Philippe Étancelin (28 December 1896 – 13 October 1981) was a French Grand Prix motor racing driver who joined the new Formula One circuit at its inception. Info from Wiki
Bio by Hans Hulsebos
Etancelin belonged to the best driver of the pre WW2 era winning many many races. His most important one the French GP in 1930.
As soon as Europe emerged from World War II, it was with Lago-Talbot that the veteran competed when it was business as usual again. He won the 1949 Paris GP at Montlhéry and finished second in the final two GPs of the year in Italy and Czechoslovakia. Despite now being in his mid-fifties, “Phi-Phi” was on the grid for the very first world championship race – the 1950 British GP at Silverstone (picture). His privately entered Lago-Talbot T26C was a regular all year and he came fifth in France and Italy.
He still had the pace to qualify fourth at Monaco and Reims and was 10th equal in that inaugural championship. The 1951 season was less successful, he finished eighth on his final championship appearance in the 1952 French GP. Etancelin was also awarded the Légion d’Honneur in a ceremony before the start (have look here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1809662205915918/permalink/1893458470869624/ .
He retired a year later after driving an equally ancient Talbot to a popular third place finish in the non-championship race at Rouen-les-Essarts.
Bio by Stephen Latham
A famed driver, Philippe ‘Phi Phi’ Etancelin raced pre-and-post War and went on to contest twelve World Championship Grands Prix, eleven of them with a Talbot-Lago, and was also a winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. While others were wearing racing caps or hoods, he was noted for wearing a tweed cap, worn back to front, and even when helmets became compulsory he simply wore the cap over the helmet!
Born in Rouen in 1896 he came from a family who had made their wealth in the wool industry and at first had no interest in becoming a race driver. He started racing almost by chance, after purchasing a Bugatti at 20 for personal use and then discovering a taste for speed after high speed drives with his wife on public roads. He began contesting hill climbs and speed trials in 1926 with the Bugatti and then circuit racing in the following year, with wife Suzanne as crew chief. He achieved his first major victory at the Marne GP at Reims and then a third place (and first in class) at the Coppa Florio at St. Brieuc though alongside his racing he also worked as a merchant in the family business.
He did not race much in 1928, though contested the Grand Prix Bugatti and the Marne GP, but made a successful return in 1929, winning the Grand Prix de la Marne. Following this he impressed by winning the Grand Prix du Comminges and the Grand Prix de la Baule races back-to-back and finished the year with fourth in the Tunis GP at Carthage.
In 1930 he was on his fourth Bugatti, another T35C, and early in the year won the three hour Algerian GP in a 1-2-3 Bugatti finish. He retired from the Monaco Grand Prix but went on to win a heat race at Monza and the Circuit de Dauphine at Grenoble while the French GP at Pau saw victory after a storming drive, holding off Henry Birkin’s blower Bentley despite his clutch only hanging on by a bolt by the end. He continued with his ageing Bugatti in 1931 and won the Circuit of Esterel Plage race at St.Raphael and took a second place in the Casablanca Grand Prix. The major races were run over a ten-hour period and at the Italian and French Grands Prix he teamed up with Marcel Lehoux, though they did not finish. Unfortunately, at a Monza GP, he was involved in an accident where there were fatalities. He skidded off the track and hit the embankment and landed in a restricted area, where some spectators were standing. Two people were killed and 14 injured and Philippe escaped with a slight leg injury though was totally devastated. The year saw a switch to an Alfa Romeo and he went on take victories at the Grand Prix du Comminges and the Grand Prix de Dieppe (after competing for four hours).
