Karl Wendlinger (born 20 December 1968) is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n professional racing and former

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver.

Mercedes Juniors

Born in

Kufstein Kufstein (; Central Bavarian: ''Kufstoa'') is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the administrative seat of Kufstein District. With a population of about 19,600 it is the second largest Tyrolean town after the state capital Innsbruck. The great ...

, Wendlinger started his career in

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

and in

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

before entering the German

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

Championship in 1988. After managing tenth place in that inaugural season, Wendlinger won the crown in 1989, which earned him also a drive in the

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

sportscar team for 1990. Driving the

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...

-Mercedes C11 – alongside

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born 18 May 1967) is a German former racing driver. He competed in multiple disciplines including Sportscars, Formula One and DTM. He had his most success in Formula One, entering over 150 Grands Prix and winning three. ...

Mauro Baldi Mauro Baldi (born 31 January 1954) is an Italian former Formula One and endurance driver who raced for the Arrows, Alfa Romeo and Spirit teams. He is one of only 9 drivers who won the Triple Crown in endurance racing. Biography Baldi started ...

and

Jean-Louis Schlesser Jean-Louis Schlesser (born 12 September 1948) is a French racing driver with experience in circuit racing and cross-country rallying. He is known for his wins of many different competitions. He is the nephew of Jo Schlesser, a former Formula On ...

– the quintet managed to achieve fifth place in the 1990

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

standings. In 1991, he continued to race with Mercedes sportscars — alongside a

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

programme with the

Helmut Marko Helmut Marko (born 27 April 1943) is an Austrian former professional racing driver and current advisor to the Red Bull GmbH Formula One teams, and head of Red Bull's driver development program. Biography Marko was born in Graz, Austria. He wa ...

team. Towards the end of the year, Mercedes's team boss

Jochen Neerpasch Jochen Neerpasch (born March 23, 1939 in Krefeld, Germany) is a former German racecar driver and motorsports manager. Career His racing career began in the 1960s, first on Borgward touring car, then with the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans as a first m ...

placed two of his protégés in Formula One. Schumacher went to the

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

team before signing for Benetton, whilst Wendlinger made a low key Formula One debut with the

Leyton House Leyton House Racing was a Formula One constructor that raced in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. It was, in essence, a rebranding of the March team which had returned to F1 in . Leyton House, a Japanese real estate company, had been the team's marque ...

outfit for the final two Grands Prix of the season.

Formula One

1991–1992: Leyton House/March

Wendlinger's Formula One debut came at the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, bringing some money to the beleaguered

team in place of long-serving

Ivan Capelli Ivan Franco Capelli (born 24 May 1963) is an Italian former Formula One driver. He participated in 98 Grands Prix, debuting on 6 October 1985. He achieved three podiums, and scored a total of 31 championship points. From 1998 until 2017 he was a ...

. He qualified in 22nd place in a field of 26, but was unable to convert that into anything more, after he retired due to a big collision at turn one, between himself,

JJ Lehto Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto (; born 31 January 1966), better known as "JJ Lehto", is a Finnish racing driver. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 1995 and 2005. He is also a former Formula One driver. He was a protégé of Finnish 1982 Formula ...

Andrea de Cesaris Andrea de Cesaris (31 May 19595 October 2014) was an Italian racing driver. He started 208 Formula One Grands Prix but never won. As a result, he holds the record for the most races started without a race victory. A string of accidents early in ...

and

Emanuele Pirro Emanuele Pirro (born 12 January 1962) is an Italian racing driver who has raced in Formula One, touring cars and in endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans which he has won a total of five times. Two times Italian Karting Champion (19 ...

. His second race didn't fare much better as the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

circuit was a wash-out, torrential rain leading to a curtailed event. Wendlinger was classified in 20th place, two laps down on eventual winner Ayrton Senna, after aquaplaning on some of the huge puddles of water present that day. Wendlinger was kept at the renamed March team in 1992, alongside

Paul Belmondo Paul Alexandre Belmondo (born 23 April 1963) is a French racing driver who raced in Formula One for the March and Pacific Racing teams. He was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, the son of actor Jean-Paul Belmondo and grandson of scul ...

