5 of Formula 1's Greatest Lost Talents - Part 2

#3 Wolfgang von Trips (1928-61)

Von Trips could've become Formula 1's first German champion over 30 years before Schumacher.

I wrote in the last edition of these articles about how Stefan Bellof could've become the first German F1 champion had he lived, but there was another man from Germany who came very close before Michael Schumacher.

Wolfgang von Trips only competed in two full seasons of Grand Prix racing in the early 1960s and finished overall runner up in 1961. In '61, von Trips only just lost out to Ferrari teammate Phil Hill in the most tragic of circumstances. Finishing no lower than 4th during the season, this was a very consistent campaign for the 33-year-old, but a blown engine in France ended up costing him the title.

Von Trips qualified on pole for the 1961 Italian GP but crashed with Jim Clark on the first lap, got airborne and killed both himself and fifteen spectators in what was an extremely sad day for motorsport.

At the time, he was leading the world championship and was the strong favourite for the title. Hill would later say that this was the day when racing stopped being fun for him and the nicest man in motorsport was never the same after his teammate's accident.