Mercedes team puts up a show for the spectators.

It was the debut for the 3 liter Auto Union cars. The entry list was short with just five German and four French entries. When both Auto Unions and Wimille's Bugatti, the only serious French challenger, retired on the first lap of the race Neubauer let the Mercedes drivers have some internal competition so the spectators would have something to look at. When Lang had a disastrous four minute pit stop and Caracciola had engine trouble, it was von Brauchitsch who led home a 1-2-3 Mercedes victory.

The French GP was back in the GP calendar but moved from Montlhéry to Reims-Gueux. (Note 2)       In February 1938 the French government added another million francs for the Fonds of Course committee to spend on French GP racing. After winning both the Pau and the Cork GP's with their old sports cars, Delahaye was confident that they should get the money to develop their new almost finished Type 155 GP car. To the horror of the Ecurie Bleue team 600,000 francs went instead to the Talbot factory when Anthony Lago showed a couple of blueprints and a promise of a new car for the French GP. Ecurie Bleue owner Lucy Schell threatened to boycott the French GP. The French Automobile club ACF answered by declaring that only manufacturers that started in the French GP could expect further awards. The other French manufacturers, Bugatti, Talbot and SEFAC, showed up for the GP but after a long fight with the ACF and a considerable amount of ill-feeling Lucy Schell moved her team headquarters to Monaco and no Delahayes were present at Reims.

Entries: Of course there was no new Talbot car ready for the race. Anthony Lago removed the lamps and mudguards from two T150C sports cars and entered them for Ètancelin and Carrière.       Auto Union entered two new streamliners for their first GP of the 1938 season. The team was however in complete disorder during practice in which both Müller and Hasse crashed. Hasse destroyed his car completely but was unhurt. Müller's car on the other hand was only slightly damaged but the driver was unable to race further and had to be replaced by Kautz. The team decided to withdraw the streamliners and only after some persuasion from the organizers they finally decided to race two rebuilt 1937 cars with 3 litre engines.       Trossi and Varzi were expected with their works Maserati 8 CTF's but they did not show up. (Note 3) The Alfa Romeos were not present either and as entries as usual were restricted to factory teams the field was down to nine cars. To better the situation Neubauer offered to enter a fourth Mercedes for Seaman but was refused by the organizers, who insisted on a maximum of three cars per team!

Practice: Friday practice times: Seaman (T-car) 2m41.6s, Caracciola (T-car) 2m42.5s (race car) 2m44.4s, Lang 2m44.2s, von Brauchitsch 2m55.0s, Kautz 2m47.1s, Hasse 2m50.9s, Bigalke 2m59.8s, Carriere 2m57.0s, Etancelin 3m00.7s. The S.E.F.A.C. did only a few laps, the fastest somewhere around 3m33s. Saturday practice times can be seen on the grid below.

Race: One can only say about the 1938 French GP that it was a race of great promise but that the organizers had lost no opportunity to turn it into a farce and a farce it also turned out to be.

26 Brauchitsch Mercedes 2m40.7s 28 Lang Mercedes 2m39.2s 24 Caracciola Mercedes 2m41.9s 20 Hasse Auto Union 2m50.9s 16 Kautz Auto Union 2m43.0s 4 Carrière Talbot 2m57.0s 10 Chaboud SEFAC 2 Etancelin Talbot 3m00.7s 22 Wimille Bugatti

