Formula One drivers from the Netherlands

Jos Verstappen at the 1994 British Grand Prix

There have been seventeen Formula One drivers from the Netherlands who have taken part in races since the championship began in 1950. Max Verstappen is the most successful Dutch driver, as the only one to have won a race, one of the two to have finished on the podium of a Grand Prix (the other being his father Jos) and the one to score most career points. Gijs van Lennep scored two points out of 10 Formula One races, which gives him the highest point scoring average of all Dutch drivers.

Current drivers

Max Verstappen, son of Jos, began his Formula One career in 2015, driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso. Aged 17 years and 166 days, he became the youngest Formula One driver in history. In May 15, 2016, he became the youngest driver winning a Grand Prix, aged 18 years old, at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix

Former drivers

1950s and 1960s

At the 1952 Dutch Grand Prix, Jan Flinterman and Dries van der Lof were the first Dutch drivers to participate in a Formula One race; for both drivers, it was their only one. In 1957, Carel Godin de Beaufort was the first regular Dutch Formula One driver, and the first Dutch driver to score points, driving in 31 races between 1957 and 1964, where he suffered a fatal crash at the Nürbürgring.

Three Dutch drivers were entered for the 1962 Dutch Grand Prix: besides Carel Godin de Beaufort, who drove the entire 1962 Formula One season, Ben Pon drove his first and only Formula One Grand Prix. Rob Slotemaker was entered for the race, but did not participate because his car was not ready in time.

1970s and 1980s

Michael Bleekemolen and Gijs van Lennep at the 1977 Dutch Grand Prix

Gijs van Lennep, a successful sportscar driver and two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, entered 10 Formula One Grands Prix between 1971 and 1975, in which he scored 2 career points. In 1975, Roelof Wunderink entered 6 Grands Prix for Ensign, but scored no points. Boy Hayje entered 7 races in 1976 and 1977, while Michael Bleekemolen entered 5 races in 1977 and 1978; both without scoring points.

At the 1979 Argentine Grand Prix, Jan Lammers started his Formula One career with Shadow. In 1980, he qualified a spectacular fourth place for the United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach in an ATS, but failed to score any points after a retirement. In 1982, after 39 Grands Prix, Jan Lammers retired from Formula One for a more successful career in sportscars, winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1990 Daytona 24 Hours. In 1992, Lammers made a two-race comeback in Formula One for March, in Japan and Australia. These races marked his first Formula One appearance since 1982, which is a still-standing record for the longest gap between successive Grands Prix in Formula One. He was signed for the team in 1993 but the team went bankrupt before the season started.

In 1984, Huub Rothengatter made his debut for what was to become a career of 30 races over 3 years. Although he scored no points, he would later become the manager of Jos Verstappen.

1990s and the new millennium

At the end of 1993 Jos Verstappen, after impressing in Formula Opel Lotus and Formula Three, was one of the most wanted upcoming drivers. He was eventually signed as test driver for Benetton for 1994, but made his debut in Brazil after regular driver JJ Lehto injured himself in pre-season testing. Verstappen became the default race driver in France, and would go on to score a podium in Hungary and Belgium. He was replaced for the last two races of 1994, and moved to Simtek in 1995. This would mark the beginning of a career mostly spent in mid-field and back-field teams such as Arrows, Tyrrell and Minardi. After a career in which he drove 107 Grands Prix, spanning 9 years and scoring 17 points, Verstappen retired after the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix.

Christijan Albers in the Minardi, who, together with...
...Robert Doornbos, are the only Dutch drivers to have been team-mates.

After impressing in Formula Three and finishing Rookie of the Year International Formula 3000 with a victory in Belgium in 2004, Robert Doornbos was hired as Friday test driver for Jordan Grand Prix for the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix. Doornbos impressed as test driver for the final few races of the season, and was reappointed for the 2005 season. At the 2005 German Grand Prix, he joined fellow Dutch driver Christijan Albers at Minardi, who debuted earlier that year as the team's regular driver. In 2006, Doornbos was appointed Friday test and reserve driver at Red Bull Racing, where he replaced Christian Klien for the last 3 races of the season. After just 11 races over 4 years time, his Formula One career ended as he went to drive the Champ Car World Series in 2007. In July 2014, Caterham announced Christijan Albers as the team's new team principal.

Following two successful seasons in DTM, Christijan Albers made his debut in the 2005 Australian Grand Prix for Minardi. Aside from a 5th point finish in the 6-car 2005 United States Grand Prix though, Albers' career was largely unsuccessful. He was released by Spyker after driving 46 races following the 2007 British Grand Prix.

Giedo van der Garde's first steps into Formula One was when he was confirmed as test and reserve driver for 2007 for Super Aguri. However, due to contract conflicts with Spyker, who had also signed him as test and reserve driver, he ended up not taking part in any Grand Prix. In 2008, Force India signed van der Garde as one of its test drivers. Following good results in the GP2 Series, van der Garde was signed as test and reserve driver for Caterham in Formula One, while racing for the team in GP2. After debuting for Caterham in 2013, Giedo van der Garde became Sauber's official test and reserve driver for 2014. He had a race contract with Sauber for 2015, but following a legal dispute with the team, did not drive in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Following the threat of follow-up action in Malaysia, all charges were dropped and van der Garde left Formula One.

Following a successful rise through the karting ranks and a very successful first year in the Formula 3 Euro Series, Max Verstappen, son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, joined the Red Bull Junior Team.[1] On August 18, 2014, it was announced that he would debut in Formula One in 2015 for the Toro Rosso team.[2] He won the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix in his debut race for Red Bull at the age of 18, becoming the youngest-ever winner of a Grand Prix and the first racing under the Dutch flag.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Max Verstappen per direct opgenomen in opleiding Red Bull". verstappen.nl. Nu.nl. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Max Verstappen to race with Toro Rosso F1 team in 2015". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
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