Ranking the top 10 pre-war grand prix drivers

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!

For our list of top pre-WW2 GP drivers, we’ve looked at the level of their success, the machinery at their disposal, longevity and standing within their generation.

10. Robert Benoist

Benoist would have been 1927 world champion had there been such a title

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Nationality: French
Main GP years: 1924-29
Major teams: Delage, Bugatti

Many drivers could have taken the 10th slot, not least Pietro Bordino whose relatively modest list of successes did not do justice to his speed. Similarly, Guy Moll’s impressive abilities would probably have got him onto the list had it not been for his untimely death at the 1934 Coppa Acerbo.

Benoist had a longer impact and would have been 1927 world champion had there been such a title, given his domination that season.

A First World War pilot, Benoist started competing after hostilities and soon showed promise with Salmson. He joined Delage and became one of its key drivers in a strong team, finishing third in the 1924 French GP behind team-mate Albert Divo.

Divo and Benoist teamed up to win the following year’s French GP, notable for the death of Antonio Ascari (another candidate for this list), but Benoist really starred in 1927.

Armed with the Delage Type 15, Benoist won four of the five races that counted for the manufacturers’ world championship – and didn’t start the other, the Indianapolis 500. He regularly outpaced the opposition on his way to victory, in the wet and dry, in the French, Spanish, Italian and British GPs.

WF Bradley described him as “undoubtedly the most brilliant French driver in the ‘between-two-wars’ period” in the book Great Racing Drivers edited by David Hodges, but Delage’s financial troubles left Benoist briefly without a drive before joining Bugatti.

Benoist competed sporadically over the next few years and GP success was limited but he did win his last race, the 1937 Le Mans 24 Hours with Jean-Pierre Wimille for Bugatti.

Benoist also ran Bugatti’s racing department before becoming a secret agent to help the French Resistance during the Second World War. He was executed by the Nazis in 1944.

9. Luigi Fagioli

Fagioli was a fiery and combative character and although successful it wasn't to last

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Nationality: Italian
Main GP years: 1930-36
Major teams: Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes

Surely one of the most tempestuous characters in GP history, Fagioli was also fast. He joined Maserati in 1930 and became a force over the next couple of years.

In 1931 he was second to Louis Chiron in the Monaco GP and then won the Monza GP against top opposition from Alfa Romeo and Bugatti. Pickings were slim in 1932 as Alfa dominated, but Fagioli was now an established top-liner, even if he sometimes upset rivals with his robust tactics.

When rival Tazio Nuvolari walked out of the Ferrari-run Alfa Romeo team during the 1933 season to join Maserati, Fagioli went the other way. That meant he got his hands on the Tipo B and Fagioli duly won the Italian GP and Coppa Acerbo. He became champion of Italy that season, no mean feat given the number of quality countrymen against him.

Mercedes returned to GP racing in 1934 but faced a problem. Rudolf Caracciola’s future was still unknown as he continued to recover from his 1933 Monaco crash, while the promising Manfred von Brauchitsch was unproven. Fagioli was the established winner Mercedes boss Alfred Neubauer needed, but it would not be a smooth ride.

Almost immediately the fiery Italian clashed with his new boss. After Fagioli was ordered to allow German von Brauchitsch to win the 1934 Eifelrennen, Fagioli simply abandoned his car.

A charge from the back into second proved Fagioli’s combative side at the French GP, but his W25 suffered brake problems and retired. Fagioli finished second to Hans Stuck’s Auto Union in the German GP, a race in which Caracciola proved that his recovery was going well and that he would soon be a candidate to become team leader again.

Fagioli finally won a race for Mercedes in the Coppa Acerbo, then added the Italian and Spanish GPs, the former thanks to taking over Caracciola’s car when his own failed and the latter after ignoring another team order!

Fagioli began 1935 with a brilliantly dominant performance in the Monaco GP and also won at Avus, but the momentum within the team was moving away from him. With Caracciola returning to form Fagioli had a shouting match with Neubauer in the Belgian GP and again abandoned his car.