Caracciola made a miserable start but the other two Mercedes cars immediately took the lead as the flag dropped. Behind them there were problems for the rest of the field as Hasse spun in Virage de la Garenne and stalled. Hasse pushed the car into a side road and managed to start the engine downhill in reverse gear. However before he managed to put the steering wheel back on, the car had reversed into a field and got bogged down. Meanwhile Kautz had struck a kerb and had to return to the pits with a broken rear axle. Both Auto Unions were out! Wimille also retired on the first lap. Chaboud had for the first and only time managed to complete a lap during a race with the infamous SEFAC only to retire after two laps. 4 cars out, 5 to go.       After two laps the three Mercedes cars were a minute ahead of the two Talbot cars. Neubauer let the Mercedes drivers have some internal competition so the spectators would have something to look at. Order after 10 laps: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 28m35.9s (164.2 km/h) 2. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 28m39.5s 3. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 28m58.5s 4. Carrieré (Talbot) 31m47.1s 5. Etancelin (Talbot) 31m47.6s After a lot of position swapping at the front Caracciola finally took command of the race. Situation after 20 laps: 1. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 56m47.5s (165.4 km/h) 2. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 56m51.8s 3. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 56m54.1s 4. Carrieré (Talbot) 1h03m02.5s 5. Etancelin (Talbot) 1h07m10.3s On lap 20 Lang made his pit stop but due to evaporation in the fuel lines it took four minutes to restart his engine. Caracciola's engine started to run on 11 cylinders and von Brauchitsch took over the lead. Carrière had to stop for brake adjustments. The order after 30 laps: 1. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1h25m47.7s (162.4 km/h) 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h27m40.3s 3. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 1h30m04.9s 4. Etancelin (Talbot) 1h34m00.8s 5. Carrieré (Talbot) 1h38m14.8s Etancelin retired after 38 laps. The order after 40 laps: 1. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 1h55m04.3s (163.2 km/h) 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 1h56m43.2s 3. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 1h58m43.4s 4. Carrieré (Talbot) 2h09m37.5s The order after 50 laps: 1. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2h23m19.8s (163.8 km/h) 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2h25m38.6s 3. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 2h28m11.5s 4. Carrieré (Talbot) 2h41m37.0s The order after 60 laps: 1. Brauchitsch (Mercedes-Benz) 2h52m59.2s (162.9 km/h) 2. Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz) 2h54m33.3s 3. Lang (Mercedes-Benz) 2h56m17.5s Von Brauchitsch went on to give Mercedes-Benz a 1-2-3 victory. Hardly a classic victory but a victory, nonetheless. The only other finisher was Carrière, who finished 10 laps behind.

Villoresi wins two heat race

Race was run in two parts with times added at the end. With the new Alfa Romeos failing to show up and with Mays as only British driver the field was disappontingly small. Mays led the first heat until he had to retire because of the Zoller compressor, leaving Luigi Villoresi to win. Bianco was hospitalized after a bad crash. Villoresi led the second heat but was later passed by Hug, who had retired in the first heat and thus was no treat to Villoresi's overall victory.

Entries:

Practice:

Heat 1:

8 Hug Maserati 3m38s 4 L Villoresi Maserati 3m34s 2 Bianco Maserati 3m31s 6 Soffietti Maserati 3m58s 20 Teagno Maserati 3m50s 12 Mays ERA - 16 L Platé Talbot 4m35s 10 Berg Maserati 4m04s 22 "Raph" Maserati -

Only 9 cars showed up for the Albi race, one of which was Mays' works ERA. Once again the race was run in two parts with times added at the end. There was a nasty accident in the first heat when Bianco (Maserati 4CM) hit a telegraph pole putting himself into hospital. Mays, who initially led, was soon out with compressor problems leaving Villoresi, Teagno, Soffietti and Berg to take the four first places for Maserati. Villoresi led the second heat but Hug (Maserati 4CM), who had retired in the first heat, passed him at lap 7 and went on to win. Villoresi finished second and Soffietti third with Luigi Platé in a 12 year old Talbot GP car finishing 4th and 3rd overall. The overall winner was Villoresi.

Heat 2:

6 Soffietti Maserati 20 Teagno Maserati 4 L Villoresi Maserati 16 L Platé Talbot 10 Berg Maserati 8 Hug Maserati

Cortese scores while Villoresi retires

The race consisted of two heats plus a final. Once Again the Alfa Romeos failed to appear so only Maseratis were seen on the grid. Marazza won the first heat and Villoresi the second. Villoresi led the final until lap 14 when he was passed by Marazza. Villoresi retook the lead three laps later only to retire soon afterwards leaving Cortese to win from Marazza and Ghersi.

