Christian Danner
From the ranks of a BMW-blessed crop in the mid-1980s, Danner was an extremely successful touring car exponent who transferred that talent to Formula 3000 and won the 1985 Championship before graduating to Formula 1 with Zakspeed at the end of the year. He drove for Arrows in 1986 after Marc Surer was badly injured in an accident; finishing sixth in Austria, then went back to Zakspeed with Martin Brundle in 1987.
His best result was a fourth place at Phoenix in 1989 at the wheel of the Rial owned by former ATS wheels boss Gunther Schmid. Thereafter Danner’s stepped away from Formula 1 and he spent most of the next decade competing in a variety of differing categories including the Japanese Formula 3000 series, CART and the German national DTM series with an Alfa Romeo.
In recent years he has run a sponsorship consultancy business and worked as a TV commentator in F1 becoming a favourite of the German corporation, speaking and motivating management groups. Christian’s relaxed yet efficient style has won him many admirers in European boardrooms, his anecdotes and astute observations are drawn from his experiences in competition.
