The Most Famous

RACING DRIVERS from Austria

This page contains a list of the greatest Austrian Racing Drivers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,080 Racing Drivers, 18 of which were born in Austria. This makes Austria the birth place of the 16th most number of Racing Drivers behind Sweden, and Netherlands.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Austrian Racing Drivers of all time. This list of famous Austrian Racing Drivers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Austrian Racing Drivers.

1. Niki Lauda (1949 - 2019)

With an HPI of 74.74, Niki Lauda is the most famous Austrian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 68 different languages on wikipedia.

Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (22 February 1949 – 20 May 2019) was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from 1971 to 1979 and from 1982 to 1985. Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the time of his retirement—held the record for most podium finishes (54); he remains the only driver to have won a World Drivers' Championship with both Ferrari and McLaren, and won 25 Grands Prix across 13 seasons. Born and raised in Vienna, Lauda was the grandson of local industrialist Hans Lauda. Starting his career in karting, he progressed to Formula Vee and privateer racing in the late 1960s. With his career stalled, Lauda took out a £30,000 bank loan and secured a place in European Formula Two with March in 1971, making his Formula One debut with the team at the Austrian Grand Prix. He was promoted to a full-time seat in 1972, ending the season with a non-classified championship finish, amongst winning the British Formula Two Championship. Lauda moved to BRM for the 1973 season, scoring his maiden points finish in Belgium and earning a seat with Ferrari the following year alongside Clay Regazzoni. Lauda was immediately successful at Ferrari, taking his maiden podium on debut and his maiden win three races later at the Spanish Grand Prix. After winning five Grands Prix in his 1975 campaign, Lauda won his maiden title, becoming the first Ferrari-powered World Drivers' Champion in 11 years. Whilst leading the 1976 championship—amidst a fierce title battle with James Hunt—Lauda was seriously injured during the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, suffering severe burns and other life-changing injuries as his Ferrari 312T2 caught on fire during a crash. He returned to racing six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix, but eventually lost the title to Hunt by one point. Lauda remained at Ferrari in 1977, winning several races on the way to his second championship. Vacating his seat after clinching the title at the United States Grand Prix and replaced by Gilles Villeneuve, Lauda signed with Brabham in 1978, achieving podiums in every race he finished that season, with victories in Sweden and Italy. Amidst a winless 1979 season for Brabham alongside Nelson Piquet, Lauda left the team after the Italian Grand Prix, following their move to Ford Cosworth V8 engines. After a two-year hiatus, Lauda returned to Formula One with McLaren in 1982, winning multiple races upon his return. After a winless 1983 campaign, Lauda was partnered by Alain Prost the following season, where he beat Prost to his third title by a record half-point. Lauda retired at the conclusion of the 1985 season—taking his final victory at the Dutch Grand Prix—having achieved 25 race wins, 24 pole positions, 24 fastest laps and 54 podiums in Formula One. Outside of Formula One, Lauda won the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 1973 with Alpina, and the inaugural BMW M1 Procar Championship in 1979 with Project Four. In aviation, Lauda founded and managed three airlines: Lauda Air from 1985 to 1999, Niki from 2003 to 2011, and Lauda from 2016 onwards. He returned to Formula One in an advisory role at Ferrari in 1993, and was the team principal of Jaguar from 2001 to 2002. From 2012 until his death, Lauda was the non-executive chairman and co-owner of Mercedes, winning six consecutive World Constructors' Championships with the team from 2014 to 2019. Lauda was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993.

2. Helmut Marko (b. 1943)

With an HPI of 65.08, Helmut Marko is the 2nd most famous Austrian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Helmut Marko (born 27 April 1943) is an Austrian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1971 to 1972. In endurance racing, Marko won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1971 with Martini. He founded RSM Marko in 1989, and has been an advisor to Red Bull Racing and its related teams since 2005, winning six World Constructors' Championship titles between 2010 and 2023. Born and raised in Austria, Marko progressed to sportscar racing by the late-1960s after completing his doctorate in law at the University of Graz. Finding success in the European Touring Car Championship and becoming a class winner at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans with Martini, Marko progressed to the premier class the following year and won the race in then-record distance alongside Gijs van Lennep. Less than two months later, Marko debuted in Formula One with Bonnier at the German Grand Prix, driving a privateer McLaren M7C. He joined BRM for the remainder of the 1971 season, and retained his seat in 1972. Marko was seriously injured during the 1972 French Grand Prix, when debris from the March of Ronnie Peterson pierced his visor and left him permanently blinded in his left eye, ending his racing career aged 29. Since retiring from motor racing, Marko has moved into team and driver management, founding RSM Marko in 1989, which became the Red Bull Junior Team in 1999. With Red Bull, Marko has overseen the development of two Formula One World Drivers' Champions—Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen—and has been an advisor to Red Bull Racing since 2005, winning six World Constructors' Championships with the team; the graduates of his development programme have won a combined eight World Drivers' Championships and 129 Grands Prix.

