Stoffel Vandoorne was born in the Belgian town of Kortijk in 1992, and began karting in 1998. By 2008, he was the Belgian KF2 karting champion, and the following year the runner up in the FIA World Cup for the same series. He moved on to single seater cars, with 2010 seeing him race in the F4 Eurocup 1.6 series, where he won the title at his first attempt. That successful debut season in cars saw Stoffel progress to the Europcar Formula Renault 2.0 series for 2011, a series that he won in
2012 before the move to Formula Renault 3.5 for 2013. A second place that year was rewarded with a GP2 drive for ART, as well as being appointed the McLaren F1 team’s test driver.
After a second place in the 2014 GP2 championship, Stoffel took the title the following year, again combining his role as a McLaren test driver. Being the reigning champion, Stoffel could not participate in GP2 in 2016 in Super Formula. However, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso suffered a serious accident at the season opening Australian Grand Prix, and the broken ribs he suffered ruled him out of the Bahrain Grand Prix, and on the 31st March 2016, the team announced that Stoffel would make his Formula One debut at Bahrain. A tenth place gave him a World Championship point, and Jenson Button leaving the team at the end of the season gave Stoffel the seat for 2017, which he retained for 2018 before the team announced a new line up for 2019.
Here are a few photos of Stoffel at various events.
There is an index of my photos of Formula One drivers past and present here.
Stoffel Vandoorne during 2018 Winter Testing
Stoffel Vandoorne during 2017 Winter Testing
Stoffel Vandoorne at 2016 In Season Testing
Stoffel Vandoorne at the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix
Stoffel Vandoorne at the 2015 British Grand Prix
Stoffel Vandoorne at the 2014 German Grand Prix
Stoffel Vandoorne at the 2014 British Grand Prix
