StoffelVandoorne

IN FOCUS: STOFFEL VANDOORNE

Stoffel Vandoorne is a highly-accomplished, versatile racing driver who is a World Champion in his own right having clinched the all-electric FIA Formula E championship in 2022.

Stoffel was a late starter to single-seater racing, not making his debut until he was 18 due to a lack of budget. He was, however, quick straight away: winning two Formula Renault championships, in 2010 and 2012 (and finishing third in another), in his first three years of car racing.

He moved up to the 3.5-litre Formula Renault for 2013, where he raced against then-fellow McLaren junior Kevin Magnussen. He won on debut and added three further victories – including in his native Belgium – to finish runner-up in the championship.

For 2014, he joined the GP2 Series with ART Grand Prix – the outfit that had previously won titles with Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hülkenberg – and won four times that season, just missing out on the title.

He stuck with ART for the following year, and what came was one of the most dominant displays in the category's history. Stoffel won seven races – all of them the main feature race – and won the 21-race championship by 160 points and holding a win record that remains to this day across GP2 and FIA F2.

Despite his dominant title run, a full-time drive in Formula One didn't materialise for 2016, and Stoffel instead took up a test and reserve driver role with McLaren, while also racing in Japan's Super Formula. Stoffel got his F1 break, however, after Fernando Alonso was injured during that year's Australian Grand Prix.

Irrespective of the late call-up, and having not driven that year's car, Stoffel was immediately on the pace in Bahrain, outqualified his World Champion teammate Jenson Button, and raced well to take a point on debut. Over in Japan, he was also successful – winning twice, taking a pole position and finishing fourth ahead of several world-class drivers.

Stoffel eventually got his F1 call-up for 2017, replacing the retiring Button, but McLaren was at one of the worst points of its revived Honda partnership. The car was off the pace and unreliable, but Stoffel was able to show his class on a few occasions that year – netting a pair of seventh-place finishes and comparing well to his teammate Fernando.

Despite three points finishes from the first four races at the start of 2018, the McLaren proved very difficult to drive and uncompetitive, and Stoffel finished 16th in the championship for the second year in a row. He swapped to Mercedes customer team HWA Racelab in Formula E for the end of 2018, before it became the Mercedes works team for the 2019-20 season.

Stoffel drove some very impressive races in 2020 and 2021 in Formula E – including winning the marque's first race, finishing a distant second in the championship in '20 before adding a win in Rome in '21. He also raced in the World Endurance Championship in 2021 in the LMP2 class, nearly winning his class in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the process.

Mercedes kept its form for 2022 and Stoffel was relentlessly consistent throughout the campaign. He took just one victory, coming on the historic streets of Monaco, but consistent podium finishes and strong points finishes allowed him to take the championship in the final weekend of the season in South Korea.

Stoffel will dovetail his commitments with Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team, where he will play a huge role in the simulator and sharing the Reserve Driver role with Felipe Drugovich, with trying to reclaim his Formula E title with DS Penske.