Caracciola took the European title and Fagioli was always going to be up against it in 1936 but stayed at the team. Mercedes withdrew before the end of a disappointing campaign and Fagioli’s outings were limited. There were no wins and Fagioli joined Auto Union for 1937. It was not a successful move.

Fagioli allegedly attacked Caracciola with a hammer and a knife following the Tripoli GP and the following races demonstrated he was past his best. Bernd Rosemeyer remained the star of the team and Fagioli would never again be a top-line threat, although he was part of the dominant Alfa Romeo team in 1950.

8. Felice Nazzaro

After a breakout year in 1907, Nazzaro’s biggest triumphs all came with Fiat and was arguably the first true star racing driver

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Nationality: Italian
Main GP years: 1906-24
Major team: Fiat

Nazzaro was one of motorsport’s first great drivers and makes it onto this list ahead of his rivals because of the longevity of his career. He was second in the first French GP in 1906 and was still fighting for victories one world war and a decade and a half later.

Nazzaro started competing before the inaugural French GP and became known as a refined driver with mechanical sympathy and an eye for preparation. Such strengths were important in the days of long events, rough roads and fragile machinery.

A long-time Fiat employee, Nazzaro’s breakout season was 1907 with the 16.3-litre 130hp model. The Italian won three of the year’s big races – the French GP and Kaiserpreis, plus the Targa Florio that featured a strong entry – at a time when similar machines could be used for a variety of events. “Never before had one man won three great races in a single year,” wrote Bradley in Great Racing Drivers.

Nazzaro remained a leading contender, battling for the lead before engine failure in the 1908 French GP and finishing third in that year’s American GP.

After leaving Fiat to set up his own marque, which enjoyed limited success that included a second Targa Florio victory in 1913, Nazzaro returned to Fiat for 1922.

Regulations for the 1922 GP season stipulated a two-litre maximum engine capacity, a world away from the leviathans of Nazzaro’s early days, and he had been largely out of racing for several years. But with the Fiat 804, Nazzaro won the French GP and was second in the Italian race, beaten by rapid team-mate Bordino.

Nazzaro also nearly won the 1923 Italian GP, only losing out to team-mate Carlo Salamano late on as his Fiat failed him. He retired from the following year’s French GP and remained with Fiat after its withdrawal from motorsport as head of experimental road work.

7. Hermann Lang

Former motorcycle racer Lang stepped over from being a Mercedes mechanic to one of its GP drivers

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Nationality: German
Main GP years: 1937-1939
Major team: Mercedes

Lang famously stepped over from being a Mercedes mechanic to one of its GP drivers and quickly became one of the world’s aces.

A former successful motorcycle racer, Lang was given his chance in a Mercedes W25 test, with no previous experience of four-wheeled competition. He impressed enough to become the junior driver on the team while still being Fagioli’s mechanic.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given his inexperience, it took Lang some time to develop over the handful of outings he got across 1935-36, but started to progress when he got a full-time position in 1937 following Fagioli’s departure.

Impressive on fast circuits, Lang won the Tripoli GP (having looked after his tyres better than his rivals) and the Avusrennen, the latter at an average speed of over 162mph. He also took three podium finishes in the European championship in the mighty W125 to finish third in the standings behind team-mates Caracciola and von Brauchitsch.

After winning the Tripoli GP and Coppa Ciano in 1938, the cool-headed and tactically astute Lang was the benchmark driver of 1939. He won the Belgian, Swiss and Pau GPs, as well as the Eifelrennen at the Nurburgring. His victory ahead of Caracciola at Bremgarten was particularly noteworthy as it came in the rain, conditions in which he had previously been weak.

Lang also completed his Tripoli hat-trick, leading Caracciola in a Mercedes 1-2 on the sole outing of the Voiturette-class W165. He had now surpassed his countryman as team leader.

