Ecurie Francorchamps banner. The Gordini team ran Jean Behra, Paul Frère, and local driver André Pilette. Lancia had entered but withdrew, leaving the field at just 14 cars and depriving reigning World Champion Alberto Ascari of another start. The Mercedes W196 debut was two weeks away, at the French Grand Prix in Reims.
Fangio took pole position with a time of 4:22.1, averaging 119.5 mph — pulverizing his own track record set at Spa in 1951 with the Alfa Romeo 159. González put the Ferrari second, Farina third, and Marimón fourth. Moss qualified ninth. Fangio did not appear on the first day of practice, which was used only by the Ferraris; the battle for pole opened on day two when he arrived.
The event was disrupted immediately. Roberto Mieres's Maserati caught fire on the warm-up lap and did not start. González's Ferrari lost its engine on lap 1, as did Swaters's privateer car. Marimón retired with engine failure on lap 3. Farina led initially ahead of Hawthorn, but Fangio worked through to the front by lap 3 and controlled the pace thereafter. On lap 10 a broken visor strap forced Fangio briefly into the pits; he quickly rejoined and retook the lead. Farina retired with ignition trouble on lap 14. Behra's Gordini went out with suspension failure on lap 12, Frère's on lap 14.
Hawthorn, still recovering from an accident at Syracuse, began to slow visibly in the second half of the race. The Ferrari team flagged him in and González — who had already retired from his own car — took over. A collapsed Hawthorn had to be lifted from the cockpit. González soon discovered the cause: a broken exhaust pipe had been funnelling carbon monoxide fumes into the cockpit. He returned to the pits to have it repaired, losing a full lap in the process.
Fangio won in 2 hours 44 minutes 42.4 seconds, 24.2 seconds ahead of Trintignant's Ferrari. Moss completed 35 laps in his privately-entered 250F for third place — his first F1 World Championship podium. The shared Hawthorn/González Ferrari finished fourth. André Pilette's Gordini was fifth; Bira's Maserati sixth; and Mantovani's Maserati seventh, two laps down. Only seven cars were classified finishers. Fangio also set fastest lap at 4:25.5 on lap 13. For Pilette, fifth was the only points finish of his Formula One career.
Fangio's nine points — win plus fastest lap bonus — lifted him to 17 in the Drivers' Championship, a comfortable lead over Trintignant on 9 and Bill Vukovich (Indianapolis 500 winner) on 8. Moss's four points put him into contention on the European side of the championship. The French Grand Prix at Reims on 4 July would bring the Mercedes-Benz W196 into the field for the first time.