Entries:

Practice:

Heat 1:

20 Teagno Maserati 18 Soffietti Maserati 16 Marazza Maserati 28 Ruggeri Maserati 12 Giussani Maserati 32 Minetti Maserati 4 Castelbarco Maserati 30 Ghersi Maserati (Note 1)

There was an all-Maserati entry at Varese. Marazza won the first heat from Teagno and Soffietti and Luigi Villoresi won the second heat from Cortese and Pietsch. In the final Villoresi had to retire leaving Cortese to win half a minute in front of Marazza. Best non Italian was Pietsch in 4th place.

Heat 2:

6 Lanza Maserati 22 L Villoresi Maserati 26 Barbieri Maserati 38 Carnevalli Maserati 14 Cortese Maserati 36 Pietsch Maserati (Note 1)

Final:

22 Villoresi Maserati 14 Cortese Maserati 36 Pietsch Maserati 6 Lanza Maserati 16 Marazza Maserati 20 Teagno Maserati 18 Soffietti Maserati 30 Ghersi Maserati 28 Ruggeri Maserati 26 Barbieri Maserati

Seaman's remarkable triumph

Strong entries from Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union and Alfa Romeo with Nuvolari now racing for Auto Union. Lang took the lead from Nuvolari and Seaman but Nuvolari crashed on the first lap. Lang had to make a pit stop on lap three, leaving over the lead to von Brauchitsch who was closely followed by Seaman while Caracciola was feeling ill and retired. During the second pit stops there was an highly spectacular incident when von Brauchitsch's Mercedes caught fire. He was able to continue but then had a high speed crash and was lucky to walk away unhurt. That left Seaman to take the flag as a surprise winner, the first Grand Prix victory for a British driver since 1924.

Entries: Auto Union had two cars with the new beautiful coachwork and two older cars ready for the GP. The great sensation for the race was that Nuvolari had signed on as first driver for Auto Union. He had made himself familiar with the car during the week before the race and was the fastest Auto Union driver during practice. Auto Union had also been forced to re-employ Stuck but he was the slowest of the Auto Union drivers.       Mercedes-Benz came to Nürburgring with no less than 7 cars, 4 race cars and 3 reserves. That meant that Seaman got his first drive of the year. The team left nothing to the chance and tested how slowly the cars could be run in the event of a puncture without the plugs oiling up. So Caracciola and von Brauchitsch made a very slow lap running side by side while holding a conversation!       During practice von Brauchitsch was sensational and managed with his 3 litre car to come within 2.2 seconds of Rosemeyer's old lap record. That also shows how much development had been made in road holding in just one year. Mercedes drivers took the four top grid positions.       Alfa Corse entered two cars for Farina and Biondetti but they were outpaced by the Germans. Maserati did not even care to enter their 8CTFs for the German home race. Ghersi raced a Alfa Romeo sports car with fenders and headlights removed, the same car that had been used by Dusio at the Mille Miglia.       Delahaye turned up with their new Type 155 monoplace, but the car showed disappointing road holding and for the race itself the old Type 145's were used.

Practice:

Race: Nuvolari was given a tremendous ovation from the spectators as the cars lined up for the start. No one had forgotten his victory in the 1935 race.

16 Seaman Mercedes 10m01.2s 14 Lang Mercedes 9m54.1s 12 Brauchitsch Mercedes 9m48.4s 2 Nuvolari Auto Union 10m03.3s 10 Caracciola Mercedes 10m03.1s 4 Stuck Auto Union 10m23.0s 8 Müller Auto Union 10m19.3s 6 Hasse Auto Union 10m19.1s 26 Biondetti Alfa Romeo 10m50.0s 24 Farina Alfa Romeo 10m31.1s 40 Pietsch Maserati 20 Dreyfus Delahaye 28 Taruffi Alfa Romeo 30 Ghersi Alfa Romeo 36 Hyde Maserati 38 Berg Maserati 44 Cortese Maserati 42 Balestrero Alfa Romeo 32 de Graffenried Maserati 22 Comotti Delahaye

