The Greatest Racing Driver: The Life and Times of Great Drivers, with a Logical Analysis Revealing the Greatest

Copyright © 2013 Angus Dougall

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Balboa Press rev. date: 11/19/2013

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. A Very Short Review of 100 years of Grand Prix Motor Racing

2. A Tantalising Question

3. Some Interesting Times in France

4. Factors in Driver Evaluation

5. ‘How Did They Do That?’

6. Drivers and Races Included

7. Down to the Mediterranean

8. Race Results Statistics

9. Daunting Day’s in the Eifel Mountains

10. Initial Evaluation of Included Driver’s Race Results

11. Interesting Interludes in Italy

12. The Racing Car Factor

13. Circuits Over the Years

14. Interpretation of Direct Race Results

15. Memories and Subjective Expert Opinions

16. Other Calculated Objective Analysis of Results

17. The Circuit without a Straight

18. Semi-objective and Subjective Assessment of Drivers

19. Other Countries – Other Great Races and Drivers

20. Overall Weighted Results

21. What if ….

22. Comments on our Greatest Drivers

23. The Effect of the World Wars on Driver’s Careers

24. Special Mentions

Postscript

Race Results and Analysis Charts

A Short Glossary of Motoring Terms

Bibliography

Photographic Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

There are many people to thank for assisting with the completion of this book and I trust I have not omitted anyone in the acknowledgements who has assisted me, however the responsibility for the total evaluation process and the ensuing results, is mine alone.

Certainly, first and foremost huge thanks to my family for all the help they have given me in so many various ways. My wife Sunny has always been supportive and understanding, helping with checking and reading and in many other ways. She has shown real forbearance, with the years that the book has taken to complete, with me crouched over the computer.

But other family members need mentioning too, with my son John helping to steer me through intricate details of statistics and the application of correct analysis and evaluation – to be honest, I had never heard of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, and a number of other concepts that John was able to help me with. His views on the layout and presentation of charts and design of the evaluation process has resulted in a better book. And whilst John is a motor racing enthusiast, my other son Scott is not; but this may have been fortuitus in that he was able to provide different angles and ideas for approaching the presentation of the book – areas such as the thinking about how the non-enthusiasts may view and understand the complexity of analysing motor racing. He was keen to ensure the coherence and flow of the text and the integration of the various vignettes and other longer stories recounted within the book.

Several friends have a keen deep knowledge of and enthusiasm for the sport, which was of real assistance when struggling with the realities of the statistical basis. Bouncing ideas off these friends to get a better view of the right way to proceed, certainly was of real assistance in setting the statistical standards and in sorting the relevant from the irrelevant data. It would be impossible to name everyone who has helped in this way, however there are several friends who should be mentioned. Richard Wright and I have talked about, disagreed, reminisced, attended Grand Prix’s together, and generally discussed motor racing together for over half a century, and with his deep understanding of the sport, fabulous memory for details of events, and with his strong views on the sport, he was my ideal ‘devil’s advocate’ in what I was writing. Where there are subjective views in the book they have been read and checked by Richard, to ensure even-handedness and to maintain balance.

Several friends are still active in motor sport, and were able to provide a competitors perspective about what was important to them personally in evaluation of racing results. Peter Cohen – Still competing in motor racing, and as the 1968 ARDC Club Champion, has a long and involved career in the sport. He helped me form and develop structure with many of the basic decisions in the book, such as relative importance of pole versus fastest lap – how does disqualification affect races entered - when do you deem a driver has competed in a race etc.

As with Peter, David Clarke also helped in forming various decisions on the way to interpret and weight various data used in the statistical analysis. From quite a distance away, another friend Rick Medlyn, helped in keeping me focused on the task by showing continuing interest over these last few years, with encouragement to reach a conclusion, and then to finish the project.

I originally met with Paul Armstrong in the hope that he may be able to assist with the publishing of the book. As he had recently retired from book publishing, this was not to be, but Paul recognised the uniqueness of the books intention, read early chapters and generally gave me the confidence to proceed that only an experienced publisher could do.

Paul introduced me to Fred Vogel who has had many years competing in motor sport and with years of experience with motoring bookshops, took time to carefully think through how to find a publisher who could take the book to publication. His advice was considered and of real value to me.

