1991–1992: Leyton House/March

Wendlinger's Formula One debut came at the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, bringing some money to the beleaguered Leyton House team in place of long-serving Ivan Capelli. He qualified in 22nd place in a field of 26, but was unable to convert that into anything more, after he retired due to a big collision at turn one, between himself, JJ Lehto, Andrea de Cesaris and Emanuele Pirro. His second race didn't fare much better as the Adelaide circuit was a wash-out, torrential rain leading to a curtailed event. Wendlinger was classified in 20th place, two laps down on eventual winner Ayrton Senna, after aquaplaning on some of the huge puddles of water present that day.

Wendlinger was kept at the renamed March team in 1992, alongside Paul Belmondo. The team were struggling financially due to the withdrawal of the Leyton House organisation, the only modifications to the 1991 car being reworking the cockpit to accommodate Wendlinger's tall frame. The results were very encouraging, including starting 7th at the opening South African Grand Prix but results were limited by the team's financial restraints. For example, at the Spanish Grand Prix the drying track at the start saw the Footwork team make a late change of tyres to their cars on the starting grid, incurring a fine but finishing 5th and 7th. Wendlinger was 8th, March being unable to afford the fine for changing his tyres at the same time. However, at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal a race of attrition allowed Wendlinger to bring the car home in fourth position, albeit a lap down — but nonetheless a huge result considering the financial troubles his team were in. These three points allowed Wendlinger to finish 12th in the Drivers' Championship ahead of respected names such as Ivan Capelli, Thierry Boutsen, Johnny Herbert and former Brabham and Tyrrell driver Stefano Modena.

1993–1995: Sauber

For 1993, Wendlinger was re-united with Peter Sauber, who that year had become a Formula One team owner. Much was expected of the team and early on Wendlinger and teammate JJ Lehto mixed with the front runners. Initially, he was out-paced by Lehto, who scored points in two of the first four races, though some of this was down to bad luck; Wendlinger had qualified 5th at Donington for example, only to be eliminated by Michael Andretti on the first lap. At the Monaco Grand Prix Wendlinger and Lehto collided, the team blaming Lehto. After that, Wendlinger's results improved. He scored his first point of the season in the next round and added three more points scores — the best being 4th at the Italian Grand Prix after a long battle with Andretti. Other points finishes in Portugal and Hungary helped give Wendlinger 12th in the Drivers' Championship again with seven points — two points and a place ahead of the more experienced Lehto.

For 1994, Wendlinger was retained as Mercedes made their official return to Formula One, buying a stake in Ilmor and becoming the team's engine supplier. Heinz-Harald Frentzen arrived in place of Lehto. The season started well for Wendlinger: He scored a point in the first race of the year at Interlagos and drove to fourth place in the San Marino race, an event marred by the deaths of both Wendlinger's countryman Roland Ratzenberger and the 3-time world champion Ayrton Senna.

The next race was in Monaco for the fourth round of the Championship. During the first practice session, Wendlinger exited the tunnel and lost control of the car under braking for the Nouvelle Chicane. The Sauber, sliding sideways, hit a barrier with considerable force; the barrier was protected by large plastic containers that were supposed to be filled with water, but weren't.^[2] Although his vital signs were quickly stabilized, he remained in a coma for several weeks and did not drive in a race for the rest of the year.^[3] He had planned to make his comeback at the Japanese Grand Prix, but pre-race testing revealed his neck was not strong enough.

Wendlinger recovered from his injuries before the start of the 1995 Formula One season, where he would be driving at Sauber (now with Ford engines) alongside Frentzen. However, he performed poorly and was reluctantly replaced in the team before the Monaco Grand Prix, a year on from the accident, by Jean-Christophe Boullion. Peter Sauber then recalled Wendlinger for the final two races of the season in one last attempt to regain his pre-accident form, without success. These were his last races in Formula One.

2008

Wendlinger competed for JetAlliance Racing in 2008 alongside Ryan Sharp. They started well at the RAC Tourist Trophy round from Silverstone. Wendlinger and Sharp won the GT1 class and overall race ahead of Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini's Maserati MC12.

Career summary

Complete German Formula Three results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula One results

(key)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1991	Team Sauber Mercedes	Michael Schumacher Fritz Kreutzpointner	Mercedes-Benz C11	C2	355	5th	5th
1992	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Eric van de Poele Alain Ferté	Peugeot 905 Evo 1B	C1	208	DNF	DNF
1996	Porsche AG	Yannick Dalmas Scott Goodyear	Porsche 911 GT1	GT1	341	3rd	2nd
1997	Roock Racing	Stéphane Ortelli Allan McNish	Porsche 911 GT1	GT1	8	DNF	DNF
1998	Viper Team Oreca	Marc Duez Patrick Huisman	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	GT2	28	DNF	DNF
1999	Viper Team Oreca	Olivier Beretta Dominique Dupuy	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	GTS	325	10th	1st
2000	Viper Team Oreca	Olivier Beretta Dominique Dupuy	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	GTS	333	7th	1st
2001	Team PlayStation	Olivier Beretta Pedro Lamy	Chrysler LMP	LMP900	298	4th	3rd
2008	Aston Martin Racing	Heinz-Harald Frentzen Andrea Piccini	Aston Martin DBR9	GT1	339	16th	4th

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

• † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Italian Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GT1 World Championship results