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Controversy over the scoring system and outbreak of the Second World War means Lang was not confirmed as 1939 European champion, but there can be little doubt he was the standout driver of the season.

Of all the drivers on this list, Lang’s standing is probably hit the most by losing his best years to WW2, though he did return and added Le Mans victory to his CV in 1952.

6. Louis Chiron

Chiron took perhaps his greatest victory in the 1934 French GP, driving for Alfa Romeo

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Nationality: Monegasque
Main GP years: 1927-36
Major teams: Bugatti, Alfa Romeo

Chiron began competing in the mid-1920s with Bugatti machinery. He did well enough to find a position on the factory team and was the driver of 1928, winning the San Sebastian, Spanish and Italian GPs among other events.

He should have won his home race, the second Monaco GP, in 1930. Chiron and team-mate Rene Dreyfus broke the lap record as they battled, with Chiron seeming set to win only for a throttle problem to hamper him on the final lap and leave him second.

Chiron got his win in the principality the following year, taking over when team-mate Varzi suffered a puncture and beating Fagioli’s Maserati. He then starred on his way to victory in the well-supported French GP, sharing a Type 51 with Varzi in a race that took more than 10 hours.

Poor luck and the strength of Alfa Romeo prevented much success in 1932. Chiron decided to form a new team with Caracciola, the duo buying a pair of Alfas, but the partnership was short-lived thanks to the German’s serious crash during practice for the Monaco GP.

More bad luck followed at home – shades of Charles Leclerc? – the following year. Now driving an Alfa Romeo P3, Chiron led almost throughout… but was denied on the final tour when his steering broke and he toured in second. Just three months later, however, came one of Chiron’s most famous victories.

Mercedes and Auto Union arrived for the 1934 French GP at Montlhery. They were fast but fragile and Chiron was inspired. He stormed into the lead from the off (perhaps a little too soon, but there was no penalty) and only briefly lost the lead to Stuck’s Auto Union before its engine failed. All the German machines hit trouble trying to chase the flying Chiron, who led an Alfa 1-2-3.

There would be little further successes, but unheralded impressive races followed. Chiron was third in the 1935 Eifelrennen in a P3, beaten only by Caracciola’s Mercedes and Auto Union wunderkind Rosemeyer, and ahead of Fagioli’s W25. “After the race he was congratulated on his drive by several members of the German teams,” said David Venables in First Among Champions: The Alfa Romeo Grand Prix Cars.

Chiron joined Mercedes for 1936 but his timing was poor thanks to the awkward W25K. Although there were flashes of pace, Chiron suffered with poor reliability and soon went into semi-retirement.

“He has been one of the world’s leading drivers for over eight years, and his polished style will always be remembered,” wrote George Monkhouse following Chiron’s decision in 1936.

Chiron returned after WW2, winning the 1947 French GP and finishing second at Monaco the following year. He even started 15 world championship races, taking a podium in the 1950 Monaco GP (where else?!), before retiring from driving and becoming the general manager of the Monte Carlo Rally and Monaco GP.

5. Georges Boillot

After two consecutive French GP wins, Boillot heroically failed to win in 1914 against Mercedes might

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Nationality: French
Main GP years: 1912-14
Major team: Peugeot

The biggest star of the pre-WW1 era, Boillot became a hero of France when he won his home GP for Peugeot in 1912. That success for his relatively small L76 over the Fiat giants sounded the death knell for the big-engined monsters and the start of a more sophisticated approach to automotive design.

An able mechanic who could also assist in design work, Boillot drove with precision. Arguably only David Bruce-Brown, killed in a crash in October 1912, could hope to match him for speed.

Despite delays caused by ignition problems and a burst radiator hose, Boillot charged to victory in the 1913 French GP, leading Jules Goux in a Peugeot 1-2. He also won two lesser events that year, but it is for his biggest defeat that Boillot is perhaps best remembered.

