Florian Völker

as of 2023 WC Indianapolis GP

Florian Völker is a World ChampCar series driver currently driving for Pyramid Racing in the 2023 season. He is also the official reserve driver for Renault in the top class. He is the only driver to have won 5 world championships in F1 and back-to-back championships in 2010 and 2011 with Red Bull Racing. He made his OC debut with Toro Rosso in the 2008 season where he shone as one of the brightest rising stars within the competition.

Widely regarded as the greatest driver to ever race in the Top Tier of GP4, Völker garnered praise for his sometimes dominant and consistent performances and his ability to comprehensively outperform teammates in the same machinery over the course of a season.

Völker is also the holder of many OC records. His five Championship wins (2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018) mean he ranks as the most successful driver in terms of Championships, with Joseph Willows (2006 & 2008) and Jay McKenzie (2014 & 2016) his closest challengers on Two. To that end, he is also the only driver in OC History to have won back-to-back drivers championships and the only driver to win titles with three different constructors.

## History

### 2008 - Breakthrough Year

Debuting in 2008 with the fledgling Toro Rosso outfit, he immediately starred by finishing 6th on his debut. A run of points finishes would follow, in that time he continuously outperformed his teammate, Miklós Gál, who was already in his second season.

The 2008 Italian Grand Prix was when Völker and Gál rose to stratospheric levels of stardom. Gál miraculously qualified on Pole, Völker was 3rd as the top 4 was comprised in its entirety by Toro Rosso and Red Bull. Völker would drive without incident and held his position to the flag for his first podium finish whilst teammate Gál would go on to take his maiden chequered flag.

Völker, however, refused to be outdone by his teammate. Back-to-back podiums at the final rounds of the season in China and Brazil, meant he finished a remarkable 7th overall, and best of the rest behind the already-established top 3 of McLaren, Ferrari and BMW. Most importantly, it ensured he finished on almost twice the amount of points Gál had accumulated over the season.

The lure of Renault power and the promise of a highly competitive package in 2009 was too great to resist, and a drive at Toro Rosso's senior team, Red Bull, beckoned the following year.

### 2009 - Fully Fledged Frontrunner

Völker got off to the best possible start in Australia, putting the car on Pole for his first front row start. However, thanks to strategy he would finish second, with former teammate Miklos Gál, now at Brawn GP, taking his second GP win. The race is remembered for the controversial circumstances surrounding On-Track Race Winner, Alex Southgate, who received a time penalty for his part in a collision involving Joseph Willows.

Following absolute domination by Brawn in the first 5 rounds of the season. Völker arrived in Monaco still chasing that elusive first Grand Prix win. Pole in Qualifying secured a trademark dominant win for the German, his first in the sport. Völker would win again for the second time in Hungary, in a season where he eventually finished 3rd in the championship behind the dominant Brawn GP cars. Former Teammate Gál was the eventual champion that season.

### 2010 & 2011 - Back to Back World Champion

2010 saw Völker rejuvenated and in full control. With a car that was built fully to his desires and specifications, he won the opening round in Bahrain and then won two rounds later in Malaysia.

He finished on the podium 8 times out of the next 10 races, included a third win of the year in Valencia, to hold a then record points lead going into the halfway point of the season. It would be this relentless consistency that would pay dividends come the end of the season. Two retirements were sandwiched either side of a fourth utterly dominant win of the year in Singapore.

Thanks to his trademark consistency and routine bad luck for his teammate James Willows, this meant the Red Bull driver need only consistently score in the final rounds of the season and he would win his first world title.

Völker made good on his chance, 8th place and a single point in Abu Dhabi meant Völker was crowned champion for the first time in his career, in only his third full season competing.

2011 would prove to be a continuation of the previous year. Völker was classified on the podium every time he finished for the first 9 rounds of the season, including one win.

Völker's trademark consistency bore through for the remainder of the year with the young German taking several podiums and another win in Korea. The championship went down to the wire, but a second place in Abu Dhabi was enough as his teammate James Willows failed to outscore him.

2011 is regarded as one of Völker's finest seasons. He won the title with just 2 victories, the lowest amount of wins from an eventual champion in their championship year. It was even more of an achievement considering his teammate won 4 races and McLaren's Evan Byrne won 6. However, 12 podiums to Byrne and Willows' Eight was more than enough to win the championship on outright consistency rather than brute strength.

### 2012 - A Tough Season

Before the season started, Völker was reunited with his former teammate Miklós Gál who had severed ties from McLaren following an indifferent 2 season spell. Red Bull were quoted as saying they had the best pairing currently in the sport. It was the first time since the infamous Willows/Määttä partnership in 2008, to have a team comprising of two world champions.

It seemed as though 2012 would continue in the same way as the previous two seasons. Völker won the first two Grand Prix's and was runner up in the third. But these highs were shattered by 6 rounds of torrid luck and frustration.

Mid-table finishes in Bahrain and Spain were followed by a run of 4 consecutive retirements. Two podiums on home soil in Germany and Hungary, broke his poor form, but a couple of midtable finishes followed as the title looked to slip out of his reach.