I was also introduced to Bas Masri BSc (Maths). MAStat, the senior statistician for a large multinational corporation, and his considered professional appraisal of my statistical analysis, gave me confidence that the data analysis and the interpretations were in keeping with correct statistical analysis standards.

I was indeed fortunate in having Teri Kempe to assist in all the editing and checking of the book, laying out the text professionally, and generally supporting the goal that I was aiming for. This special lady who with quiet guidance and the knowledge of preparing many previous books was able to point me in the right direction at the right time, often. Finishing this book without Teri’s assistance, would have been so much more difficult, because there have been so many factors in publishing that I simply knew nothing about.

These have been the people who come to mind in assisting me, and I trust if anyone has been missed, it is simply my oversight, and I offer my sincere thanks to all those people who have provided assistance with this book

Introduction

Most enthusiasts of motor racing have their own views on who they believe to be the ‘best’ racing driver ever. Pretty well every enthusiast really. But how have all these followers of the sport arrived at their particular and rather entrenched mindset? It depends on your age, what country you are from, the style of driving that appeals to you personally, the personality and perhaps the chivalry of a particular driver, or a myriad of other perfectly reasonable reasons. We all have our very own built in biases, which have been formed and solidified over the years and thus become quite unshakeable and impervious to another enthusiast’s arguments or persuasion.

To the best of my knowledge there has not been a book written with the express purpose of logically determining who can be claimed as being the greatest racing driver in automotive history. This book strived to achieve this – the aim has been to arrive at a logical and objective conclusion for our greatest racing driver, based on a range of criteria that meets the wide ranging differentials inherent in motor racing. This objective process, which hopefully provides a realistic outcome, and not one just based on informed (or uninformed) opinion leads to a definite conclusion, – but one which may run counter to ones previously held views.

It is accepted that it is extremely difficult to compare drivers from different era’s, due in no small part to the changes to roads, cars, politics and the commercial imperatives of manufacturers and sponsors, and it thus has been important to develop meaningful data and ‘true to life’ reasoning, to interpret and analyse actual results over the 100 or so years. So, in this regard much of the actual results and calculations have been weighted according to the importance attached to each specific area and extrapolated to arrive at a realistic outcome for each result. By analysing the results in this way – by using various factors and weightings to adjust information – a logical method of evaluation and comparison results.

The original data used is as accurate as it has been possible to ascertain, and in practice, this has proved to be considerably harder than was originally imagined. It is not until one really digs down deep into the history of the sport searching for the relevant entrants and race results that the real complexity begins to emerge.

Whilst the original data therefore is quite accurate as far as can be reasonably ascertained, it is however very much the authors views on the relative importance of each piece of the data and the level of the weightings used, which could be said to stray from pure objectivity. Being very mindful of this, the various weightings and factors used have been thought through very carefully; have been discussed with other enthusiasts; with a number of previous and current competitors; and a number of computer models were developed to test the viability and outcome of the changes. This is the main area where anything other than pure objectivity has played a part.

The various anecdotes and stories in the alternate chapters have been selected by me, and generally singled out to elaborate on the skills or personality of some of the very best drivers, or in some instances to enhance a point or contention made. In any event, if this book has the ability to encourage and stimulate discussion amongst motor racing enthusiasts, either in agreement or in disagreement with the methods used and the final objective result, then the undertaking will have been worthwhile.

CHAPTER 1

A Very Short Review of 100 years of Grand Prix Motor Racing

Before launching into a rather complex and potentially emotive search to try to find out objectively who our greatest driver may be, perhaps a short précis of motor racing from the very beginning of the sport through to the present time may be interesting. Certainly it will show the progressive nature of change that has so marked the 20th century in so many ways – jet travel, man on the moon, computers, medical science, trans national companies and of course the vast improvement of ‘the horseless carriage’ – which is one of the focuses in the book in discovering our greatest driver.

I have not used the word ‘history’ for this chapter, rather I have just tried to note down from each year’s motor racing those races, technical improvements, driver merit and situations that were the most notable for that season. To enable this précis to be clear because of a number of notes being included for each year, every small snippet is separated by a series of full stops, and this means the notes are moving on to something different in that year. So, let’s put on our goggles, gloves and coat and move on out to brave the dusty and unmade roads late in the 19th century.

