Stoffel Vandoorne

Stoffel Vandoorne (born 26 March 1992) is a Belgian professional racing driver who is currently competing for Mercedes-Benz EQ in Formula E. He had previously competed in Formula One for McLaren until 2018.[1][2] He is currently a test driver of Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team.[3] Vandoorne currently resides in both Monte Carlo (Monaco) and Roeselare (Belgium).

Stoffel Vandoorne
Vandoorne at the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix
Nationality	Belgian
Born	(1992-03-26) 26 March 1992 Kortrijk, Belgium
FIA Formula E Championship career
Debut season	2018–19
Current team	Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team
Car number	5
Former teams	HWA
Starts	24
Championships	0
Wins	1
Podiums	4
Poles	2
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	2nd in 2019–20
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	2016–2018
Teams	McLaren
Car number	2
Entries	42 (41 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	26
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2016 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last entry	2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2018 position	16th (12 pts)
Previous series
2016 2014–15 2013 2011–12 2011–12 2010	Super Formula Championship GP2 Series Formula Renault 3.5 Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC F4 Eurocup 1.6
Championship titles
2015 2012 2010	GP2 Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 F4 Eurocup 1.6
Website	Official website

Early life

Stoffel Vandoorne was born in Kortrijk. Vandoorne was introduced to motorsport at the age of six during a visit to the kart track of World Karts in Kortrijk in Flanders, Belgium, with his father. Vandoorne started karting after the owner of the track gave him a mini-kart.

Career

Karting

Initially, lack of funding restricted Vandoorne to race 3 to 4 races per year. By age 16 he was Belgian KF2 Champion. In 2009 he finished as runner-up in the CIK-FIA World Cup in the KF2 category.[4] The same year he won the 'steering wheel' competition held by the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium. The prize money of 45,000 euros helped him start his car racing career in F4 Eurocup 1.6.[5]

Formula Renault

Stoffel Vandoorne 2013

In 2010, Vandoorne moved up to single-seater racing, joining the F4 Eurocup 1.6 series.[6] He went on to win the series on his first attempt, finishing the season with six wins and three further podium finishes.[7] The prize from winning the series helped him to move up to the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 the following year. He also earned a place in the FIA Driver Academy.[8]

In 2011, he graduated to competing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with Kurt Mollekens' KTR team.[9] He finished fifth overall, with one podium at the Hungaroring and another eight-point-scoring finishes throughout the season.[10] He also participated in Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, where he finished third in the series' standings with eight podiums.[11]

For the 2012 season Vandoorne remained in the Eurocup, but left KTR to join Josef Kaufmann Racing.[12] He won the championship by ten points after a tight battle between himself and Red Bull-backed Daniil Kvyat. Between them they won 11 of the 14 races and finished over 100 points ahead of their nearest challenger. Vandoorne finished the season with four wins and six podiums to his name. He also contested selected events in the Northern European Cup, where he won five of the seven races that he started, and finished on the podium in a sixth race.

In 2013, Vandoorne raced in Formula Renault 3.5, where he replaced 2012 champion Robin Frijns at Fortec Motorsport.[13] He finished runner-up to current Haas driver Kevin Magnussen with four wins and 10 podiums, including a victory at his home track of Spa-Francorchamps.

GP2 Series

Vandoorne racing at the Silverstone round of the 2014 GP2 Series

In January 2014, it was confirmed that Vandoorne would make his debut in GP2, racing with ART. In the opening race at Bahrain, Vandoorne claimed his first victory of the season in the feature race. He followed this up with four consecutive pole positions, three more wins at the Hungaroring, Monza and Yas Marina and six additional podiums. Despite being a rookie, he finished runner-up to 2014 champion Jolyon Palmer.

Vandoorne reunited with ART for 2015, as well as was considered the main title contender.[14] He was partnered by 2014 Japanese Formula Three champion Nobuharu Matsushita. After five feature race wins, twelve podiums and four pole positions, Vandoorne took the title in Sochi, 108 points over his nearest rival Alexander Rossi.

Super Formula

On 12 February 2016, it was announced that Vandoorne would race a Honda in Super Formula for Dandelion Racing.[15] He finished fourth overall, the highest ranking among Honda engine users, with two wins and one pole position at Fuji Speedway in wet conditions throughout the season.

