Jan Toom

Jan Toom is an Estonian racing driver. 
 
== Early life ==
Jan Toom was born Jan Meri Tuulikki Toom in the small town of Kuressaare, Estonia, to Johannes Toom and Aadelheide Toom. His father Johannes worked at the docks in Kuressaare.
== Racing Career ==
Little is known about his pre-F1 racing career.
== Formula One ==
Jan Toom made his debut in 12th at the Japanese Grand Prix. In Brazil he retired after spinning and being hit heavily by championship contender Alexander Parker. It was later concluded that this accident was avoidable and Jan was given two penalty points for this. Toom scored his first points with an 8th place in Monaco. He was over-joyed to have scored points, saying to the press after the race that he was ecstatic to be the first Estonian ever to score points in Formula One. He retired in the US Grand Prix due to an engine fire in the pit lane and retired again in Germany after a large crash. 
Controversy followed in Britain, where Toom finished 10th but was later disqualified for clear track infringements. In Belgium he was heavily penalised for causing a start crash with Tom Palander and Colin McDougall. Colin critized Toom, saying "Bit annoying that I had my aero ruined by people who can't brake for the first corner of a circuit." Jan responded byaying he was "kicking up a fuss" and was a "kiisu." However, Toom still scored points with 8th, which was followed up by 9th in Monza. Toom had ran as high as sixth mid-race due to a one-stop hard strategy.
Toom had a woeful season in 1997, scoring just one point at the British Grand Prix with a 10th place finish. Jan struggled to make sense of the car, only finishing three races and also facing a race ban at Monza for being involved in various incidents. 
Category:Drivers
Category:Estonian
Category:F1