Schlegelmilch, Formula 1 World Champions

Rainer W. Schlegelmilch is the eye of Formula 1 . His enormous archive holds just under half a million photographs. No one knows better than he what s important in racing photography. As a photographer Schlegelmilch knows all the cars and all the drivers. He has photographed them all from Jim Clark to Sebastian Vettel. He is particularly proud of a dedication that triple world champion Jackie Stewart wrote for one of his books: Schlegelmilch is one of the best known people in the business and is highly regarded. And of course he is also the most senior photographer in Formula 1, one of the outstanding chroniclers in motor sport. His career began almost 50 years ago when, in 1962, a friend took him along to the 1000-km race at Nürburgring. In those days, the drivers inside the cockpit were men aged between 30 and their late 40s, driving their laps around the track while wearing motorcycle goggles and an unfastened helmet. Schlegelmilch was in the process of completing his degree in photography in Munich, when he became infected with the racing bug. So he made his way to the heartland of advertising, Frankfurt, where he went to school as a boy. He began working for the industry and agencies, living life alongside Formula 1 ever since