Max Welti (born 6 September 1952 in Zürich, Switzerland) is a former Swiss racing driver, Sauber's first team manager and thus double winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as two-time sports car world champion with Sauber Mercedes. Five years later, he wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans for a second time with Porsche as the responsible race director. He then returns to Sauber as overall manager of the Sauber Formula One operation. In 2000 Welti becomes CEO of the European silhouette touring car racing series "V8STAR" before becoming team owner of A1 A1 Team Switzerland in 2005. As an international motorsport strategist and consultant, Welti nowadays works for OEMs, promoters and organisers. Career 1975-1990: From active Racing Driver to Team Manager, Le Mans Winner and World Champion Welti studied mechanical engineering at EPFL, and ETH Zurich while he began racing. He raced for three years in the Swiss Sports Prototype Championship, which he won in 1980 on a Wittwer March BMW. After his active racing days, Welti moves into operational racing and becomes Sauber's first Team Manager. He helps the team become one of the most successful in Sports car racing. In 1986, Mike Thackwell and Henri Pescarolo gave the Sauber-Mercedes team its first win at Nürburgring 1000 km. Two years later, with backing from the German electrical giant AEG, the Swiss team battles Jaguar for the World Sportscar title. Mercedes-Benz officially returns to racing and the Sport Prototypes are painted silver again in 1989, for the first time since 1956. Jean-Louis Schlesser wins the Drivers' World title that year. The team dominates the Constructors' title, winning seven of a total of eight races. In the Le Mans 24 Hours the team scored a 1-2 victory with "the new Silver Arrows" driven by Jochen Mass/Manuel Reuter/Stanley Dickens, with Mauro Baldi/Kenny Acheson/Gianfranco Brancatelli finishing in second place. In 1990, Schlesser and Baldi shares the Drivers' title while Mass drives alternately with the three Mercedes Juniors: Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The team wins the Constructors' title for a second time in 1990. 1991-1994: Race Director In 1991, Sportscar Racing went into decline and Welti was offered the job of being F1 Project Manager for Porsche Motorsport, in a new relationship with the Footwork team. The Porsche engine was, however, a disaster and as a result Welti pulled the team out of F1. As Porsche