. The team were struggling financially due to the withdrawal of the

organisation, the only modifications to the 1991 car being reworking the cockpit to accommodate Wendlinger's tall frame. The results were very encouraging, including starting 7th at the opening

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, Richa ...

but results were limited by the team's financial restraints. For example, at the Spanish Grand Prix the drying track at the start saw the Footwork team make a late change of tyres to their cars on the starting grid, incurring a fine but finishing 5th and 7th. Wendlinger was 8th, March being unable to afford the fine for changing his tyres at the same time. However, at the

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix du Canada) is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a sports ...

in Montreal a race of attrition allowed Wendlinger to bring the car home in fourth position, albeit a lap down — but nonetheless a huge result considering the financial troubles his team were in. These three points allowed Wendlinger to finish 12th in the Drivers' Championship ahead of respected names such as

Thierry Boutsen Thierry Marc Boutsen (born 13 July 1957) is a Belgian former racing driver who raced for the Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan teams in Formula One. He competed in 164 World Championship Grands Prix (163 starts), winning three rac ...

Johnny Herbert John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for seven different teams, winning three races and placing 4th in t ...

and former Brabham and Tyrrell driver

Stefano Modena Stefano Modena (born 12 May 1963) is a former racing driver from Italy. He participated in 81 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on November 15, 1987. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 17 championship points. Career Modena was born in ...

1993–1995: Sauber

For 1993, Wendlinger was re-united with

Peter Sauber Peter Sauber (born 13 October 1943) is a retired Swiss motorsport executive. He was the team principal and owner of various motorsports teams, most visibly the eponymous Sauber Motorsport, Sauber Formula One team. Motorsport career After being tr ...

, who that year had become a Formula One team owner. Much was expected of the team and early on Wendlinger and teammate

mixed with the front runners. Initially he was out-paced by the Finn, who scored points in two of the first four races though some of this was down to bad luck; Wendlinger had qualified 5th at Donington for example, only to be eliminated by

Michael Andretti Michael Mario Andretti (born October 5, 1962) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART PP ...

on the first lap. At the

Monaco Grand Prix The Monaco Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Monaco) is a Formula One motor racing event held annually on the Circuit de Monaco, in late May or early June. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigiou ...

Wendlinger and Lehto collided, the team blaming the Finn. After that, Wendlinger's results improved. He scored his first point of the season in the next round and added three more points scores — the best being 4th at the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

after a long battle with Andretti. Other points finishes in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

helped give Wendlinger 12th in the Drivers' Championship again with seven points — two points and a place ahead of the more experienced Lehto. For 1994, Wendlinger was retained as Mercedes made their official return to Formula One, buying a stake in

Ilmor Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...

and becoming the team's engine supplier.

arrived in place of Lehto. The season started well for Wendlinger: He scored a point in the first race of the year at

Interlagos Interlagos is a neighborhood located in the district of Socorro in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Its name comes from the fact that the region is located between two large reservoirs, Guarapiranga and Billings, built in the early 20th century ...

and drove to fourth place in the

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

race, an event marred by the deaths of both Wendlinger's countryman

Roland Ratzenberger Roland Ratzenberger (; 4 July 1960 – 30 April 1994) was an Austrian racing driver who raced in various categories of motorsport, including British Formula 3000, Japanese Formula 3000 and Formula One. Having had sporadic success throughout t ...

and the 3-times world champion

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...

. The next race was in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

for the fourth round of the Championship. During the first practice session, Wendlinger exited the tunnel and lost control of the car under braking for the Nouvelle Chicane. The Sauber, sliding sideways, hit a barrier with considerable force; the barrier was protected by large plastic containers that were supposed to be filled with water, but weren't. Wendlinger's head struck the metal crash barrier, and

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

doctors found him unconscious. Although his vital signs were quickly stabilized, he remained in a coma for several weeks and did not drive in a race for the rest of the year. He had planned to make his comeback at the

Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the ...

