Karl Kling

Karl Kling, a German driver born in 1910, competed in Formula 1 in 1954 and 1955 as a member of the Mercedes works team, making twelve Grand Prix starts. He came to the championship late, debuting at the age of forty-three.

His first season was his strongest: two podium finishes and twelve points brought him fifth place in the 1954 drivers' championship, driving for a Mercedes team that dominated the period. In 1955 he added five more points and was classified eleventh.

Kling's Formula 1 career ended when that 1955 season concluded, coinciding with Mercedes's withdrawal era, and his record stands at seventeen points and two podiums from twelve starts. To finish fifth in the World Championship in a debut season begun in one's forties remains a distinctive achievement of Formula 1's first decade.