Missing Legend

In the current Classic Cars, Mike Lawrence implies that the Teutonic efficiency of the pre-war Mercedes-Benz GP team was a myth as “it was actually a seething hotbed of passions which made Scuderia Ferrari look like a haven of tranquility”. Which makes the reputation of the great Team Manager Alfred Neubauer all the greater, in view of the way he controlled his drivers to secure F1 domination! One legend was missing — of how, after the death of Dick Seaman, cadet-driver Brendel was brought into the team. In the 1939 German GP Neubauer flagged him in for replacement by top driver Lang but the young German refused to obey the signal, continued, and slid into a ditch. He is then said to have contacted the pits, asking for a car to bring him back. Neubauer was not amused. “Ze Brendel, he vill valk”, seems to have been the gist of his reply. . .