With the confirmation that Stoffel Vandoorne will sit in for Fernando Alonso this weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix, you may be asking who exactly is Stoffel Vandoorne?
In this film shot in 2015, Stoffel himself talks through his Formula 1 ambitions and commitment to Mclaren:
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1
Born March 26th 1992, Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne made his motor racing début aged just 6 years old! In 2010 Stoffel graduated to single seater’s claiming race wins in his maiden F4 season. In 2013 he joined the Mclaren development driver programme and competed alongside fellow Mclaren development driver Kevin Magnussen in Formula Renault 3.5. something Jenson Button was keen to point out in this team mate profile film from 2015:
2014 saw Stoffel join the ART GP2 team, after a strong first season in the category in which he finished runner up to Renault Sport F1 driver Jolyon Palmer, Stoffel continued with the team in 2015 and went on to dominate the series, sealing the championship with Sochi with 5 rounds remaining.
Stoffel Vandoorne is extremely highly regarded across the F1 paddock, with Renault Sport believed to have approached Mclaren over a seat for the Belgian in 2016. It is widely expected that irrespective of this weekend’s developments Stoffel will likely see a full time place on the F1 grid in 2017 and with only two weeks between the Bahrain and Chinese Grand Prix it is possible Stoffel may be required to stand in for Alonso again this season.
Wilde Consulting 