F1 star reveals Mercedes quit option after horror crash

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Mercedes

F1 star reveals Mercedes quit option after horror crash

How Mercedes nearly left F1 in 1994

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 15 May 2026 21:57

Former F1 star Heinz-Harald Frentzen has revealed that Mercedes almost quit Formula 1 after Karl Wendlinger's crash at the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix.

Mercedes are a powerhouse name in Formula 1, but throughout most of the 20th century they were largely an absent enterprise. They first joined the world championship as constructors in 1954, and were instantly rewarded with a drivers' title that same year with Juan Manuel Fangio.

The following year, Mercedes won their second drivers' championship with Fangio; yet 1955 would be Mercedes' last title until Lewis Hamilton won with the German marque in 2014.

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The reason for this? Mercedes withdrew their entry, not just from F1, but also from all motorsport after the 1955 Le Mans disaster - the deadliest in motorsport history - where Pierre Levegh in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR caused a fatal incident at the 24-hour race.

When Levegh struck Lance Macklin’s Austin-Healey at 125mph, his Mercedes was launched into the air and into the crowd of spectators. Levegh was flung out of the car and killed instantly, while the Mercedes car disintegrated with debris flying into the crowd.

The Mercedes, made of magnesium alloy, ignited and created a blaze that took hours to extinguish, and it was estimated over 80 spectators lost their life during the tragic accident.

Following the disaster, multiple European countries banned motorsports entirely, with the ban not lifted in Switzerland until 2022, and Mercedes were absent from F1 for the next 39 years.

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How Mercedes nearly quit F1 in 1994

Mercedes only returned to F1 four decades later, and as engine manufacturers, in 1994, supplying the Sauber team at the time after a successful partnership in sportscar racing - which included a 24 Hours of Le Mans win in 1989.

However, when any motorsport fan sees the year 1994, it is tainted by and calls to mind the tragic weekend in San Marino, where Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna both lost their lives at Imola.

This tragedy, and safety in Formula 1, was at the forefront of Mercedes' concerns heading into the next race in Monaco, despite the FIA's announcement to make a series of changes to the rules and regulations to improve safety.

Most of these changes, barring an 80 km/h pit-lane speed limit, were not expected to be introduced until after the Monaco Grand Prix weekend; and during the first free practice session on Thursday, Sauber-Mercedes driver Karl Wendlinger suffered a major accident at the Nouvelle Chicane.

Entering the corner at a speed of 170mph, Wendlinger was knocked unconscious and sustained a serious head injury, which kept him a coma for several weeks and he was unable to race again in 1994.

Sauber-Mercedes withdrew their entry from the Monaco Grand Prix and only entered one car, Frentzen's, at the subsequent Spanish Grand Prix.

Now, the German driver has revealed on X that, if Wendlinger's accident had proved fatal, head of motorsport at Mercedes-Benz, Norbert Haug, would have ceased the brand's involvement in Formula 1.

Frentzen explained: "The only reason Mercedes-Benz is still in F1 is because Karl Wendlinger survived the crash in Monaco after being several months in coma.

"Sauber-Mercedes withdraw the cars at the weekend. I remember during the weekend Norbert Haug explaining how bad the situation was. Not only because of Karl’s situation also for the negative situation F1 was facing and being in question for safety.

"Mercedes left professional motorsport after the tragedy in 1955 in Le Mans and now coming back into F1 Karl having a deadly accident would stop the arrangement in F1 very likely. The words from Norbert Haug at the time."

Did Wendlinger race again in F1?

Thankfully, Wendlinger managed to recover from his injuries and start the 1995 F1 season with Sauber, this time around competing with Ford engines, while Mercedes partnered McLaren.

Wendlinger only lasted four races, however, before Sauber replaced him with Jean-Christophe Boullion. Sauber then swapped the two drivers around for the final two races of season, but Wendlinger was unable to recover his previous form and turned his attention to sportscars and touring cars.

The Austrian has since won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice in the GTS class, consecutively in the Chrysler Viper GTS-R in 1999 and 2000.

Speaking to F1 Insider in 2021, he admitted: "Something must have happened in my head during those two winter months that I couldn't explain.

"The doctors explained that I could lead a normal life, but the head injuries were probably too severe to withstand the demands of Formula 1. I drove four races and realized I was too slow. I had to admit that to myself."

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Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

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F1 Mercedes Heinz-Harald Frentzen