Despite his successes, there were no places available in the works teams so he continued as a privateer in 1932. He ran at Casablanca again (finishing second), took victory at Picardie plus a third place in Tunis and finished fourth at Nimes despite being involved in a collision at the start and losing a lap changing a wheel. He repeated the Picardie win in 1933 and then led a 1-2-3 Alfa Romeo finish at the Marne GP at Reims (from Wimille and Sommer) though there was frustration in the French Grand Prix at Montlhery as he was leading until passed on the last lap of the 500km event by Giuseppe Campari. He was leading into the last lap by 24 seconds but had been dealing with a clutch problem and it suddenly stuck in neutral and though he finally engaged a gear, Campari’s Maserati had taken victory. The Grand Prix de Nimes saw a tremendous battle with Tazio Nuvolari that went on for lap after lap, despite him having a inferior car but after pushing hard he eventually suffered brake problems and had to ease off and finished second. He was fourth at a hillclimb at Mont Ventoux, retired due to a broken differential at Monaco and Tunis while at Marseilles he was in third place against faster cars though his leg was so chafed by the seat that he needed first aid.
Racing a Maserati 8C in 1934, he had podiums at Casablanca, Montreux, Nice and the Vichy GP and at the Grand Prix de Dieppe he won his heat and went on to dominate the final, lapping the entire field. Making his debut at Le Mans, he partnered Luigi Chinetti and their French blue painted Alfa seemed the most likely to pose a threat to the previous year’s winner, Raymond Sommer. Despite not having had time to run in the car before it arrived, during night time practice Philippe got round at a speed of 149 km/h, which was the fastest lap at Le Mans up to that date. During the race he had to pit to have a radiator repaired though rejoined and eventually re-took the lead but as it progressed there were doubts they would make the finish as it still had a leaking radiator. According to reports, vigorous chewing went on by their pit crew to provide enough gum to block the leak and they went on to win and give Alfa Romeo its fourth consecutive overall victory at Le Mans.
He drove for Scuderia Subalpina in 1935 but the competition had became harder now as the factory Mercedes and Auto-Union teams were dominating and his best results were third and fourth in Tunis and Monaco. However, he impressed at Monaco where he drove a storming race from ninth on the grid to challenge Luigi Fagioli’s Mercedes-Benz for the lead but his brakes overcooked in defending his second place from Rudolf Caracciola’s Mercedes. His season ended ended dramatically though when he suffered a heavy crash at Monza’s Gran Premio d’Italia, a raced that counted towards the Italian and European Championships. Practice for it lasted 5 days and Scuderia Subalpina entered two Maseratis, for him and Farina. During the race his throttle stuck and his car went off the road and through straw bales, over a low stonewall, then somersaulted and crashed into a tree and though the car was wrecked, after being taken to a local hospital x-rays revealed he had suffered just sprains and contusions. He returned at the start of 1936 though suffered retirements in almost every race and his only win came at Pau. The field was mostly made up of private entrants and Scuderia Subalpina (now named Scuderia Torino) were unable to prepare their Maserati in time so he used his own car and entered as an independent driver. He was fortunate to have even started because while en route there his car had burst into flames and was destroyed and he arrived late in the evening in a borrowed car. Only ten cars started, with four reaching the finish, but it proved to be an exciting race and he and R.Sommer strongly contested the lead and swapped position for over 45 laps until Sommer had to retire. In October he travelled to America for the Vanderbilt Cup, at Roosevelt Raceway, in Long Island, and as the European Grand Prix season was over, a number of drivers made the trip to compete in the event, which offered substantial prize money. He qualified sixth of the 45 starters but the race would become harder and harder to follow, due to the multiple pit stops, yellow flags and numerous cars on different laps and one report stated it ”unfolded into a general confusion”. Philippe finished the 75 laps in ninth place while Tazio Nuvolari, the ‘Flying Mantuan’, took the chequered flag.
After temporarily retiring in 1937 he returned with a Lago-Talbot and was now the number 1 driver in the two car team, alongside Rene Carriere. He contested 1938’s French GP at Reims, though retired after 38 laps, and there was a return to Le Mans with Luigi Chinetti but their race ended after a valve broke. He contested Donington’s Tourist Trophy and despite being hampered by gearbox issues and spinning more than once, he finished third overall (and won his class) plus set fastest speed.
