Markus Winkelhock (born 13 June 1980) is a German professional racing driver. He is the son of

Manfred Winkelhock Manfred Winkelhock (6 October 1951 – 12 August 1985) was a German racing driver. He participated in 56 Formula One Grands Prix (with 47 starts) between 1980 and 1985, driving for Arrows, ATS, Brabham and RAM Racing, with a best finish of fi ...

and nephew of

Joachim Winkelhock Joachim Winkelhock (born 24 October 1960) is a German motor racing driver. The younger brother of the late Manfred Winkelhock, Winkelhock was born in Waiblingen, near Stuttgart. The youngest brother, Thomas Winkelhock, and Manfred's son Markus ...

, both of whom were Formula One drivers in the 1980s. During his brief Formula One career he led the

2007 European Grand Prix The 2007 European Grand Prix (formally the 2007 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany on 22 July 2007. It was the tenth race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 60 ...

for several laps before retiring with mechanical problems. Having switched to sports and touring car racing, he has also won the

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand to ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

with team-mate

Marc Basseng Marc Basseng (born 12 December 1978 in Engelskirchen) is a German racing driver. Career Basseng began his career in karting. In 1997 he began competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany for the UPS Porsche Junior Team, finishing third in the 19 ...

Early career

Born in

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 ...

, Winkelhock won races in a string of junior formulae including

Formula König Formula König was an open wheel racing series based in Germany and sponsored by German automobile company König Komfort- und Rennsitze GmbH (König comfort and racing seats GmbH). It ran from 1988 to 2004 as a single-seater feeder series. Its ...

, German

Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to hig ...

and the Formula Renault Eurocup from 1998 to 2000. In 2001, Winkelhock joined 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, where he remained until the championship became the F3 Euroseries in 2003. His record was fifth overall in 2001 (three wins), seventh in 2002 (one win) and fourth in 2003 (two wins). He switched to touring car racing in 2004, with a season in the DTM in an AMG-

Mercedes CLK The Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class is a former series of mid-size or entry-level luxury coupés and convertibles produced by Mercedes-Benz between 1997 and 2010. Although its design and styling was derived from the E-Class, the mechanical underpinnings ...

. But he failed to score a point all year with the Persson team. Winkelhock switched back to single-seater racing in 2005, joining the

World Series by Renault The Renault Sport Series (formerly known as World Series by Renault) is a motor racing series. The series latterly consisted of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and used to contain the Renault Sport Trophy and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. T ...

with Draco. He won three times but there were also some less than shining moments – notably when he crashed at Monaco in qualifying and on the first lap of the race.

Formula One

On 24 January 2006, Winkelhock was confirmed as a test and reserve driver for the

Midland F1 Midland F1 Racing (also known as MF1 Racing, or simply "Midland") was a Formula One constructor and racing team which competed in the 2006 Formula One season with drivers Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro. The team was created by the renami ...

team (formerly

Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan. The team was based at Silverstone, UK but raced with an Irish licence. In early 2005, the t ...

) for the

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, ...

season. He participated in Friday test sessions for the team at the

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and Hungarian Grands Prix. He was re-signed for by the team, which by then had been renamed as

Spyker F1 The Spyker F1 Team, known as the Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team for sponsorship reasons, was a Formula One team that competed in the 2007 Formula One World Championship with a Dutch licence. It was created by Spyker Cars after their buyout of the ...

. He also made a brief return to the DTM in 2007, starting three races. Following Christijan Albers's departure from Spyker after the 2007 British Grand Prix, Winkelhock was confirmed as his replacement for the

European Grand Prix The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a countr ...

on 18 July. The deal was only for one race with

Sakon Yamamoto is a Japanese racing driver turned politician. He competed in 21 Formula One Grands Prix during the , 2007 and 2010 seasons. Before Formula One Yamamoto was born in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. He began his racing career in 1994 at the Suzuka ...

set to race for Spyker for the rest of the season.

2007 European Grand Prix

In the race, Winkelhock started last on the 22-car grid alongside teammate

Adrian Sutil Adrian Sutil (; born 11 January 1983) is a German-Uruguayan racing driver who raced in Formula One for seven seasons: from 2007–2011, then 2013–2014. He drove for the Spyker F1 Team, Force India F1 Team and the Sauber F1 Team. He was also t ...

