Karl Wendlinger and his approach to the Mercedes-Benz W25
Karl Wendlinger, the former Sauber F1 driver, drove the Mercedes-Benz W25 in the Silver Arrows demonstration drive at the 2012 Goodwood Revival.
During the five practice laps on Friday, he still found it really difficult to get to grips with the pedals, which were unfamiliar to him.
"With the accelerator in the middle, the brake on the right and the clutch on the other side of the gimbal on the far left, driving takes a lot of getting used to. Shifting up was no problem, but when shifting down and braking I had to concentrate to avoid making a mistake. The worst thing that can happen to you as a driver with such a valuable and original car is to park it roughly in the botany. What's more, I would have no chance of falling out of the car, as happened to Hans Hermann on the Avus in 1959, as I was completely wedged into the cockpit with my height. It's an absolute miracle that drivers like Hans Hermann were able to survive back then".
Wendlinger looks up at the sky and says: "Somehow they didn't want everyone up there".
"It must have been absolute madness to race these cars. The engine - with its crazy power - is so superior to the rest of the technology that you could certainly never get the full performance out of it back then. It was probably like the famous ride on the cannonball," continued Karl Wendlinger, who enjoyed the ride in the historic car.
We have published a detailed and richly illustrated event report on the Goodwood Revival 2012 . The many pictures of the Silver Arrows alone in a specially created photo gallery are well worth a visit.
