53 Facts About Stoffel Vandoorne

Stoffel Vandoorne won his first championship at the 2010 F4 Eurocup with the FFSA Academy, then progressing to Formula Renault, where he won the Eurocup in 2012 and finished runner-up to Kevin Magnussen in the 3.5 Series in 2013.

Stoffel Vandoorne graduated to the GP2 Series with ART in 2014, finishing runner-up to Jolyon Palmer in his rookie season.

Stoffel Vandoorne partnered Alonso as a full-time driver in 2017, scoring several points finishes across two full seasons before being released at the end of 2018; he has since served as a reserve driver for McLaren, Mercedes, Racing Point and Aston Martin.

Stoffel Vandoorne entered sportscar racing in 2021, finishing runner-up in the LMP2 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship with Jota.

Stoffel Vandoorne joined the Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar project in 2023, making his premier class WEC debut at the 6 Hours of Fuji.

Stoffel Jacques L Vandoorne was born on 26 March 1992 in Kortrijk, West Flanders.

Stoffel Vandoorne was introduced to motorsport at the age of six during a visit to the kart track of World Karts in Kortrijk in Flanders, Belgium, with his father.

Stoffel Vandoorne started karting after the owner of the track gave him a mini-kart.

In 2010, Stoffel Vandoorne moved up to single-seater racing, joining the F4 Eurocup 1.6 series.

Stoffel Vandoorne went on to win the series on his first attempt, finishing the season with six wins and three further podium finishes.

Stoffel Vandoorne earned a place in the FIA Driver Academy.

Stoffel Vandoorne finished fifth overall, with one podium at the Hungaroring and another eight-point-scoring finishes throughout the season.

Stoffel Vandoorne participated in Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, where he finished third in the series' standings with eight podiums.

Stoffel Vandoorne won the championship by ten points after a tight battle between himself and Red Bull-backed Daniil Kvyat.

Stoffel Vandoorne finished the season with four wins and six podiums to his name.

Stoffel Vandoorne contested selected events in the Northern European Cup, where he won five of the seven races that he started, and finished on the podium in a sixth race.

In 2013, Stoffel Vandoorne raced in Formula Renault 3.5, where he replaced 2012 champion Robin Frijns at Fortec Motorsport.

Stoffel Vandoorne finished runner-up to Kevin Magnussen with four wins and 10 podiums, including a victory at his home track of Spa-Francorchamps.

In January 2014, it was confirmed that Stoffel Vandoorne would make his debut in GP2, racing with ART.

Stoffel Vandoorne followed this up with four consecutive pole positions, three more wins at the Hungaroring, Monza and Yas Marina and six additional podiums.

Stoffel Vandoorne reunited with ART for 2015, as well as was considered the main title contender.

Stoffel Vandoorne was partnered by 2014 Japanese Formula Three champion Nobuharu Matsushita.

Stoffel Vandoorne holds the record for all-time most wins, most feature race wins, most pole positions and most consecutive pole positions, most podiums, most podiums in a season, most points and most points in a single season in GP2 history, with the series being rebranded as the FIA Formula 2 Championship at the end of the following year.

Stoffel Vandoorne finished fourth overall, the highest ranking among Honda engine users, with two wins and one pole position at Fuji Speedway in wet conditions throughout the season.

In February 2013, Stoffel Vandoorne joined McLaren's Young Driver Programme, under the tutelage of his then manager Richard Goddard, in collaboration with the team's sporting director Sam Michael and its head of communications Matt Bishop, to whom Stoffel Vandoorne had been introduced in 2011 by Alex Wurz.

On 31 March 2016, it was announced Stoffel Vandoorne would be replacing regular driver Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix after the Spaniard was ruled unfit to drive following a major accident during the Australian Grand Prix.

On 3 September 2016, ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, it was announced by McLaren that Jenson Button would not be racing in 2017, and that Stoffel Vandoorne would be replacing him to partner Alonso for the 2017 season.

On 23 August 2017, it was announced that Stoffel Vandoorne would be retained for the 2018 season.

Stoffel Vandoorne ended the season in 16th ahead of 4 other drivers in the drivers' championship.

Stoffel Vandoorne was the simulator driver for the McLaren team in 2020 and was named as one of the team's reserve drivers in 2021, but in 2022 was not chosen as the driver for the final pre-season test at Bahrain after Daniel Ricciardo tested positive for COVID-19.

Stoffel Vandoorne was the simulator driver for the Mercedes team in 2019 and was named as one of the team's reserve drivers in 2020, but in the end was not chosen as the driver for the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix after Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19.

Stoffel Vandoorne drove for Mercedes in the season-ending 2020 Abu Dhabi Young Drivers Test alongside Formula E teammate Nyck de Vries.

Stoffel Vandoorne was made available as reserve driver for Racing Point in 2020 and McLaren from 2020 to 2022, as part of an agreement between Mercedes and both teams.

Stoffel Vandoorne was announced to be joining Aston Martin for the 2023 Formula One World Championship as a reserve and simulator driver, sharing duties with 2022 Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich.

Stoffel Vandoorne remained the reserve driver for Aston Martin for the 2024 season and drove an Aston Martin AMR24 during a tyre test at Spa-Francorchamps.

Stoffel Vandoorne continued as a reserve driver for Aston Martin in 2025.

Stoffel Vandoorne would be joining Britain's Gary Paffett to complete the driver lineup for HWA Racelab.

Stoffel Vandoorne would go on and start his Formula E debut just 3 weeks after leaving Formula 1 and would come 17th in his first race.

Stoffel Vandoorne has achieved his first qualifying pole position in Formula E at a wet 2019 Hong Kong ePrix.

Stoffel Vandoorne came third in the 2019 Rome ePrix and booked his first podium in Formula E Vandoorne finished his debut season in 16th position in the driver's standings with 35 points.

Stoffel Vandoorne took 2 consecutive podiums in the two first races.

Stoffel Vandoorne ultimately finished 2nd in the standings, though behind Felix da Costa by 71 points.

Stoffel Vandoorne achieved one win at the second race of 2021 Rome ePrix, and two third place finishes at 2021 Valencia ePrix and 2021 Berlin ePrix.

Monaco brought the highlight of the year, as Stoffel Vandoorne dominated the second half of the race to take his first victory of the season.

At the penultimate event in London, Stoffel Vandoorne repeated his results from the previous round, most impressively performing a comeback drive from 13th to fourth on Sunday.

On Sunday, Stoffel Vandoorne finished second, clinching the title and bringing a second drivers' and teams' world championship to the departing Mercedes outfit.

In October 2022, it was announced that Stoffel Vandoorne would be joining the newly formed DS Penske outfit alongside fellow champion Jean-Eric Vergne for the 2023 season.

Stoffel Vandoorne would depart the team after two mediocre seasons with the team at the conclusion of the season.

Stoffel Vandoorne will drive the Russian BR1 No 11 prototype along with Vitaly Petrov and Mikhail Aleshin in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Stoffel Vandoorne drove the first stint during weather conditions of snow, hail and rain.

Stoffel Vandoorne was set to test the 2023 Peugeot Hypercar at the Bahrain International Circuit during November 2022, but was not able to take part in it after being diagnosed with appendicitis.

For 2023, Stoffel Vandoorne was appointed as the reserve driver for the Peugeot Sport in the Hypercar category.

On 17 November 2021, it was announced that Stoffel Vandoorne will take part in an IndyCar Series test with Arrow McLaren SP at Sebring International Raceway on 6 December 2021.