Alfa narrowly lost the 19th annual French Grand Prix (organized by the French Automobile Club at the Montlhery Autodrome near Paris) following a "furious" contest with Giuseppe Campari's Maserati, losing the lead on the final lap of the event. Nevertheless, Étancelin won a second consecutive Picardy Grand Prix, over a "formidable" Raymond Sommer, and placed second to an equally formidable Tazio Nuvolari at the Nîmes Grand Prix, with win over Jean-Pierre Wimille at the Marne Grand Prix. The new 750 kilogram formula brought the conquering Silver Arrows of Mercedes and Auto Union. Étancelin switched to a Maserati 8CM, earning second places at Casablanca, Montreux, and Nice, with a win at Dieppe. He shared an Alfa with Luigi Chinetti to win Le Mans. Étancelin's 1935 season was no better, with only a third at Tunis. He gave Rudolf Caracciola's Mercedes a tough fight at Monaco in the little 3.7 litre Maserati, but suffered brake fade and came fourth. Driving a Maserati for the Subalpina team, he also had a spectacular accident at the Swiss Grand Prix in Bern, with his car upturned and in flames, but he did not suffer injuries. Entering one of the new 4.4 liter Maseratis in 1936, he was outmatched by the German entrants, suffering retirements in nearly every contest. He won only the Pau Grand Prix, and that was "against modest opposition". He negotiated the 100 laps in 3 hours 21 minutes 22 seconds. In October, Étancelin qualified 6th for the Vanderbilt Cup, which was run over near Westbury, New York, after a qualifier at Roosevelt Raceway in Long Island. By this time he had won the Marne Grand Prix three times. He stayed out of racing in 1937, returning in 1938 solely to share a new Talbot with Chinetti at LeMans, but did not score a win. For 1939, he put his Talbot third at Pau, following Hermann Lang and Manfred von Brauchitsch home. He also scored a fourth place at the French Grand Prix. Étancelin would enter the first motor race held in France postwar, failing to finish at the Bois de Boulogne in an Alfa. He was not able to obtain one of the scarce new racers until 1948, when he purchased a 4½ litre Talbot, and put it second at the Albi Grand Prix, behind Luigi Villoresi in the Maserati. His 1949 season saw second places at the Marseilles Grand Prix (to