The 1914 French GP remains one of the epic events in motorsport history, 13 teams being represented in the 37-car field. Peugeot was the home favourite, but Mercedes returned to GP racing with a well-prepared, five-car entry for the seven-hour contest.

The race quickly developed into a battle between Mercedes and Boillot. The German team had the advantage of Continental tyres that were more durable than the French car’s Dunlops and better handling, while Peugeot had brakes on all four wheels (instead of the then-usual two) – and the tenacious Boillot.

Max Sailer’s Mercedes led early on, pursued by Boillot, until his engine broke. Boillot moved to the front and, despite his extra pitstops, led going into the closing stages, with three relentless Mercedes still chasing.

“The man was driving as one inspired, driving with every part of himself, with superb skill,” wrote racer and renowned motoring journalist Sammy Davis. “His artistry was superb, his driving magnificent to watch.”

Flinging the car around in contrast to the steady Mercedes, Boillot only lost pace in the closing miles as his Peugeot’s engine finally cried enough, leaving Mercedes to score a 1-2-3 and team-mate Goux to come home fourth, nearly 10 minutes behind victor Christian Lautenschlager.

It would be Boillot’s last GP. The First World War began later that month and Boillot, who became an aero ace, would die when his plane was shot down in 1916.

4. Achille Varzi

Varzi starred for Alfa Romeo and Bugatti before the German domination, but the latter part of his career was overshadowed by drug addition

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Nationality: Italian
Main GP years: 1928-36
Major teams: Alfa Romeo, Bugatti, Auto Union

One of several ex-motorcycle racers on this list, Varzi was a smooth driver. He provided a contrast to the more flamboyant Nuvolari, though they socialised together and Varzi joined Nuvolari’s new team for 1928. Their fierce on-track car rivalry began, with Nuvolari tending to have the upper hand over Varzi, who then decided to buy an ageing Alfa Romeo P2.

Varzi scored some successes with the Alfa, including the Monza GP, and became Italian champion. That got him a seat on the works Alfa team alongside Nuvolari, who beat him in an epic Mille Miglia contest in April 1930. Varzi struck back by winning the Targa Florio despite a small fire in his P2, which had been upgraded by the factory.

Spotting the rise of new firm Maserati, Varzi left Alfa and bought a 26M. He immediately won the Coppa Acerbo, then added the Monza and Spanish GPs to again become Italian champion.

He nevertheless changed steeds again, joining Bugatti. The French firm was past its most successful period, but Varzi still racked up some victories. He won the 1931 French GP, co-driving with Chiron, then battled Nuvolari’s Alfa in the Belgian GP before the Type 51 broke.

Nuvolari’s time had arrived, but Varzi remained at Bugatti and scored one of his greatest victories in the 1933 Monaco GP. Varzi led from pole before being joined by Nuvolari’s Alfa 8C Monza, up from fourth…

“For three and a half hours over 100 laps the two Italians fought a duel which can seldom, if ever, have been equalled,” wrote Chris Nixon in Racing the Silver Arrows: Mercedes-Benz versus Auto Union 1934-39. “Going up the hill to the Casino on the last lap, Varzi held the Bugatti in third [gear] and, engine screaming, passed Nuvolari. Tazio, too, took his revs sky-high, but the effort was too much for the Alfa’s engine and an oil pipe broke.”

Bugatti’s star was waning, however, and there was little further success. Varzi joined the Ferrari-run Alfa Romeo team for 1934, just as the German GP steamroller arrived. Victories were again scarce, though Varzi narrowly won 1934 Tripoli GP from team-mate and rising star Moll, plus the Targa Florio. He picked up enough good results to take his third Italian crown.

Varzi joined Auto Union for 1935 and was soon on the pace, starring in Tripoli and winning the Coppa Acerbo. He continued into 1936, but during the season was introduced to morphine by girlfriend Ilse Engel.

