Stoffel Vandoorne

Stoffel Vandoorne
Vandoorne in 2019
Nationality	Belgian
Born	26 March 1992 (age 30)
Curent series	Formula E
First year	2018–19
Current team	DS Penske
Former teams	HWA Racelab, Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team
Starts	55
Wins	3
Poles	7
Podiums	15
Fastest laps	4
Best finish	1st (2021–22)
Previous series
Previous series years	Super Formula Championship GP2 Series Formula Renault 3.5 Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC F4 Eurocup 1.6

Stoffel Vandoorne
Years	2016-2018
Car number	2
Races	41
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Points	26

Stoffel Vandoorne
Years	2019, 2021
Teams	SMP Racing, Jota Sport
Best finish	3rd (2019)
Class wins	0

Stoffel Vandoorne (born 26 March 1992) is a Belgian professional racing driver who is currently racing for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He had previously competed in Formula One for McLaren from 2016 to 2018. He is currently a test driver of Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 and McLaren team. He was champion of the 2015 GP2 Series and the 2021–22 Formula E World Championship. He currently resides in both Monte Carlo (Monaco) and Roeselare (Belgium).

Early life

Stoffel Vandoorne was born in Kortrijk, West Flanders. 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.

Early 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. 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.

Formula Renault

2010

Vandoorne (behind) racing Daniil Kvyat (front) in Formula Renault in 2012

In 2010, Vandoorne moved up to single-seater racing, joining the F4 Eurocup 1.6 series. He went on to win the series on his first attempt, finishing the season with six wins and three further podium finishes. 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.

2011

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

2012

For the 2012 season Vandoorne remained in the Eurocup, but left KTR to join Josef Kaufmann Racing. 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.

2013

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

GP2 Series

2014

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.

2015

Vandoorne reunited with ART for 2015, as well as was considered the main title contender. 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.

Vandoorne holds the record for all-time most wins, most feature race wins, most pole positions and most consecutive pole positions, most podiums, most podiums in a season, most points and most points in a single season in GP2 history, with the series being rebranded as the FIA Formula 2 Championship at the end of the following year.

Super Formula

On 12 February 2016, it was announced that Vandoorne would race a Honda in Super Formula for Dandelion Racing. 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 career

In February 2013, Vandoorne joined McLaren's Young Driver Programme, 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.

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.

McLaren (2016–2018)

2016 season

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. 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.

2017 season

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.

2018 season

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.

Mercedes (2019–2022)

Vandoorne was the simulator driver for the Mercedes team in 2019 and was named as one of the team's reserve drivers in 2020, but in the end was not chosen as the driver for the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix after Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19. Vandoorne drove for Mercedes in the season-ending 2020 Abu Dhabi Young Drivers Test alongside Formula E teammate Nyck de Vries.

Vandoorne was also made available as reserve driver for Racing Point in 2020 and McLaren from 2020 to 2022, as part of an agreement between Mercedes and both teams.

Aston Martin (2023–)

Vandoorne is announced to be joining Aston Martin for the 2023 Formula One World Championship as a reserve and simulator driver, sharing duties with 2022 Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich.

Formula E

HWA Racelab (2018–2019)

2018–19 season

Vandoorne at the 2019 Hong Kong ePrix

It was confirmed on 15 October 2018 that Vandoorne would drive for HWA Racelab for the 2018–19 Formula E season. 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. He came third in the 2019 Rome ePrix and booked his first podium in Formula E.

Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team (2019–2022)

2019–20 season

In the 2019–20 season, Vandoorne drove for Mercedes-Benz EQ with 2019 Formula 2 Champion, Nyck de Vries. Vandoorne took 2 consecutive podiums in the two first races. The E-Prix of Mexico and Marrakesh saw a series of poor finishes, and at the time of the season's suspension due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, he sat 29 points below the championship leader, António Félix da Costa. Following the resumption of the season for six races in Berlin, he finished in the points in four of the six races, including his first win in the season finale. He ultimately finished 2nd in the standings, though behind Félix da Costa by 71 points.

2020–21 season

Vandoorne continued to drive for the renamed Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team for the 2020–21 season, again partnering Nyck de Vries. Vandoorne achieved one win at the second race of 2021 Rome ePrix, and two third place finishes at 2021 Valencia ePrix and 2021 Berlin ePrix. de Vries secured his first Drivers' Championship, as Vandoorne finished ninth in the standings. Vandoorne and de Vries' total points haul allowed Mercedes to achieve their first Teams' Championship that season. Vandoorne and de Vries' partnership will continue for the 2021-22 season.

