At the time of his death Karl Kling was the oldest surviving F1 driver. He began racing for the legendary Mercedes team before the war, serviced planes for the Luftwaffe during the war, and resumed racing after it. He was invited to join the Mercedes sports car and Formula One teams in the early 1950s with some success. He finished runner-up to Fangio in the 1954 French Grand Prix he won the 1952 Carrera Panamericana in 1 300SL with Hans Klenk. He retired in 1955 and was later competitions manager of Mercedes during their rally program in the early 1960s. He competed in 11 races in 1954 and 1955. In 1996 he visited the paddock of the German Grand Prix to compare his Mercedes to the McLaren Mercedes of the current day.