1939 Grand Prix season

1939 AIACR European Championship European Champion None Officially undeclared due to outbreak of war 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. 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 Caracciola. 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 Caracciola for the lead in the maximum points system.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1939 AIACR European Championship.

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	Driver	Rounds
Auto Union AG	Auto Union	Auto Union Type D	Auto Union 3.0 V12 s		Template:Flagicon Hermann Paul Müller	All
					Template:Flagicon Tazio Nuvolari	All
					Template:Flagicon Rudolf Hasse	All
					Template:Flagicon Georg Meier	1-3
					Template:Flagicon Hans Stuck	2-4
Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz	Mercedes-Benz W154	Mercedes-Benz M163 3.0 V12 s		Template:Flagicon Rudolf Caracciola	All
					Template:Flagicon Manfred von Brauchitsch	All
					Template:Flagicon Hermann Lang	All
					Template:Flagicon Richard Seaman	1
					Template:Flagicon Heinz Brendel	3
					Template:Flagicon Hans Hartmann	4

Season review

File:LangH-MB-W154-1986-08-16.jpg

Mercedes-Benz competed with the W154.

File:Auto Union Typ D (museum mobile 2013-09-03).JPG

The Auto Union D Type.

European Championship Grands Prix

Rd	Date	Name	Circuit	Winning drivers	Winning constructor	Report
1	25 June	Template:Flagicon Belgian Grand Prix	Spa-Francorchamps	Template:Flagicon Hermann Lang	Mercedes-Benz	Report
2	9 July	Template:Flagicon French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux	Template:Flagicon Hermann Paul Müller	Auto Union	Report
3	23 July	Template:Flagicon German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Template:Flagicon Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes-Benz	Report
4	20 August	Template:Flagicon Swiss Grand Prix	Bremgarten	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Pau Grand Prix	Pau	Template:Flagicon Hermann Lang	Mercedes-Benz	Report
10 April	Template:Flagicon Road Championship	Brooklands	Template:Flagicon Arthur Dobson	ERA	Report
7 May	Template:Flagicon Paris Cup	Montlhéry	Template:Flagicon Jean-Pierre Wimille	Bugatti	Report
7 May	Template:Flagicon Finnish Grand Prix	Eläintarharata	Template:Flagicon Adolf Westerblom	Alfa Romeo	Report
21 May	Template:Flagicon Eifelrennen	Nürburgring	Template:Flagicon Hermann Lang	Mercedes-Benz	Report
28 May	Template:Flagicon Grand Prix des Frontières	Chimay	Template:Flagicon Maurice Trintignant	Bugatti	Report
25 June	Template:Flagicon Bucharest Grand Prix	Bucharest	Template:Flagicon Hans Stuck	Auto Union	Report
2 July	Template:Flagicon Remparts Grand Prix	Angoulême	Template:Flagicon Raymond Sommer	Alfa Romeo	Report
7 August	Template:Flagicon Campbell Trophy	Brooklands	Template:Flagicon Raymond Mays	ERA	Report
3 September	Template:Flagicon Belgrade Grand Prix	Belgrade	Template:Flagicon Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union	Report
29 October	Template:Flagicon Gávea Nacional Circuit	Gávea	Template:Flagicon Manuel de Teffé	Maserati	Report

Unofficial championship standings

Pos Driver BEL Template:Flagicon FRA Template:Flagicon GER Template:Flagicon SUI Template:Flagicon Pts 1 Template:Flagicon Hermann Paul Müller Ret 1 2 4 12 2 Template:Flagicon Hermann Lang 1 Ret Ret 1 14 3 Template:Flagicon Rudolf Caracciola Ret Ret 1 2 17 4 Template:Flagicon Manfred von Brauchitsch 3 Ret Ret 3 19 = Template:Flagicon Tazio Nuvolari Ret Ret Ret 5 19 6 Template:Flagicon Rudolf Hasse 2 Ret Ret 20 = Template:Flagicon René Dreyfus 7 4 8 20 8 Template:Flagicon Georg Meier Ret 2 Ret 22 9 Template:Flagicon Raymond Sommer 4 5 Ret 23 = Template:Flagicon Hans Stuck 6 Ret 10 23 11 Template:Flagicon Robert Mazaud 5 6 24 = Template:Flagicon "Raph" 9 5 24 13 Template:Flagicon Giuseppe Farina Ret 7 25 14 Template:Flagicon Paul Pietsch 3 Ret 26 15 Template:Flagicon René Le Bègue 3 27 16 Template:Flagicon Louis Gérard 6 28 = Template:Flagicon Philippe Étancelin 4 28 = Template:Flagicon Luigi Chinetti 8 28 = Template:Flagicon Leonhard Joa 7 28 = Template:Flagicon Hans Hartmann 6 28 = Template:Flagicon Clemente Biondetti 9 28 = Template:Flagicon Kenneth Evans 11 28 = Template:Flagicon John Wakefield 12 28 = Template:Flagicon Robert Ansell 13 28 25 Template:Flagicon Richard Seaman Ret 29 = Template:Flagicon Adolfo Mandirola Ret DSQ 29 = Template:Flagicon Toulo de Graffenried Ret 29 28 Template:Flagicon Yves Matra Ret 30 = Template:Flagicon Luigi Villoresi Ret 30 30 Template:Flagicon Raymond Mays Ret 31 = Template:Flagicon Heinz Brendel Ret 31 = Template:Flagicon Giovanni Rocco Ret 31 Pos Driver BEL Template:Flagicon FRA Template:Flagicon GER Template:Flagicon SUI Template:Flagicon 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