- International fame as a Mercedes-Benz works driver in 1954 and 1955
- Starts in W 196 R Formula 1 racing car and 300 SLR (W 196 S) racing sports car
- An extremely versatile racing driver with very consistent, fast lap times
Hans Herrmann, the famous racing driver, Le Mans winner and Mercedes-Benz Heritage Brand Ambassador, passed away on 9 January 2026 at the age of 97. He began his international career in 1954 and 1955 as a works driver for Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1 and in sports car races. Despite his connections all over the world, the racing driver, who was born in Stuttgart on 23 February 1928, remained deeply rooted in the region. His fame and popularity there is correspondingly high – as shown by the initial reactions to his death.
“It is with great gratitude that we remember Hans Herrmann, an outstanding racing driver who had a decisive influence on the history of Mercedes-Benz. As part of the legendary Silver Arrows racing team in the mid-1950s, he impressed with his speed and mastery in races. His likeable charisma and his passion for motorsport made him very popular with fans and fellow drivers alike. After his active career, Hans Herrmann remained closely associated with our brand as a representative of Mercedes-Benz Heritage and helped to preserve the heritage of our vehicles.”
Marcus Breitschwerdt, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Heritage GmbH.
Mille Miglia class winner joins the Mercedes-Benz works team
A trained confectioner, Hans Herrmann began his motor racing career in 1952, driving his privately owned Porsche 356 in the Hesse Winter Rally. In the same year, he won a class victory in the Germany Rally. In 1953 and 1954, driving a Porsche, Herrmann won class victories in the legendary Mille Miglia 1000-mile race in Italy. These successes made him a very promising young talent – and Alfred Neubauer, head of the Mercedes-Benz racing department, brought the twenty-six-year-old into the works team alongside Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling in 1954 for the brand’s return to Grand Prix racing.
Herrmann didn’t hesitate to prove his talent in the premier class of motorsport. When the new W 196 R Silver Arrows made their debut at the French Grand Prix in Reims on 4 July 1954, Hans Herrmann immediately made his mark by setting the fastest lap time of 2 minutes 32.9 seconds – equivalent to an average speed of 195.463 km/h. In this season, he achieved two podium finishes – in the 1954 Swiss Grand Prix and the 1954 Avus race, finishing third in both races. In this inaugural season, the works team won numerous victories, and Juan Manuel Fangio became Formula 1 World Champion.
Stirling Moss completed the successful team for the 1955 season. During training for the Monaco Grand Prix in May 1955, Herrmann suffered an accident and was so badly injured, especially in his hip, that he was unable to participate for the remainder of that season. After an outstanding season, Fangio was again Formula 1 World Champion. Hans Herrmann fought his way back into active motorsport. He was also popularly known as “Hans in Luck” because he survived a number of serious accidents.
After the spectacular successes of the 1955 season, the then Daimler-Benz AG withdrew from motor racing in October 1955 and concentrated on the development of new production vehicles. Hans Herrmann remained closely associated with the brand with the star. Among other things, he took part in the 1961 Argentinian Touring Car Grand Prix in a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE “tail fin” rally car (W 111). He crossed the finish line in second place and, together with the winner Walter Schock, also in a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE, completed the double victory in this gruelling long-distance race covering more than 4,500 kilometres.
Versatile motor racing talent
Taking part in Formula 1 and Formula 2 Grand Prix races, sports car races and rallies, Herrmann showed himself to be an enormously versatile racing driver. Apart from Mercedes-Benz cars, he particularly competed in Porsche racing and sports cars. He also raced at the wheel of various B.R.M., Cooper, Maserati, Abarth and Veritas racing cars.
Herrmann achieved his greatest successes in long-distance sports car races. These included his overall victories in the Targa Florio (1960), the 24-hour race in Daytona (1968) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1970). After his Le Mans triumph, the Swabian opted to end his active career without even finishing the season. At the start of the endurance classic in France, he had promised his wife, Magdalena, that he would never again contest a race if he won Le Mans. He fulfilled his promise and then successfully devoted himself to running his company dealing in car accessories.
As a Brand Ambassador for Mercedes-Benz Heritage in particular, he remained closely associated with motorsport – as long as he lived. In numerous runs in Mercedes-Benz Heritage cars, he proved his adaptability to a wide variety of racing cars right up to an advanced age, and was always ready for a friendly chat with spectators on the fringes of these events. In October 2012, Herrmann was honoured by the town of Collesano for taking part in the Targa Florio eight times. A matter of honour: the former works driver arrived for the ceremony at the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR racing sports car (W 196 S).
