1994 MOTOR SHOW
ESSEN (GERMANY)
Karl Wendlinger, posing with my son Mathias.

The second of the "Mercedes babies" who, together with Michael Schumacher, was placed with a Formula 1 team in late 1991 by the German company's competitions boss Jochen Neerpasch. In Wendlinger's case the team was March for whom he finished a fine fourth in the 1992 Canadian Grand Prix. He switched to Sauber in 1993, finishing fourth at Monza, but after posting the same result again at Imola the following year, he suffered serious head injuries in a practice crash at Monaco. In 1995 Sauber gave him a chance to prove that he had recovered, but he was replaced by Jean-Christophe Boullion, on loan from Williams. In fact Boullion was also a disappointment, so Wendlinger was invited back for the last two races of the year. Sadly he never regained his previous magic and so his Formula 1 career was at an end.