16 Facts About Hans Herrmann

Hans Herrmann was born on 23 February 1928 and is a retired Formula One and sports car racing driver from Stuttgart, Germany.

Hans Herrmann achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 10 championship points.

Hans Herrmann took part in now legendary road races like Mille Miglia, Targa Florio and Carrera Panamericana and is one of the few remaining witnesses of this era.

Hans Herrmann had a remarkable Mille Miglia race in 1954, when the gates of a railroad crossing were lowered in the last moment before the fast train to Rome passed.

Hans Herrmann was called in to share his car with them for a 4th-place finish, giving one point each.

Hans Herrmann was quick in the 1955 Mille Miglia with the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, comparably or even faster than Moss, but was less lucky than in 1954, as he had to abandon the race.

The next years saw Hans Herrmann racing for many marques, in F1 for Cooper, Maserati and BRM.

Hans Herrmann finished 15th in the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix, which was the first ever F1 World Championship race to have no retirements.

Hans Herrmann left Porsche at the beginning of the 1962 season feeling that he as a local from Stuttgart was No Prophet In His Own Land compared to Californian Dan Gurney and Jo Bonnier from Sweden.

Hans Herrmann only took outright wins in lesser sports car racing events, such as at AVUS or the 500 km Nurburgring.

However, being dissatisfied with the preparation of his car for the 1965 Schauinsland practice, Hans Herrmann went home to witness the birth of his son, Dino.

Hans Herrmann missed the win in the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Porsche 908 by only 120 meters [1], but it was he who finally scored the long-awaited first overall victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours for Porsche in 1970.

Hans Herrmann was assigned to Porsche Salzburg, the Austria-based factory-backed team owned by the Porsche family, which mainly entered cars painted red and white, the Austrian colors.

Half jokingly, Hans Herrmann had promised to his wife before the Le Mans race that he would retire in case of a win there.

Hans Herrmann was kidnapped once in the 1990s and kept in a car trunk for many hours before escaping.

Hans Herrmann has remained engaged in the racing community through his retirement, demonstrating historical cars at events such as the Solitude-Revival.