1939 Grand Prix season

1939 AIACR European Championship
European Champion
None
Officially undeclared due to outbreak of war[1]
Previous: 1938 Next: none
1939 Grand Prix season
Previous: 1938 Next: 1940–1945
Last full season before World War II.

The 1939 Grand Prix season was the seventh AIACR European Championship season. The championship winner was never officially announced by the AIACR due to the outbreak of World War II less than two weeks after the final event in Switzerland. The Italian GP initially had been a fifth event, but it became clear well before the war that it would be cancelled due to construction work. At that time, it was also undecided which scoring system would be used, the old minimum points system that basically counted positions, or the French maximum points system similar to the modern one. Although Hermann Paul Müller would have won the championship on points according to the old system, the president of Nazi Germany's highest motorsports organisation declared Hermann Lang the champion.[1] Lang was clearly the dominating driver in that season, which was acknowledged by the international press. In the first two of the four championship events, both Lang and Müller won once while the other failed to complete 75% of the distance. The German round saw Lang retiring early, and Müller finishing 2nd behind Carraciola. This left Müller in the lead in both scoring systems, as published in magazines, with the Swiss round deciding the outcome. Müller finished 4th behind three Mercedes, which gave him the lead in the old point system, while in front, Lang had beaten Carraciola for the lead in the maximum points system.

Season review

Mercedes-Benz competed with the W154.
The Auto Union D Type.

European Championship Grands Prix

Rd Date Name Circuit Winning drivers Winning constructor Report
1 25 June Belgium Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps Nazi Germany Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Report
2 9 July France French Grand Prix Reims-Gueux Nazi Germany Hermann Paul Müller Auto Union Report
3 23 July Nazi Germany German Grand Prix Nürburgring Nazi Germany Rudolf Caracciola Mercedes-Benz Report
4 20 August Switzerland Swiss Grand Prix Bremgarten Nazi Germany Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Report

Non-championship Grands Prix

Grandes Épreuves are denoted by a yellow background.

Date Name Circuit Winning driver Winning constructor Report
2 April France Pau Grand Prix Pau Nazi Germany Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Report
10 April United Kingdom Road Championship Brooklands United Kingdom Arthur Dobson ERA Report
7 May France Paris Cup Montlhéry France Jean-Pierre Wimille Bugatti Report
7 May Finland Finnish Grand Prix Eläintarharata Sweden Adolf Westerblom Alfa Romeo Report
21 May Nazi Germany Eifelrennen Nürburgring Nazi Germany Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Report
28 May Belgium Grand Prix des Frontières Chimay France Maurice Trintignant Bugatti Report
25 June Romania Bucharest Grand Prix Bucharest Nazi Germany Hans Stuck Auto Union Report
30 July France Remparts Grand Prix Angoulême France Raymond Sommer Alfa Romeo Report
7 August United Kingdom Campbell Trophy Brooklands United Kingdom Raymond Mays ERA Report
3 September Kingdom of Yugoslavia Belgrade Grand Prix Belgrade Kingdom of Italy Tazio Nuvolari Auto Union Report
29 October Brazil Gávea Nacional Circuit Gávea Brazil Manuel de Teffé Maserati Report

Unofficial Championship Standings

Pos Driver BEL
Belgium
FRA
France
GER
Nazi Germany
SUI
Switzerland
Pts[2]
1 Nazi Germany Hermann Paul Müller Ret 1 2 4 12
2 Nazi Germany Hermann Lang 1 Ret Ret 1 14
3 Nazi Germany Rudolf Caracciola Ret Ret 1 2 17
4 Nazi Germany Manfred von Brauchitsch 3 Ret Ret 3 19
= Kingdom of Italy Tazio Nuvolari Ret Ret Ret 5 19
6 Nazi Germany Rudolf Hasse 2 Ret Ret 20
= France René Dreyfus 7 4 8 20
8 Nazi Germany Georg Meier Ret 2 Ret 22
9 France Raymond Sommer 4 5 Ret 23
= Nazi Germany Hans Stuck 6 Ret 10 23
11 France Robert Mazaud 5 6 24
= France "Raph" 9 5 24
13 Kingdom of Italy Giuseppe Farina Ret 7 25
14 Nazi Germany Paul Pietsch 3 Ret 26
15 France René Le Bègue 3 27
16 France Louis Gérard 6 28
= France Philippe Étancelin 4 28
= Kingdom of Italy Luigi Chinetti 8 28
= Nazi Germany Leonhard Joa 7 28
= Nazi Germany Hans Hartmann 6 28
= Kingdom of Italy Clemente Biondetti 9 28
= United Kingdom Kenneth Evans 11 28
= United Kingdom John Wakefield 12 28
= United Kingdom Robert Ansell 13 28
25 United Kingdom Richard Seaman Ret 29
= Switzerland Adolfo Mandirola Ret DSQ 29
= Switzerland Toulo de Graffenried Ret 29
28 France Yves Matra Ret 30
= Kingdom of Italy Luigi Villoresi Ret 30
30 United Kingdom Raymond Mays Ret 31
= Nazi Germany Heinz Brendel Ret 31
= Kingdom of Italy Giovanni Rocco Ret 31
Pos Driver BEL
Belgium
FRA
France
GER
Nazi Germany
SUI
Switzerland
Pts
Colour Result Points
Gold Winner 1
Silver 2nd place 2
Bronze 3rd place 3
Green Completed more than 75% 4
Blue Completed between 50% and 75% 5
Purple Completed between 25% and 50% 6
Red Completed less than 25% 7
Black Disqualified 8
Blank Did not participate 8

References

Etzrodt, Hans. "Grand Prix Winners 1895–1949 : Part 3 (1934–1949)". The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 

Leif Snellman and Hans Etzrodt. "1939". The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing. Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 

Galpin, Darren. "1939 Grands Prix". The GEL Motorsport Information Page. Retrieved 2007-08-05. 

  1. 1 2 Armstrong, Richard. "Unfinished Symphony: Why the 1939 European Championship was never won". 8W. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  2. according to the old minimum points system
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