Paul Pietsch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Pietsch (born June 20, 1911 in Freiburg) is a former Formula One driver from Germany and successful magazine publisher.

He started his racing career in 1932 with private Bugatti and Alfa Romeo. In the 1935 German Grand Prix he raced for Auto Union, and scored 3rd in the Italian Grand Prix before leaving the team with its hard to drive rear engines.

From 1937 onwards he entered a private Maserati. His greatest hours came in the 1939 German Grand Prix which he led from lap 2 onwards until the ignition failed, making him drop down to third, which was still an excellent result for a privateer against the dominant force of the Silver Arrows.

After the war, he participated in 3 Grands Prix, debuting on September 3, 1950. His drive in a factory Alfa Romeo in the 1951 German Grand Prix ended with an accident. He scored 0 championship points.

At that time, Pietsch was already a successful editor and publisher of motorcycle and automobile magazines. His company Motor Presse Stuttgart [1] is the largest in the European market for technology and special interest magazines.

As of 2005, Pietsch is the oldest surviving Formula One driver. His son Peter-Paul Pietsch races often at the Nürburgring with fellow journalists.