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!
Share Or Save This Story
Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.
He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.
He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.
More from Kevin Turner
Magazine: F1 Bahrain GP review, MotoGP and IndyCar previews
Magazine: F1 2024 season preview special
Magazine: F1 pre-season testing and the big questions for the top teams
Top 10: Ranking the greatest BTCC drivers of the Super Touring era
Magazine: Aston Martin's plan to challenge Red Bull in F1 2024
Top 10: Ranking the greatest BTCC drivers not to be champion
Magazine: Hamilton’s shock Ferrari F1 switch
How the best and worst races of F1 2023 stacked up to 2022
Latest news
Everything you need to know about the pitwall in F1 - who sits there and what does it do?
Alpine: "Shock" of having slowest F1 car triggered tech revamp
How Bruce McLaren's death shaped more than just his F1 team
Both DS Penske in the points in São Paulo
Autosport Plus
How Bruce McLaren's death shaped more than just his F1 team
Why Mohammed Ben Sulayem believes his mission to create a strong FIA is so important
The Beckham clues as to where Verstappen and Red Bull are heading
How Bearman's F1 debut will help Mercedes on its Hamilton replacement call
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.