Varzi survived a huge crash at Tunis, but drug addiction soon took hold and his form dropped rapidly – sometimes he even failed to show up. That coincided with the rise of the sensational Rosemeyer, who became 1936 European champion.

Not initially part of the Auto Union team for 1937, Varzi briefly found his way back in, but his health and mental state made it clear his best days were behind him. Varzi did recover from his addiction during WW2 and made a successful return to racing in 1946 with Alfa Romeo, only to die in an accident during practice for the Swiss GP.

It was a cruel end for a smooth driver who rarely made a mistake – the Bern crash was only his second serious accident. In some ways he was the Alain Prost to Nuvolari’s Ayrton Senna, but his tumultuous life meant he probably should have achieved even more.

3. Bernd Rosemeyer

Rosemeyer mastered the tricky Auto Union Type C like no other

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Nationality: German
Main GP years: 1935-37
Major team: Auto Union

“Has there ever been a motor racing phenomenon to match Bernd Rosemeyer?” asked Chris Nixon in Racing the Silver Arrows. “Most assuredly there has not.”

A talented risk-taker, former motorcycle rider Rosemeyer burst onto the scene in 1935, took the European championship – equivalent to the post-war world championship – the following year, then completed just one more season before being killed in a record attempt at the age of 28.

Having impressed in an Auto Union test at the end of 1934, the former DKW (which was part of Auto Union) rider joined as the junior team member the following year. He made his car racing debut at Avus, one of the fastest circuits in the world, in a GP car! He retired following a tyre failure, but Rosemeyer then grabbed everyone’s attention by almost beating Nurburgring master Caracciola in the 1935 Eifelrennen.

His fearless approach led to many incidents, but his speed was obvious and he took his first win in September’s Masaryk GP ahead of Nuvolari’s Alfa Romeo, albeit in the absence of the crack Mercedes team.

Auto Union’s Type C would prove too much for the tricky Mercedes W25K in 1936. Rosemeyer’s season started badly with a shunt in the wet Monaco GP and a couple of fires, but victory in the non-championship but important Eifelrennen got his campaign going. And it was an epic success.

Caracciola led early on in the wet until being overtaken by Nuvolari’s Alfa Romeo and then Rosemeyer before retiring with mechanical issues. As fog descended, Rosemeyer overcame Nuvolari to win. Rosemeyer’s pace in the fog that made parts of the fearsome circuit virtually invisible got even Nuvolari’s attention. “Rosemeyer must have been able to smell his way through the mist” reckoned Motor Sport.

A master of the original Nurburgring, Rosemeyer then added German GP victory there and won the Swiss GP at Bremgarten and Monza’s Italian GP to comfortably take the European crown. He also won the important Coppa Acerbo.

A crosswind during a record attempt pitched Rosemeyer into a fatal crash in January 1938

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The legendary W125 grabbed the initiative back for Mercedes in 1937, but still there were highlights as Rosemeyer led the Auto Union charge. He again won the Eifelrennen and Coppa Acerbo, plus the Vanderbilt Cup and the Donington GP at season’s end when the German machines wowed the British race-going public, though Caracciola regained the European crown.

“In that hellish tempo we imposed on each other everything was mercilessly hard,” wrote Caracciola in his autobiography A Racing Driver’s World. “We did not give a second to each other. It was his wild, stormy youth against the experience of an opponent 10 years older. He wanted to push me off my throne, whereas I wanted to sit there a while longer.”

A crosswind during a record attempt pitched Rosemeyer’s Auto Union into a fatal crash in January 1938, cutting short a career that could have taken him to the top of this list. Even so, Rosemeyer had won nearly a third of his races in GP machinery and ensured his name is remembered among the greats.

“We actually feared for his life in every race,” reckoned Caracciola. “Somehow I don’t think that a long life was in the cards for him. It was bound to get him sooner or later. But to reach his end during a speed record run was something nobody expected.”

“In an era of some very great drivers Rosemeyer was a true phenomenon – a racing driver of genius,” concluded Nixon.