He won in Korea to restore some dignity to his season, but it would not be enough as the title was secured by a resurgent McLaren and their Danish Hotshot Viggo Holst. Whilst 2 wins won him the title the previous year, 3 wins was good enough only for fourth in 2012. Despite all of this misfortune, Völker still managed to get the better of teammate Gál over the course of the season.

### 2013 - Back on Form

2013 didn't start as Völker intended. Back to back retirements in the first two races of the season, meant he was 40 points behind Wais Kuba already.

Völker then returned to fine form for the following nine Grand Prix's. Podiums in 7 of these including 2 wins was enough to reignite his championship challenge.

A half-hearted fightback from a returning Will Neller in the revived Lotus was not enough to halt Völker's charge. The title went down to the wire, and despite both Völker and Neller not scoring highly, the German had done enough in the prior rounds to secure a record third title.

He also finished ahead of his teammate Miklós Gál for the second consecutive season, the Hungarian finishing runner up in the end following Neller's poor Brazilian Grand Prix and victory for him.

Following world championship number three, Völker and Red Bull announced they would not be pursuing an extension to their partnership, and that Völker would be joining Ferrari for the 2014 season. This brought an end to possibly the most successful partnership since the Willows/McLaren combination in the late 00's. Together, Völker and Red Bull had won 3 Drivers titles, 3 Constructors titles and 15 Grand Prix wins.

### 2014 & 2015 - Scuderia Hopeful and Further Championship Success

Völker's arrival at Ferrari was hailed as a masterstroke by all concerned. He was teammate now to the man he had usurped the previous season as the most successful driver in the series history, Joseph Willows. With 5 titles between them and the most wins of any pairing on the grid, Ferrari were hopeful of fine things in 2014.

Unfortunately, Ferrari's 2014 entrant was one of their poorest since 2009. Völker didn't score any points in the opening 2 rounds, before he scored his first podium in the third round at Bahrain.

A couple more points finishes preceded his first Ferrari win in an incident packed Monaco where only 10 cars finished. It was to be his only win of 2014 however, his best finishes after Monaco being a couple of second places at Silverstone and Sochi. Unfortunately for Völker, this was the first season in his entire career where his teammate would finish ahead of him in the final standings. Willows ending up a scant 6 points ahead of his new teammate.

2015 shaped up to be a much stronger season than 2014, he topped the third day of pre-season testing. He won three consecutive races from China to Spain and following a second place in another race of attrition in Monaco, he held a 51 point advantage over his nearest challenger.

However, at the halfway point in the season, Ferrari fell away and the 51 point lead fell to a ten point deficit to Mercedes' Will Neller. However, Völker was unstoppable in the second half of the season and the championship swung back in his favour from Belgium onwards. Völker went on to secure the championship for a record setting Fourth time, in Brazil.

He was Ferrari's first world champion and became the first driver to win titles at different constructors. The form of both drivers also led Ferrari to the Constructors title, the first time the Italian Marquee had achieved the feat.

### 2016 & 2017 - Wilderness Years

As defending champion in 2016, Völker and Ferrari were expected to challenge for the championship again. However, the season would be an unmitigated failure for both.

The Ferrari was nowhere near as competitive as the previous years and Völker had lost somehow lost a yard of pace compared to his teammate Willows, who outperformed the defending champion consistently in the opening races as Völker struggled to get a grip on his new machinery. The highlight of his year came in Belgium where he took pole and finished 2nd for his first podium of the year. A couple more second places would follow later in the year, but overall the season was dismal by Völker's lofty standards. With just 101 points and a poor Eighth place finish overall, it ended up being Völkers least successful season since 2008 and by failing to win a Grand Prix that season, it brought an end to a run of 7 consecutive race winning seasons.

2017 would prove to be more fruitful but hardly successful when compared to his teammate. Willows carried on where he left off in 2016 by consistently outperforming Völker throughout the season. At the Chinese Grand Prix, Völker won his first Grand Prix in 22 races, he would win a further 3 races that season en-route to 4th overall. Despite this successful looking season on paper, Völker never really put up a title challenge unlike his teammate who was in contention right up until the penultimate round in Abu Dhabi, when a collision between the two Ferrari's resulted in Willows not scoring enough points to keep his challenge alive.

Motivated by a desire to win a fifth title with a third different constructor, Völker brokered a move to defending world champions Mercedes for 2018, replacing Jay McKenzie. It was the first time a German driver would drive for a German constructor. Winning a title in a German marquee was also a factor in Völker's decision.

### 2018 - Mercedes

Partnering the comparatively inexperienced Franco López, it was expected that the talented Argentine would play second fiddle to the quadruple world champion. This couldn't be further from the truth as López had the edge on his German compatriot from the minute testing got underway, and won the first two grand prix of the season. Völker countered with a win in Spain, his first for the Mercedes works team, despite this he found himself behind his teammate and both works-Ferrari drivers.