Grand Prix of Germany 1937

Bernd Rosemeyer in the Auto Union C in the carousel of the Nürburgring at the Eifel race in 1937

The 10th German Grand Prix took place on July 25, 1937 on the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring . As Grande Épreuve , he was part of the European Grand Prix Championship in 1937 and, according to the provisions of the International Grand Prix Formula (racing cars up to a maximum of 750 kg without fuel, oil, cooling water and tires; 85 cm minimum width; racing distance at least 500 km), he was over 22 Rounds of 22.810 km were held, which corresponded to a total distance of 501.82 km.

The winner was Rudolf Caracciola in a Mercedes-Benz W 125 .

run

After all of the top drivers had returned to Europe from their participation in the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup in New York , the entire Grand Prix elite gathered for a Grande Épreuve for the first time this year at the German Grand Prix . Above all, the Mercedes-Benz team had to make amends after last year's debacle and traveled to the Nürburgring with a total of eight drivers and a corresponding fleet to force a victory in their home race. For the race itself, however, only five of the powerful new Mercedes-Benz W 125 Grand Prix racing cars with the regular line-up, consisting of Rudolf Caracciola , Manfred von Brauchitsch and Hermann Lang , as well as the two "juniors" Richard Seaman and Christian Kautz were used , while Walter Bäumer , Heinz Brendel and Hans Hugo Hartmann were only taken as substitute drivers.

The main competitor, Auto Union , also appeared with five cars from its current Type C Grand Prix model , which were driven by the reigning European champion Bernd Rosemeyer , Hans Stuck , Rudolf Hasse and the young drivers Ernst von Delius and H. P. Müller . Luigi Fagioli , on the other hand, was only involved as a reserve driver because he suffered from excessive rheumatism.

On the other hand, the appearance of Scuderia Ferrari , which on behalf of Alfa Romeo, fielded three of its last year's Grand Prix models Alfa Romeo 12C-36 for Tazio Nuvolari , Giuseppe Farina and Attilio Marinoni , seemed almost modest . However, the racing cars were hardly competitive and the team had hardly played a role in the previous races.

In contrast to most other Grand Prix races, private drivers were still allowed to take part in the German Grand Prix, who with their consistently older Alfa Romeo and Maserati had little chance of success, but on the more than 20 km long Nordschleife at least for a little additional entertainment allegedly 300,000 spectators could provide if the Grand Prix top only came by about every ten minutes.

For the first time, the starting grid was determined after the training times. Fastest with 9: 46.2 minutes was last year's winner Bernd Rosemeyer with Auto Union, who achieved the best starting position. Next to or behind them were Lang, von Brauchitsch and Caracciola, all three of the top Mercedes drivers. The relatively inexperienced Hermann Lang's second place on the grid with 9: 52.2 minutes was viewed with displeasure by his two established team colleagues because they saw him as an “upstart” because of his origins as a “simple” mechanic and assumed he was dated Team with better material has been preferred.

In addition, because of his level-headed driving style , Lang was instructed by Mercedes racing director Alfred Neubauer to pay particular attention to tire wear and to drive through with just one pit stop, while the rest of the team was sent into the race with a two-stop strategy. Nevertheless, it was Lang who got off to the best start and fought for the lead with Rosemeyer on the first lap before letting Caracciola overtake him on the third lap, who in turn set out to pursue the leading Auto Union. In the fourth lap, Rosemeyer hit the barrier with the rear wheel and had to pit with tattered tires, so that with Caracciola in front of Lang and von Brauchitsch three Mercedes were in front. On the fifth lap it even turned into a quadruple lead because Seaman had also passed the Auto Union from von Delius.

For Auto Union, however, the race turned out to be a complete disaster. Stuck had to give up at the end of the field with engine problems and Müller had left the track while trying to avoid his stable mate from Delius and destroyed the car. An absolute catastrophe came on lap six when von Delius collided with the Mercedes at high speed while trying to regain fourth place from Seaman. Both drivers were injured in the accident and von Delius had to be taken to hospital with a broken leg. There complications developed, so that he died of the consequences the next day.

In the meantime, in keeping with his tactical guidelines, Lang had given up his place to von Brauchitsch, but after the seventh lap he was able to take the lead again because the two teammates in front of him had to make their first stops to change tires. Nevertheless, his strategy did not work, because on the ninth lap he had to drive slowly around the course with a puncture and the subsequent tire stop he lost even more time because there were problems starting the engine again.