PLUS: Rosemeyer – Germany’s first wunderkind

2. Rudolf Caracciola

Caracciola was considered the most complete driver of his era

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Nationality: German
Main GP years: 1926-39
Major teams: Mercedes, Alfa Romeo

Not perhaps as rapid as Nuvolari or Rosemeyer, Caracciola might have been the most complete driver of the period. Rarely exuberant behind the wheel, the German racked up more major wins than any other and scored his three European crowns after suffering a crash that nearly ended his career.

Working as a salesman, Caracciola bugged his Mercedes paymasters for drives and shot to prominence when he won the 1926 German GP at Avus in appalling conditions. His prowess in such weather would soon make him the first driver to be known as a ‘regenmeister’ and Caracciola’s drive aboard the tricky W25K in the 1936 Monaco GP – in which he beat second-placed Varzi by almost two minutes – is one of the great wet-weather performances.

After some significant successes in the monstrous SSK/SSKL sportscars – most notably in the 1929 RAC TT, 1931 Mille Miglia and 1931 German GP – Caracciola was forced to race Alfa Romeos in 1932 following Mercedes’ withdrawal.

He held his own against Nuvolari and only finished second in the Monaco GP because he backed off to allow the Italian to win in his ailing car, a move designed to attract favour from the works team. That worked and Caracciola won the German GP – ahead of Nuvolari – for the factory.

PLUS: The German who could beat Nuvolari

He formed a new team – Scuderia CC – with friend Chiron to run a pair of Alfa Monzas in 1933, but a heavy practice accident at Monaco put Caracciola out for many months and left him with a permanent limp.

He returned with Mercedes in 1934 but there was still doubt over his ability to handle GP machinery and the death of wife Charlotte in a skiing accident added to his pain. But friend and team boss Neubauer gave Caracciola time and there were signs of improvement during the season.

In 1935, Caracciola and the W25 were the combination to beat. He cleverly won in Tripoli, when all the cars voraciously ate the rubber. In a race of multiple pitstops, Caracciola allowed Nuvolari’s Bimotore Alfa through to battle Varzi’s Auto Union, then swept through to win when both pitted with destroyed tyres.

Rudolf Caracciola, Mercedes-Benz W125

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As well as the non-championship Eifelrennen, Caracciola also won that year’s French, Belgian, Swiss and Spanish GPs to take the European crown.

Major issues of the 750kg maximum weight formula were tyres and brakes as power outputs rose steeply, playing to Caracciola’s measured approach. “The winner of races in this era was not the driver who was fastest into the corners, applying the brakes at the last possible moment, but the one whose experience or instinct allowed him to throttle back sufficiently to take the curves with minimum use of brakes and tyres,” wrote Adriano Cimarosti in The complete history of grand prix motor racing.

Aside from his Monaco masterclass and a win in Tunis, Caracciola suffered a poor 1936 as Mercedes fell behind but bounced back to win the 1937 title in the legendary 650bhp W125. He won the German, Swiss, and Italian GPs – three of the five qualifying rounds – as well as the Masaryk GP against top opposition.

With power and speeds getting too high, GP cars were limited to three-litre supercharged engines for 1938. Caracciola took his third European crown but Lang was becoming an increasing threat and wrestled the initiative away in 1939.

Caracciola still managed to win the German GP for a still unbeaten sixth time in 1939. Five of those came at the Nurburgring, where he also took four Eifelrennens, underlining his mastery of the finest circuit in the world.

Mercedes driver Richard Seaman picked out Caracciola, Rosemeyer and Nuvolari as being in “a class of their own” in Motor Racing, shortly before his death at the 1939 Belgian GP: “Both Rosemeyer and Nuvolari had an absolutely uncanny control over their cars, and could indulge in the most extraordinary ‘carobatics’ to extract themselves from any difficult situations while cornering.