1894 – 99 The first motor races

The first races for horseless carriages were held in France, with the Paris to Rouen ‘Reliability Trial’ of July 1894 being accepted as the first motoring competition… The first actual motor race was from Paris to Bordeaux and return (1,200Km) in 1895, with Andre Michelin testing his new pneumatic tyres in the race … First Italian race was in May 1895 from Turin to Asti and return … The Automobile Club de France (ACF) was formed in November 1895, and an active and enthusiastic motor sport movement developed … Paris is its centre … Races were mostly run from one town to another.

1900 – 05 The Gordon Bennett races

At the beginning of the new century, a new racing formula was introduced, stipulating car weight between 400 and 1,000 kg, driver and co-driver each weighing at least 60 kg (or ballast), and entry restricted to three cars per country, with minimum distance 550 to 650 km … Thus the sport became truly international … French makes continued to be most successful … The newspaper tycoon Gordon Bennett, (who was better known for sending H.M.Stanley out on his quest to find Dr. Livingstone), sponsored the Gordon Bennett races. A race in Ireland in 1903 used the new style of closed racing circuit, where Camile Jenatzy brought Mercedes their first international success … The 1903 Paris to Madrid race became a disaster and was stopped at Bordeaux after a series of accidents, claiming Marcel Renault’s life amongst others… Motor racing in the United States needed support and in 1904 the Vanderbilt Cup series of races provided some impetus.

1906 The first Grand Prix

After France had won the Gordon Bennett Trophy outright, another award had to be found, and the ACF decided to create an event called a ‘Grand Prix’. This, the first Grand Prix, was held by the ACF on a 103 km circuit near Le Mans introducing a formula stipulating a maximum weight of 1,000 kg. Ferencz Sziz wins for Renault… The first Targa Florio took place in Sicily on the ‘Big’ Madonie circuit of 149 kms. Alessandro Cagno won this first race which with circuit alterations, continued to be used until the 1970’s … The second Tourist Trophy race took place on the Isle of Man in September, won by constructor Charles Rolls, with Arthur Duray winning the inaugural Circuit des Ardennes … The Vanderbilt Cup was again contested at Long Island.

1907 Year of the Italians

Fiat driver Felice Nazzaro won the ACF Grand Prix, the Targa Florio and the Kaiserpreis … An Itala won the ‘Round the World’ race from Peking to Paris by two months … Mercedes won the Ardennes race in Belgium … The Brooklands circuit allowing very high speeds, opened near London in England and racing was held there until 1939.

1908 Mercedes victory at Dieppe

ACF Grand Prix rules changed again with minimum weight now 1,100 kg, and again attempting to reduce engine size - restrictions on bore size of engines. Lautenschlager wins the ACF Grand Prix for Mercedes … Felice Nazzaro won Targa Bologna in a Fiat … Vanderbilt Cup at Long Island was not contested by any Europeans this year, but the inaugural American Grand Prize at Savannah in Georgia was won by Louis Wagner in a Fiat …Thomas car won the New York – Paris race, and Hemery won the St. Petersburg – Moscow race following up with good 2nd placings in the French Grand Prix and in the American Grand Prize … Many twenty four hour long distance races were held in the United States, some on turf surfaced horse-tracks.

1909-10 Less races run due to poor economic conditions

These were crisis years caused by an economic depression which seriously affected the European motor industry… The ACF French Grand Prix was cancelled … A general falling off of racing activity forced technical development to a standstill … Renault withdrew from racing … The ‘Blitzen Benz’ createsd a storm in the United States, and held the Land Speed Record from 1909 to 1922.

1911 The inaugural Indianapolis 500

The first 500 mile race on the Indianapolis track, built two years before, was won by a Marmon. The winning car had motoring’s first rear view mirror … Following the development of the ‘Blitzen Benz’, Fiat chased the records with a monster new car … The first Monte Carlo Rally was held in January … Whilst Victor Hemery won the French Grand Prix in a Fiat S61, it was the performance of the tiny Bugatti 13, which was the point of interest.

