Rudolf Caracciola won the French Grand Prix at Montlhéry on 23 June 1935. It was a pre-Formula 1 race, but it belongs in the deeper grand prix history that the World Championship later inherited.
France tries to slow the German cars
The 1935 French Grand Prix came during the European Championship era, when Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union were becoming the dominant forces in grand prix racing. The Automobile Club de France tried to reduce speeds at Montlhéry by adding chicanes to the circuit, partly to make the event safer and partly to give the non-German cars a less hopeless afternoon.
The changes helped bring Alfa Romeo and others closer in places, and Tazio Nuvolari set the fastest lap, but Mercedes still won. Caracciola led Manfred von Brauchitsch home by a narrow margin, with Goffredo Zehender third for Maserati, two laps down. It was another step in Caracciola’s path toward the 1935 European Championship.
A pre-F1 lesson in circuit management
The race shows that circuit modification, competitive balance and safety arguments were not invented by modern Formula 1. Montlhéry’s chicanes were an early attempt to manage speed and machinery through the shape of the track itself.
On 23 June, the French Grand Prix produced a Mercedes one-two, but the more interesting story is the attempt to contain a technological advantage through circuit design. Formula 1 would spend much of its later history doing similar things, only with better barriers and more committees.
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