. On the formation lap, with the rest of the field on dry-weather tyres, the team made a last-second decision to call Winkelhock into the pits to switch to full wet tyres. When pouring rain forced almost all the others to pit at the end of the first lap, Winkelhock was able to move into the lead, passing some cars as they pitted, and even passing

Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...

on the track as the Finn tip-toed around to the pits, eventually building a lead of 19 seconds by the end of the second lap. By lap 4 he had a lead of 33 seconds over Ferrari's

Felipe Massa Felipe Massa (, born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 2002 and 2017, where he scored 11 Grand Prix victories, 41 podiums and finished as championship runner-up in 2008 by one poin ...

in 2nd place. As the rain got heavier, the stewards first sent out the safety car and then suspended the race following a series of spins in the first corner behind the safety car. The race restarted after the rain had eased. Winkelhock and his team chose to start on full wet tyres on a drying track in the hope of further showers, as the team expected he would be overtaken by faster cars anyway. The gamble failed and, having restarted the race from the lead, Winkelhock quickly fell down the order. He retired on lap 15 with hydraulic problems that caused a small fire. He had led for a total of six laps. According to

Bob Varsha Robert August "Bob" Varsha (born April 21, 1951) is an American broadcast journalist who specializes in covering motorsports. He is best known for being the lap-by-lap commentator for Formula 1 and Champ Car, CART series races for ESPN, ABC Sport ...

of the

Speed Channel Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...

commentary team, Winkelhock is the only driver in Formula One history to start last on the grid and lead the race in his first Grand Prix, and due to the red flag and restart, is also the only driver in Formula One history to start both last and first on the grid in the same Grand Prix. Despite his performance in the race, the Spyker team opted against giving Winkelhock a drive for the remainder of the 2007 season for sponsorship reasons.

Post-Formula One career

Winkelhock returned to the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB-FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The ser ...

after he lost his Spyker seat, and has remained in the series, driving for

Team Rosberg Team Rosberg GmbH is a motor racing organisation that competes in single-seater and touring car disciplines in Europe. It was founded in 1994 by former Formula One world champion Keke Rosberg, of Finland. It is headquartered at Neustadt an der Wei ...

, for

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

(12th),

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

(10th) and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

(12th). In 2011, he competed in the

for the All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport team alongside team boss

driving a

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–1993) ...

. They won the championship the following year, the team having switched to the Mercedes SLS due to a change in the regulations. Winkelhock was to move with

Münnich Motorsport Münnich Motorsport GmbH, which also competes under the title All-Inkl.com Racing, is an auto racing team founded by German racing driver and entrepreneur René Münnich in 2006. The team has been built around three areas of motorsport since its ...

to the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

for

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, however he left the team before the start of the season in order to focus on his GT racing commitments, and was replaced by defending champion

Robert Huff Robert Peter "Rob" Huff (born 25 December 1979) is a British professional racing driver. He currently competes in the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) driving for Zengő Motorsport. He was the 2012 World Touring Car Championship champion and the ...

. Since 2013, he has more or less settled in the

Blancpain Endurance Series The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

and also won the 2017 24 Hours of Nürburgring sportscar race. He also made a brief DTM comeback midway through the 2021 season with Abt Sportsline, where he replaced

Sophia Flörsch Sophia Flörsch (born 1 December 2000) is a German racing driver, currently competing in the European Le Mans Series with Algarve Pro Racing. She has previously raced in the DTM, the FIA World Endurance Championship and FIA Formula 3, and i ...

for the Nürburgring round due to her

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

commitments.

Racing record

Career summary

† As Winkelhock was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series 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 Renault 3.5 Series results

(

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

Complete Formula One results

(

)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† - Driver did not finish, but completed 90% of the race distance. ^‡ - Shanghai was a non-championship round.

Complete GT1 World Championship results

Complete FIA GT Series results

‡ — Guest driver – Not eligible for points.

Complete Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe results

^† Winkelhock was ineligible to score points during the Moscow weekend due to

Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof Nikolaus "Niki" Mayr-Melnhof (born 9 November 1978 in Leoben) is an Austrian racing driver currently competing in the Blancpain Sprint Series for Phoenix Racing (Germany). He previously competed in the FIA GT1 World Championship for Vita4one R ...

's absence.

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

Supercar

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Winkelhock did not complete sufficient laps in order to score full points.

References

External links

Official website
at Driver Database
Who's Who: Markus Winkelhock
at F1Fanatic {{DEFAULTSORT:Winkelhock, Markus 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Stuttgart German racing drivers German Formula One drivers Spyker Formula One drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers German Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers FIA GT1 World Championship drivers Racing drivers from Baden-Württemberg Porsche Supercup drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers World Rallycross Championship drivers 24H Series drivers Audi Sport drivers Walter Lechner Racing drivers Mücke Motorsport drivers Draco Racing drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Kolles Racing drivers Team Rosberg drivers W Racing Team drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers United Autosports drivers G-Drive Racing drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers