Karl Wendlinger

Karl Wendlinger (born December 20, 1968 in Kufstein) is an Austrian sportscar racing and former Formula One driver.

Mercedes Juniors

Wendlinger started his career in karting and in Formula Ford before entering the German Formula 3 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 sportscar team for 1990.

Driving the Sauber-Mercedes C11 - alongside Michael Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Mauro Baldi and Jean-Louis Schlesser - the quintet managed to achieve fifth place in the 1990 World Sportscar Championship standings.

In 1991, he continued to race with Mercedes sportscars - alongside a Formula 3000 programme with the Helmut Marko team. Towards the end of the year, Mercedes' team boss Jochen Neerpasch placed two of his protégés in F1. Schumacher went to the Jordan team before signing for Benetton, whilst Wendlinger made a low key Formula One debut with the Leyton House outfit for the final two Grand Prix.

Formula One

1991-1992: Leyton House/March

Karl's F1 debut came at the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. 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, J.J. Lehto, Andrea de Cesaris and Emanuele Pirro. His second race, didn't fare much better as the Adelaide 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.

Karl was kept at the re-named March team in 1992, alongside Paul Belmondo. The highlight coming at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, in which a race of attrition allowed Wendlinger to bring the car home in fourth position, albeit a lap down - but none the less 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 Ivan Capelli, Thierry Boutsen and Johnny Herbert.

1993-1995: Sauber

For 1993, Wendlinger was re-united with Peter Sauber who had taken the plunge into Formula One team ownership in 1993. Karl finished in fourth place at that year's Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Other points finishes in Portugal, Canada and Hungary helped give Karl 12th in the Championship again with seven points, two points, and a place ahead of more experienced team-mate J.J. Lehto. He also impressed with several strong qualifying performances, frequently putting the Sauber in the top 8.

1994 started well for Wendlinger, he notched up a point in the first race of the year at Interlagos, subsequently picking up fourth place in the San Marino race, a race marred by the deaths of both Wendlinger's countryman Roland Ratzenberger and the Brazilian racing legend Ayrton Senna.

The whole Formula One fraternity was in a state of shock after Imola, and the shockwaves were still rippling as the teams turned up in Monaco for the fourth round of the Championship. It was here that Karl's career in Grand Prix racing changed.

During the first practice session, approaching the famous Nouvelle Chicane in the harbour, Wendlinger lost control coming out of the preceding tunnel. Under braking, the Sauber hit the wall sideways at some force. Wendlinger's head had struck a water-filled barrier lining the armco wall, in large part due to the low cockpit sides present in F1 cars of that era. The FIA doctors were quickly on the scene where they found Karl unconscious, and although his vital signs would soon be stabilized, he would remain in a coma for weeks to come.

Karl recovered from his injuries, but when Sauber granted him an opportunity to drive in 1995 he was relieved of his duties before the Monaco event a year on from the accident, as his performances were disappointing. He was replaced by Jean-Christophe Boullion.

Wendlinger came back briefly for Sauber in two Grands Prix at the end of the season, as Boullion also proved uncompetitive in relation to team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen. However, this return also proved to be a failure, and the 1995 Japanese and Australian Grands Prix proved to be his Formula One swansong.

After Formula One

Since then, he has competed successfully in sports cars and touring cars, winning the FIA GT Championship (with Olivier Beretta) 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 with Andrea Bertolini.

Since 2006, Wendlinger has been part of the JetAlliance Racing team, competing again in the FIA GT Championship. His team-mate in 2006 was Phillip Peter, and in 2007 his team-mate was Scottish driver, Ryan Sharp.

2008

Karl 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 and Andrea Bertolini's Maserati MC12.

Complete Formula One results

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References

* [http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-wenkar.html DRIVERS: KARL WENDLINGER] at grandprix.com