Mass drove in over 100 Formula One races, during the 1970s and early in the 1980s, but he only picked up one victory during his career. The German driver left the sport after being involved in the accident that killed Gilles Villeneuve. He continued racing in touring car and sports car championships, and joined the F1 driver stewards fraternity midway through 2014.

Biography

Mass made his F1 debut in 1973 driving for the Surtees team. He raced in only three events that year, retiring from two of them. He remained at Surtees for most of the following season before moving to McLaren where he raced for three further years - picking up his one and only victory in Spain 1975.

1982 was the turning point in Mass' career. After a couple of years at Arrows, he had moved to the March team. He was alongside Gilles Villeneuve during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, and was involved in the accident that killed the Canadian. Mass continued racing until suffering his own accident in France, which made him realise the danger was too real. He retired immediately after that race.

Having left Formula One behind, Mass drove in touring car and sports car championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He also tried his hand at racing historic cars, and spent some time in the 1990s as a broadcaster for German F1 coverage. In 2014, he joined the stewarding roster as the driver representative, making his debut at the German Grand Prix.