Time Before Time

The FIA’s vaunted Formula One World Championship celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, with gala reunions of all its living champions (well, most of them) and tributes to the grandest of all spectacles, or so they would have us believe. Most serious followers of auto racing history know, however, that while it may not have been called Formula One, Grand Prix racing has existed since virtually the invention of the automobile, and this site chronicles the more than 750 races that qualified for that designation between 1895 and 1949.

Compiled and annotated by Hans Etzrodt and Leif Nellman, the site’s opening page contains relevant notes and summaries of what can be found on the site, with much more detail than many will want, but better to have too much than too little. Scrolling to the bottom of the page will reveal the treasure, embodied in four links: History & Formulae; Part 1 (1895–1916); Part 2 (1919–1933); and Part 3 (1934–1949). The first of these contains a chronology of the various rules and formulae under which the events were held, while each of the others lists the winners of every qualifying race held during the designated time periods. There should be sufficient information available here to keep even the most avid enthusiast happy for many hours.