Wolfgang Seidel (4 July 1926 in Dresden – 1 March 1987 in Munich) was a racing driver from Germany.
He participated in 12 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 August 1953. He scored no championship points.
Seidel often entered cars under his own name, or under the Scuderia Colonia banner. After having been refused a start at the 1962 German Grand Prix due to slowness, Seidel got in an argument with officials from the Automobilclub von Deutschland. Combined with some doubts about the level of preparation of his cars, Seidel’s competition licence was withdrawn, and he offered his two cars up for sale. In spite of not having a licence, Seidel competed in the non-championship 1962 Mexican Grand Prix a few months later.
He died in 1987 of a heart attack. Info from Wiki
Wolfgang Seidel: 1953 Formula One Season By Jeremy McMullen
Wolfgang Seidel would first make his racing debut in sports cars during the early 1950s. Born in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1926, Seidel was only 19 years of age at the end of the Second World War. Six years later, Seidel would take part in his first sports car race at the Norisring with a Veritas RS. The same Veritas RS would also help Seidel make another debut a couple of years later.
Like most every other German racer, Seidel was prohibited from racing outside of Germany for two reasons. The first of these reasons would be the travel restrictions placed on Germans as a result of the end of the war. The second reason was economical. German racers simply couldn’t afford to take part in too many races outside their own border. This would even prevent the nation’s own racers from taking part in the World Championship when it came to be part of the series in 1951. However, all of that would change in 1952 and 1953.
The costs were sky-rocketing in Formula One, even after just two years of existence. These spiraling costs would also cause a number of competitors to abandon the series. This was not a good situation and changes needed to be made. This introduced Formula 2 regulations for the 1952 and 1953 seasons as a stop-gap measure.
While seen as nothing more than a stop-gap measure by the series governing-body, the decision to use Formula 2 regulations would actually be a lifeline to a whole slew of German racers that couldn’t afford to take part in World Championship grand prix racing otherwise. One of those that would benefit would be Seidel.
Once driving in sports cars, Seidel’s talent would become very evident. In his first sports car race he would start 7th and would finish 3rd. Then, at the Nurburgring one year later, he would finish 2nd to Toni Ulmen. In two other sports car races in which Seidel competed in 1952 he would go on to finish 4th and 3rd. This offered the young German the confidence he would need to take part in his first Formula 2 grand prix races the following year.
Armed with his BMW-powered six-cylinder Veritas RS, Seidel would set off at the end of May for the Nurburgring. He was on his way to the Nurburgring to take part in the ADAC Eifelrennen on the 31st of May.
The Nurburgring, particularly its 14 mile long Nordschleife, had a very notorious reputation and very few actually liked the circuit. The vast majority hated the circuit nestled in the Eifel mountains. Considering he was born in Dusseldorf, just an hour and a half to the north, and, as a result of his 2nd place result in the sports car Grand Prix of the Nurburgring the season before, it seemed the Nurburgring perfectly suited Seidel.
One local legend about Nurburg is that it was once a Roman fort. While there is little evidence to suggest this, the Burg Nurburg, or ‘Nurburg Castle’ would certainly come to be surrounded by one hellish wall of twisting, winding circuit that would earn the nickname the ‘Green Hell’.
Although the Eifelrennen would take place the same day as the Grand Prix de l’Albigeois the field would still be full of talented foreign entries. The previous year, Rudolf Fischer had brought his Ferrari 500 to the race. He would not only take the pole, he would go on to win the race as well. One year later, Fischer would be back but managing his Ecurie Espadon racing team. While Fischer wouldn’t be driving his Ferrari 500 would still be in the field. Driven by Kurt Adolff, the Ferrari would power its way to the pole. Adolff would be joined on the front row by the Belgian Paul Frere in 2nd place, Hans Klenk in 3rd and the Briton Stirling Moss in 4th with his Cooper-Alta Special. Seidel would join a number of Veritas RSs occupying the tail-end of the starting grid.
The 7 lap race would be greeted by gray, rainy weather. The wet circuit would certainly pose a great challenge to all of the competitors. Already a demanding and dangerous circuit in the dry, in the wet, the circuit became an even more dangerous animal. The wet conditions would end up throwing what was certain right out the window.
The script would be thrown out the window right at the start of the race. Emmanuel de Graffenried would make an incredible start from the third row of the grid and would hold onto the lead before even a mile of the first lap had been completed. The once dominant Ferrari 500 of Ecurie Espadon was forced to hold on for dear life behind the Swiss Baron.
A number of other competitors would have trouble holding on for just a single lap. Hans Herrmann and the veteran Paul Pietsch would be out of the race before completing a single lap of the race. They would be joined on the first lap by three more, including Hans Stuck and Lance Macklin with ignition problems.
On the other-hand, Seidel was having a good first lap. Despite the conditions, he moved forward and was showing good patience. His patience would be rewarded with the first lap retirements. Nonetheless, Seidel was also showing good pace and was threatening many others that were obviously struggling with the conditions.
Baron de Graffenried continued to show the way at the front of the field. Adolff was holding on for dear life behind him and was actually coming under fire from Paul Frere. Although a writer and gentleman racer, Paul Frere was certainly accustomed to such conditions driving so many years at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. This experience would end up getting the better of Adolff and would take the fight to de Graffenried.
Adolff wasn’t done slipping backward. In spite of driving the defending champion car, there was very little Adolff could do in such conditions. It was obvious he wasn’t very comfortable in the conditions and couldn’t adapt to get the car to perform for him. As a result, Paul Frere would get by. But he would be followed by Peter Collins in his HWM-Alta.
Gallery F1
