McLaren F1 legend suffers ‘medical emergency’ with family releasing statement

McLaren legend Jochen Mass has suffered a “medical emergency” – with his family revealing the 78-year-old will be “stepping back from all public appearances” while he recovers.

The exact nature of the emergency for German icon Mass, who raced 105 times in F1 from 1973-1982 and won the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, has not been revealed by his family.

A statement on Sunday read: “The family of Jochen Mass, wishes to share that he is currently recovering from a recent medical emergency.

“While Jochen’s condition is stable, he will be stepping back from all public appearances and engagements for the foreseeable future as he focuses on his recovery.

“We as a family are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support and kindly request privacy during this time. We are wishing Jochen a speedy recovery.”

Mass has worked as a brand ambassador for Mercedes in recent years, after his retirement from motorsport in 1995.

He raced for McLaren for four years from 1974-1977, claiming his only win in F1 in Montjuic in 1975.

His best championship finish was sixth in 1977, while he also claimed eight podiums during an illustrious career driving for McLaren, Surtees, ATS, Arrows and March.

The German also raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, winning the prestigious endurance event with Sauber in 1989.

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Mass was also a key adviser and mentor for seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, revealing in 2020 he persuaded the German to join Ferrari in 1996 instead of Williams.

He told the Beyond the Grid podcast: “For Michael, I said ‘Listen, whatever you win now, it’s the car, it’s not you, the car is too good. You need Ferrari, get it out of the trough it is in, pull it out and make them champions again, you would be King of Italy.’

“He said ‘I don’t know, I don’t know’ and a month later he called me up said ‘I’m going to Ferrari’. I said ‘Well done.’

“Of course, I felt sorry in a way for Frank [Williams, team owner], but these championships, if you have a very superior car, of course, have less weight than if you make Ferrari world champions again.”