1912 The marvellous new Peugeot design

Cars were becoming somewhat more aerodynamically efficient with spare tyres and fuel tanks covered by streamlined tail sections … The 4 cylinder engine designed by a small team for Robert Peugeot, with draughtsman Ernest Henry involved, had two camshafts, a desmodromic system for opening and closing the four valves per cylinder, and was a true milestone in the evolution of the Grand Prix car … The ACF Grand Prix revived and ran again at Dieppe over two days, with Georges Boillot in a Peugeot 76 winning … Peugeots also won the Grand Prix de France with Jules Goux and the Sarthe Cup with Paul Zuccarelli … Other major races were The Targa Florio; and in America the second Indianapolis 500. Also the Vanderbilt Cup was won by Ralph de Palma in a Mercedes, the event where the talented rising star David Bruce-Brown was killed in practice … The American Grand Prize was won by Caleb Bragg in a Fiat S74 … With more events being run, motor racing at last seemed to have picked up after its decline in the years since 1909.

1913 Peugeot’s success continues

The ACF’s new Grand Prix formula stipulated weight limits between 800 and 1,100 kg and fuel economy of no more than 20 litre/100 km … With their modern motors, Peugeot continued their successes with Jules Goux won the Indianapolis 500, Boillot won and Goux second at the ACF Grand Prix … The non-formula Grand Prix de France was won by Paul Bablot with Guyot second, both in Delages … The Targa Florio was won by Felice Nazzaro in a car of his own manufacture … Power output reached 20 bhp/litre. Smaller engines conquered the giants due to these vastly superior bhp/litre figures.

1914 The shadows of war create an astonishing French Grand Prix

The ACF Grand Prix was run at Lyons, with the 1914 formula restricting engine capacity to 4.5 litres, and weight to 1,100 kg which resulted in a great race. With the political tensions at that time the race seemed almost to assume political overtones. Peugeot and Delage had four wheel brakes for the first time. Mercedes still had two wheel brakes but handled the fast corners better. Lautenschlager in a Mercedes won, as he did in 1908, after a battle against Boillot in a Peugeot, driving perhaps his best race … Felice Nazzaro in his Nazzaro car won the Coppa Florio, with the new make Alfa Romeo racing at this event … The French took the first four places at the Indianapolis 500. Thomas was first in a Delage, then Duray in a Peugeot, Guyot in a Delage, and Goux in a Peugeot … This heroic epoch ended with war.

1915 – 16 The World at War

The ACF Grand Prix of July 1914 was the last major race in Europe before the outbreak of the First World War … Three more classic races were held in the United States in 1915 and again in 1916. These were the Indianapolis 500, the Vanderbilt Cup, and the American Grand Prize. All six races were won by European cars - Peugeot (five), or Mercedes cars (one).

1919 – 20 Racing slowly returns to a ravaged Europe

After the war, designers applied the accelerated lessons learnt during the conflict, particularly in metallurgy gleaned from aero industry practice … Ballot built racers for Indianapolis in record time, and the era of eight cylinder engines began. However Peugeot won the Indianapolis 500, as well as the first major post-war race in Europe – The Targa Florio in Sicily … Clearly the advanced pre-war Peugeot designs provided formidable opposition for many years.

1921 The inaugural Italian Grand Prix

The 3 litre Indianapolis formula was adopted with a minimum weight of 800 kg by the ACF for its revived French Grand Prix. Jimmy Murphy won this race in an American Duesenberg, fitted with Hydraulic 4-wheel brakes … Italy conducted her first Grand Prix near Brescia, along the lines of that year’s ACF race at Le Mans. Jules Goux won in a Ballot; however, the company withdrew from racing at the end of the season … The 3 litre formula was abandoned at the end of 1921 … In this post-war period an important theme was the increasing American influence in racing.

1922 The new 2 litre Formula introduced

A 2 litre formula with a minimum weight of 650 kg was adopted as the Grand Prix formula – staying in force until 1925 … New circuits are constructed at Avus near Berlin and Monza outside Milan … Fiat wins both the ACF Grand Prix at Strasbourg (Felice Nazzaro), and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza (Pietro Bordino) with their type 804-404 Fiats … For the first time a massed start was used at the ACF Grand Prix … New 8 cylinder engine for type 29 Bugatti … Giulio Masetti in a Mercedes 18/100 won the Targa Florio … Jimmy Murphy wins the Indianapolis 500 for Duesenberg.

