Alexander Wurz

This Austrian from Waidhofen an der Thaya was born into a family that had been involved in motorsport for two generations: his grandfather was active as a hillclimb driver, his father Franz became European Rallycross Champion three times. At the age of twelve, the youngster already won the European championship on a BMX bike and then progressed rapidly through karting, Formula Ford, Formula Opel and Formula 3 to Formula 1, where he made three Grand Prix appearances in the Benetton team from 1997, in addition to his role as a test driver.

In 1998, Wurz was given the regular place he had longed for and secured eighth place in the drivers' championship with Benetton. In the following season, the same team only made it to 13th place, and in 2000 the team finished 15th in the final rankings. From 2001 to 2004 Wurz, who was appreciated for his clever analyses, was again active as a test driver, this time for McLaren-Mercedes. His declared wish to return to a regular Formula 1 cockpit was only just being fulfilled. Nominated as a substitute driver for McLaren-Mercedes in 2005, he filled in for the injured Juan Pablo Montoya at the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola and finished third.

In addition to his formula racing career, Wurz was also involved in endurance racing on and off since 1996, taking a victory in his very first Le Mans race in the Porsche-powered TWR WSC95 entered by the Joest Team. The following year, he contested the FIA GT Championship at the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR racing sports car and finished second alongside Bernd Schneider at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. The duo finished fourth at the A1 Ring race in Austria and clinched their only win of the season at Donington Park.

After the end of his Formula 1 career, Wurz repeated his success at the endurance classic on the Sarthe in 2009 in the factory Peugeot 908, which he had achieved more than ten years earlier. The following year, he also won the 12 Hours of Sebring in a Peugeot. This was followed by stints as a Toyota works driver in the World Endurance Championship. Wurz retired from active racing at the end of the 2015 season.