# Karl Kling

Karl Kling (German pronunciation: ; 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) | DNF (Transmission) |
| 1955 | Daimler Benz AG | Andre Simon | Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR | S3.0 | 130 | DNF | DNF |