Vandoorne during testing in Valencia in December 2021

2021–22 season

Vandoorne continued to race with the Mercedes-EQ team for the 2021-22 Season in Mercedes' final season in Formula E. With a win in the 2022 Monaco ePrix and seven other podiums, Vandoorne clinched the 2021–22 Formula E World Championship ahead of the New Zealand driver Mitch Evans by 33 points.

DS Penske (2023)

2022–23 season

In October 2022, it was announced that Vandoorne would be joining the newly formed DS Penske outfit alongside fellow champion Jean-Éric Vergne for the 2023 season.

FIA World Endurance Championship

Vandoorne at the 2019 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

In April 2019, it was announced that Stoffel Vandoorne would compete for two races in the WEC for 2018-2019 for SMP Racing. He will drive the Russian BR1 No.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.

Vandoorne was set to test the 2023 Peugeot Hypercar at the Bahrain International Circuit during November 2022, but was not able to take part in it after being with appendicitis.

IndyCar Series

On 17 November 2021, it was announced that Vandoorne will take part in an IndyCar Series test with Arrow McLaren SP at Sebring International Raceway on 6 December 2021.

Racing record

Karting career summary

Season	Series	Team	Position
2008	French Championship — KF2	VDK Racing	13th
	Belgian Championship — KF2		1st
2009	CIK-FIA European Championship — KF2	VDK Racing	23rd
	CIK-FIA World Cup — KF2		2nd
	WSK International Series — KF2		22nd
2010	Racehall of Champions — 80 kg		12th
2012	Racehall of Champions — 80 kg		1st

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2010	F4 Eurocup 1.6	Auto Sport 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
	FIA GT Series	Boutsen Ginion Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2014	GP2 Series	ART Grand Prix	22	4	4	3	10	229	2nd
	Formula One	McLaren F1 Team	Third driver
2015	GP2 Series	ART Grand Prix	21	7	4	7	16	341.5	1st
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
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
		McLaren F1 Team
2020–21	Formula E	Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team	15	1	3	2	3	82	9th
2021	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2	Jota Sport	6	0	2	1	5	131	2nd
	Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2		2	0	0	0	1	28	8th
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2		1	0	0	0	1	N/A	2nd
	Formula One	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Reserve driver
		McLaren F1 Team
2021–22	Formula E	Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team	16	1	2	1	8	213	1st
2022	IMSA SportsCar Championship - DPi	Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	5th
	Formula One	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Reserve driver
		McLaren F1 Team
2022–23	Formula E	DS Penske

^† As Vandoorne was a guest driver he was ineligible to score points.
* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 Eurocup 1.6 results

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

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos	Points
2010	ALC 1 2	ALC 2 1	SPA 1 1	SPA 2 1	MAG 1 2	MAG 2 1	HUN 1 16	HUN 2 4	HOC 1 1	HOC 2 1	SIL 1 4	SIL 2 2	CAT 1 4	CAT 2 4	1st	159

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 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	Pos	Points
2011	KTR	ALC 1 Ret	ALC 2 Ret	SPA 1 15	SPA 2 Ret	NÜR 1 20	NÜR 2 7	HUN 1 4	HUN 2 3	SIL 1 4	SIL 2 4	LEC 1 6	LEC 2 5	CAT 1 5	CAT 2 6	5th	93
2012	Josef Kaufmann Racing	ALC 1 3	ALC 2 4	SPA 1 2	SPA 2 3	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 1	MSC 1 2	MSC 2 2	HUN 1 1	HUN 2 4	LEC 1 1	LEC 2 2	CAT 1 2	CAT 2 Ret	1st	244

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 Motorsport	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	14	15	16	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
2020–21	Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team	Spark SRT05e	Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02	DIR 8	DIR 13	RME Ret	RME 1	VLC 3	VLC Ret	MCO Ret	PUE 7	PUE 13	NYC Ret	NYC 12	LDN 7	LDN 15	BER 12	BER 3		9th	82
2021–22	Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team	Spark SRT05e	Mercedes-EQ Silver Arrow 02	DRH 2	DRH 7	MEX 11	RME 3	RME 5	MCO 1	BER 3	BER 3	JAK 5	MRK 8	NYC 4	NYC 2	LDN 2	LDN 4	SEO 5	SEO 2	1st	213

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
2021	Jota Sport	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	SPA 3	ALG 2	MNZ 5	LMS 2	BHR 2	BHR 3			2nd	131

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
2021	Jota Sport	Tom Blomqvist Sean Gelael	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	363	7th	2nd

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

Year	Entrant	No.	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Rank	Points
2022	Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian	60	DPi	Acura ARX-05	Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6	DAY	SEB 5	LBH	LGA	MDO	DET	WGL	CTM	ELK	PET	21st	285

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 Preceded by: Nyck de Vries Formula E Champion 2021–22 Succeeded by: Incumbent This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Stoffel Vandoorne. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.