Christian Friedrich Lautenschlager (April 13, 1877 – January 3, 1954) was a German

Grand Prix motor racing Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car an ...

champion.

Biography

Born in the village of

Magstadt Magstadt is a town in the German Federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the district (Landkreis) Böblingen. It is located between Renningen and Sindelfingen Sindelfingen (Swabian: ''Sendlfenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg in south Ge ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

near

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Christian Lautenschlager was 14 years old when he began training for a career as a machinist at a company in Stuttgart. After a few jobs, he spent time traveling around Europe, returning to Stuttgart in 1899 at the age 22 where he found work at the

Daimler Daimler is a German surname. It may refer to: People * Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), German inventor, industrialist and namesake of a series of automobile companies * Adolf Daimler (1871–1913), engineer and son of Gottlieb Daimler * Paul Da ...

factory. There, he worked his way up to the positions of mechanic and then of test driver for the company's race cars. In 1908, Lautenschlager was given the opportunity to drive one of three Mercedes race vehicles, and he drove it to victory in the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

Dieppe, France Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newha ...

. He returned to his factory job rather than joining the racing circuit as a permanent driver. In 1914, driving a Mercedes 37/95, he won the Elgin Trophy in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-large ...

. He raced only a few more times until he achieved great fame at

Lyon, France Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

, on July 4, 1914 by winning the

1914 French Grand Prix The 1914 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix motor race held at Lyon on 4 July 1914. Hailed as one of the greatest races of the twentieth century,Georgano 1971, p.87 it was a contest between the French Peugeots and the Germ ...

. As the

assassination in Sarajevo Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were Assassination, assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Se ...

had happened days earlier, international tensions were high, and this was the last Grand Prix before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

started. Considered one of the great Grand Prix events in motor-racing history, 37 cars from 13 manufacturers in 6 different countries competed in the French Grand Prix race that for the first time had a limit on the size of the engine allowed, set at 4.5 litres. Against a top field led by Frenchman

Georges Boillot Georges Louis Frederic Boillot (August 3, 1884 – May 19, 1916) was a French Grand Prix motor racing driver and World War I fighter pilot. Biography Born in Valentigney, Doubs, Boillot was a mechanic by training who began automobile racing in ...

, who had won the race the past two years, after seven gruelling hours, Lautenschlager took victory in the prestigious event for the second time. The onset of

ended Grand Prix motor racing in Europe. In the early 1920s, when Lautenschlager was in his 40s, he raced on a semi-regular basis but without much success. He competed in the 1922

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

, finishing in tenth place. In 1923, he traveled to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to compete in the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

as part of a three-car Mercedes team. Driving vehicles equipped with the first

supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...

engine in the race's history, their effort proved less than successful and Lautenschlager finished 23rd. The following year brought no victories, and he retired from racing. Christian Lautenschlager worked for Daimler until his retirement. He died at the age of 76 in

Untertürkheim Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Swab ...

, a suburb of Stuttgart.

Indy 500 results

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lautenschlager, Christian 1877 births 1954 deaths Indianapolis 500 drivers German racing drivers Grand Prix drivers Mercedes-Benz People from Böblingen (district) Sportspeople from Stuttgart (region) Racing drivers from Baden-Württemberg