Formula One drivers from Belgium

Formula One drivers from Belgium
Drivers25
Grands Prix433
Entries558
Starts476
Best season finish2nd (1969, 1970)
Wins11
Podiums45
Pole positions14
Fastest laps16
Points387
First entry1950 British Grand Prix
First win1968 French Grand Prix
Latest win1990 Hungarian Grand Prix
Latest entry2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
2025 driversNone
Jacky Ickx, the most successful Belgian Formula One Driver and first Belgian to win a Formula One race

There have been 25 Formula One drivers from Belgium, of whom Jacky Ickx and Thierry Boutsen were the most successful ones as the only Belgians to win races.[1][2] The most recent Belgian driver is Stoffel Vandoorne, who raced for McLaren in 2017 and 2018.[a]

Former drivers

In the early years of Formula One, Belgium was well represented with a highlight in 1953 when there were no less than seven Belgian drivers taking part in the championship.[2]

The first victory for a Belgian only occurred in 1968 when Jacky Ickx won the French Grand Prix.[3] Ickx went on to win eight races in total, reaching the podium 25 times and becoming the runner-up in both the 1969 and 1970 seasons.[4]

The only other driver to win a Grand Prix was Thierry Boutsen, who won three races during his two-year stint with Williams-Renault in 1989–1990 and managed to reach the podium 15 times.[3][5]

Besides Ickx and Boutsen, the only other Belgian drivers to reach the podium are Olivier Gendebien (who scored two podium finishes), Lucien Bianchi, Paul Frère and Willy Mairesse who each finished on the podium once.[6]

Bertrand Gachot, who was born in Luxembourg as the son of French-German parents carried a French passport but raced under a Belgian FIA Super Licence until 1991, from the 1992 Formula One season he changed to a French licence.[7]

Stoffel Vandoorne was the most recent Belgian driver to compete in Formula One, competing in 3 seasons between 2016 and 2018. While he did not have any podiums or wins, he still had an impressive 41 race starts and 26 overall points.[8]

Charles de Tornaco is the only Belgian driver to be killed during an official event, following a crash during the practice session for the 1953 Modena Grand Prix.[9]

All-time table

Vandoorne driving for McLaren at the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix.
Driver Active years Championships Wins Podiums Pole positions Career points Fastest laps Entries Starts
Jacky Ickx 1966–1979 0 8 25 13 181 14 122 116
Thierry Boutsen 1983–1993 0 3 15 1 132 1 164 163
Olivier Gendebien 1955–1956, 1958–1961 0 0 2 0 18 0 15 14
Paul Frère 1952–1956 0 0 1 0 11 0 11 11
Willy Mairesse 1960–1963, 1965 0 0 1 0 7 0 13 12
Lucien Bianchi 1959–1963, 1965, 1968 0 0 1 0 6 0 19 17
Stoffel Vandoorne 2016–2018 0 0 0 0 26 0 42 41
Bertrand Gachot [b] 1989–1991 0 0 0 0 4 1 41 15
André Pilette 1951, 1953–1954, 1956, 1961, 1963–1964 0 0 0 0 2 0 14 9
Eric van de Poele 1991–1992 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 5
Johnny Claes 1950–1953, 1955 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 23
Jérôme d'Ambrosio 2011–2012 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 20
Patrick Nève 1976–1978 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 10
Jacques Swaters 1951, 1953–1954 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 7
Charles de Tornaco 1952–1953 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2
Teddy Pilette 1974, 1977 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
Philippe Adams 1994 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Georges Berger 1953–1954 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Roger Laurent 1952 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Arthur Legat 1952–1953 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Bernard de Dryver 1977–1978 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
André Milhoux 1956 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Christian Goethals 1958 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Charles Van Acker 1950 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Alain de Changy 1959 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Source:[1]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Lando Norris, Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen all have Belgian nationality, and are competing in 2023, but race under other nationalities - British, Canadian and Dutch respectively - as all three drivers hold dual nationality.
  2. ^ Competed under French racing license in 1992 and 1994–1995.[7] As this article is about Formula One drivers competing under a Belgian licence his stats from 1992 and 1994–1995 are not included in this article but are instead detailed in Formula One drivers from France.

References

  1. ^ a b "Belgium – Drivers". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Grands Prix started". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Belgium – Wins". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Jacky ICKX". StatsF1.com (in French). Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Thierry BOUTSEN". StatsF1.com (in French). Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Belgium – Podiums". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  7. ^ a b Φωτσεινός, 'Αγγελος. "Bertrand Gachot: His imprisonment, the reason behind a famous debut". f1retro.gr. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Stoffel VANDOORNE • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  9. ^ "1953 Non-World Championship Formula One Races". www.silhouet.com. Retrieved 13 November 2024.