1923 The supercharged engine emerges

The supercharged 8 cylinder type 805-405 Fiats won the third Italian Grand Prix (Carlo Salamano, with Felice Nazzaro 2nd). This is the first time a supercharged car wins a Grand Prix … The Benz car provided two new firsts, being both mid-engined, and with full independent suspension … Voisin cars competed unsuccessfully that year … After the Fiats retire, Segrave in a Sunbeam won the ACF Grand Prix. This is the first Grand Prix win for a British driver … The first 24 hour race was run at LeMans, won by Lagache and Leonard in a Chenard-Walcker … Sitges banked circuit was built near Barcelona in Spain, but was a failure and only used in 1923.

1924 The Italian Alfa Romeo versus the French Delage

Vittorio Jano designed the supercharged 8 cylinder P2 Alfa Romeo that dominated the 1924 and 1925 Grand Prix seasons. This car won at Cremona (Antonio Acari), the ACF French (Giuseppe Campari), and the Italian (Antonio Acari) Grand Prix events … The Bugatti type 35 made its debut at the French Grand Prix at Lyons … With Alfa Romeo and Fiat absent, Segrave in a Sunbeam won the Spanish Grand Prix at San Sebastian … Delage campaigned their V12 type 2LCV, which took second and third (Albert Divo and Robert Benoist) at the French Grand Prix … Porsche designed their M218 Mercedes, an 8 cylinder car, which raced without success at the Italian Grand Prix, and where Zborowski was killed, in one of these cars. Other Mercedes drivers included Alfred Neubauer (later Mercedes Benz team manager) and a talented young man called Rudolph Caracciola … Christian Werner in a 4 cylinder type M7294 Mercedes won the Targa Florio …. Wide adoption of supercharging became standard racing engine practice.

1925 Alfa Romeo beat Delage, and became World Champion manufacturer

In 1925 there was a ‘World Championship’ global series for manufacturers, using an unusual points system and with arbitrary selection of races included in the series … After succeeding in two Grand Prix races, the Belgian Grand Prix (Antonio Ascari) and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza (Count Gastone Brilli-Peri), Alfa Romeo of Milan won the first World Championship … In the ACF French Grand Prix at Montlhery, Antonio Ascari was killed and Alfa Romeo withdrew from the race in a mark of respect, allowing Delage to win (Robert Benoist/Albert Divo) … Alfa Romeo were not present for the Spanish Grand Prix at San Sebastian, with Divo winning in a Delage … The V12 Delage 2LCV was now developing more than 90 bhp/litre, however its chassis was incapable of handling the power. So, with 30 to 40 bhp less, the improved P2 Alfa Romeo was a match for the Delage in 1925 … Costantini in a Bugatti won the arduous Targa Florio … The end of this season also marked the end of the 2 litre formula, which had been well suited to supercharged engines. Engine performances had climbed rapidly from 50 bhp/litre at 4,000 - 4,500 rpm typically in 1921; to 90 bhp/litre at around 6,000 - 7,000 rpm in 1925.

1926 – 27 The wonderful Delage and the 1.5lt. formula

The new formula stipulated 1.5 litre engines and minimum car weight of 600 kg – raised to 700 kg in 1927, with cars no longer having to be two seaters … French manufacturer’s Bugatti, Delage and Talbot dispute this new formula, as Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Sunbeam withdrew at the end of the 2 litre formula … The 100 bhp/litre figure was reached for the first time … With Delage withdrawing their type 15-S-8 cars mid-season due to great exhaust heat discomfort for drivers, most Grand Prix victories in 1926 went to the conventional Bugatti type 39A which won the second World Championship … Bugatti won the ACF French (Jules Goux), Spanish (Goux), and Italian (Jean Charavel) Grand Prix, as well as the Targa Florio (Meo Costantini) … A new competitor in 1926 was the type 26 Maserati which won the 1.5 litre class in the Targa Florio, whilst Rudolph Caracciola won the German Grand Prix in a 1923 Mercedes M218 … The 1926 formula was adopted for Indianapolis where Lockhart won in a Miller car … Daimler and Benz companies amalgamated …

In 1927 after modifications, the Delage 15-S-8 proved unbeatable and won the third World Championship. Robert Benoist on Delage won the ACF French, Spanish, British, and Italian Grand Prix … Also in 1927 Emilio Materassi won the Targa Florio for Bugatti, and the inaugural Mille Miglia was won by Nando Minoia in an OM car … Fiat appeared in one race that year with their remarkable 12 cylinder 806 model which won the Milan Grand Prix (Pietro Bordino), and then never raced again.

