🇩🇪 Manfred Winkelhock

Manfred Winkelhock was a German Formula 1 driver who competed between 1982 and 1985 as an established professional, primarily for the ATS team. He made 49 starts across the championship, racing in a grid that ranged from amateur and semi-professional drivers to graded professionals. His time in Formula 1 coincided with the era of Alain Prost's dominance; Prost won four world titles during Winkelhock's racing years.[1]

Winkelhock spent four seasons in the championship without winning a race or taking a podium finish. He finished 15th in the 1985 standings, his final season. He raced most frequently against drivers of his own level and regularly competed against higher-calibre opposition; Prost and Michele Alboreto, both established or elite professionals, were regular opponents he typically finished behind. In isolated instances he was faster than established drivers including Gerhard Berger and Riccardo Patrese, beating each once across their meetings.[2]

He was part of the ATS roster for 40 of his 49 starts, a team that did not record a race win during its time in the database and fielded a grid of drivers around his own level. The strongest regular member of that team was Berger, an established professional with 210 Formula 1 starts. Winkelhock's career in racing continued beyond Formula 1 in other categories, though his time at the top level was spent as a supporting driver in a championship dominated by the generation of Prost.