Effects of Nazi Germany on Grand Prix Racing

What influence did the involvement of the Germany and the Third Reich have over the grand prix world? The drivers of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union split the driving championships between them from 1934 to the end of racing in 1939. Any driver that was not in one of the silver cars from Germany had to be content with the very occasional race victory when mechanical unreliability hit the Silver Arrows.

The drivers from the Silver Arrows era had their lives and careers greatly shaped by being a part of the grand prix world during the 1930’s. Bernd Rosemeyer, the focal point of the Auto Union driving talent was dead by 1938. Dick Seaman, the only Englishman to drive the Mercedes was dead by 1938. Caracciola sat out the war in Switzerland, but due to increasing effects of bone disease his prewar success was never matched and he lost his battle in 1958. Fagioli would race again in the early years of the Formula One championship after the war, but he was soon pushed aside by younger driving talent, he perished in a minor racing accident in 1952. Hermann Lang lost any chance at prolonged racing success due to World War II, he could not be beaten in 1939 but by the time the war was over time had past him by. Manfred Von Brauchitsch saw his life collapse around him after the war, being a part of a German military family he was even arrested by West Germany on rumors that he was spying for the communist East Germans. Tazio Nuvolari spent much of the 1930’s chasing the Silver Arrows in inferior equipment. He would manage one win in the Auto Union before war stopped racing across Europe and never to saw the same success again. Achille Varzi saw himself dominate grand prix racing in 1934 winning nine times in an Alfa Romeo, while the Silver Arrows were still formulating their challenge. He would switch to Auto Union in 1935 but the pairing never come to fruition for Varzi due to questionable personal relationships and an addiction to morphine that would take him years to overcome which was in part caused by Nazi race fixing.

The French drivers from the era faired better then those involved with the cars from the Axis Powers. Louis Chiron was in active military service for France during World War II. Chiron found the draw of racing too much to avoid and was racing again after the war where he crossed paths with former rival Achille Varzi, now clean and trying to rebuild his reputation. The “Wily Fox” as he was known by the Germans finally hung up his helmet at the age of sixty. A French driver of Jewish origin Rene Dreyfus saw the writing on the wall and knew he could never drive either of the German machines. Like Chiron he joined the French military at the onset of war, but he was given a chance to race in the 1940 Indianapolis 500 and found himself in America when Paris fell to the Nazi’s. He then proceeded to sign up for the U.S. military and found himself back in Europe. After the war was over he went back to America, became a citizen and opened a famous restaurant in New York City.

With the start of war in 1939 many people involved with racing in Germany and Italy turned their efforts from building and running racing cars to fighting the Allied Powers of the world. Italo Balbo was one of the first Axis bureaucrats to meet his demise. Balbo was against the Nazi regime and its increased power over Italy along with the direction that Mussolini was taking the country. The idyllic life that he had created for himself came to an end on June 28, 1940 when he was shot down by Italian anti-aircraft guns. Many people believe that this was a direct order from Mussolini who viewed Balbo as a serious contender to his power in Italy. With the end of the war and the death of Hitler in 1945 Germany and the Nazi’s were defeated. Most of Hitler’s henchmen were either dead or facing criminal prosecution for war crimes. Adolf Huhnlein was dead by 1942, under strange circumstances. The official cause of death was “a long illness” but many believe that he was a victim of a Hitler purge of bureaucrats that were felt to have come under suspicion of disloyalty. Huhnlein was not well remembered by anyone who knew him; he was considered a weak leader who did not have the qualifications to adequately do his job. Professor Ferdinand Porsche, head of the Auto Union team continued life in the automotive world after the war, having already designed one of the most iconic cars of all time, the Volkswagen Beetle, he went on to create another legendary design, the Porsche 911. A design that almost fifty years later continues to be produced largely unchanged. Alfred Neubauer would stay loyal to Mercedes-Benz and would continue to head their racing programs when they eventually resumed years after the war. Neubauer is also credited with devising a system of flags and hand signals to communicate with drivers during the race, telling them position, speed, and race distance.