The 2007 European Grand Prix was one of the most chaotic races in what happened to be one of the most exciting Formula 1 seasons in recent times.
The year had everything, from the Spygate scandal, a new champion, who also happens to be Ferrari’s last title winner to this day, and an exciting rookie coming as close as one ever has to winning at his first attempt.
For the first time in 47 years, Formula 1 would not have a ‘German Grand Prix’ after Hockenheim and the Nurburgring failed to reach an agreement over naming rights.
It meant that the Nurburgring spectacle was renamed the European Grand Prix, and a race would still be held in Germany under a different name.
The weekend would play host to a debut for German driver Markus Winkelhock, who replaced Spyker’s Christijan Albers for failing to pay his sponsorship fees.
Markus Winkelhock led the 2007 European Grand Prix by 33 seconds and never raced in F1 again
Winkelhock’s debut weekend didn’t get off to the most ideal of starts, as he languished in 22nd place after qualifying, 1.5 seconds behind teammate Adrian Sutil.
In fact, he was 2.8 seconds behind the next nearest car, as Red Bull’s David Coulthard could only muster 20th in dry conditions. The Spyker just wasn’t a very good car.
That qualifying session was remembered for a mega crash for Lewis Hamilton, the first big incident of his Formula 1 career.
He did return to race the following day, but under very different conditions, as a downpour hit the track just as the race was starting.
Winkelhock made the bold call to pit for wet tyres on what appeared to be a dry track still, and when the circuit became an ice rink on lap one, he must have felt like he was in paradise. He inherited the lead and had a 33-second lead before a safety car, and then a red flag was thrown.
Eventually, the German driver suffered a hydraulic failure on lap 22 and would have to retire from his one and only race, but with a lot of pride that he led by half a minute, at his home race, in a Spyker.
What happened to Markus Winkelhock after the 2007 Formula 1 season?
Even though he performed very well on home soil with little preparation, Spyker decided against giving Winkelhock a drive for the rest of 2007 due to sponsorship reasons.
And that was the end of his Formula 1 career. He never returned for a practice session appearance and went back to DTM for the next few seasons.
In 2011, he turned to the GT1 World Championship and began to focus on endurance racing too, competing in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.
He was on the entry list for the race in 2025 as the number one car, but didn’t end up competing. At the moment, 2025 is set to be the first year without a classified finish in a racing event during his career.