1928 Hard economic times again affect racing

The basis for the new formula was not engine size but weight and fuel consumption restrictions. Minimum race distance was to be 600 km and weight to be between 500 and 750 kg … Several firms withdraw from racing due to the world-wide economic crisis … The 8 cylinder supercharged Bugatti 35B dominated the major races … Louis Chiron made a name for himself winning the Spanish and Italian Grand Prix for Bugatti. Grover-Williams won the ACF French Grand Prix, and Albert Divo won the Targa Florio, both in Bugatti … The German Grand Prix was once again run for sportscars and Rudolph Caracciola/Christian Werner won in the new 7.1 litre 6 cylinder Mercedes SS.

1929 Bugatti is dominant car again this year

Grover-Williams and Chiron in Bugatti’s dominated the year … The new formula was only used for two races, with most other races held under unrestricted Formula Libre regulations. This reintroduced the trend to larger capacity engines. 16 cylinder engines were tried … Bugatti obtained two 8 cylinder Miller engines at the end of the racing season, to study their twin camshaft design … Rudolph Caracciola achieved third place at the Monaco Grand Prix, but in a Mercedes SSK sportscar.

1930 Another Bugatti year, with Varzi gaining Maserati’s first GP Victories

Formula changed to increase maximum weight to 900 kg, and to modify the fuel consumption ruling … Bugatti still dominated the racing scene with the type 35B, winning the ACF French, Belgian, and Monaco Grand Prix … Archile Varzi in the 8 cylinder 2.5 litre S/C Maserati 8C-2500’s from Bologna won at San Sebastian and Monza … Alfa Romeo’s ageing P2 was modernized again, and Bugatti’s twin engined Type 45 proved unsuccessful … Tazio Nuvolari won Mille Miglia in Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 being first to average over 100 km/h for the 1,000 km course … Indianapolis finally abandoned the European Grand Prix formula.

1931 The ten Hour rule for Grands Prix

Formula Libre was adopted for Grand Prix races, following on from poorly supported fuel consumption formula … The only stipulation was that a Grand Prix must run for 10 hours, and this was adopted by the ACF French, Belgian, and Italian races; requiring two drivers per car … Monaco however ran their Grand Prix over 100 laps (318 kms) … Alfa Romeo introduced new Grand Prix models, the 8C which also became known as the ‘Monza’ following a win in the Italian Grand Prix – its first Grand Prix outing … This new car broke Bugatti’s dominance … The first twin camshaft Bugatti type 51 appeared … A non-Italian (Rudolph Caracciola) won the Mille Miglia for the first time in Mercedes Benz SSK … 1931 saw the rise of a new star in Tazio Nuvolari.

1932 Alfa Romeo introduce their P3 model

Alfa introduced its new car, the P3, at the Italian Grand Prix … Mercedes Benz withdrew that year and Rudolph Caracciola being released, joined Alfa Romeo … Formula restriction was again one of duration, but with the minimum now 5 hours and the maximum 10 hours … In general the Formula Libre years had made very little impact on technical development – simply increased engine size for more power! … For example the 2.6 litre Alfa Romeo P3 produced 81 bhp/litre, whereas five years earlier the 8 cylinder 1.5 litre Delage developed 110 bhp/litre; and with the Fiat 806 at 123 bhp/litre… Alfa Romeo retired from racing at the end of the season.

1933 Scuderia Ferrari campaign the Alfa Romeo cars in a tragic year

Nuvolari left Alfa Romeo and joined Maserati with their new 8CM 3 litre car … To meet this new Maserati challenge, Alfa Romeo’s P3 cars were finally handed over to Scuderia Ferrari to race on their behalf … Tragic deaths of G. Campari. B. Borzacchini and Count Czaykowski at Monza … Last season of Formula Libre, with races run for 500 kms … Starting positions, which had previously been decided by ballot, had now begun to be based on practice times …. Caracciola had a serious accident in practice for Monaco; but in the race, Varzi and Nuvolari staged an incredible race long duel … The type B Alfa Romeo, the monoposto Maserati and the type 59 Bugatti were between them the final statement of the vintage era of motor racing.

