Saskia Klöden

**Saskia Klöden** (born 24th July 1978) is a Belgian racing driver. She is currently driving for Mercedes in Formula 1.

## Early Life

Saskia Klöden was born to a Belgian mother and German-Peruvian father. She was raised by her mother as her father was a banker. Her father escaped East Germany by going underneath the Berlin Wall with the help of students from West Berlin.

Her interest in motosport began when her racing hero Stefan Van Damme announced his return to racing. She was in attendance when Van Damme won his last race in Formula One at his home race in 1990.

## Early Racing Career

Shortly afterwards, she began her karting career, gaining regional attention with impressive results in the European Karting Series. In 1994 she made her debut in open wheel racing in the German Formula 3 series. In a three year stint her best championship finish was a fourth place finish in her last season. In that year she also managed to get her first win in Oschersleben.

In 1998 she started in the International Formula 3000 series. Despite a rough first year in which she finished a lowly 15th, she continued to improve in the next two years, culminating in an 8th and a third place finish in the following seasons.

## Formula One

In late 2000, Saskia Klöden was announced as a full-time driver with the struggling Minardi team for 2001. In the season itself Klöden struggled for most of the season as she mostly rounded out the lower end of the field. Despite that, she managed to secure points in the Monaco Grand Prix, as she finished an impressive 9th after starting the race in 12th place.

Despite a mixed debut year, Saskia was signed to the Sauber outfit for the 2002 season. There she would start battling in the lower midfield but still would struggle to finish races as she had four retirements due to mechanical issues. The highlight of the season was a 10th place finish in the British Grand Prix, alongside running inside the points in Belgium before transmission issues resulted in her retirements. She was kept in for the 2003 season where she had her breakthrough season.

Klöden’s season was highlighted with her first podium in Indianapolis, in a rain-affected race. Strategically, Saskia managed to climb to the lead of the race before losing the lead to eventual winner Rodrigo Morais. She backed up her performance with a front-row start in her home race in Belgium where she started 2nd. Ultimately she recorded her best season, dominating her teammate, and securing 11th place in the Drivers' Championship.

Impressed with her performance, Toyota signed her in a multi-year deal, partnering the 1999 World Champion Florian Delecroix.

Her first year with Toyota immediately matched expectations, with Kloden being outscored by Delacroix, who at one point led the championship. That changed in the second half as Klöden finished the season with three podiums in the last four races, including securing her first pole in Malaysia, where she narrowly lost the race to Otto Makkinen in a race-long duel. She recorded her highest placement in the standings in 7th, while also coming up short in the Constructors' Championship, ultimately losing to Ferrari.

## Personal Life

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