The 1937 Belgian Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 11 July 1937.
Circuit
It was the last Grand Prix to be held at the circuit's original configuration with the slow corner at the former Belgian-German border. This was bypassed by the fast Raidillon uphill shortcut after the bridge over Eau Rouge river.
Vanderbilt Cup
A week prior, the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup race https://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/races/year/1937_vanderbilt_cup_race was held in the USA, and the German teams split their efforts, while Alfa Romeo's Scuderia Ferrari preferred to race in the US with its main drivers, sending only a B-team to Spa; the Belgians were particularly disappointed that Rudolf Caracciola, who was supposed to come to Belgium, pulled rank, and decided to go to the Cup, which opened up a berth for Hermann Lang. Some German pilots were supposed to take the LZ 129 Hindenburg to return in time to Europe, but this Zeppelin was destroyed to months earlier and the German airship flights were cancelled.
Classification PosNoDriverTeamCarLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints 1 12 Rudolf Hasse Auto Union Auto Union C 34 3:01:22 5 1 2 8 Hans Stuck Auto Union Auto Union C 34 +0:42 3 2 3 2 Hermann Lang Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W125 34 +2:45 4 3 4 6 Christian Kautz Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W125 34 +3:03 7 4 5 16 Raymond Sommer Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo 12C-36 33 +1 Lap 1 4 Ret 4 Manfred von Brauchitsch Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W125 31 Supercharger 2 4 Ret 14 Hermann Paul Müller Auto Union Auto Union C 13 Oil pipe 8 6 Ret 18 Carlo Felice Trossi Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo 12C-36 5 Engine 6 7 DNS 10 Luigi Fagioli Auto Union Auto Union C 8 DNS 20 Franz Gouvion F. Gouvion Maserati 8CM Engine 8
References