Karl Wendlinger
Austrian · 1991–1995
Photo: Martin Lee from London, UK · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wendlinger in numbers
14 official points · best championship finish: 12th in 1992
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0Constructors’ titles
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0Drivers’ titles
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0Constructors’ titles
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0Drivers’ titles
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0Constructors’ titles
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Karl Wendlinger came out of the same programme as Michael Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen: the three youngsters Mercedes put in its sports prototypes in the early nineties. An Austrian born in 1968, he made his debut at the end of 1991 with Leyton House, and in 1992, with March, he was fourth in Canada, his first points.
In 1993 Sauber arrived in Formula 1 and he came with it. He beat his team-mate JJ Lehto, scored 7 points and was fourth at Monza. 1994 started just as well, sixth in Brazil and fourth at Imola, until in practice at Monaco he crashed at the tunnel exit and spent weeks in a coma.
He recovered and came back in 1995, but he was not the same: in six races he scored nothing and Sauber let him go. He went on in touring cars and GTs for more than a decade. In Formula 1 he stopped at 41 Grands Prix and 14 points.
Ver en españolRating by season
- First season
- 72 1992
- Peak
- 74 1993
- 1994
- 74 Sauber
3 seasons in the database, from 1992 to 1994. Our own rating, from 50 to 99.
Teams
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Best year
1992
What would Karl Wendlinger have achieved with a different car or in a different era?
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His team-mates
5 team-mates across 5 seasons. When both finished the race, Wendlinger was ahead in 7 of 11; on the grid he started ahead in 15 of 35.
| Year | Team-mate | In the race | On the grid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Maurício GugelminLeyton House · 2 races | 0-1 | 0-2 |
| 1992 | Paul BelmondoMarch · 5 races | 3-1 | 4-1 |
| 1992 | Emanuele NaspettiMarch · 3 races | 1-0 | 3-0 |
| 1993 | Jyrki JärvilehtoSauber · 16 races | 2-0 | 8-8 |
| 1994 | Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber · 4 races | 1-0 | 0-3 |
| 1995 | Heinz-Harald FrentzenSauber · 6 races | 0-2 | 0-6 |
The first number is always Wendlinger's. A team-mate is whoever started the same race for the same team. "In the race" only counts races both finished, because a retirement says nothing about who was quicker. "On the grid" is the starting position, with penalties already applied.
Compare Wendlinger with another driver
Titles, wins, poles and podiums side by side, against any of the 789 drivers in history.