, but pre-race testing revealed his neck was not strong enough. Wendlinger recovered from his injuries before the start of the 1995 Formula One season, where he would be driving at Sauber (now with Ford engines) alongside Frentzen. However, he performed poorly and was reluctantly replaced in the team before the Monaco Grand Prix, a year on from the accident, by

Jean-Christophe Boullion Jean-Christophe "Jules" Boullion (born 27 December 1969) is a French professional racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Sauber team. Career Born in Saint-Brieuc, near Côtes d'Armor, Boullion started karting in 1982 and moved to c ...

then recalled Wendlinger for the final two races of the season in one last attempt to regain his pre-accident form, without success. These were his last races in Formula One.

After Formula One

Since then, he has competed successfully in

sports cars A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

and

touring cars Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not mo ...

,Where are they now? – Karl Wendlinger
/ref> winning the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

(with

Olivier Beretta Olivier Beretta (born 23 November 1969) is a professional racing driver from Monaco who raced in Formula One in 1994 for the Larrousse team, partnering Érik Comas. He participated in 10 Grands Prix, debuting on 27 March 1994. He scored no champi ...

) in 1999. After a spell racing for Abt-Audi in DTM in 2002 and 2003 he raced for JMB Racing in FIA GT again, driving a

Maserati MC12 The Maserati MC12 (''Tipo M144S'') is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004, with 25 cars produced. ...

with Andrea Bertolini. Since 2006, Wendlinger has been part of the

JetAlliance Racing Jetalliance Racing is an Austrian racing team which currently competes in the FIA GT Championship. Founded by Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, former CEO of Jetalliance airlines, in 2006 under the name Race Alliance Motorsport, the team has run two private ...

team, competing again in the FIA GT Championship. His teammate in 2006 was Phillip Peter, and in 2007 his teammate was Scottish driver,

Ryan Sharp Ryan Sharp (born 29 April 1979 in Newtonhill, Scotland) is a race car driver and team manager. He raced in the FIA GT Championship in 2007 with JetAlliance Racing in their lead No. 33 Aston Martin DBR9 – with ex-F1 Driver Karl Wendlinger as ...

. 2007 Wendlinger competed at the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

with Sigal Sport team in a BMW powered Riley DP. He crashed during the night on his in lap at the end of his second stint and was sent to the hospital as a precaution. The car eventually was retired from the damage.

2008

Wendlinger has been competing for JetAlliance Racing in 2008 alongside Ryan Sharp. They started well at the RAC Tourist Trophy round from Silverstone. Wendlinger and Sharp won the GT1 class and overall race ahead of

Michael Bartels Michael Bartels (born 8 March 1968) is a German professional racing driver. He is a multiple FIA GT champion and former Grand Prix driver who attempted to qualify for four races in with Lotus. Career Bartels was the 1985 German karting champi ...

and

Andrea Bertolini Andrea Bertolini (born 1 December 1973, in Sassuolo) is an Italian professional racing driver currently driving for AF Corse in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the official test driver of the Maserati factory. Bertolini began racing a ...

's Maserati MC12.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula One results

(

)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) *† — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete FIA GT Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Helmet

Wendlinger's helmet is yellow with 2 blue parallel lines in the middle of the helmet, a blue circle on the top and 3 red white red arrows between the parallel lines.

References

External links

Official site

n German N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

br>Profile at DriverDB.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wendlinger, Karl Austrian racing drivers Austrian Formula One drivers Leyton House Formula One drivers March Formula One drivers Sauber Formula One drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers FIA GT Championship drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers 1968 births Living people International Formula 3000 drivers People from Kufstein 24 Hours of Daytona drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Austrian Formula Three Championship drivers FIA GT1 World Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Sportspeople from Tyrol (state) Peugeot Sport drivers Aston Martin Racing drivers Fortec Motorsport drivers Oreca drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Audi Sport drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Abt Sportsline drivers RSM Marko drivers David Price Racing drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers