# 1939 Grand Prix season

* 1939 AIACR European Championship
* European Champion None Officially undeclared due to outbreak of war
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* 1939 Grand Prix season
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* 1938
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* 1940–1945
* Last full season before World War II
The 1939 Grand Prix season was the seventh AIACR European Championship season. The championship winner was never officially announced by the AIACR due to the outbreak of World War II less than two weeks after the final event in Switzerland. The Italian GP initially had been a fifth event, but it became clear well before the war that it would be cancelled due to construction work. At that time, it was also undecided which scoring system would be used, the old minimum points system that basically counted positions, or the French maximum points system similar to the modern one. Although Hermann Paul Müller would have won the championship on points according to the old system, the president of Nazi Germany's highest motorsports organisation declared Hermann Lang the champion. Lang was clearly the dominating driver in that season, which was acknowledged by the international press. In the first two of the four championship events, both Lang and Müller won once while the other failed to complete 75% of the distance. The German round saw Lang retiring early, and Müller finishing 2nd behind Caracciola. This left Müller in the lead in both scoring systems, as published in magazines, with the Swiss round deciding the outcome. Müller finished 4th behind three Mercedes, which gave him the lead in the old point system, while in front, Lang had beaten Caracciola for the lead in the maximum points system.

## Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1939 AIACR European Championship.
| Entrant | Constructor | Chassis | Engine | Driver | Rounds |
| Auto Union AG | Auto Union | Auto Union Type D | Auto Union 3.0 V12 s | Hermann Paul Müller | All |
| Auto Union AG | Auto Union | Auto Union Type D | Auto Union 3.0 V12 s | Tazio Nuvolari | All |
| Auto Union AG | Auto Union | Auto Union Type D | Auto Union 3.0 V12 s | Rudolf Hasse | All |
| Auto Union AG | Auto Union | Auto Union Type D | Auto Union 3.0 V12 s | Georg Meier | 1-3 |
| Auto Union AG | Auto Union | Auto Union Type D | Auto Union 3.0 V12 s | Hans Stuck | 2-4 |
| Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz W154 | Mercedes-Benz M163 3.0 V12 s | Rudolf Caracciola | All |
| Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz W154 | Mercedes-Benz M163 3.0 V12 s | Manfred von Brauchitsch | All |
| Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz W154 | Mercedes-Benz M163 3.0 V12 s | Hermann Lang | All |
| Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz W154 | Mercedes-Benz M163 3.0 V12 s | Richard Seaman | 1 |
| Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz W154 | Mercedes-Benz M163 3.0 V12 s | Heinz Brendel | 3 |
| Daimler-Benz AG | Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz W154 | Mercedes-Benz M163 3.0 V12 s | Hans Hartmann | 4 |

## Season review
### European Championship Grands Prix

| Rd | Date | Name | Circuit | Winning drivers | Winning constructor | Report |
| 1 | 25 June | Belgian Grand Prix | Spa-Francorchamps | Hermann Lang | Mercedes-Benz | Report |
| 2 | 9 July | French Grand Prix | Reims-Gueux | Hermann Paul Müller | Auto Union | Report |
| 3 | 23 July | German Grand Prix | Nürburgring | Rudolf Caracciola | Mercedes-Benz | Report |
| 4 | 20 August | Swiss Grand Prix | Bremgarten | Hermann Lang | Mercedes-Benz | Report |

### Non-championship Grands Prix

Grandes Épreuves are denoted by a yellow background.
| Date | Name | Circuit | Winning driver | Winning constructor | Report |
| 2 April | Pau Grand Prix | Pau | Hermann Lang | Mercedes-Benz | Report |
| 10 April | Road Championship | Brooklands | Arthur Dobson | ERA | Report |
| 7 May | Paris Cup | Montlhéry | Jean-Pierre Wimille | Bugatti | Report |
| 7 May | Finnish Grand Prix | Eläintarharata | Adolf Westerblom | Alfa Romeo | Report |
| 21 May | Eifelrennen | Nürburgring | Hermann Lang | Mercedes-Benz | Report |
| 28 May | Grand Prix des Frontières | Chimay | Maurice Trintignant | Bugatti | Report |
| 25 June | Bucharest Grand Prix | Bucharest | Hans Stuck | Auto Union | Report |
| 2 July | Remparts Grand Prix | Angoulême | Raymond Sommer | Alfa Romeo | Report |
| 7 August | Campbell Trophy | Brooklands | Raymond Mays | ERA | Report |
| 3 September | Belgrade Grand Prix | Belgrade | Tazio Nuvolari | Auto Union | Report |
| 29 October | Gávea Nacional Circuit | Gávea | Manuel de Teffé | Maserati | Report |

## Unofficial championship standings

| Pos | Driver | BEL | FRA | GER | SUI | Pts |
| 1 | Hermann Paul Müller | Ret | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| 2 | Hermann Lang | 1 | Ret | Ret | 1 | 14 |
| 3 | Rudolf Caracciola | Ret | Ret | 1 | 2 | 17 |
| 4 | Manfred von Brauchitsch | 3 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 19 |
| = | Tazio Nuvolari | Ret | Ret | Ret | 5 | 19 |
| 6 | Rudolf Hasse | 2 | | Ret | Ret | 20 |
| = | René Dreyfus | | 7 | 4 | 8 | 20 |
| 8 | Georg Meier | Ret | 2 | Ret | | 22 |
| 9 | Raymond Sommer | 4 | 5 | Ret | | 23 |
| = | Hans Stuck | | 6 | Ret | 10 | 23 |
| 11 | Robert Mazaud | 5 | | 6 | | 24 |
| = | "Raph" | | 9 | 5 | | 24 |
| 13 | Giuseppe Farina | Ret | | | 7 | 25 |
| 14 | Paul Pietsch | | | 3 | Ret | 26 |
| 15 | René Le Bègue | | 3 | | | 27 |
| 16 | Louis Gérard | 6 | | | | 28 |
| = | Philippe Étancelin | | 4 | | | 28 |
| = | Luigi Chinetti | | 8 | | | 28 |
| = | Leonhard Joa | | | 7 | | 28 |
| = | Hans Hartmann | | | | 6 | 28 |
| = | Clemente Biondetti | | | | 9 | 28 |
| = | Kenneth Evans | | | | 11 | 28 |
| = | John Wakefield | | | | 12 | 28 |
| = | Robert Ansell | | | | 13 | 28 |
| 25 | Richard Seaman | Ret | | | | 29 |
| = | Adolfo Mandirola | Ret | | DSQ | | 29 |
| = | Toulo de Graffenried | | | | Ret | 29 |
| 28 | Yves Matra | | Ret | | | 30 |
| = | Luigi Villoresi | | | Ret | | 30 |
| 30 | Raymond Mays | | Ret | | | 31 |
| = | Heinz Brendel | | | Ret | | 31 |
| = | Giovanni Rocco | | | | Ret | 31 |
| Pos | Driver | BEL | FRA | GER | SUI | Pts |
| Colour | Result | Points |
| Gold | Winner | 1 |
| Silver | 2nd place | 2 |
| Bronze | 3rd place | 3 |
| Green | Completed more than 75% | 4 |
| Blue | Completed between 50% and 75% | 5 |
| Purple | Completed between 25% and 50% | 6 |
| Red | Completed less than 25% | 7 |
| Black | Disqualified | 8 |
| Blank | Did not participate | 8 |