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Wolfgang Alexander Albert Eduard Maximilian Reichsgraf Berghe von Trips (May 4, 1928 - September 10, 1961) was a German racing driver, the son of a noble Rhineland family. All but three of his Grands Prix were run with Ferrari power.

He'd have been the first German champion in Formula One were it not for his fatal accident at the penultimate round of the 1961 season in Monza, Italy. His Ferrari team-mate Phil Hill of the United States grabbed the title, since von Trips had been leading the championship going into this round with Hill only three points behind, giving his country their first title instead.

However, after learning of von Trips' death, Enzo Ferrari and his team sat out of final race of the season as a mark of respect, thus denying Hill an opportunity to race in front of his home crowd as the newly crowned champion.

von Trips was posthumously crowned the runner-up in the 1961 championship. The only other time this has happened was in 1978, when Ronnie Peterson died at the same circuit. In a recurrence of 1961, the team-mate was American and also won the World Championship; that was Mario Andretti.

Formula One Career[]

1956[]

1957[]

1958[]

1959[]

1960[]

1961[]

Death[]

On lap 1 of the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, von Trips collided with the Lotus of Jim Clark. Von Trips' car went airborne and into a side barrier. He was ejected from the car and killed.

After striking the wall, Von Trips' car bounced back into the middle of the track, hitting Clark's car. Clark's car was sent off the track and into the crowd of spectators. Fifteen spectators were killed in the accident.

"Von Trips and I were racing along the straightaway and were nearing one of the banked curves, the one on the southern end. We were about 100 metres from the beginning of the curve. Von Trips was running close to the inside of the track. I was closely following him, keeping near the outside. At one point Von Trips shifted sideways so that my front wheels collided with his back wheels. It was the fatal moment. Von Trips' car spun twice and went into the guardrail along the inside of the track. Then it bounced back, struck my own car and bounced down into the crowd." - Jim Clark

Formula One Statistical Overview[]

Formula One Record[]

Year Entrant Team WDC Points WDC Pos. Report
1956 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 0 NC Report
1957 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 4 14th Report
1958 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 9 12th Report
1959 Dr Ing hcf Porsche KG
Scuderia Ferrari
Porsche
Ferrari
0 NC Report
1960 Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Centro Sud
Ferrari
Cooper-Maserati
10 7th Report
1961 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 33 2nd Report

Career Statistics[]

Entries 30
Starts 27
Pole Positions 1
Sprint Poles 0
Front Row Starts 4
Race Wins 2
Sprint Wins 0
Podiums 6
Sprint Podiums 0
Fastest Laps 0
Sprint Fastest Laps 0
Points 56
Laps Raced 1340
Distance Raced 7,804 km (4,849 mi)
Races Led 4
Laps Led 156
Distance Led 788 km (490 mi)

Race Wins[]

Win Number Grand Prix
1 1961 Dutch Grand Prix
2 1961 British Grand Prix

Career Results[]

Complete Formula One Results
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pts Pos
1956 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Italy 0 NC
DNS
1957 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Abruzzo bandiera Flag of Italy 4 14th
6th Ret 3rd
1958 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco Flag of the Netherlands 48-star U S flag Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Portugal Flag of Italy Flag of Morocco 9 12th
Ret 3rd Ret 4th 5th Ret
1959 Flag of Monaco 48-star U S flag Flag of the Netherlands Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Portugal Flag of Italy US flag 49 stars 6th 0
Ret DNS
1960 Flag of Argentina Flag of Monaco US flag 49 stars Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Portugal Flag of Italy Flag of the United States 10 7th
5th 8th 5th Ret 11th 6th 4th 5th 9th
1961 Flag of Monaco Flag of the Netherlands Flag of Belgium Flag of France Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Germany Flag of Italy Flag of the United States 33 2nd
4th 1st 2nd Ret 1st 2nd Ret
Key
Symbol Meaning Symbol Meaning
1st Winner Ret Retired
2nd Podium finish DSQ Disqualified
3rd DNQ Did not qualify
5th Points finish DNPQ Did not pre-qualify
14th Non-points finish TD Test driver
Italics Scored point(s) for Fastest Lap DNS Did not start
18th Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) NC Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4thP Qualified for pole position [+] More Symbols

Legacy[]

A commemorative statue of von Trips was unveiled in Kerpen, Germany, 30 kilometres from his birthplace of Cologne.

Notes[]


V T E F1 drivers killed while racing
1952: Cameron Earl
1953: Chet Miller
1954: Onofre Marimón
1955: Manny Ayulo
1955: Bill Vukovich
1957: Eugenio Castellotti
1957: Keith Andrews
1958: Pat O'Connor
1958: Luigi Musso
1958: Peter Collins
1958: Stuart Lewis-Evans
1959: Jerry Unser
1959: Bob Cortner
1960: Chris Bristow
1960: Alan Stacey
1961: Giulio Cabianca
1961: Wolfgang von Trips
1964: Carel Godin de Beaufort
1966: John Taylor
1967: Lorenzo Bandini
1967: Bob Anderson
1968: Jo Schlesser
1969: Gerhard Mitter
1970: Bruce McLaren
1970: Piers Courage
1970: Jochen Rindt
1971: Ignazio Giunti
1971: Pedro Rodríguez
1971: Jo Siffert
1972: Jo Bonnier
1973: Roger Williamson
1973: François Cevert
1974: Peter Revson
1974: Helmuth Koinigg
1975: Mark Donohue
1977: Tom Pryce
1978: Ronnie Peterson
1980: Patrick Depailler
1982: Gilles Villeneuve
1982: Riccardo Paletti
1986: Elio de Angelis
1994: Roland Ratzenberger
1994: Ayrton Senna
2015: Jules Bianchi
See also: List of fatal accidents
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