1934 The new 750 kg Formula and the Emergence of the German Cars

New formula called for maximum weight of 750 kg, and retained the 500 km minimum race distance … Revolutionary designs from Mercedes Benz and Auto Union generated new technical advances. This provided clear domination of Grand Prix racing by the two German manufacturers, once early problems had been remedied … Manfred von Brauchitsch won in the Mercedes Benz W25 at the Eifelrennen, in its first race: but all German cars failed at ACF French GP … Mercedes Benz and Auto Union used light weight rigid tubular frames, with independent suspension, whereas the other makers persisted with flexible chassis and rigid axles front and rear … Chassis and suspension design had been virtually neglected in the 1920s and 30s as resources were directed at power gains … A new talent in Guy Moll emerges this season … The main races this year were German, Swiss (inaugural), Italian, Spanish, French, and Monaco GPs as well as the Avusrennen.

1935 Mercedes Benz dominated and Caracciola became official European Champion

Mercedes and Auto Union updated their cars extensively for the 1935 season … Mercedes drivers were the most successful, with Caracciola winning at the Belgian, Swiss, and Spanish Grand Prix; and thus winning the newly introduced European Drivers’ Championship … Mercedes also won Monaco (Luigi Fagioli) and Hans Stuck won the Italian Grand Prix for Auto Union … The surprise of the season was Tazio Nuvolari winning the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in the less powerful, old fashioned P3 Alfa Romeo. His courage, determination and enormous driving skill more than compensated for his technically inferior Alfa Romeo … A talented new Auto Union driver emerged in Bernd Rosemeyer, winning the Czech Grand Prix … The Alfa Romeo ‘Bimotore’ was developed for very fast circuits and achieved several placings, whilst Tazio Nuvolari set a new world kilometre record of 321 km/h in this car.

1936 The rise of Bernd Rosemeyer

This was the year of the 16 cylinder type C Auto Union and of Bernd Rosemeyer. The young Auto Union Driver went from success to success and was idolised in Germany, winning the German, Italian, and Swiss Grand Prix and with wins at the Eifelrennen and the Coppa Acerbo he became the 1936 European Champion … With the 6 litre Auto Union engine developing 520 bhp, a figure of 85 bhp/litre; and the Mercedes Benz 4.7 litre engine developing 494 bhp (104 bhp/litre), the Germans had done it again. Even though the 1936 Mercedes was clearly inferior and withdrew partway through the season, by increasing engine capacity and output within the constraints of the 750 kg formula the Germans maintained their superiority over the Italian cars … Alfa Romeo had introduced the rather bulbous 8 cylinder 3.8 litre type C model at the end of 1935. For 1936 a 12 cylinder 4 litre engine was also available … In Nuvolari’s wonderful hands the type C Alfa won the Hungarian, and Milan Grand Prix, the Coppa Ciano, and the revived Vanderbilt Cup in America … With Caracciola driving Mercedes won only at Monte Carlo and Tunis.

1937 Mercedes fought back and their W125 car was absolutely dominant

After its losses in 1936, Daimler Benz once again produced a successful model for the last year of the 750 kg formula. The straight 8 cylinder supercharged 5.66 litre engine of the W125 Mercedes Benz produced 114 bhp/litre which was impressive for such a large engine, and the car’s power to weight ratio was over 850 bhp/tonne. Driving this new car Rudolph Caracciola won the German, Swiss, Italian and Czech Grand Prix and became European Champion again … Bernd Rosemeyer won the Vanderbilt Cup and British Grand Prix at Donington Park for Auto Union … Alfa Romeo, Bugatti and Maserati were largely unsuccessful during the season … Streamlined cars raced at the Avus, with the fastest average speed achieved at the remodelled banked circuit being 276.4 km/h … There was considerable technical development in the time of this formula in contrast to the 1928 to 1933 period: however tyre technology had certainly not kept pace with this rapid development.

