1938 Grand Prix season

The 1938 Grand Prix season was the sixth AIACR European Championship season. It saw the introduction of new rules that limited engine size to 3 liter (if supercharged), and added about 100 kg weight, thus some less competitive cars automatically complied to the new rules. The Mercedes-Benz W125 and Auto Union C with their large engines in low weight chassis had to be retired, and Mercedes-Benz W154 and Auto Union D appeared during the season.

The championship was once again won by Rudolf Caracciola, driving for the Mercedes-Benz team. Caracciola won only one of the four events that counted towards the championship, but always finished on the podium.

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1938 AIACR European Championship.

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Driver	Rounds
Talbot Darracq	Talbot	T150C	Talbot 4.5 L6	Philippe Étancelin	1
				René Carrière	1
Societé des Études et de Fabrication d’Automobile de Course	SEFAC	GP	SEFAC 3.0 U8 s	Eugène Chaboud	1
Auto Union AG	Auto Union	C/D D	Auto Union 3.0 V12 s	Christian Kautz	1, 3-4
				Hermann Paul Müller	All
				Rudolf Hasse	1-2
				Tazio Nuvolari	2-4
				Hans Stuck	2-4
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti	Bugatti	T59/50B3	Bugatti 3.0 L8 s	Jean-Pierre Wimille	1
Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes-Benz	W154	Mercedes-Benz M154 3.0 V12 s	Rudolf Caracciola	All
				Manfred von Brauchitsch	All
				Hermann Lang	All
				Richard Seaman	2-4
				Walter Bäumer	2-3
Écurie Bleue Delahaye	Delahaye	145	Delahaye 4.5 V12	René Dreyfus	2-3
				Franco Comotti	2
				"Raph"	3
Alfa Corse	Alfa Romeo	Tipo 312 Tipo 316	Alfa Romeo 3.0 V12 s Alfa Romeo 3.0 V16 s	Giuseppe Farina	2-4
				Clemente Biondetti	2, 4
				Jean-Pierre Wimille	3-4
				Piero Taruffi	4
Scuderia Torino	Alfa Romeo	Tipo 308 8C 2900	Alfa Romeo 3.0 L8 s Alfa Romeo 2.9 L8 s	Piero Taruffi	2-3
				Pietro Ghersi	2, 4
Écurie Du Puy de Graffenried	Maserati	6C 34	Maserati 3.0 L6 s	Toulo de Graffenried	2-3
Count Ernõ Festetics	Alfa Romeo	P3	Alfa Romeo 3.0 L8 s	Ernõ Festetics	2
Arthur Brookes Hyde	Maserati	8CM	Maserati 3.0 L8 s	Arthur Hyde	2
Écurie Helvetia	Maserati	6CM	Maserati 3.0 L6 s	Herbert Berg	2
Paul Pietsch	Maserati	6CM	Maserati 3.0 L6 s	Paul Pietsch	2
Renato Balestrero	Alfa Romeo	Tipo 308	Alfa Romeo 3.0 L8 s	Renato Balestrero	2
				Vittorio Belmondo	4
Scuderia Ambrosiana	Maserati	6CM	Maserati 3.0 L6 s	Franco Cortese	2
Giovanni Minozzi	Alfa Romeo	Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.6 L8 s	Giovanni Minozzi	3
Emilio Romano	Alfa Romeo	Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.6 L8 s	Emilio Romano	3
Squadra Subauda	Maserati	8CM	Maserati 3.0 L8 s	Edoardo Teagno	3
				Prince Bira	3
Auto-Agence SA	Maserati	8CM	Maserati 3.0 L8 s	Adolfo Mandirola	3
Max Christen	Maserati	Tipo 26	Maserati 2.0 L8 s	Max Christen	3
István de Sztriha	Alfa Romeo	Monza	Alfa Romeo 2.6 L8 s	István de Sztriha	3
Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati	8CTF	Maserati 3.0 L8 s	Luigi Villoresi	4
				Carlo Felice Trossi	4
				Goffredo Zehender	4

Rd	Date	Name	Circuit	Winning drivers	Winning constructor	Report
1	3 July	French Grand Prix	Reims-Gueux	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Mercedes-Benz	Report
2	24 July	German Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Richard Seaman	Mercedes-Benz	Report
3	21 August	Swiss Grand Prix	Bremgarten	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes-Benz	Report
4	11 September	Italian Grand Prix	Monza	Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union	Report

Grandes Épreuves are denoted by a yellow background.

Date	Name	Circuit	Winning driver	Winning constructor	Report
10 April	Pau Grand Prix	Pau	René Dreyfus	Delahaye	Report
18 April	Campbell Trophy	Brooklands	Prince Bira	ERA	Report
23 April	Cork Grand Prix	Carrigrohane	René Dreyfus	Delahaye	Report
15 May	Tripoli Grand Prix	Mellaha	Hermann Lang	Mercedes-Benz	Report
29 May	Gávea Nacional Circuit	Gávea	Arthur Nascimento Jr	Alfa Romeo	Report
5 June	Grand Prix des Frontières	Chimay	Maurice Trintignant	Bugatti	Report
12 June	Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix	Gávea	Carlo Maria Pintacuda	Alfa Romeo	Report
7 August	Coppa Ciano	Montenero	Hermann Lang	Mercedes-Benz	Report
15 August	Coppa Acerbo	Pescara	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes-Benz	Report
27 August	Junior Car Club 200 mile race	Brooklands	Johnny Wakefield	ERA	Report
15 October	Mountain Championship	Brooklands	Raymond Mays	ERA	Report
22 October	Donington Grand Prix	Donington Park	Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union	Report

Pos Driver FRA GER SUI ITA Pts 1 Rudolf Caracciola 2 2 1 3 8 2 Manfred von Brauchitsch 1 Ret 3 Ret 15 3 Hermann Lang 3 Ret 10 Ret 17 4 Richard Seaman 1 2 Ret 18 5 Tazio Nuvolari Ret 9 1 20 = Hans Stuck 3 4 Ret 20 = Hermann Paul Müller 4 Ret Ret 20 8 Giuseppe Farina Ret 5 2 21 9 René Dreyfus 5 8 24 = Pietro Ghersi 8 5 24 11 Jean-Pierre Wimille Ret 7 Ret 25 12 Piero Taruffi Ret 6 Ret 26 13 Clemente Biondetti Ret 4 27 14 René Carrière 4 28 = Christian Kautz Ret Ret Ret 28 = Rudolf Hasse Ret Ret 28 = Paul Pietsch 6 28 = Renato Balestrero 7 28 = Franco Cortese 9 28 = "Raph" 11 28 = Emilio Romano 12 28 = Max Christen 13 28 = Edoardo Teagno 14 28 24 Philippe Étancelin Ret 29 = Arthur Hyde Ret 29 26 Adolfo Mandirola Ret 30 = Giovanni Minozzi Ret 30 = Luigi Villoresi Ret 30 = Goffredo Zehender Ret 30 = Vittorio Belmondo Ret 30 31 Eugène Chaboud Ret 31 = Toulo de Graffenried Ret 31 = Franco Comotti Ret 31 = Herbert Berg Ret 31 = István de Sztriha Ret 31 36 Carlo Felice Trossi DSQ 32 Pos Driver FRA GER SUI ITA 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1938 in auto racing.

• 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 2024-12-28.
• Leif Snellman and Hans Etzrodt. "1938". The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
• Galpin, Darren. "1938 Grands Prix". The GEL Motorsport Information Page. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-05.