In 1939 he was fourth at the French Grand Prix at Reims and third at the Pau Grand Prix. At Pau, Mussolini had forbidden Italian teams and drivers from entering and as Nuvolari could not start Auto Union decided to miss the race as well. Mercedes drivers dominated the race and H.Lang took victory from M.von Brauchitsch, with Philippe coming home third in the Talbot after a long fight with R.Sommer’s Alfa Romeo.
After the War, although now almost 50 he returned to racing and drove an Alfa Romeo in the first post-war race in France. On the 9th September 1945 three races were held in the Bois de Bologne, on the outskirts of Paris, the Robert Benoist Cup (for cars up to 1 1/2 litres engine capacity), the Coupe do la Libération (for 1 1/2 to 3-litre cars) and he contested the Coupe des Prisonniers (for cars over 3-litres). Sixteen cars started and he was running third at one point until forced to retire at three quarter distance. In 1948 he bought a Talbot-Lago T26C and was second at Albi (behind Luigi Villoresi in a Maserati) while in 1949 he won the Grand Prix de Paris at Monthlery (at the age of 52) and had second places at the Marseilles Grand Prix (to Fangio), the European Grand Prix at Monza (to Alberto Ascari), and Czechoslovakian Grand Prix at Brno (to Peter Whitehead in a Ferrari).
He was on the grid for the very first world championship race in 1950, the British GP at Silverstone. Arriving in a Peugeot 203 road car, he qualified fourteenth in his privately entered Lago-Talbot and was eighth at the chequered flag. At Monaco, he qualified fourth, only 4 seconds behind Fangio’s powerful Alfa Romeo, but though he managed to avoid the first lap pile up he was forced to retire after thirty eight laps due to an oil leak. He missed the Indy 500 but then suffered retirements at the Swiss and Belgian races. The French Grand Prix was a shared drive and he qualified fourth, the next fastest after the three works Alfa Romeos. After handing the car over to EAugene Chaboud for the remaining 33 laps they came home fifth, with each of them receiving a world championship point. The season’s final race came at Monza and though he qualified sixteenth the race was one of attrition, with only seven cars finishing and he crossed the line fifth, receiving two points and becoming the oldest driver to score a championship point.
Philippe was back driving as a privateer during 1951 and at the Grand Prix de Pau, after starting ninth in his Talbot-Lago T26C he finished the tough race in fifth place. Following this came Silverstone’s BRDC International Trophy Race though torrential rain cause the race to be halted after six laps while after qualifying third for the Bois de Boulogne he would finish fifth. At Bremgarten for the Swiss Grand Prix there was stiff competition as Ferrari and Alfa Romeo SpA brought four cars each and he ended the race tenth. A week later was the Ulster Trophy at Dundrod in Northern Ireland and though the last car running he had driven steadily to come up from fifteenth at the start to eleventh at the flag. There were retirements in Belgium, France and Germany but at Zandvoort for the Dutch round, he qualified strongly in fourth and with only five cars still running at the end, he used his experience to finish second. He started sixth at Pescara, in Italy, and helped out by the failures of some of the top runners was able to finish the race third. The final round came in the Spanish Grand Prix at Pedralbes where he drove a steady and controlled race to cross the line in eighth place.
His final World Championship appearance came at the French GP in 1952, racing Escuderia Bandeirante’s Maserati A6GCM, alongside Chico Landi and he finished eighth. In a ceremony before the start, he was awarded the Légion d’Honneur by the French Government in recognition of his contribution to motor racing, that spanned four decades. He retired the following year but not before contesting a non championship Grand Prix de Rouen, where he drove an ageing Talbot to a popular third place finish behind N.Farina and M.Hawthorn. He was also third in a shared drive in a Talbot Lago T26GS with Pierre Levegh in the 12-hour Casablanca race. Following this he became a leading light in the Anciens Pilotes organisation and would make appearances at GPs and historic car events though passed away in 1981 in Neuilly sur Sienne.
Philippe Étancelin – Phi-Phi’s hat trick – from 
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