Hermann Lang

Lang in 1951
Born	(1909-04-06)6 April 1909 Cannstatt,Kingdom of Württemberg,German Empire
Died	19 October 1987(1987-10-19) (aged 78) Bad Cannstatt,Baden-Württemberg,West Germany
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	German
Active years	1953–1954
Teams	Maserati,Mercedes
Entries	2
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	2
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1953 Swiss Grand Prix
Last entry	1954 German Grand Prix

Hermann Albert Lang (6 April 1909 – 19 October 1987)^[1] was a German racing driver who raced motorcycles,Grand Prix cars, and sports cars.

Born inCannstatt nearStuttgart,Baden-Württemberg, Germany, Hermann Lang had to go to work at age fourteen to help support his family following the death of his father. Young Lang found a job as a motorcycle mechanic, eventually buying his own used bike with which he began amateur racing. He won the first race he entered and before long decided to compete in the sidecar class. At age twenty-two, he won the German sidecar mountain race championship.

Lang's big break came when he landed a job at theMercedes factory where he became part of theirGrand Prix motor racing team. He was made head mechanic for theMercedes-Benz W25A model to be driven by theItalian starLuigi Fagioli who had leftAlfa Romeo to create a powerhouse Mercedes factory team that also includedRudolf Caracciola. Following a very successful season in which Fagioli won both theItalian andSpanish Grand Prix, Hermann Lang was given a chance to drive for the Mercedes team. He proved to be most capable on high-speed racetracks, capturing his first win in the 1937Tripoli Grand Prix at the Mellaha Lake course inLibya which was then the fastest racetrack in the world. Lang dominated the event, winning it for three straight years. That year he won his second major race at theAVUS extravaganza.

In 1938, he won two more races for Mercedes including the prestigiousCoppa Ciano atLivorno, Italy. Nevertheless, in spite of Hermann Lang's skills and racing success and his popularity with racing fans, being a part of the MercedesSilver Arrows team was not easy. Made up of wealthy and aristocratic drivers who looked down on the uneducated, working-class Lang, he was always treated as an outsider. However, in 1939 he earned their grudging respect when he won five of the eight Grand Prix races he started, including victories at theBelgian Grand Prix, thePau Grand Prix inFrance, theSwiss Grand Prix and his third consecutiveTripoli Grand Prix. In addition to being a quick driver, Lang was also advantaged in that being a former mechanic, he had a lot of mechanical knowledge of cars and was able to give good technical feedback during testing and races to chief designerRudolf Uhlenhaut, who was able to develop the Mercedes cars to a greater degree, and Lang's natural feel for the machinery meant that he was able to get set-ups on his cars that made them faster than his rivals' cars. He clocked the fastest lap at theFrench Grand Prix and was leading the field but engine trouble knocked him out of the race. In 1939, Lang also competed in, and won, theKahlenberghillclimbing race inAustria.

In 1939, Lang was declared the champion of the European Championship, but this is unofficial. The season was cut short byWorld War II and Lang received this title from the German motor racing authority, instead of the official authority AIACR, based in Paris. By way of the points at the last attempted race of the season, competitorHermann Paul Müller was considered the points leader, not Lang.

The onset ofWorld War II robbed Lang of his best years but after the war ended, he returned to racing in 1946 without a team, driving a six-year-oldBMW to victory in the first post-war race in Germany held atRuhestein. In 1949 he begansports car racing and then competed inFormula Two racing before joining the Mercedes Grand Prix racing team inArgentina, at theBuenos Aires Grand Prix in 1951. In 1952, at age 43, he teamed up withFritz Riess to capture the24 hours of Le Mans. The following year, he published his autobiography titled "Grand Prix Driver," with the Foreword written by the Mercedes team manager,Alfred Neubauer. Published in Germany, it was translated into English by Charles Meisl and brought out inEngland.

In 1953, Hermann Lang was given a chance to participate inFormula One racing driving forMaserati after one of their team drivers was injured. He raced in two F1 events that year with his best result a fifth-place finish at the Swiss Grand Prix. The following year Mercedes rejoined Grand Prix racing and Lang came back for another F1 season behind the wheel of a Mercedes W196. But at age 45, he had a less than successful campaign that saw him replaced in several races by one of the team's younger drivers. His season and career ended at the 1954German Grand Prix atNürburgring when he spun out after ten laps, even though he was running as high as 2nd in front of his teammateKarl Kling. Lang recognized the time had come to retire from racing and he returned to his job at the Mercedes factory.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key)

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1952	Daimler-Benz AG	Fritz Riess	Mercedes-Benz W194	S 3.0	277	1st	1st
Source:[3]

• Grand Prix HistoryArchived 2021-02-18 at theWayback Machine, Hermann Lang
• Detailed Formula One driving statistics

• 1909 births
• 1987 deaths
• German racing drivers
• German Formula One drivers
• Maserati Formula One drivers
• Mercedes-Benz Formula One drivers
• Mercedes-Benz
• Grand Prix drivers
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
• 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
• Racing drivers from Stuttgart
• European Championship drivers

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