Harald Ertl - F1 Career

F1 Career

In 1975, sponsorship by Warsteiner Brauerei had allowed him to drive in Formula One with a Hesketh in their golden livery. In his debut at the 1975 German Grand Prix he finished 8th, retired in the next GP, to finish ninth at Monza.

Encouraged by the results, a full season with Hesketh was planned for 1976. In the 1976 South African Grand Prix he qualified in the last row and finished 15th. The next races saw him either not qualify at all, or at the back of the grid, with early retirements due to mechanical failures. Despite not being satisfied with the value the team gave him for the money, he almost scored a point when coming in seventh at the 1976 British Grand Prix, albeit three laps down.

Two weeks later at the 1976 German Grand Prix Ertl was one of the four drivers who helped pull Niki Lauda from his burning Ferrari after Lauda's infamous crash during the second lap of the race. The rest of the season saw two other eighth places as highlights, at home and at the wet 1976 Japanese Grand Prix.

Ertl continued with Hesketh for some European races, finishing 9th at the 1977 Belgian Grand Prix. He left Hesketh after the 1977 French Grand Prix where he again failed to qualify for the race.

For a few races in 1978, Ertl entered with Ensign, but things were even worse there, with the cars failing to finish or even to pre-qualify, like in the 1978 Italian Grand Prix. He got a chance on the spare car of German Team ATS but could not qualify that either.

Ertl tried once again with ATS in the 1980 German Grand Prix with the same result. The last Formula One Grand Prix he took part in was the 1978 Austrian Grand Prix, in his home country.