Philippe Étancelin
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Philippe Étancelin at the 1933 Grand Prix de la Marne
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| Born | 28 December 1896 |
|---|---|
| Died | 13 October 1981 (aged 84) |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |
 French |
| Active years | 1950 – 1952 |
| Teams | works and private Talbot-Lago, non-works Maserati |
| Entries | 12 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 3 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1950 British Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1952 French Grand Prix |
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.
Born in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, in Normandy, he worked as a merchant in the winter and raced cars during the summer.
His wife, Suzanne, served as his crew chief. Their three children were placed in a school in Rouen while she traveled with her husband to races around the world. She communicated with Étancelin through French sign language as he raced around the speedway. Suzanne told a reporter Étancelin bought a racing car to celebrate the birth of their second child, Jeanne Alice. He did not intend to race the car but merely use it for pleasure driving around the countryside. The couple once drove it up to a speed of 125 mph (201 km/h). After two years of recreational motoring, Étancelin decided to enter a race.
He began racing a privateer Bugatti in 1926, entering local events and hillclimbs. His first victory was the Grand Prix de la Marne at Reims in 1927, the same year he recorded a third at the Coppa Florio in Saint-Brieuc. He repeated his victory at Reims in 1929, ahead of Zenelli and friend Marcel Lehoux, making a Bugatti sweep of the podium. Étancelin took a victory at the Grand Prix de la Baule and the Antibes Prix de Conseil General.
Nicknamed "Phi Phi", Étancelin also earned Bugatti a win at the 1930 Algerian Grand Prix, followed home by Lehoux. At the Formula Libre French Grand Prix, he defeated Henry Birkin's Bentley, and won the Grenoble Circuit de Dauphine, with a third at Lyons.
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