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Stoffel Vandoorne

Stoffel Vandoorne
  • Surname
    Vandoorne
  • First name
    Stoffel
  • Date of birth
    26.03.1992

This Belgian driver, born in Kortrijk, Flanders, started in national kart racing at the age of six, where he stayed until 2009 and staked his claim for greater driving roles, especially in the last two years: In 2008, he became Belgian KF class champion and in 2009 he was runner-up in the KF2 CIK FIA World Karting Championship. These successes led him to Formula Renault 1.6 in 2010, which was held that year under the name F4 Eurocup 1.6. Vandoorne made a seamless entry into formula racing at the first attempt with a superior championship title.

The 19-year-old already competed in 2011 in the Formula Renault Eurocup 2.0 and in parallel in the Formula Renault Northern European Cup, where he finished his debut season in fifth and third place respectively. The following year, he secured the title with four victories and a total of seven podium finishes. In 2013, Vandoorne's career path continued to point steeply upwards. He got a driver's place for Formula Renault 3.5 with the renowned Fortec team and signed a sponsorship contract with the McLaren Formula 1 team. The season ended in second place overall after three wins and no less than ten top-3 positions.

The following year, the Belgian moved up to the GP2 series, where he also proved his unusual talent right from the start. Four race wins, including one in his debut race in Bahrain, and 12 finishes in the top ten, put Vandoorne second in the overall driver standings for the premier class feeder series. He also got his first taste of Formula 1 that year as a test and reserve driver in the McLaren-Mercedes team.

In his second GP2 season, 2015, the Belgian dominated the grid at will. He triumphed in seven out of a total of 22 races and only missed out on the podium four times. In the end, he carried off a commanding victory in the overall series standings. Although he was also a test and reserve driver for McLaren that year – the team had been struggling with the effects of the switch to Honda engines throughout the season – the championship in the GP2 series had not yet resulted in a regular place in the Formula 1 team for the Belgian, given the difficult situation.

For 2016, Vandoorne instead got a cockpit in the Super Formula there with the support of the Japanese, for which he returned the favour with two race wins and fourth place in the final standings. At the same time, he was able to achieve his first notable accomplishment in the top class when he was allowed to stand in for the injured number one in the team, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, at the Bahrain Grand Prix and even scored a World Championship point with tenth place.

The Belgian's promising season record and loyalty finally paid off the following year: he was promoted to number two alongside the Spanish champion in the McLaren Honda Formula One team, which continued to be plagued by technical problems. Despite the difficult constellation, his premiere in Grand Prix racing turned out to be remarkable. In the end, Vandoorne scored 14 championship points in the drivers' standings, just three less than Alonso scored. In 2018, however, the Spaniard was the main beneficiary of the clear upward trend at McLaren Honda. While the latter still managed to secure 50 championship points despite six retirements, Vandoorne dropped to 12 championship points with only two Grands Prix not completed.

For 2019, the Belgian then made a directional decision that potentially offered several perspectives for his future. After losing his regular Formula 1 spot at McLaren, he moved to the motorsport world of Mercedes-Benz and was hired as a simulator driver for the world champion team Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1, for one. He also joined the FIA Formula E alongside Gary Paffett as a Mercedes works driver. There, at the start of the 2018/19 season, he initially competed as part of HWA Racelab's interim assignment to gain experience in the electric racing series and ended up finishing 16th in the drivers' standings.

The 2019/2020 season, which began at the end of 2019, saw the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team take over the grid from HWA Racelab. The Belgian was runner-up, and two years later – after an interim ninth place – Formula E world champion. Following the factory team's exit from Formula E, Vandoorne has been a test driver for the Aston Martin F1 Team since the 2023 season.

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