3. Roland Ratzenberger (1960 - 1994)

With an HPI of 62.36, Roland Ratzenberger is the 3rd most famous Austrian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 41 different languages.

Roland Walter Ratzenberger (German: [ˈroːlant ˈratsn̩bɛrɡɐ]; 4 July 1960 – 30 April 1994) was an Austrian racing driver, who competed in Formula One at three Grands Prix in 1994. Born and raised in Salzburg, Ratzenberger began his racing career as a protégé of Walter Lechner, joining the Lechner Racing School at the Salzburgring upon graduating from technical school, aged 18. Ratzenberger progressed to Formula Ford in 1983, winning multiple national and continental titles, as well as the Festival in 1986. Ratzenberger balanced his next two seasons between touring car racing and Formula Three; he contested the World Touring Car Championship in 1987 with Schnitzer, achieving four podium finishes in 10 races whilst driving the BMW E30 M3. After finishing third in the 1989 British Formula 3000 Championship and retiring from his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut, Ratzenberger moved into Japanese motorsport with Toyota. Amongst competing in World Sportscar, All-Japan Sports Prototype, Japanese Touring Car and Japanese Formula 3000, Ratzenberger also entered four further editions of Le Mans from 1990 to 1993, winning the C2 class at the latter in the Toyota 93C-V with SARD. Ratzenberger signed for Simtek in 1994, making his Formula One debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he did not qualify. He made his only Grand Prix start at the subsequent Pacific Grand Prix, finishing 11th after starting 26th. During qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Ratzenberger died as the result of a basilar skull fracture sustained in an accident at the Villeneuve Curva, colliding with a concrete barrier at 225 km/h (140 mph) in his Simtek S941. He was the first fatality in the Formula One World Championship since Riccardo Paletti in 1982. The weekend became notorious for the fatal accident of Ayrton Senna the following day, with both deaths leading to widespread safety reforms and the re-establishment of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.

4. Gerhard Berger (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 59.54, Gerhard Berger is the 4th most famous Austrian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 43 different languages.

Gerhard Berger (German pronunciation: [ˈɡeːɐ̯.haʁt ˈbɛʁ.ɡɐ]; born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1984 to 1997. Berger won 10 Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons. Berger competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing third overall in the championship in 1988 and 1994 with Ferrari. With 210 starts, Berger is amongst the most experienced Formula One drivers of all time. His first and last victories were also the first and last victories for the Benetton team, with eleven years separating them. He was also a race winner with Ferrari and with McLaren. When at McLaren, Berger drove alongside Ayrton Senna, contributing to the team's 1990 and 1991 constructors' titles. Berger retired in 1997 with 10 wins, 12 pole positions, 21 fastest laps and 48 podiums in Formula One. Berger returned to Formula One in 2006 as the co-owner of Toro Rosso, before selling his 50% share back to Red Bull at the end of the 2008 season.

5. Helmuth Koinigg (1948 - 1974)

With an HPI of 54.91, Helmuth Koinigg is the 5th most famous Austrian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Helmuth Koinigg (3 November 1948 – 6 October 1974) was an Austrian racing driver who died in a crash in the 1974 United States Grand Prix, in his second Grand Prix start.

