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Bernd Schneider
Nationality  German
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1988 - 1990
Teams	Zakspeed, Arrows
Races	34 (9 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1988 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last race	1990 Spanish Grand Prix

Bernd Schneider (born July 20, 1964) is a champion touring car driver from Germany.

Born in St. Ingbert, Schneider was named after legendary driver Bernd Rosemeyer, winner of the 1936 European Drivers Championship. Introduced to karting at an early age, he displayed an obvious talent for racing. After several years in the junior kart series, Schneider won the 1980 German Kart championship. Two years later, he would win the 1982 European Kart championship with the national team. In 1983, he won the African kart championship.

The next few years, Schneider would race in the various Formula Ford series in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. In 1986, he joined the German Formula Three circuit, winning the title the following year in 1987. This brought him to the attention of Erich Zakowski, who signed Schneider to drive for his Formula One team Zakspeed in 1988 and 1989. However, the small German-based squad did little to make an impression on the F1 circuit, with Schneider only able to qualify for nine races. Schneider also briefly drove for Arrows, before racing Porsche sports cars in the early 1990s for Joest Racing, in the World Sportscar Championship and races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In 1992, Schneider moved to the DTM (German Touring Car Championship), driving for AMG-Mercedes. Finishing third his first season, he has since been a regular Mercedes driver. In 1995, he won his first DTM championship, piloting an AMG C-Class.

In the years of the DTM's absence, Schneider raced the works Mercedes CLK GTR cars in the FIA GT Championship, winning the title in 1997 after winning six races. In 1998, now with the CLK-LM variant, although winning five races, he lost the title to teammates Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta. He was also a Mercedes works driver in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998 and 1999.

Bernd Schneider at the Sachsenring in 2002

The DTM returned in 2000 with silhouette bodies and V8 engines, and Schneider took the championship crown three of the first four years (2000, 2001, and 2003) in an AMG CLK-Class; he was runner up in 2002. Still driving for AMG, Schneider has won a record four championships; in 2005, he was teammates with (among others) former F1 champion Mika Häkkinen, and in 2006 won his fifth championship title.

Schneider lives in Monte Carlo with his girlfriend Svenja and their daughter Lilly-Sophie. He also has children Lisa-Marie and Luca Maximilian with his ex-wife Nicole. Schneider still enjoys karting.

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