Stoffel Vandoorne

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

He is the 2022 Formula One World Champion, having defeated Mick Schumacher by just 2 points.

## 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.

## 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

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.

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.

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.

In 2013, Vandoorne raced in Formula Renault 3.5, where he replaced 2012 champion Robin Frijns at Fortec Motorsport. He finished runner-up 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. 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. 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, 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

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

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

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 (2019–2021)

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.

### Formula E

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.

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.

Vandoorne continued to drive for the renamed Mercedes-EQ team for the 2020–21 season, again partnering Nyck de Vries.

### Return to McLaren (2022-2023)

#### 2022

After Lando Norris made the shocking decision to sign for Mercedes on a 1-year deal, Stoffel Vandoorne filled his seat alongside incumbent World Champion, Daniel Ricciardo.

Vandoorne's early results were not encouraging, but he would take his first points of 2022 in Japan, finishing in 8th. In China, he was running 10th, until Glock passed him on the final lap. He would go on to claim his first ever podium in Azerbaijan, but finished 14th in Monaco when Daniel Ricciardo won. Vandoorne went on to finish 5th in Britain, but finished 2nd to his teammate in Belgium. He finished 6th in Austria, 14th in Italy, and 3rd in Germany. He finished 3rd in France once again, but managed to win his first ever Grand Prix in Spain. He finished 4th in both Switzerland and Turkey, 6th in Canada, 3rd in Mexico, and 4th in the United states, to go into Brazil in 4th place in the Driver's Championship. However, Vandoorne would pull off an impressive display of skill to win the race and the World Championship.

When asked about how he felt about becoming World Champion, the Belgian responded, "I call this a middle finger to certain people who tried to keep me down!". It is unknown who exactly he was referring to, but it is speculated to be in reference to Lando Norris.