Karl Kling

Karl Kling
Kling in 1951
Born	(1910-09-16)16 September 1910 Giessen, Hesse, German Empire
Died	18 March 2003(2003-03-18) (aged 92) Lake Constance, Germany
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	West German
Active years	1954–1955
Teams	Mercedes
Entries	11
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	2
Career points	17
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
First entry	1954 French Grand Prix
Last entry	1955 Italian Grand Prix

Karl Kling (German pronunciation: [kaʁl klɪŋ] ^ⓘ; 16 September 1910 – 18 March 2003) was a German racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One at 11 Grands Prix from 1954 to 1955.

An employee of Daimler-Benz since the mid-1930s, Kling made his Formula One debut at the 1954 French Grand Prix, where he finished second to Mercedes teammate Juan Manuel Fangio, becoming the first German driver to score a podium finish in Formula One. He participated in 10 further World Championship Grands Prix, achieving another podium at the 1955 British Grand Prix and scoring a total of 17 championship points.

Upon retiring from motor racing, Kling became the head of Mercedes-Benz in motorsport from 1956 to 1968.

Early life and career

Kling was born on 16 September 1910 in Giessen, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire.

It is said, that he was born too late and too early. Too late to be in the successful Mercedes team of the 1930s and too early to have a real chance in 1954 and 1955. Unusually, Kling found his way into motorsport via his first job as a reception clerk at Daimler-Benz in the mid-1930s, competing in hillclimb and trials events in production machinery in his spare time. During the Second World War he gained mechanical experience servicing Luftwaffe aircraft, and after the cessation of hostilities he resumed his motorsport involvement in a BMW 328.

Kling was instrumental in developing Mercedes' return to international competition in the early 1950s, and his win in the 1952 Carrera Panamericana road race, driving the then-experimental Mercedes-Benz 300SL was a defining point in assuring the Daimler-Benz management that motorsport had a place in Mercedes' future. Called up to the revived Mercedes Grand Prix squad in 1954 he finished less than one second behind the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio on his Formula One debut, taking second place in the 1954 French Grand Prix at the fast Reims-Gueux circuit. This promising start was not to last, and with the arrival of Stirling Moss at Mercedes in 1955 Kling was effectively demoted to third driver. However, away from the World Championship, Kling took an impressive victory in the Berlin Grand Prix at AVUS, another high-speed circuit.

Having won all world championships they competed for, F1 in 1954 and 1955, plus sports cars in 1955, Mercedes retired from international racing after 1955 to focus on road car development. Kling succeeded Alfred Neubauer as head of Mercedes motorsport, with stock models only. He was in this post during their successful rallying campaigns of the 1960s, occasionally taking the wheel himself. On one such occasion he drove a Mercedes-Benz 220SE to victory in the mighty 1961 trans-African Algiers-Cape Town Rally.

He died in 2003 at the age of 92.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	WDC	Points
1954	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes W196	Mercedes straight-8	ARG	500	BEL	FRA 2	GBR 7	GER 4	SUI Ret	ITA Ret	ESP 5	5th	12
1955	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes W196	Mercedes straight-8	ARG 4*	MON	500	BEL Ret	NED Ret	GBR 3	ITA Ret			11th	5

* Shared drive with Stirling Moss and Hans Herrmann.

Non-championship results

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

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
1954	Daimler-Benz AG	Mercedes W196	Mercedes straight-8	SYR	PAU	LAV	BOR	INT	BAR	CUR	ROM	FRO	COR	BRC	CRY	ROU	CAE	AUG	COR	OUL	RED	PES	SAC	JOE	CAD	BER 1	GOO	DTT

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1952	Daimler-Benz AG	Hans Klenk	Mercedes-Benz W194	S 3.0		DNF	DNF
1953	SpA Alfa Romeo	Fritz Riess	Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM	S5.0	133	DNF (Transmission)
1955	Daimler Benz AG	Andre Simon	Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR	S3.0	130	DNF	DNF

References

• "DRIVERS: KARL KLING". GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
• "Mercedes Racing Driver Karl Kling Dies". Automobile. Retrieved 2007-04-11.

Further reading

• Karl Kling, G. Molter, Pursuit of Victory (Bodley Head, London, 1956)