Formula One

In February 2013, Vandoorne joined McLaren's Young Driver Programme,[16] under the tutelage of his then manager Richard Goddard, in collaboration with the team's sporting director Sam Michael and its head of communications Matt Bishop, to whom Vandoorne had been introduced in 2011 by Alex Wurz.[17]

In January 2014, he was announced as a third driver for McLaren F1 also taking up driving duties in the GP2 Series for ART Grand Prix.[18]

McLaren (2016–2018)

2016

Vandoorne on his F1 debut, driving for McLaren at the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix

On 31 March 2016, it was announced Vandoorne would be replacing regular driver Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix after the Spaniard was ruled unfit to drive following a major accident in the previous round.[19] After qualifying 12th ahead of Jenson Button, Vandoorne finished 10th and became the first reserve driver to score points on debut since Sebastian Vettel at the 2007 United States Grand Prix.

On 3 September 2016, ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, it was announced by McLaren that Jenson Button would not be racing in 2017, and that Vandoorne would be replacing him to partner Alonso for the 2017 season.[20]

2017

Vandoorne driving for McLaren at the 2017 British Grand Prix

In his debut full season at McLaren, Vandoorne established himself as a considerable rookie next to veteran F1 Champion, Fernando Alonso. With the uncompetitive McLaren, Vandoorne racked up 13 points compared to Alonso's 17. The key issues lay in the reliability and performance of the car which resulted in 1 DNS and 5 DNFs throughout the 20 race season. Nevertheless, he managed to crack into the top 10 in Hungary, Malaysia and Singapore.

On 23 August 2017, it was announced that Vandoorne would be retained for the 2018 season.[21]

2018

Vandoorne at the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix

In the new McLaren Renault partnership, Vandoorne enjoyed a good start to the season with 3 points finishes in the first 4 races. However, as the season progressed, he struggled to maintain this momentum which left him with 8 points by the Japanese Grand Prix. Moreover, the lack of a competitive package in the McLaren resulted in a long drought in points finishes between the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix. Vandoorne ended the season in 16th ahead of 4 other drivers in the drivers' championship. However, the last few Grands Prix saw Vandoorne in some impressive battles, particularly in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon and Romain Grosjean, which led him to finish 8th on the Formula 1 Power Rankings.

It was announced on 3 September 2018 that Vandoorne would leave McLaren at the end of the 2018 season.[22]

Mercedes (2019–present)

Vandoorne was the simulator driver for the Mercedes team in 2019[23] and was named as one of the team's reserve drivers in 2020.[24]

Formula E

It was confirmed on 15 October 2018 that Vandoorne would drive for HWA Racelab for the 2018–19 Formula E season.[25] He would be joining Britain's Gary Paffett to complete the driver lineup for HWA Racelab. Vandoorne would go on and start his Formula E debut just 3 weeks after leaving Formula 1 and would come 17th in his first race. He has also achieved his first qualifying pole position in Formula E at a wet 2019 Hong Kong ePrix.[26] He came third in the 2019 Rome ePrix and booked his first podium in Formula E. In 2020 Season, Vandoorne with the 2019 Formula 2 Champion, Nyck de Vries drive for Mercedes-Benz EQ. Vandoorne took 2 consecutive podium in the two first races[27] [28]and able to become championship leader. But in the next three races he unable to maintain the championship contender because of poor finishes. Now with the COVID-19 Pandemic, championship came into the halt and Vandoorne scored 38 points, 29 points below the championship leader: Antonio Felix da Costa.

FIA WEC Super Season

In April 2019, it was announced that Stoffel Vandoorne will compete for two races in the WEC for 2018-2019 for SMP Racing.[29] He will drive the Russian BR1 №11 prototype along with Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 hours of Le Mans.

