| Christian Danner | |
| Nationality: |  German |
| Birth Date: | 4 April 1958 |
| Birth Place: | Munich, West Germany |
| Years: | –, |
| Team(S): | Zakspeed, Osella, Arrows, Rial |
| Races: | 47 (36 starts) |
| Championships: | 0 |
| Wins: | 0 |
| Podiums: | 0 |
| Points: | 4 |
| Poles: | 0 |
| Fastest Laps: | 0 |
| First Race: | 1985 Belgian Grand Prix |
| Last Race: | 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix |
Christian Josef Danner (born 4 April 1958) is a former racing driver from Germany.
The son of car safety expert Max Danner, Danner started his motor racing career immediately after leaving school in 1977.[1] After having raced in the Renault 5 cup Danner moved to the European Formula Two Championship for the season. During his years in Formula Two Danner was a constant frontrunner. He scored several podiums but failed to win a race. Danner also set the F2 lap record of the current configuration of the old Nürburgring. Danner moved to the Formula 3000 championship in 1985 which replaced the Formula Two championship. With four wins Danner became the inaugural Formula 3000 championship winner.
saw Danner also made his Formula One debut with Zakspeed. He made two starts but failed to finish any races due to mechanical failures. For he signed with minor Italian outfit Osella but struggled to make an impression with the car and its under powered Alfa Romeo engine. After failing to finish a race in the first six races, Danner moved to Arrows with their powerful BMW turbo engines and scored his first point at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Danner returned to Zakspeed in . The car was both un-competitive and often unreliable and when Danner finished a race it was always outside the points. After having raced touring cars in 1988, Danner returned to Formula one in with Rial Racing. The car was highly uncompetitive and a fourth place due to a high attrition rate at the 1989 United States Grand Prix was the only highlight of the year. Danner was fired after the Portuguese Grand Prix after only qualifying for four races that year.[2]
After his Formula one career Danner became a regular competitor in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft. He made his debut in 1988 after failing to find a ride in Formula one. Danner made an impressive start to his touring car career as he won both races at the Hockenheimring driving a BMW M3. After only making sporadic appearances in 1989 and 1990, Danner made a full-time return to the series in 1991. He had a disappointing season and only had one points scoring finish. In 1993 Danner had his best season. He scored six podium finishes and finished fifth in the points standings. He also won a race at the Non-Championship round in Donington Park. Danner returned to winning ways in 1995 when he won a race at the Norisring. Danner kept racing touring cars through 1997.
In 1991 he also started in one British Touring Car Championship race at Thruxton driving a BMW M3.
Danner competed in Japanese Formula 3000 in 1990 driving for Leyton House's F3000 team. He scored 4 points and was ranked 14th. In the nineties Danner made several appearances in the Indy Car World Series. His best finish was a seventh place at Homestead Miami in 1995. He also took part in the now defunct series, Grand Prix Masters.
After his racing career Danner became an F1 commentator for the channel RTL in his native Germany.
(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 | 12 | 13 | Pts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cassani Racing Team | BMW | THR | HOC | NÜR | VAL | PAU | SIL | ZOL | MUG | ZAN | PER | MIS | HOC | NC | 0 | |||||||
| March Racing | March 812 | BMW | SIL | HOC | THR | NÜR | VAL | MUG | PAU | PER | SPA | DON | MIS | MAN | 18th | 2 | ||||||
| March Racing | March 822 | BMW | SIL | HOC | THR | NÜR | MUG | VAL | PAU | SPA | HOC | DON | MAN | PER | MIS | 14th | 6 | |||||
| Onyx Racing | March 832 | BMW | SIL | THR | HOC | NÜR | VAL | PAU | JAR | DON | MIS | PER | ZOL | MUG | 5th | 21 | ||||||
| BS Automotive | March 842 | BMW | SIL | HOC | THR | VAL | MUG | PAU | HOC | MIS | PER | DON | BRH | 5th | 23 | |||||||
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Helmut Marko RSM | Peter Oberndofer Prince Leopold von Bayern | BMW M1 | GT | 49 | DNF | DNF | ||
 Kreepy Krauly Racing | Graham Duxbury Almo Coppelli | March 85G-Porsche | C1 | 270 | 22nd | 17th | ||
 Kouros Sauber Racing Team |  Henri Pescarolo Dieter Quester | Sauber C8-Mercedes | C1 | 86 | DNF | DNF | ||
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Zakspeed Racing | Zakspeed 841 | Zakspeed 1500/4 1.5 L4t | BRA | POR | SMR | MON | CAN | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | BEL | EUR | RSA | AUS | NC | 0 | ||
| Osella Squadra Corse | Osella FA1G | Alfa Romeo 890T 1.5 V8t | BRA | ESP | SMR | MON | CAN | 18th | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Osella FA1H | BEL | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Barclay Arrows BMW | Arrows A8 | BMW M12/13 1.5 L4t | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | POR | MEX | AUS | |||||||||||
| Arrows A9 | HUN | |||||||||||||||||||||
| West Zakspeed Racing | Zakspeed 861 | Zakspeed 1500/4 1.5 L4t | BRA | SMR | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| Zakspeed 871 | BEL | MON | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | AUT | ITA | POR | ESP | MEX | JPN | AUS | ||||||||
| Rial Racing | Rial ARC2 | Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 | BRA | SMR | MON | MEX | USA | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | 21st | 3 | ||
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Schübel Engineering | Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | HEL 1 | HEL 2 | DON 1 | DON 2 | EST 1 | EST 2 | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | 13th | 22 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | TV Spielfilm Alfa Corse | Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | EST 1 | EST 2 | HEL 1 | HEL 2 | NOR 1 | NOR 2 | DIE 1 | DIE 2 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | INT 1 | INT 2 | SUZ 1 | SUZ 2 | 15th | 48 | |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Euromotorsport | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | DET | POR | MIL | NHA | TOR | MCH | CLE | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | LAG | 39th | 0 | [3] | ||
| 1993 | Euromotorsport | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MCH | NHA | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | LAG | 31st | 2 | [4] | ||
| 1994 | Project Indy | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE Wth | TOR | MCH | MDO | NHA | VAN | ROA | NAZ | LAG | 30th | 2 | [5] | ||
| 1995 | Project Indy | MIA | PHX | LBH | NAZ | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | ROA | NHA | VAN | LAG | 25th | 6 | [6] | ||||||
| 1997 | Payton/Coyne | SRF | LBH | RIO | MIL | DET | POR | MCH | MDO | ROA | VAN | LAG | FON | 31st | 1 | [7] |
(key) Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap.
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Team Unipart | Delta Motorsport GPM | Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8 | RSA | |||||
| 2006 | Team LUK | Delta Motorsport GPM | Nicholson McLaren 3.5 V8 | QAT | ITA | GBR | MAL | RSA | |