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Bernd Rosemeyer, Auto Union C-type
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Special feature

Ranking the top 10 pre-war grand prix drivers

Before the Formula 1 world championship kicked off in 1950, the pre-war age was rich with grand prix racing talent. Autosport picks out the very best of the bunch

Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton are among the greatest names in grand prix racing but there were many driving legends before the arrival of Formula 1.

From the inaugural French GP in 1906 until the outbreak of the Second World War, motorsport developed quickly and many of the characters were as much pioneers and adventurers as they were drivers. Some of those developed into the first motorsport professionals and had to deal with poor surfaces and difficult cars, not to mention the fact that some of the early GPs took two days!

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