In the meantime, after his unscheduled pit stop at the start of the race, Rosemeyer had worked his way back through the field and was now in third place after overtaking Nuvolari in the Alfa Romeo. When Caracciola and von Brauchitsch had to make their second tire stops on the 14th and 15th lap respectively, Rosemeyer's deficit had even narrowed so far that he could draw hope again. But despite his superb driving style, he was only 15 seconds closer to von Brauchitsch, so that Mercedes was able to celebrate a double success with Caracciola and von Brauchitsch. At the same time, this was the team's first victory in its home race since Daimler-Benz returned to Grand Prix racing in 1934 .

Results

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Auto Union AG	02	Ernst von Delius	Auto Union C	Auto Union 6.0L V16 compressor	C.
	04th	Bernd Rosemeyer
	06th	Hermann Paul Muller
	08th	Rudolf Hasse
	10	Hans Stuck
		Luigi Fagioli
Daimler-Benz AG	12	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes-Benz W 125	Mercedes-Benz M 125 F 5.7L I8 compressor	C.
	14th	Manfred von Brauchitsch
	16	Hermann Lang
	17th	Walter Bäumer
	17th	Heinz Brendel
	18th	Richard Seaman
	20th	Christian Kautz
	20th	Hans-Hugo Hartmann
Scuderia Ferrari	22nd	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo 12C-36	Alfa Romeo 4.1L V12 compressor	E.
	24	Giuseppe Farina
	26th	Carlo Felice Trossi
	28	Attilio Marinoni
	54	Attilio Marinoni
	54	Joel Thorne
Count Salvi del Pero	28	Vittorio Belmondo	Alfa Romeo 8C-35	Alfa Romeo 3.8L I8 compressor
Giovanni Minozzi	30th	Giovanni Minozzi	Maserati 8CM	Maserati 3.0L I8 compressor
Scuderia Maremmana	32	Renato Balestrero	Alfa Romeo Tipo B / P3	Alfa Romeo 2.9L I8 compressor	P
	38	Franco Cortese	Maserati 6CM	Maserati 1.6L I6
	52	Francesco Severi	Maserati 6CM-34	Maserati 3.7L I6 compressor
Luigi Soffietti	34	Luigi Soffietti	Maserati 6CM-34	Maserati 3.7L I6 compressor
Scuderia Subauda	36	Edoardo Teagno	Maserati 8CM	Maserati 3.0L I8 compressor
Paul Pietsch	40	Paul Pietsch	Maserati 6CM-34	Maserati 3.7L I6 compressor
Kenneth Evans	42	Kenneth Evans	Alfa Romeo Tipo B / P3	Alfa Romeo 2.9L I8 compressor	D.
Hans Ruesch	44	Hans Ruesch	Alfa Romeo 8C-35	Alfa Romeo 3.8L I8 compressor
Count Ernő Festetics of Tolna	46	Ernő Festetics	Maserati 8CM	Maserati 3.0L I8 compressor
	46	Nicola Festetics
László Hartmann	48	László Hartmann	Maserati 8CM	Maserati 3.0L I8 compressor
Raymond Summers	50	Raymond Summers	Alfa Romeo 8C-35	Alfa Romeo 3.8L I8 compressor	M.

