FormulaBae

cuties

Hey!

Yeah, I know a little bit about his childhood. He was an only son, born to a well-off family. His dad was an industrialist, and I believe his mum was a pharmacist. Because he was an only child, his parents were very unsupportive of his racing career, but he, like many others, ignored his parents' wishes.

His mum used to be an Austrian skiing champion, and Helmut used to ski and do gymnastics as well. I remember finding an online copy of a school yearbook that lists him in the gymnastics team. At around 14 years old, Helmut was a national junior champion in gymnastics and skied in the junior B team for three years. Helmut was around 16 years old when his interest in motorsports took over.

There's not a whole lot about his family out there. On his grave, there are a couple of other names listed that might a parent or other family. I know that in the 70s, Helmut's cousin, also called Helmut, raced in Formula Ford briefly, but that career didn't last long. His family, I think, were mostly very private and didn't really talk to the media or post online; however, one side of his family owns a bakery and has spoken a few times on Facebook about being related.

If you want to learn more about Helmut, I have an article that goes into his life, how he got into motorsports, how he met his wife, etc.

This is the kind of reporting I want on F1 and I can only imagine how hard it has been to put together and get past a team of (British!) media lawyers