• 09/1926: Alfred Neubauer made his debut as Mercedes-Benz’s racing director (100 years )
• 10/2001: “Mr Safety Car” Bernd Mayländer won the season final of DTM at Hockenheim (25 years)
• 10/2006: Bernd Schneider won his fifth DTM title (20 years)
• 11/1956: Walter Schock and Rolf Moll were crowned European Rally Champions (70 years)
• 11/2016: Nico Rosberg won the Formula 1 World Championship (10 years)
• Birthdays of Jochen Mass, Emerson Fittipaldi and Andrew Cowan

Alfred Neubauer made his debut as Mercedes-Benz’s racing director at the Solitude race

• A key strategist and organiser of the racing operations from 1926 to 1955
• Neubauer streamlined the communication between drivers and the pit crew
• The automotive engineer joined Mercedes as an employee of Ferdinand Porsche

Mercedes-Benz engineer Alfred Neubauer couldn’t be denied his spot right next to the track at the Solitude race on 12 September 1926 – even though the organisers protested. He explained: “I am the racing director for the Mercedes team. I have to stand here so that I can give my men signals.” This scene marks the beginning of a unique career in 20th-century motor racing. Neubauer organised and managed the brand’s races with great success across three different eras: that of the S-series supercharged touring cars, the era of the first Silver Arrows from 1934 to 1939, and Mercedes-Benz’s glorious return to motor racing after the Second World War from 1952 to 1955. One of his great achievements was the development of a system of communication and signalling between the pit and the drivers, using flags and boards. Alfred Neubauer was born in 1891 in Neutitschein, Moravia (now Czechia). He trained as an automotive engineer in the Austrian Army and, after the First World War, joined Ferdinand Porsche’s team at Austro-Daimler. In 1923, he moved with Porsche to what was then the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in Stuttgart. After enjoying some success as a racing driver, Neubauer found his calling from 1926 onwards in the newly created role of racing director. His memoirs, “Männer, Frauen und Motoren” (Men, Women and Engines) (1958) and “Herr über 1000 PS” (Master of 1000 hp) (1959), were among the most successful motor racing books of the era and were translated into several languages.

“Mr Safety Car” Bernd Mayländer won the DTM season final at Hockenheim

• Regular driver of the Official FIA F1® Safety Car from Mercedes-AMG since 2000
• A lap record “for the ages” on the old Hockenheim circuit
• A stable set of rules for two decades

• At the Le Mans race, a fifth-place finish was enough to win the championship
• For 35 years, “Mr DTM” has been closely associated with the brand
• Many victories even after his DTM career

In 2006, Bernd Schneider won his fifth DTM championship in the Mercedes-Benz CLK-DTM, thus crowning his career in touring car racing. This earned the racing driver, born in 1964, the honorary title of “Mr DTM”. Prior to that, he won the series in 1995, 2000, 2001 and 2003. Schneider made his first test appearances for Mercedes-Benz in 1991, and thus he has been closely associated with the brand for 35 years. For the 1992 season, he signed his first three-year contract as a works driver for Mercedes-AMG. The driving force behind the signing of Schneider, who had previously raced, among other series, in Formula 1®, was Norbert Haug, then head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. At the end of 2008, Schneider bid farewell to the DTM with a sixth-place finish at Hockenheim, after 226 races and 43 victories for Mercedes-Benz. He remained active in motor racing: in 2013, he went on to win all the major endurance races in GT racing with the SLS AMG GT3. Today, as a brand ambassador for Mercedes-AMG, he is a much sought-after interviewee and shares his experience as an instructor and test driver on the racetrack.

• Mercedes-Benz supported the private team following the works team’s withdrawal from racing
• Victories in the 300 SL at the Sestriere Rally and the Acropolis Rally
• Second place in the Monte Carlo Rally with the 220 a (W 180)

• The Mercedes GP PETRONAS F1 Team ended the season with 19 wins in 21 Grands Prix
• The drivers’ championship was decided at the season final in Abu Dhabi on 27 November 2016
• In 2026, teammates Kimi Antonelli and George Russell are among the title contenders

• 80 years: Jochen Mass was born in Dorfen on 30 September 1946. The long-serving Formula 1® driver celebrated his greatest victory in the World Sportscar Championship: in 1989, alongside Manuel Reuter and Stanley Dickens, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Sauber-Mercedes C 9. After retiring from motor racing at the end of 1991, Mass represented Mercedes-Benz as a brand ambassador at numerous events, skilfully driving the brand’s classic Silver Arrows. He died on 4 May 2025.
• 80 years: Racing driver Emerson Fittipaldi was born on 12 December 1946 in São Paulo, Brazil. He won the Formula 1® World Championship in 1972 and 1974, as well as the Indy 500 in 1989 and 1993. From 1994 onwards, his Penske racing car was fitted with Mercedes-Benz engines. That year, driving the superior Mercedes-Benz 500 I engine, he was on course for his third victory at Indianapolis, but was forced to retire from the race shortly before the finish following an accident. He ended his career in 1996.
• 90 years: Andrew Cowan was born on 13 December 1936 in Duns, Scotland. He is regarded as an expert in marathon rallies. His victory in a Mercedes-Benz 280 E (W 123) at the London–Sydney Rally stands out as a particular highlight. This “longest rally in history” ran from 12 August to 28 September 1977, covering over 30,000 kilometres through Europe, Asia and Singapore, ending in Sydney. Cowan also enjoyed great success for the brand in other long-distance rallies. He died on 15 October 2019.