“Caracciola, however, a quiet and unassuming figure against the colourful personalities of his two rivals, is in my opinion the most technically perfect driver in the world. It is very rare that one sees his car cornering in anything but a perfectly controlled slide.”

1. Tazio Nuvolari

Enzo Ferrari put Nuvolari alongside Stirling Moss as the greatest racing drivers he had seen

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Nationality: Italian
Main GP years: 1928-39
Major teams: Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Auto Union

Yet another former motorcycle racer – and a successful one – Nuvolari was listed alongside Stirling Moss as the greatest racing drivers Enzo Ferrari had seen. He was widely regarded as the era’s benchmark.

Nuvolari dabbled in cars before buying a pair of Bugattis to race alongside Varzi. He won the 1928 Tripoli GP but it was when he joined Alfa Romeo that Nuvolari’s career really took off.

Already a winner of the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio epics, Nuvolari was the star of 1932, initially in Alfa’s 8C Monza and then in its pacesetting P3. He won the Monaco, Italian and French GPs, as well as the Coppa Acerbo, and took the European crown.

Nuvolari was often the man to beat in 1933, but frustration with Alfa Romeo reliability meant he jumped ship to Maserati during the season. He immediately started winning, prompting Alfa to release its otherwise mothballed Tipo Bs to Ferrari, who had a volatile relationship with the man from Mantua.

Varzi moved to Auto Union for 1935 and part of his contract forbid Nuvolari joining the team. But Ferrari still wanted Nuvolari. “He knew that Nuvolari offered him the chance of beating the Germans and putting Alfa Romeo back on top,” wrote David Venables in First Among Champions. “Even if the cars were not as good, Nuvolari’s impossible, incredible skill could bring the chance of victory.”

With the arrival of the German wundercars, Nuvolari was thrown into the underdog role. Now back with Ferrari-run Alfas, he enhanced his reputation by being a thorn in the side of the Silver Arrows, taking probably his most famous victory in the wet 1935 German GP driving a Tipo B.

Ranged against nine German machines, Nuvolari’s Alfa ran sixth in the early stages. He then put on a fantastic charge, moving up to second before overtaking Caracciola’s leading Mercedes.

Nuvolari took on the German powerhouses and often triumphed in his underdog role

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A terrible refuelling stop seemed to have put Nuvolari out of contention, but he soon overcame Fagioli, Rosemeyer, Caracciola and Stuck. He set off after leader von Brauchitsch and was handed his legendary victory when the unfortunate German suffered a tyre failure.

Crashes were not infrequent and Nuvolari, a driver prepared to compete while injured, was rarely one to look after the machinery. On one occasion at the high-speed Avus circuit, he fried the tyres in just two laps. “Sometimes Nuvolari’s intense competitiveness seemed to over-ride prudence and sense,” reckoned Venables.

But it was that relentless striving that also allowed Nuvolari to pull off near-miracles. He again beat the German teams at the 1936 Hungarian GP and finally got his chance in silver when he joined Auto Union.

Nuvolari mastered the mid-engined Auto Unions and led the team following the death of Rosemeyer. Mercedes tended to have the edge across 1938-39, but Nuvolari won the Italian and Donington GPs in 1938 and the following year’s Yugoslavian GP. The latter success, perhaps fittingly, made him the last GP winner of the period – in fact, the race in Belgrade took place two days after the outbreak of WW2.

Outside of GP racing, Nuvolari also won on his only Le Mans outing in 1933 and almost pulled off another miracle in the 1947 Mille Miglia at the age of 54, only losing out in his tiny 1100cc Cisitalia when his engine started to cut out.

“Although completely lacking in arrogance, he knew he was the greatest driver in the world; not necessarily the most successful, but the greatest,” wrote John Eason Gibson in Great Racing Drivers. “It was he who proved that the vaunted and single-minded discipline of the German teams could be beaten.”

Chiron's Alfa Romeo leads the new German machines at the start of the 1934 French GP at Montlhery 

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