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Qualification training		begin
			time	Ø speed
01	Bernd Rosemeyer	Auto Union	9: 46.2 min	140.080 km / h	01
02	Hermann Lang	Mercedes Benz	9: 52.2 min	138.660 km / h	02
03	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Mercedes Benz	9: 55.1 min	137.990 km / h	03
04th	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes Benz	10: 04.0 min	135.950 km / h	04th
05	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo	10: 08.4 min	134.970 km / h	05
06th	Rudolf Hasse	Auto Union	10: 10.4 min	134.530 km / h	06th
07th	Hermann Paul Muller	Auto Union	10: 12.0 min	134.180 km / h	07th
08th	Richard Seaman	Mercedes Benz	10: 12.3 min	134.110 km / h	08th
09	Ernst von Delius	Auto Union	10: 15.1 min	133.500 km / h	09
10	Christian Kautz	Mercedes Benz	10: 15.3 min	133.460 km / h	10
11	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	10: 27.2 min	130.920 km / h	11
12	Hans Stuck	Auto Union	10: 35.3 min	129.260 km / h	12
13	Hans Ruesch	Alfa Romeo	10: 47.2 min	126.880 km / h	13
14th	Paul Pietsch	Maserati	11: 23.1 min	120.210 km / h	14th
15th	Vittorio Belmondo	Alfa Romeo	11: 28.3 min	119.300 km / h	15th
16	Raymond Summers	Alfa Romeo	11:30.1 min	118.990 km / h	16
17th	Francesco Severi	Maserati	11: 47.3 min	116.100 km / h	17th
18th	Attilio Marinoni	Alfa Romeo	12:01.0 min	113.890 km / h	18th
19th	Kenneth Evans	Alfa Romeo	12: 06.0 min	113.110 km / h	19th
20th	Renato Balestrero	Alfa Romeo	12: 43.0 min	107.620 km / h	20th
21st	Ernő Festetics	Maserati	12: 50.1 min	106.630 km / h	21st
22nd	Luigi Soffietti	Maserati	13: 29.4 min	101.450 km / h	22nd
23	László Hartmann	Maserati	13: 53.0 min	98.580 km / h	23
24	Franco Cortese	Maserati	14:04.3 min	97.260 km / h	24
25th	Giovanni Minozzi	Maserati	14: 47.2 min	92.560 km / h	25th
26th	Edoardo Teagno	Maserati	14: 57.0 min	91.550 km / h	26th

Race result

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap	Failure reason	EM points
01	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes Benz	22nd	2	3: 46: 00.1 h	4th			1
02	Manfred von Brauchitsch	Mercedes Benz	22nd	2	+ 46.2 s	3			2
03	Bernd Rosemeyer	Auto Union	34	2	+1: 03.3 min	1	9: 53.4 min		3
04th	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo	22nd	2	+ 4: 03.9 min	5			4th
05	Rudolf Hasse	Auto Union	22nd	2	+ 5: 25.0 min	6th			4th
06th	Christian Kautz	Mercedes Benz	22nd	2	+ 6: 10.2 min	10			4th
07th	Hermann Lang	Mercedes Benz	21st	2	+ 1 lap	2			4th
08th	Hans Ruesch	Alfa Romeo	21st		+ 1 lap	13			4th
09	Kenneth Evans	Alfa Romeo	19th		+ 3 rounds	19th			4th
10	Ernő Festetics	Maserati	18th		+ 4 rounds	21st			4th
11	Attilio Marinoni	Alfa Romeo	18th		+ 4 rounds	18th			4th
12	Vittorio Belmondo	Alfa Romeo	18th		+ 4 rounds	15th			4th
-	Luigi Soffietti	Maserati	19th		DNF	22nd		Engine failure	4th
-	László Hartmann	Maserati	19th		DNF	23		task	4th
-	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	18th		DNF	11		Ignition damage	4th
-	Franco Cortese	Maserati	7th		DNF	24		Chassis broken	6th
-	Ernst von Delius	Auto Union	6th		DNF	9		Collision with Seaman	6th
-	Richard Seaman	Mercedes Benz	6th		DNF	8th		Collision with von Delius	6th
-	Hans Stuck	Auto Union	6th		DNF	12		Engine failure	6th
-	Paul Pietsch	Maserati	6th		DNF	14th		Leak in the fuel tank	7th
-	Giovanni Minozzi	Maserati	4th		DNF	25th		accident	7th
-	Francesco Severi	Maserati	4th		DNF	17th		accident	7th
-	Renato Balestrero	Alfa Romeo	3		DNF	20th		defective fuel pump	7th
-	Edoardo Teagno	Maserati	2		DNF	26th		Axle break	7th
-	Raymond Summers	Alfa Romeo	2		DNF	16		Axle break	7th
-	Hermann Paul Muller	Auto Union	2		DNF	7th		accident	7th

Legend
colour	meaning	EM points
gold	victory	1
silver	2nd place	2
bronze	3rd place	3
neutral	covered more than 75% of the race distance	4th
	covered between 50% and 75% of the race distance	5
	covered between 25% and 50% of the race distance	6th
	covered less than 25% of the race distance	7th
	DNF - race not finished (did not finish)	8th
	not started or not started
black	DSQ - disqualified

Web links

• X Grand Prix of Germany. www.teamdan.com, accessed on August 2, 2014 . 
• Leif Snellman, Felix Muelas: X GRAND PRIZE OF GERMANY. www.kolumbus.fi, May 17, 2014, accessed on August 2, 2014 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The type designation of the Auto Union racing cars was only introduced later by specialist authors to differentiate between the individual models