In the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Vandoorne, alongside Petrov and Aleshin, finished 3rd place in the LMP1 Class. Vandoorne drove the first stint during weather conditions of snow, hail and rain. At the 24 hour of Le Mans he finished 3rd place.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	FLaps	Podiums	Points	Position
2010	F4 Eurocup 1.6	Autosport Academy	14	5	5	4	9	151	1st
2011	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0	KTR	14	0	0	0	1	93	5th
	Formula Renault 2.0 NEC		20	0	3	0	8	328	3rd
2012	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0	Josef Kaufmann Racing	14	4	6	3	11	244	1st
	Formula Renault 2.0 NEC		7	5	4	5	6	176	9th
2013	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Fortec Motorsport	17	4	3	2	10	214	2nd
2014	GP2 Series	ART Grand Prix	22	4	4	3	10	229	2nd
	Formula One	McLaren Mercedes	Test driver
2015	GP2 Series	ART Grand Prix	21	7	4	7	16	341.5	1st
	Formula One	McLaren Honda	Test driver
2016	Super Formula	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	9	2	1	0	3	27	4th
	Formula One	McLaren Honda	1	0	0	0	0	1	20th
2017	Formula One	McLaren Honda	20	0	0	0	0	13	16th
2018	Formula One	McLaren F1 Team	21	0	0	0	0	12	16th
2018–19	Formula E	HWA Racelab	13	0	1	0	1	35	16th
	FIA World Endurance Championship	SMP Racing	2	0	0	0	2	38	11th
2019	24 Hours of Le Mans	SMP Racing	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	3rd
	Formula One	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport	Development driver
2019–20	Formula E	Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team	11	1	1	1	3	87	2nd
2020	Formula One	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Reserve driver

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos	Points
2013	Fortec Motorsports	MNZ 1 1	MNZ 2 3	ALC 1 8	ALC 2 3	MON 1 9	SPA 1 13	SPA 2 1	MSC 1 1	MSC 2 1	RBR 1 Ret	RBR 2 Ret	HUN 1 4	HUN 2 2	LEC 1 2	LEC 2 Ret	CAT 1 3	CAT 2 2	2nd	214

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2014	ART Grand Prix	BHR FEA 1	BHR SPR 22	CAT FEA 13	CAT SPR 10	MON FEA 14	MON SPR 13	RBR FEA 2	RBR SPR 15	SIL FEA 3	SIL SPR 9	HOC FEA 2	HOC SPR 3	HUN FEA 7	HUN SPR 1	SPA FEA 2	SPA SPR 6	MNZ FEA 1	MNZ SPR 13	SOC FEA 5	SOC SPR 2	YMC FEA 1	YMC SPR 5	2nd	229
2015	ART Grand Prix	BHR FEA 1	BHR SPR 2	CAT FEA 1	CAT SPR 2	MON FEA 1	MON SPR 8	RBR FEA 1	RBR SPR 2	SIL FEA 3	SIL SPR 9	HUN FEA 5	HUN SPR 2	SPA FEA 1	SPA SPR 4	MNZ FEA 2	MNZ SPR 3	SOC FEA 3	SOC SPR 4	BHR FEA 1	BHR SPR 2	YMC FEA 1	YMC SPR C	1st	341.5

Complete Super Formula results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	DC	Points
2016	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	SUZ 3	OKA 12	FUJ Ret	MOT 6	OKA 1	OKA 7	SUG 6	SUZ 17	SUZ 1	4th	27

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	WDC	Points
2016	McLaren Honda	McLaren MP4-31	Honda RA616H 1.6 V6 t	AUS	BHR 10	CHN	RUS	ESP	MON	CAN	EUR	AUT	GBR	HUN	GER	BEL	ITA	SIN	MAL	JPN	USA	MEX	BRA	ABU	20th	1
2017	McLaren Honda	McLaren MCL32	Honda RA617H 1.6 V6 t	AUS 13	CHN Ret	BHR DNS	RUS 14	ESP Ret	MON Ret	CAN 14	AZE 12	AUT 12	GBR 11	HUN 10	BEL 14	ITA Ret	SIN 7	MAL 7	JPN 14	USA 12	MEX 12	BRA Ret	ABU 12		16th	13
2018	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren MCL33	Renault R.E.18 1.6 V6 t	AUS 9	BHR 8	CHN 13	AZE 9	ESP Ret	MON 14	CAN 16	FRA 12	AUT 15^†	GBR 11	GER 13	HUN Ret	BEL 15	ITA 12	SIN 12	RUS 16	JPN 15	USA 11	MEX 8	BRA 15	ABU 14	16th	12

^† Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete Formula E results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Chassis	Powertrain	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos	Points
2018–19	HWA Racelab	Spark SRT05e	Venturi VFE05	ADR 16	MRK Ret	SCL Ret	MEX 18	HKG Ret	SYX Ret	RME 3	PAR Ret	MCO 9	BER 5	BRN 10	NYC 13	NYC 8	16th	35
2019–20	Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team	Spark SRT05e	Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01	DIR 3	DIR 3	SCL 6	MEX NC	MRK 15	BER 6	BER 5	BER Ret	BER 12	BER 9	BER 1			2nd	87

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2018–19	SMP Racing	LMP1	BR Engineering BR1	AER P60B 2.4 L Turbo V6	SPA	LMS	SIL	FUJ	SHA	SEB	SPA 3	LMS 3	11th	38

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2019	SMP Racing	Mikhail Aleshin Vitaly Petrov	BR Engineering BR1-AER	LMP1	379	3rd	3rd

References

1. "Stoffel Vandoorne to leave McLaren at the end of the 2018 season". McLaren. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
2. Thorn, Dan (15 October 2018). "Vandoorne Is Making The Switch To Formula E For Season Five". WTF1. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
3. van Ufford, Nicolás Quarles (22 October 2018). "Vandoorne to become sim-driver for Mercedes in 2019". www.gpblog.com. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
4. "Stoffel Career History". stoffelvandoorne.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
5. Mills, Peter. "Vandoorne: future McLaren F1 star?". AUTOSPORT.com. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
6. "F4 Eurocup 1.6 2010 drivers". F4 Eurocup 1.6. Auto Sport Academy. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
7. "F4 Eurocup 1.6 2010". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
8. "Stoffel Vandoorne". Motor Sport Magazine. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
9. "Vandoorne debut with KTR". ItaliaRacing.net. Inpagina. 31 October 2010. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
10. "Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup 2011". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
11. "Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 2011". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
12. "Vandoorne vise le titre avec Kaufmann" [Vandoorne eyes the title with Kaufmann]. AUTOhebdo (in French). Groupe Hommell. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
13. Beer, Matt (21 December 2012). "Stoffel Vandoorne takes Frijns' place at Fortec for FR3.5 season". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
14. "GP2 – DAMS duo must 'gang up' on Vandoorne". 10 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
15. "McLaren F1 reserve Stoffel Vandoorne seals Honda Super Formula seat". Autosport.com. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
16. O'Leary, Jamie (18 February 2013). "Stoffel Vandoorne joins McLaren F1 Young Driver Programme". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
17. "Q&A with McLaren Young Driver: Stoffel Vandoorne". mclaren.com. 27 August 2013.
18. "Stoffel Vandoorne officieel reserverijder voor McLaren F1" [Stoffel Vandoorne officially reserve driver for McLaren F1]. Autosport.be (in Dutch).
19. "Alonso will not race in the Bahrain GP". motorsport.com. 31 March 2016.
20. "Jenson Button won't race in F1 in 2017, but could still return in 2018". skysports.com. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
21. "McLaren Honda confirms Stoffel Vandoorne will race for the team in 2018 as planned". McLaren.com. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
22. "Stoffel Vandoorne to leave McLaren at the end of the 2018 season". McLaren. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
23. van Ufford, Nicolás Quarles (22 October 2018). "Vandoorne to become sim-driver for Mercedes in 2019". www.gpblog.com. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
24. van Osten, Phillip (14 February 2020). "Mercedes name Vandoorne and Gutierrez as reserve drivers". f1i.com. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
25. "Stoffel Vandoorne completes HWA RACELAB's driver line up". Formula E. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
26. "Vandoorne on Pole for historic Hong Kong race". Formula E. Formula E. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
27. "Race Results". FIA Formula E. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
28. "Race Results". FIA Formula E. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
29. Krinkin, Andrey. "Stoffel Vandoorne to race with SMP Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship". SMP Racing. Retrieved 19 April 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Stoffel Vandoorne career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Benjamin Bailly	F4 Eurocup 1.6 Champion 2010	Succeeded by Matthieu Vaxivière
Preceded by Robin Frijns	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Champion 2012	Succeeded by Pierre Gasly
Preceded by Jolyon Palmer	GP2 Series Champion 2015	Succeeded by Pierre Gasly