6. Harald Ertl (1948 - 1982)

With an HPI of 52.98, Harald Ertl is the 6th most famous Austrian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Harald Ertl (31 August 1948 – 7 April 1982) was an Austrian racing driver and motorsport journalist. He was born in Zell am See and attended the same school as Grand Prix drivers Jochen Rindt, Helmut Marko and Niki Lauda. Ertl sported an 'Imperial'-style moustache and full beard. He worked his way through the German Formula Vee and Super Vee, and then on to Formula Three, before a successful switch to Touring Cars. During this period, he gained sufficient sponsorship to enter Formula One, where he drove with various outfits between 1975 and 1980. Ertl was one of the four drivers who helped to get Niki Lauda out of his burning Ferrari in the 1976 German Grand Prix. Ertl was killed in an aeroplane crash in 1982, when the small plane he was travelling in suffered from engine failure.

7. Franz Tost (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 52.39, Franz Tost is the 7th most famous Austrian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Franz Tost (born 20 January 1956 in Trins, Austria) is a former racing driver and the former team principal of the Scuderia AlphaTauri Formula One team, a role he departed from at the end of the 2023 Formula One season.

8. Karl Wendlinger (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 48.75, Karl Wendlinger is the 8th most famous Austrian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Karl Wendlinger (German pronunciation: [kaɐ̯l ˈvɛnd.lɪŋ.ɐ]; born 20 December 1968) is an Austrian professional racing and former Formula One driver.

9. Alexander Wurz (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 48.38, Alexander Wurz is the 9th most famous Austrian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Alexander Georg Wurz (German pronunciation: [ˌalɛˈksandɐ ˈɡeː.ɐ̯k vʊʁt͡s]; born 15 February 1974) is an Austrian former professional racing driver, driver training expert and businessman. He competed in Formula One from 1997 until 2007, and is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours. He is currently under contract to race for the Toyota factory racing team in the WEC (World Endurance Championship). In Formula One, he is a commentator for TV and media, as well as being Williams F1 Team's driver coach, chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, and occasionally a driver steward.

10. Dieter Quester (b. 1939)

With an HPI of 48.23, Dieter Quester is the 10th most famous Austrian Racing Driver. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Dieter Quester (born 30 May 1939) is an Austrian former racing driver. Quester participated in 53 24-Hour Races. He competed in a single Formula One race in which he finished ninth. Starting with motorboats in the 1950s, he became part of the Formula 2 team of BMW which intended to take part in the 1969 German Grand Prix. Teammate Gerhard Mitter was killed at the Nürburgring while practising with the BMW 269, though. As a suspension or steering failure was suspected, the BMW team with Quester and Hubert Hahne withdrew from the race, as did Mitter's teammate at Porsche, Hans Herrmann. Quester participated in his home 1974 Austrian Grand Prix on 18 August 1974. He out-qualified his three team mates at Surtees and finished 9th ahead of Hans-Joachim Stuck and double World Champion Graham Hill in the race, but scored no championship points. Quester then focused again on European Touring Car Championship to drive a BMW 3.0 CSL for Schnitzer Motorsport. Quester had already won the 1973 Spa 24 Hours. Later racing in the DTM, he once slid on the roof of his BMW M3 over the start/finish line of the AVUS for a 3rd place. His career was still active at age 70, sponsored by Red Bull. On 15 January 2006 he won the 24 Hours race at the Dubai Autodrome on a BMW M3 together with Hans-Joachim Stuck, Philipp Peter and Toto Wolff. Stuck and Quester returned in the 24 Hours Nürburgring, but their BMW was destroyed in a crash at night that involved an oil spill and seven cars. During the weekend of 9–10 September 2006, he won the Britcar 24 Hours of Silverstone in a Duller Motorsport BMW M Roadster#Z4 M Roadster (2006–2008), and on 14 January 2007 he again won the 24 Hours race at the Dubai Autodrome in the Duller Motorsport BMW Z4 (E85). In September 2007 he and Duller won the 24 Hours of Silverstone in the Duller BMW Z4 (E85), by a margin of 30 laps. Quester took part in his final race at the HSR Classic Daytona in November 2018 at the age of 79.

People

Pantheon has 19 people classified as Austrian racing drivers born between 1939 and 2001. Of these 19, 13 (68.42%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Austrian racing drivers include Helmut Marko, Gerhard Berger, and Franz Tost. The most famous deceased Austrian racing drivers include Niki Lauda, Roland Ratzenberger, and Helmuth Koinigg. As of April 2024, 1 new Austrian racing drivers have been added to Pantheon including David Schumacher.