Damien Smith: Off Line

Markus Winkelhock might only ever make one grand prix start. He'd rather make more, of course, but at least he knows that single race will always be remembered. What a bizarre and remarkable debut it was.

He began the weekend in a daunting - and yet grateful - position. Spyker had sacked Christijan Albers in the wake of the British Grand Prix, and while drivers with budgets vied for the drive, team principal Colin Kolles needed a short-term stand-in for the European GP. Last week, Winkelhock was racing for Kolles in the DTM. Now he was making his GP debut in front of his home crowd.

To say Markus wasn't fully prepared is an understatement. His previous experience of the Spyker amounted to 180km of Paul Ricard - three long months ago. No wonder he struggled to get close to team-mate Adrian Sutil at the 'Ring. A judgment on his performance was almost irrelevant.

Off-track, Winkelhock found himself in the media spotlight, thanks to his nationality - and his surname. Markus's father, Manfred Winkelhock, is fondly remembered as a spirited driver who gave his all for the ATS and RAM F1 teams in 46 GP starts between 1982 and '85. His death at the wheel of a Kremer Porsche in a sportscar race at Mosport in '85 left German motorsport reeling. Markus was only five at the time.

Uncle Joachim also reached F1, even if he never managed to qualify his AGS in 1989. Now a third Winkelhock was having a go - and the family resemblance, both in looks and hard-trying style, are unmistakable. Markus is a proper chip off the old block.

There is little room for emotion when you are making your GP debut, but still the significance was not lost on him. "My father did his last F1 race at the Nurburgring and now I'm doing my first," he said. "That is something special."

Then there was the ring hanging from a chain around his neck. It was his father's wedding ring, given to him by his mother a few years ago. Markus always wears it under his overalls when he races - just as Manfred did all those years ago.

His dad sure would have been proud on Sunday. The Spyker was called into the pits at the end of the formation lap to start the race on wet-weather tyres. "It was a good decision," said Winkelhock. "There were raindrops on my visor, but it was not that wet, so I was not really sure it was the right decision. But I believed in the team and it worked."

Seconds after the start, it began to rain. Hard. "I had quite a big advantage," he said. "I could overtake many cars and many cars went off - and I was leading my first race. I realised when they showed me the pitboard that I was P1. It was a good feeling, but I just had to concentrate because I'd never driven an F1 car in the wet. It wasn't easy."

But he had such an advantage, he was even able to pit again for extreme wets - and get out again still in the lead! He was over 30sec ahead of Massa when the safety car was called.

His moment of glory was not over yet. There was the restart to come - and Markus would lead the field away. "I was not actually that nervous," he said. "But I was quite excited. If you look in the mirror and you see red and silver cars normally you get blue flags. Not this time!"

It didn't take long for the Spyker to drop down the field once the race had restarted, of course. The track was drying quickly, and on wet tyres Winkelhock was an even easier target than he would have been on slicks. Then the dream came to an end. Suspected hydraulics failure left him coasting to a halt.

Now it's back to the DTM this weekend and the reality that his F1 career might already be over. But what a memory he has to cherish.

"Nobody can take that away," he smiled on Sunday afternoon. "I can say for my whole life I did an F1 race - and I led it!"