Stefan Wolff

Wolff at preseason testing for the 85' season, accompanied by team boss Ron Dennis

### Born

Stefan Wolff20 June 1960 (age 52)

Hamburg, Germany

## Formula One Career

### Wins

4

**Stefan Wolff** is a German racing driver.

## Early life

Stefan Wolff was born in Hamburg, West Germany, on the 20th June 1960 to parents of Dutch and Bavarian descent. His Father Johannes Wolff is a politician for the SDP and his Mother Sophie Wolff (nee Visser) is a board member for De Volksbank. Wolff has two younger brothers, Phillip and Max, as well as an older sister, Nellie.

## Racing Career

### **Junior Formula**

Wolff's career in motorsport began at the age of five in the Hamburger Kartmeisterschaft (Hamburg Karting Championship). Dominating the Hamburg Championship, he was soon promoted to The National Karting League (Nationale Kartliga) where again Wolff took the championship by a margin of two race victories.

This success at a national level caught the eye of Formula Three team Bertram Schäfer Racing, who subsequently signed Wolff for their 1980 campaign. Following a season-long fight for the 1980 Championship with Wolfgang Von Jans, Wolff emerged the victor once more. With the 1981 Formula Three season fast approaching, Wolff suffered a severe fracture to his ankle during a holiday in the Scottish Highlands, forcing him to watch the following two seasons from the sidelines while he recovered.

### **Formula One**

McLaren team boss Ron Dennis made a shock announcement at the conclusion of the 1983 Formula One Championship when he declared Wolff as McLaren's reserve driver for the upcoming season, adding that "We believe that Stefan has all the abilities and tenacity needed to succeed in this demanding sport, and the performance of all three of our drivers this season will determine our lineup for 1985."

After it was announced during the eve of the 1984 Formula One Season that Santiago Reyes would be leaving McLaren at the conclusion of the season, Dennis opted to buy Wolff a seat at backmarker team Osella in order to give the German more experience in Formula One machinery, with Porsche pushing for Wolff to be signed by McLaren as a race driver for 1985.

While Wolff failed to score a point in the underperforming Osella, he consistently beat teammate Gyozo Szel on track and was announced to be McLaren's second driver for 1985 at the German Grand Prix, a home race for both McLaren's engine supplier Porsche, as well as Wolff himself.

### **1985**

Following a strong showing throughout winter testing, Wolff arrived in Jacarepagua for the season opener. Qualifying in a promising third place, Wolff moved past his teammate Chuck Dingley at turn one. Despite a battle with Fabiano Margheriti for the lead in the opening laps, Wolff was compromised by significant wear on his rear tyres, forcing him to adopt a much slower two-stop strategy and leaving him 4th at the flag behind Dingley and the Margheriti brothers. The one crumb of comfort for Wolff was his pace, as he took the fastest lap towards the finish after pitting for fresh softs.

   At the second round in Imola, Wolff once again qualified in third, behind the Margheriti brothers. Despite a reasonable launch, Wolff was chopped by Fabiano Margheriti's Ferrari of the line and lost out to the second Williams of Danilo Koren. Dingley passed on lap two, and what followed was a tense battle for the rest of the first stint between Wolff, Koren, and Jack Wilson. Eventually, Wolff peeled into the pits and managed to jump both drivers through the use of an undercut. Wilson soon made his way past Wolff and the German would only pass the Lotus after Dingley and Fabiano Margheriti crashed in the closing stages, as Wilson spun on the entry to the Tosa curve. This promoted Wolff up to second place for his first-ever podium finish in Formula One. Speaking after the race, Wolff derided Fabiano Margheriti's driving style, believing the Italian to be quick to anger and aggressive when defending. Nevertheless, Wolff expressed his happiness for his maiden trip to the rostrum at a track on which he didn't expect to do well.
Wolff suffered during the next round at the fabled Monaco street circuit. During Thursday practice, Wolff suffered a suspension failure going into the tunnel and never recovered his confidence, qualifying a disappointing 6th. While Wolff managed to get past Danilo Koren on the opening lap, he was unable to get past Jack Wilson ahead, thus sealing his final finishing position of 5th for a forgettable end to the weekend. Speaking after the race, Wolff lamented his qualifying performance, which he felt compromised his race at a circuit where overtaking is extremely difficult. He later became the subject of the tabloids as he was found on the yacht of teammate Dingley extremely drunk after a night of gambling.

   Canada looked to be a more fruitful round for Wolff, as he claimed his first-ever Formula One pole position after a last gasp lap right at the end of the session. Wolff asserted that the race would be difficult for him, and he was not wrong as he was jumped off the line by Jack Wilson. Several laps later while chasing Wilson, Wolff suffered a half spin on the entrance to turn 8 and damaged his front wing. The rest of the race was damage control for Wolff, who managed to hold off Vivaldo Margheriti to claim 4th place at the line.

