European Championship (auto racing)

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The European Championship was the top honour in auto racing prior to the establishment of the World Championship for Drivers after World War II. It was awarded from 1935 through 1939, based on the results of selected Grand Prix races, the Grandes Epreuves, one for each country, each the most important Grand Prix race in that country.

It started out in 1935 with five races, the original participants being the Belgian, German, Italian, Spanish and Swiss Grands Prix. (The French Grand Prix, at that time the most important motor race of all, was left out to begin with because of French pique - it was the Germans who had suggested the Championship!)

In 1936, the Belgian and Spanish races were dropped, and the Monaco Grand Prix added. For 1937, Belgium was added back. In 1938, the Monaco race was cancelled, and the Belgian race turned into a sports car race, but the French Grand Prix was finally added. Finally, in 1939 the Italian race was dropped after it was run for Voiturette cars of 1.5 litre engine displacement, but the Belgian race returned.

The European Championship used a system where basically the places were counted on which a driver finished, at least for the top 3. More points were added for poorer finishes, and interestingly, 8 points were scored by not starting at a race, something which many pilots did with ease. At the end of the year the driver with the least points was the Champion. In 1938, the points awarded for each race were:

  • Win - 1 point
  • 2nd place - 2 points
  • 3rd place - 3 points
  • 4th place through all drivers who complete at least 3/4 of the race distance - 4 points
  • All drivers who complete at least 1/2 of the race distance - 5 points
  • All drivers who complete at least 1/4 of the race distance - 6 points
  • All drivers who complete less than 1/4 of the race distance - 7 points
  • All drivers who did not start in the race - 8 points

A driver could only score points in the car in which he started (an important consideration in those days, when drivers often swapped cars during a race).

European Championship Results (numbers are points)
Year Champion Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth
1935 Grand Prix Season Rudolf Caracciola Luigi Fagioli Tazio Nuvolari Hans Stuck Manfred von Brauchitsch Bernd Rosemeyer
121 20 23 24 25 26
1936 Grand Prix Season Bernd Rosemeyer Hans Stuck Tazio Nuvolari
Achille Varzi		 Rudolf Caracciola
10 13 17 20
1937 Grand Prix Season Rudolf Caracciola Manfred von Brauchitsch Hermann Lang
Christian Kautz
13 15 19
1938 Grand Prix Season Rudolf Caracciola Manfred von Brauchitsch Richard Seaman Tazio Nuvolari
Hans Stuck
13 14 17 20
1939 Grand Prix Season Hermann Lang Rudolf Caracciola Manfred von Brauchitsch Tazio Nuvolari
13 16 18 19

Note 1: There is something of a mystery here, as the published numbers in contemporary reports do not match the numbers calculated using the points scheme given above; e.g. the published reports for 1935 show Caracciola with 16 points.

[edit] Further reading

  • Chris Nixon, Racing the Silver Arrows: Mercedes-Benz versus Auto Union 1934-1939 (Osprey, London, 1986)
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