16 Facts About Markus Winkelhock

Markus Winkelhock is the son of Manfred Winkelhock and nephew of Joachim Winkelhock, both of whom were Formula One drivers in the 1980s.

In 2001, Markus Winkelhock joined the German Formula 3 Championship, where he remained until the championship became the F3 Euroseries in 2003.

Markus Winkelhock's record was fifth overall in 2001, seventh in 2002 and fourth in 2003.

Markus Winkelhock switched to touring car racing in 2004, with a season in the DTM in an AMG-Mercedes CLK.

Markus Winkelhock switched back to single-seater racing in 2005, joining the World Series by Renault with Draco.

On 24 January 2006, Markus Winkelhock was confirmed as a test and reserve driver for the Midland F1 team for the 2006 Formula One season.

Markus Winkelhock participated in Friday test sessions for the team at the Bahrain, Australian, German and Hungarian Grands Prix.

Markus Winkelhock was re-signed for 2007 by the team, which by then had been renamed as Spyker F1.

Markus Winkelhock made a brief return to the DTM in 2007, starting three races.

When pouring rain forced almost all the others to pit at the end of the first lap, Markus Winkelhock was able to move into the lead, passing some cars as they pitted, and even passing Kimi Raikkonen on the track as the Finn tip-toed around to the pits, eventually building a lead of 19 seconds by the end of the second lap.

The gamble failed and, having restarted the race from the lead, Markus Winkelhock quickly fell down the order.

Markus Winkelhock retired on lap 15 with hydraulic problems that caused a small fire.

Markus Winkelhock returned to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters after he lost his Spyker seat, and has remained in the series, driving for Team Rosberg, for 2008,2009 and 2010.

Markus Winkelhock was to move with Munnich Motorsport to the World Touring Car Championship for 2013, however he left the team before the start of the season in order to focus on his GT racing commitments, and was replaced by defending champion Robert Huff.

Markus Winkelhock made a brief DTM comeback midway through the 2021 season with Abt Sportsline, where he replaced Sophia Florsch for the Nurburgring round due to her Le Mans commitments.

Markus Winkelhock did not complete sufficient laps in order to score full points.