Stoffel Vandoorne reserve driver for McLaren in 2014
The McLaren team announced today its reserve driver. It is the Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne, who is part of the British team's young driver program, along with Kevin Magnussen.
McLaren makes way for the young in 2014. After the announcement of Kevin Magnussen’s appointment in place of Sergio Pérez for the upcoming season, the British team has just confirmed Stoffel Vandoorne’s role as the third driver and reserve.
The young Belgian knows the Woking team well as he is part of its young driver program. He battled all year in 2013 against Magnussen in the highly competitive Formula Renault 3.5 championship, in which he finished in second place behind the Dane.
Vandoorne welcomes this news with undisguised joy: “I am very happy and honored to have been chosen by McLaren as the reserve driver for the year 2014. Similarly, I am very happy to have joined the ART team to race in the GP2 championship.”
It should be noted that the ART team, owned by Nicolas Todt and Frédéric Vasseur, has just been officially recognized as the Junior Team of McLaren. A great opportunity for Vandoorne to move up a level and aim for a starting spot in 2015. « I have been a member of the McLaren young driver program for almost a year now, and I have learned a lot since then. I visit the McLaren Technology Centre at least once a week, sometimes more often, and I have done a lot of work in the simulator to help the engineers develop the new MP4-29. Likewise, I have worked very hard on my physical and mental condition over the past year, and the McLaren young driver program has been absolutely fantastic in this regard. The guys at Woking really know how to prepare a Formula 1 driver, and I have really enjoyed working with them. »
Sam Michaels, the team’s sporting director, is full of praise for the Belgian driver: Stoffel is really an excellent young driver – fast, combative, consistent, intelligent, and ambitious – and he has already made an excellent impression at McLaren during the year he spent as a member of the young driver program. His technical input is first-class, he is excellent in our simulator, and he is not afraid to work hard. He has a spirit of collaboration and commitment, and he is therefore as popular at McLaren as he is useful.
