What might have been: Karl Wendlinger

 

AN UNFULFILLED TALENT

One name stands high above the rest when we think of Peter Sauber's Mercedes Sports Car team, a familiar German by the name of Michael Schumacher. However motor racing enthusiasts will recall he had an infamous rivalry with fellow German Heinz-Harald Frentzen when they were up and coming young stars, some even said that Frentzen was quicker than Schumacher.

But we tend to forget the third member of this team, Austrian Karl Wendlinger. A fast, talented driver who's F1 career changed course after a crash in practice for the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix, a cruel shame as the Austrian had endured a promising start to the season in a competitive Sauber Mercedes.

Wendlinger, Frentzen and Schumacher
during their Sports Car days

After winning the 1989 German Formula 3 Championship, Wendlinger landed a drive with the Mercedes-Benz sports car outfit for 1990, fifth place was the final result at the end of the year. He remained with the team for 1991 and that year saw two of the young Mercedes protegés make their first Formula One appearance. The first and the most well known was Michael Schumacher for Jordan at the Belgian Grand Prix. But it was Wendlinger's turn next as he replaced Ivan Capelli in the Leyton House Racing team for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The final two races of 1991 in Japan and Australia saw Wendlinger's Grand Prix career begin quietly, though he did manage to qualify for both races (which may not sound so special now but in 1991, 30 cars entered the qualifying session and only 26 were allowed to start). After starting 22nd in Japan he was involved in an incident on lap 2 which eliminated himself, the two Dallara's of J.J. Lehto and Emanuele Pirro and the Jordan of Andrea de Cesaris. In Australia he started 26th but in the atrocious conditions on race day he spun off on lap 12, two laps before the race was brought to a halt and thus becoming the shortest Grand Prix in history.

So while Schumacher had proved to be an immediate sensation on the Grand Prix scene, Wendlinger had almost gone unnoticed. But his performance had been enough for Leyton House to retain him for 1992, with the team reverting to the March name. With serious financial problems, March were hanging on for dear life, the team recruited pay driver Paul Belmondo to partner Wendlinger.

However, if his performances at the end of '91 had been enough to convince March to sign him, he was downright sensational when the 1992 season opened in South Africa. Wendlinger qualified his uncompetitive March chassis in a scarcely believable 7th position, just one place behind his former Mercedes-Benz team mate Michael Schumacher and ahead of both Martin Brundle's Benetton and Ivan Capelli's Ferrari. Sadly his race ended after 13 laps with an overheating engine but the Austrian had done nothing but impress onlookers with his performance.

Wendlinger performed miracles for the
under-funded March team

Wendlinger repeated his impressive qualifying display with two 9th places in Brazil and Spain, though unreliability and bad luck meant he was unable to achieve a noteworthy result in either race. At the Canadian Grand Prix however he delivered the result which was the highlight of March's 1992 campaign. After starting 12th (again a fine performance in itself), he made it to the end of an attritional race, scoring a 4th place and earning 3 points for his efforts.

The financial woes experienced by March meant that the team had no hope of developing their already outdated chassis, this ultimately meant that Wendlinger was unable to score anymore points finishes during the rest of the season, though he comfortably outpaced his team mate Paul Belmondo, and his replacement Emanuele Naspetti. Wendlinger was replaced himself by veteran Dutch driver Jan Lammers before the Japanese Grand Prix as the team slumped deeper into crisis. An anti-climax to say the least but it was now obvious that Wendlinger was no slouch.

1993 saw Wendlinger join Peter Sauber's fledgling Formula One team and the Austrian continued to impress the F1 fraternity. He regularly qualified in the top 10 and scored 7 championship points to place 12th in the final standings, ahead of his more experienced team mate J.J. Lehto.

Wendlinger finished sixth at the 1993 Canadian Grand Prix
driving for Sauber

Notable performances early in the season included qualifying 5th for the European Grand Prix at Donington Park, and running third in the San Marino before engine failure robbed him of a podium finish. His first points finish came in Canada with a 6th place, he then equalled his career best result of 4th at the Italian Grand Prix. Despite questionable reliability the Swiss team had impressed in their inaugural Formula One season and Wendlinger remained for 1994.

Wendlinger's former Mercedes-Benz team mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen made his debut for Sauber in 1994, reuniting himself with Peter Sauber. A works engine deal with Mercedes-Benz and a new car, completed with a strong driver pairing provided a recipe for a fine season for the team. At the first Grand Prix in Brazil, Wendlinger finished 6th scoring a point. All chance of repeating the feat at the second race in Aida faded after he was attacked from behind by Michele Alboreto's Minardi. But in the tragic San Marino Grand Prix, Wendlinger finished 4th. After the first three races, Wendlinger had scored 4 points while Frentzen had scored 2, encouraging signs for the promising Sauber Mercedes outfit.

Hopes were high for 1994 and Wendlinger delivered some strong
performances in the opening races

Sadly for the talented Austrian driver, the next event in Monaco would see Wendlinger's F1 career take a severe blow. During Thursday morning's first practice session he lost control of the car on the exit of the tunnel under braking for the Nouvelle chicane. Upon impact with the armco barrier, Wendlinger's head struck the water filled lining due to the low cockpit sides present on F1 cars at that time. Wendlinger was removed from the car and taken to hospital unconscious and would remain comatose for two weeks. Sauber withdrew Frentzen's car from the race.

Although Wendlinger recovered from his injuries to return to the Sauber team for 1995, it was clear he was not the same driver as the one who had proved himself as a potential star of the future before his colossal accident. Just before, ironically, the Monaco Grand Prix he was rested by the Sauber team. A brief comeback in the final two races of the season in Japan and Australia was the final chapter in Wendlinger's short F1 career, the Austrian exited the sport just as quietly as he had entered it.

It is a shame that Karl Wendlinger never got a real chance to show his true potential in F1, especially when one considers that Michael Schumacher went on to become the undisputed king of the sport and Heinz-Harald Frentzen also tasted success. It is fairly safe to say that Wendlinger might have joined them had fate not intervened, he certainly had the speed and talent to do so.

After F1, Wendlinger once again competed in sports cars along with touring cars and he claimed the FIA GT Championship in 1999.