Alfred Neubauer
Alfred Neubauer (born March 29, 1891 in Neutitschein ; † August 22, 1980 in Stuttgart ) was a German automobile racing driver and from 1926 to 1955 racing director of the Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix team.
Life
Neubauer was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army , where he also repaired vehicles. After the war he went to the Austrian automobile manufacturer Austro-Daimler in Wiener Neustadt . Ferdinand Porsche appointed him head of the drive-in department in 1920.
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From 1922 Neubauer also drove races, but without great success. For example, he took part in the Targa Florio in Sicily with a “ Sascha ” racing car from Austro-Daimler .
When Ferdinand Porsche went to the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft in Stuttgart in 1923 ( Daimler-Benz was only founded in 1926), he took Neubauer with him as a proven employee. Since Neubauer had recognized that he was not a great racing driver, he came up with another idea in 1926: he invented the post of race director.
Because the racing drivers had no connection with the outside world, they often did not know what position they were in, and sometimes a driver was surprised after the race by the news that he had won. Therefore Alfred Neubauer invented a sophisticated system with flags and boards with which he could give his drivers tactical advice. When he tested the system for the first time on September 12, 1926 at the Solitude race , the event manager angrily asked him to leave the race track because his nonsense would irritate the drivers. When Neubauer pointed out that he was the race director, the sports president replied: “Are you out of your mind? I am the race director! "
The Mercedes team soon achieved numerous successes, which were achieved with the Mercedes SS and SSK racing cars until 1931 and were often attributable to Rudolf Caracciola , the best driver of the time . Neubauer's part consisted not only in his tactical skills, but also in the perfectionist, almost military drill of the mechanic crew, which always gave the team a time advantage over the competition.
A masterpiece of Neubauer was the organization of the operation at the Mille Miglia in 1931 , when he had to travel across Italy with his few helpers in order to be at the stops before Caracciola.
The time of greatest success was the Silver Arrow era (1934–1939), which began almost with a flop: the regulations stipulated a weight limit of 750 kg, but the day before the newly developed car was first used, the scales showed 751 kg. As it was said for a long time , but has not been proven beyond doubt, Manfred von Brauchitsch and Neubauer finally came up with the idea of removing the white paint. The silver aluminum sheet came to light, the car had lost weight and the "Silver Arrow" was born. The Silver Arrow era was marked by the dominance of German racing cars and the rivalry between Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union . During its most successful phase, the Mercedes team consisted of the regular drivers Rudolf Caracciola, Hermann Lang , Manfred von Brauchitsch and Richard Seaman . The statement “At the end is added up” by Neubauer Hermann Lang will probably come from this time.
After the war, Mercedes-Benz wanted to get back into racing as soon as possible, but a new racing formula was announced for 1954, and no new development was worthwhile for the remaining short time. Therefore, as a solution to the problem, the design of the Mercedes 300 was reworked so that in 1952 the racing sports car 300 SL was created. Neubauer led these cars to victories in the Carrera Panamericana and the Le Mans 24-hour race .
When Mercedes Formula 1 racing cars again lined up in the 1954 Formula 1 season , the new Silver Arrows proved to be just as superior as they were before the war, and Juan Manuel Fangio became Formula 1 World Champion in 1954/1955. Neubauer experienced probably his blackest day as race director on June 11, 1955 in Le Mans , when a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR was thrown into the crowd through no fault of his own, killing 84 people. After consulting in Stuttgart, Neubauer withdrew the remaining cars from the race.
Mercedes withdrew from racing after the Le Mans shock, and Alfred Neubauer retired. When he and Juan Manuel Fangio drew a sheet over the racing cars that were about to roll into the museum, tears were in his eyes. Karl Kling took over the position of race director.
When Mercedes-Benz was back in factory motor racing 33 years later, in 1988, Alfred Neubauer was already dead. Today he is part of the legend of the old Silver Arrows. McLaren-Mercedes in the Silver Arrow design took part in the Formula 1 World Championship for the first time since 1997 . The first race of such a painted car was won by David Coulthard in a McLaren-Mercedes. In 2010 , the 30th anniversary of his death, an independent Mercedes team with Mercedes Silver Arrows competed for the first time.
Recognitions
- Alfred-Neubauer-Gasse in Wiener Neustadt
- There is a memorial plaque in front of Alfred Neubauer's former home in Aldingen am Neckar .
Publications
- Men, women and motors. Hans Dulk-Verlag, Hamburg 1959 / Motor Buch Verlag, Stuttgart 1970, ISBN 3-87943-159-0 .
- Today we laugh about it. Auto-Revue publishing house, Luxembourg, 1951.
literature
- Frank O. Hrachowy: Steely romanticism, automobile racing drivers and National Socialist modernism. Verlag BOD, Norderstedt 2008, ISBN 978-3-8370-1249-1 .
- Hans Christoph Graf von Seherr-Thoss: Neubauer, Alfred. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 94 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
- Literature by and about Alfred Neubauer in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Neubauer, Alfred |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German racing director of the Mercedes Grand Prix team (1926–1955) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 29, 1891 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Neutitschein |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 22, 1980 |
| Place of death | Stuttgart |