1938 French Grand Prix

EC French 3 July 1938 XXXII Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France France Circuit-Reims-Gueux-1926.png 1 4 Reims-GueuxReims, France Public roads 4.857 7.816 64 310.82 500.22 Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Germany Nazi 2:39.2 Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz 2:45.1 Germany Nazi Manfred von Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz Germany Nazi Rudolf Caracciola Mercedes-Benz Germany Nazi Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Germany Nazi The 1938 French Grand Prix (formally the XXXII Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France) was a Grand Prix motor race which was held at Reims-Gueux on 3 July 1938. The race was held over 64 laps of the 7.8 km on course for a total distance of 500 km. Like the other races in the 1938 European Drivers' Championship, the French Grand Prix was held to new regulations for 1938, mandating a maximum engine capacity of 4.5L, or 3L for supercharged engines, as well as minimum weights based on a sliding scale depending on engine size, with the largest engine cars needing to weigh at least 850 kg.Hodges David 1967 The French Grand Prix 121–125 In 1937, France awarded funds to Bugatti, and staged a Million Franc Race contest that was won by the Delahaye 145 of Lucy O'Reilly Schell, driven by René Dreyfus. The same car, again driven by Dreyfus, won the April 1938 Pau Grand Prix season opener for which Mercedes had entered two Mercedes-Benz W154. Lang crashed his car in practise and relieved Caracciola in a pit stop. Mercedes entered three of four cars in the May 1938 Tripoli Grand Prix in May, for a 1-2-3 podium sweep. The fourth car was denied, even though it was supposed to be driven by the Mercedes "Ersatz" driver Richard Seaman and painted British Racing Green, similar to a blue Italian car. When additional funding in 1938 was split among Bugatti and Talbot, Schell withdrew her three cars from the French GP entry list and moved her Écurie Bleue team to Monaco. Thus, very few GP cars showed up in July for the first of four championships Grands Prix of 1938. The new Auto Union racing cars were not as well prepared, fitted with slipstream bodies, and crashed too often. Mercedes won 1-2-3 after Neubauer let his three drivers compete at will instead of issuing team orders to ensure team success. Once again Seaman was left out, which spoilt his championship chances early as the scoring system punished absence. Classification Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 26 DEU Nazi Manfred von Brauchitsch Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W154 64 3:04:38.5 2 1 2 24 DEU Nazi Rudolf Caracciola Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W154 64 3:06:19.3Snellman Leif 1938 Grand Prix Season Part 3 https://www.goldenera.fi/gp3806.htm#15 The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing 27 December 2024 18 February 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200218012719/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gp383.htm#15 dead 3 2 3 28 DEU Nazi Hermann Lang Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W154 63 +1 lap 1 3 4 4 FRA René Carrière Talbot Darracq Talbot T26SS 54 +10 laps 6 4 DNF 2 FRA Philippe Étancelin Talbot Darracq Talbot T26SS 38 Engine 7 5 DNF 10 FRA Eugène Chaboud S.E.F.A.C. S.E.F.A.C. 2 8 7 DNF 16 CHE Christian Kautz Auto Union Auto Union D 1 Accident 4 7 DNF 22 FRA Jean-Pierre Wimille Bugatti Bugatti T59 1 Oil line 9 7 DNF 18 DEU Nazi Rudolf Hasse Auto Union Auto Union D 1 Accident 5 7Sources:1938 French Grand Prix https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1938-french-grand-prix Motor Sport Magazine Database 2 January 2019 References French Grand Prix 1938 1937 Italian Grand Prix 1938 German Grand Prix 1937 French Grand Prix 1939 French Grand Prix Category:French Grand Prix French Grand Prix Grand Prix Category:1938 in French motorsport