Glock began motorsport in karting in 1998 at the age of 15. He won the BMW ADAC Formula Junior Cup in 2000 and the Formula BMW ADAC Championship in 2001. In 2002 he competed in the German Formula Three Championship, finishing third in the standings and earning rookie of the year honours. In 2003 he contested the Formula Three Euroseries, winning three races and scoring three additional podium finishes to place fifth in the championship.
Glock was signed as Jordan Grand Prix's test driver for the 2004 season and made his Formula One race debut at the Canadian Grand Prix, replacing Giorgio Pantano who had a contract dispute with the team. He finished 11th, later promoted to seventh after the disqualification of the Williams and Toyota cars, scoring two championship points on debut. Glock also made a one-off Porsche Supercup appearance in 2004 at the Nürburgring, finishing sixth and seventh across the two races.
In 2005, Glock moved to the United States to race in the Champ Car World Series with Paul Gentilozzi's Rocketsports team. His best finish was second at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in the Molson Indy Montreal; he had twice retained the lead by leaving the track at the final chicane and was instructed by Champ Car officials to yield, allowing Oriol Servià to take the lead. Glock obliged mid-final-lap but could not retake the lead. He finished eighth in the season points standings and won the Champ Car World Series Rookie of the Year award.
In 2006 Glock raced in the GP2 Series with BCN Competicion before moving to the front-running iSport team mid-season. He finished fourth in the drivers' standings and won the award for "most improved driver." He also tested a BMW Sauber F1 car in 2006, leading to him being signed as BMW Sauber's second test driver for 2007.
Glock was re-signed by iSport for 2007 and won one feature race and four sprint races on his way to the GP2 championship. Following Robert Kubica's serious crash in Canada, speculation arose that Glock might substitute at BMW; the team instead chose lead test driver Sebastian Vettel, whose fill-in performance led to a full race seat with Toro Rosso from the Hungarian Grand Prix. Glock was promoted to main test and reserve driver for BMW.
After winning the 2007 GP2 championship, Glock signed with Toyota F1 despite still holding a test driver contract with BMW. A dispute was referred to the Contract Recognition Board, which ruled in November that Glock was free to race for Toyota. He signed a three-year contract to replace Ralf Schumacher at Toyota.
Glock scored his first 2008 points at the Canadian Grand Prix, finishing fourth ahead of Felipe Massa's Ferrari. He qualified a career-best fifth at the Hungarian Grand Prix and finished second in the race. At the Singapore Grand Prix he finished fourth.
At the season finale, the Brazilian Grand Prix, Glock ran seventh in the closing laps on dry-weather tyres as rain began to fall. While most drivers — including championship contender Lewis Hamilton — pitted for wet tyres, Glock stayed out. He was passed by Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton in the final corners; Hamilton regained fifth place to win the 2008 Drivers' Championship by one point over Felipe Massa. Significant backlash from Brazilian fans followed, with insinuations that Glock had deliberately aided Hamilton. Glock later revealed that he and Toyota team members required a police escort to leave the country. During ITV's live broadcast, commentator Martin Brundle asked "Is that Glock going slowly?" during Hamilton's overtake — the moment became an internet meme. Glock finished the 2008 season 10th in the championship with 25 points, behind teammate Jarno Trulli.
In Australia, Glock and Trulli had their rear wing declared too flexible and illegal in post-qualifying inspection; Glock started 19th rather than from his qualifying time and worked through the pack to fifth. Hamilton was subsequently disqualified from fourth, promoting Glock to fourth.
In Malaysia, Glock qualified fifth, started third after grid penalties and, with a well-timed switch to intermediates as rain fell, finished third when the race was stopped early on lap 32 — his first podium of the season.
At the Singapore Grand Prix, Glock qualified sixth and finished second behind Lewis Hamilton. He passed Alonso early, was ceded a position by Mark Webber, and inherited second late when Nico Rosberg received a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line at pit exit.
In qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, Glock crashed heavily at the final corner and was airlifted to hospital with a leg injury. He suffered a cracked vertebra and did not race again that season. Toyota confirmed test driver Kamui Kobayashi would make his race debut in Brazil in Glock's place. Toyota withdrew from Formula One at the end of 2009.
On 17 November 2009, Manor Grand Prix — which became Virgin Racing — announced Glock as lead driver for 2010 and 2011, with former GP2 rival Lucas di Grassi as teammate. Glock began 2010 with three successive retirements in Bahrain, Australia, and Malaysia, and failed to start the Chinese Grand Prix due to engine failure. He out-qualified all other new-team drivers in Bahrain and regularly started ahead of di Grassi. His best result was 14th in Japan. In 2011 Jérôme d'Ambrosio replaced di Grassi. On 24 July 2011 Glock signed a three-year contract extension with Virgin, committing through 2014.
The team was renamed Marussia F1 for 2012. Glock partnered French rookie Charles Pic. At Singapore, Glock delivered his best result for the team — 12th — after a faultless performance, pushing Marussia to 10th in the Constructors' Championship on non-points finishing record. In São Paulo, Glock was running ahead of the Caterhams until struck by Jean-Éric Vergne, which he said destroyed his race; Vitaly Petrov ultimately passed Charles Pic to take 10th in the championship for Caterham. Glock finished the season 20th in the Drivers' Championship, his best result with the Virgin/Marussia team.
On 21 January 2013 it was confirmed that Glock had left Marussia by mutual consent before the 2013 season. His intended replacement Luiz Razia was ultimately replaced by Jules Bianchi due to funding issues.
Glock joined BMW as a factory driver in the 2013 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. In his third race he scored his first points and podium, finishing third at the Red Bull Ring. He scored no further points until the season finale at the Hockenheimring, where he won his first DTM race. He currently competes in the DTM for Dörr Motorsport.
Glock returned to the Porsche Supercup as a guest driver in 2023, racing at the Hungaroring and Monza for Porsche Motorsport in car No. 911. He returned again in 2024 for the Red Bull Ring round.
From 2018 to 2020, Glock worked as a pundit for German broadcaster RTL on its Formula One coverage. Since 2021 he has been an analyst for Sky Sport Germany, which holds exclusive Formula One broadcasting rights in Germany.
Glock lives in Switzerland with his wife, German model Isabell Reis. They are neighbours and close friends with former McLaren, Renault and Caterham driver Heikki Kovalainen and his wife Catherine Hyde.
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