Arriving in Wisconsin for the United States Grand Prix, Wolff expressed frustration at the minor mistakes he had made throughout the season that had cost him potential race wins and explained to the press that he had undergone an extensive driver training course prior to the weekend to hopefully help him claim his first victory. "The championship is really close, so it's absolutely crucial that I start winning if I want to have any chance against these guys that have been in the sport for so long", remarked Wolff to CNN. Qualifying looked to be average for Wolff, as he was 5th on the timing board until his final lap rocketed him up to first for his second consecutive pole position. Wolff was delighted with his lap and spoke of his determination to take victory in the race. At the start, Wolff got away well, but Vivaldo Margheriti followed close behind and going into turn five dove up the inside of Wolff and forced him off the track, leaving Wolff with damage to his front wing. Nevertheless, Wolff managed to re-take the lead from Margheriti around the outside into turn 5 until his tyre wear forced him to pit for repairs and new tyres. The repairs required meant that Wolff emerged behind Margheriti, however the German was much faster than the leader in the final laps and at the flag, the two drivers were separated by just two tenths of a second. Wolff was seen gesticulating to the race winner and his comments to the press after the race reflected this: "Honestly it is difficult to believe that this guy has been in Formula One for as long as he has and still he cannot complete an overtake correctly, I will have to have words with him." Wolff left the racetrack early, completing only two short press interviews. He was later seen fishing with Dingley on Lake Superior.

 Mclaren's home race in Donington did not go smoothly for Wolff, who was plagued will mechanical problems throughout the practice sessions, meaning that he only had a few laps to acclimatise to the car and track prior to qualifying. A disappointing 6th place on the grid was all Wolff could manage but off the line he moved up several places, just behind the second Williams of Danilo Koren. A race-long battle then ensued between the German and Koren, who clearly had greater straight-line speed than the McLaren. Ultimately however Wolff would finish a second behind Koren, placing the German in 4th. The McLaren driver lamented the mechanical difficulties that had cost him the opportunity to do better, particularly after learning that his teammate Chuck Dingley had won the race. Wolff hoped for greater reliability at his and Porshe's home race in Hockenheim.

What followed was a series of disasterous races for Wolff, that ended any hopes he had of a title challenge.

At Hockenheim, Wolff struggled to keep his car on the track throughout much of the weekend and this became clear in the race as he, along with several other drivers like Fabiano Margheriti and Jack Wilson, suffered race ending crashes. Upset at his error, Wolff retired to the McLaren motorhome without doing any press while Vivaldo Margheriti romped to victory.

Wolff had hoped for more performance in Austria, but this was not to be as cooling issues during the race meant that the German was consistently slower in a straight line than the cars around him. However Wolff did manage to finish in 7th ahead of polesitter Hugo Kovacs, which offered some consolation to the German.

Monza looked to be a promising weekend for the McLaren team, Dingley and Wolff both had good pace, and with Wolff qualifying in 4th, he was hopeful for a good race. Carnage ensued on the first lap as Santiago Reyes and Danilo Koren crashed on the first lap, bringing out the red flag. At the restart, Wolff put Koren (who had managed to jump into the spare car) under significant pressure until the Yugoslavian driver made a mistake at the newly reprofiled first chicane. Wolff pulled alongside but was crowded off the track at turn four, taking the German out of the race. Speaking to the press, Wolff indignantly attacked Koren's driving, pointing to his earlier collision with Reyes as another example of his dangerous actions. Koren subsequently recieved a 15 second time penalty and five penalty points.

Arriving in Belgium, Wolff hoped that his run of bad luck would come to an end, describing the last few races as "complete shit". Wolff had no issues with pace as the weekend progressed, and eventually lined up in 2nd place for the start, just behind Wilson. Wolff and Wilson fought for several laps, with Wolff passing the Briton into Eau Rouge, only to be re-overtaken after making a mistake into Les Combes. A few laps later Wilson spun, leaving Wolff in the lead but Vivaldo Margheriti following close behind. Pitting on lap 10, Wolff hoped to make use of the undercut on Vivaldo but made an error on the exit of Les Combes which saw the Italian emerge ahead of him. Fabiano (who had been following Wolff for the entire race) then tried to make the most of his Ferrari's Tipo 031/2 engine, but he couldn't find a way past Wolff, who crossed the line to equal his best result of the season.

The South African Grand Prix was a decidedly average affair for Wolff, who completed a quiet incident-free race to come home in 4th.

At the season finale in Adelaide, Wolff sustained serious injuries to his lower extremities in a race that took the life of Vivaldo Margheriti. Ruled out for the 1986 season, Wolff spend most of 86' recovering.