1938 Mercedes master the new 3 litre Formula

For 1938 the Formula called for an increase in weight on a sliding scale between 400 and 850 kg according to engine size. The rules also limited engine size to 4.5 litres unsupercharged, and to 3 litres for supercharged engines. No restriction was placed on fuel … The formula attempted (unsuccessfully) to establish a relationship between supercharged and unsupercharged engines … Mercedes Benz, Auto Union, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Bugatti built 3 litre cars whilst only Delahaye and Talbot fielded 4.5 litre cars … One of the great drivers of that time, Bernd Rosemeyer, died needlessly at the end of January. A genuine ‘natural’ driver who was the idol of the German people, was killed instantly during a record attempt on an autobahn … The Germans dominated in spite of a change in Formula, with only the very fast Maserati 8CTF able to compete on equal terms … Nuvolari moved to Auto Union and won the Italian and British Grand Prix… But this was a Mercedes year with the W154 winning the Swiss, Tripoli, ACF French, and the German Grand Prix; as well as the Coppa Acerbo and the Coppa Ciano … Caracciola won the European Championship for the third time (1935, 1937, and 1938) … Alfa Romeo introduced the type 158, which was campaigned in the 1.5 litre voiturette class.

1939 Hermann Lang was unbeatable and clearly European Champion

There were few changes for this season and Mercedes Benz were clearly the leading cars … Hermann Lang in Mercedes Benz won the Belgian and Swiss Grand Prix, as well as the Pau Grand Prix and the Eifelrennen and became European Champion … Caracciola won the German Grand Prix … Richard Seaman died whilst leading in the wet Belgian Grand Prix … For Auto Union, Hermann Muller won the ACF French, and Nuvolari won the Yugoslavian Grand Prix – several hours after war was declared … Despite alteration of the race regulations to voiturette class for the Tripoli race, Mercedes surprised by appearing with the 1.5 litre W165, and proceeded to win. … An 8 cylinder Maserati won at Indianapolis … Bugatti celebrated one final major victory in 1939 with JP.Wimille/Veyron winning the Le Mans 24 Hour Race.

1940 War again brings racing to a halt in Europe

Many countries were already at war, and most racing had ceased … A shortened Mille Miglia and the Targa Florio were still run in Italy, which was to 1.5 litre voiturette class, as was the Tripoli Grand Prix … The 1940 and 1941 Indianapolis 500 races were held, as America was not in the war at that stage … Enzo Ferrari built his first sportscar – the type 815.

1945 – 46 Racing returns to Europe again

Pre-war racing cars re-appeared after World War II, in spite of the shortages of materials … The first major post-war race meeting was held in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. Jean-Pierre Wimille in a 4.7 litre Bugatti 59/50B won the Coupe des Prisonniers. The Liberation Trophy for 2 litre cars went to Henri Louveau in a Maserati: whilst Amedee Gordini won the 1.5 litre Robert Benoist Trophy. This was in memory of Benoist who had been shot by the Gestapo during the war … Enzo Ferrari engaged Gioacchino Colombo to design a new racing Ferrari … More events were held in 1946, mainly on improvised street circuits – Turin, Nice, Marseilles etc … Maserati and Alfa Romeo with their pre-war 1.5 litre cars won most of these, however, Eugene Chaboud did win the Belgian Grand Prix in a 4.5 litre V12 Delahaye … The Alfa Romeo 158 made its first post-war appearance in 1946, at the St Cloud Grand Prix in Paris, but the race was won by Raymond Sommer in a 4CL Maserati … Drivers such as Sommer, Wimille, Chiron, Varzi, Trossi, Taruffi, and Nuvolari had raced pre-war, and now faced the new guard represented by drivers such as Villoresi, Farina, Cortese, Rosier and Sanesi.

1947 The introduction of Formula One, with Alfa Romeo’s 158 unbeatable

At the end of 1946 the newly formed Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) established new rules and the term ‘Formula One’ was applied for the first time. Maximum capacity was 1.5 litres for supercharged engines and 4.5 litres for unsupercharged … The pre-war supercharged to unsupercharged engine ratio of 1 : 1.5 was insufficient and this new ratio of 1 : 3 was meant to redress the difference. For a few years it was still not enough until the V12 4.5 litre Ferrari began to beat the 1.5 litre supercharged Alfa Romeo 159 in 1951 … In this period the Alfettas were unbeatable winning the Swiss, and Belgian Grand Prix, and at Bari and Milan – the only races they contested; and Jean Pierre Wimille their most successful driver, and considered by many the best driver of his time … Cisitalia built a complicated car to Porsche