The story behind the picture or the picture behind the story: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree
05/12/2026
In the memorial exhibition "90/55/45" in memory of Jo Siffert (90th birthday and 55th death anniversary) and Herbert Müller (45th death anniversary) in Murten, the bust of the popular Swiss racing driver from Fribourg stood at the entrance. I quickly came up with the idea of photographing the father with his son Philippe. Jo Siffert never really got to know his son, as he was only nine months old when his father was killed in an accident at Brands-Hatch on October 24, 1971.
One ulterior motive was, of course, to close the circle between our two families. My own father enjoyed great friendships with both Jo Siffert and Herbert Müller back then. Even I knew Seppi better than his son himself, as I am nine years older than Philippe. I can still clearly remember two encounters with him.
In the fall of 1970, we had lunch with Seppi, later in his garage, where he gave us his personal autographs. The second encounter took place years earlier, when Siffert signed autographs in a store specializing in HEUER watches on Pilatusstrasse in Lucerne. I was there with my mother, of course, but the queue was huge, so she went into the coffee house next door and I waited patiently. When I finally stood in front of him, I gave him my father's greeting as agreed, but without making it clear who I was. The racing driver thanked me rather unresponsively, which of course disappointed me greatly.
I have a memory of "Stumpen-Herbie" from the 1000 km race in Monza, probably in 1970, when I was allowed to watch the race in his pit while my father took photos along the track. The other even smaller boy standing next to me was also called Daniel and was Herbie's son, born on 14.5.1961, a year younger than me....
In Murten, the three of us - Daniel Müller, Philippe Siffert and I - stood together (again) 50 years later at the memorial exhibition, when so many memories came flooding back.
There are countless pictures of the two of them in my motorsport archive and they bear witness to special and unforgettable moments. Some of these pictures can be seen in my two books " Inside Formula 1" and "Inside Formula 1 Lap 2 " .
