Heinz Melkus

Heinz Melkus (born April 20th, 1928 in Dresden; died September 5th, 2005 in Dresden) was an East German Grand Prix racing car driver and automotive constructor.

Heinz had two sons; Ulli and Peter - whom would both go on to become racing drivers in their own right. Ulli, in particular, followed in his father's footsteps and raced briefly in Formula One in the mid 1970s before being killed in a road accident in 1990.

Melkus began his Formula One career in 1956, where he raced in the East German Grand Prix for the Argentinian Escuderia Hernandez team. Against all odds, Melkus took a second place in his home race - an achievement that would see him be received as a national hero.

Melkus would return in 1957 for the state-sponsored M.S.G. Köthen team, taking in a part season. He continued with the team into 1958 - where he took an strong fifth place at the Belgian Grand Prix. With this fine result, Melkus was signed by Ferrari for the German Grand Prix - where he finished in eleventh place. Melkus then returned back to the M.S.G. Köthen team.

Following his Formula One career, Melkus founded the eponymous Melkus Car Company in his native Dresden which operated until the mid-1980s.

Complete Alternate Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	WDC	Pts.
1956	Escuderia Hernandez	Hernandez Tipo 56	Hernandez H258/A 2.5 L8	MON	FRA	BEL	GER	GDR 2	IRL	GBR	SCO	ITA	THA		16th	6
1957	M.S.G. Köthen	O.S.C.A. F156A	O.S.C.A. 1500S-56 1.5 L4s	MAR	MON	FRA Ret	BEL 8	NED DNQ	IRL	GBR	GER Ret	ITA Ret	ESP	USA	NC	0
1958	M.S.G. Köthen	O.S.C.A. F158	O.S.C.A. 1558 1.5 L4s	AUS	MON	FRA Ret	NED 11	BEL 5				ITA Ret	MAR	USA	21st	2
	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 246	Ferrari 143 2.5 L4						GER 11	GBR	POR