He was noted for his red helmet and his bad luck, losing a number of other Grands Prix when he was on the very verge of winning (no less than five, by some counts).

His most famous loss was the 1935 German Grand Prix, when a tire blew while he was leading the last lap, handing victory to Tazio Nuvolari in an Alfa Romeo in one of the latter's most famous victories - one of the only times during the reign of the Silver Arrows when a Grand Prix was won by a car other than a Mercedes or Auto Union.

[citation needed] During a bail period in 1955, Brauchitsch defected to East Germany; after his wife Gisela committed suicide a year earlier.

He was put in charge of the East German national motor sport organisation, as well as becoming president of its movement to promote the Olympic ideal.

Following the death of Hermann Lang in 1987, Brauchitsch was regarded as the last surviving member of the pre-war "Silver Arrow" drivers.