The start lights failed to function properly and never changed from yellow to green so the start became a bit messy as the drivers went off as they liked. Lang took the lead followed by Nuvolari and Seaman, who passed the Italian for second place in the Südkehre. At the Karussel Nuvolari dropped to fourth as Caracciola passed and made it into a 1-2-3 lead for Mercedes-Benz. Coming to Brünnchen Nuvolari spun the Auto Union and crashed. He rejoined at the bottom of the field only to retire soon afterwards as the car had been damaged. The Mercedes team held the four top places after the first lap with Lang leading. But on the third lap Lang was in trouble with oiled up plugs, had to do a pitstop and dropped back to 7th. Von Brauchitsch took over the lead followed closely by Seaman and Caracciola, who was feeling ill.       Now happened the single occasion when Nazis tried to interfere directly with a race. NSKK-Obergruppen-führer (Lieutenant-General) Erwin Kraus claimed that Nuvolari had got oil on his goggles from a Mercedes car and ordered Neubauer to take all his cars in for oil leak checks. Neubauer refused the order as it would destroy Mercedes' chances of a victory whereupon Krauss asked if Neubauer accused him for favouring Auto Union.       The first laps saw a lot of retirements. Berg, Comotti and de Graffenried all had to call it a day and after 3 laps Biondetti, Farina and Taruffi were all out of the race making it into another dark day for Alfa Romeo. Neubauer called in Lang's sick car so that reserve driver Bäumer could have a try.       On lap 7 von Brauchitsch made a 44 second stop for fuel and new rear tyres leaving over the lead to Seaman but on the next lap he was back in the lead as Seaman made his stop. During the pitstop von Brauchitsch had complained that Seaman had been harassing him for the lead and Neubauer gave Seaman an order to hold his position. On lap 10 Caracciola gave up with severe stomach ache and handled over the car to Lang.       Von Brauchitsch was racing flat out and opened up a gap to Seaman, who had decided to take a chance and make a fast second stop for fuel only. At the halfway point the order was von Brauchitsch, Seaman, Lang, Hasse, Stuck and Müller. The Auto Union team was struggling and Müller was called in so that Nuvolari could take over. On lap 14 Hyde's Maserati went into a ditch seriously wounding the driver. On lap 16 von Brauchitsch came in for his second stop and 13 seconds later Seaman also arrived to the pits. Then came one of the most dramatic moments in the history of GP racing.       The mechanic refueling von Brauchitsch's car overdid it and fuel spurted all over the back of the car and driver. When the car was started up, a flash came out of the exhaust pipe and in the next second the entire tail of the car was on fire, mechanics running all over the place. The driver released the steering wheel and threw it in the air, A flash came out of an exhaust pipe and in the next second the car was on fire, mechanics running all over the place. Neubauer pulled von Brauchitsch out of the seat whereupon a mechanic extinguished the driver's burning clothes. Even with flames licking the back of his overall, mechanic Lindenmaier pulled back Seaman's car and restarted it. Neubauer furiously waved his flag and Seaman took off through the smoke and extinguisher foam to take the lead of the race. (Note 1)       Neubauer then rushed to von Brauchitsch's car and helped to push it forward away from the fire, and after that he attacked the fire with his flag! With the help of fire hoses and several portable extinguishers, the mechanics eventually put out the fire, but the car was covered with foam. Korpsführer Hühnlein asked von Brauchitsch if he wasn't going to continue and soon enough the Mercedes was on its way. But coming up to Flugplatz the car crashed in 200km/h, the driver being lucky to escape unhurt. Von Brauchitsch claimed that the steering wheel had come loose but the team guessed that the driver had made a mistake.       The rest of the race went on without incidents except for the fact that the fire foam machine exploded covering the spectators and pits with foam! Seaman had a firm lead over Lang and went on to win the 1938 German GP. Lang followed in second place, Stuck finished third and Nuvolari in Müller's car fourth. Seaman was the first British driver to win a Grand Prix since Segrave in 1924. Seaman's comment was: "I only wish it had been a British car".