The solutions are numerous for those who leave the Formula 1 World Championship. Some become drivers in Touring car (DTM, WTCC, …) or GT (FIA GT1, ADAC GT Masters, Superstars Series, …) or even in Indycar. Others retire, work as commentators for the media… or DJ in Ibiza like Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) alias “DJ Squire”.<\/p>\n
A number of these drivers have chosen endurance racing through the World Sportscar Championship (until 1992), IMSA, WEC, Blancpain Endurance Series, the Le Mans Series franchise, and the brand new North American United SportsCar Championship, a merger of the ALMS and Grand Am.<\/p>\n
A handful of drivers have been able, in the past, to reach Formula 1 solely thanks to their endurance performances.<\/p>\n
There was the late Stefan Bellof, who died in 1985 at Spa-Francorchamps, still holder of the fastest lap in history on the 20,832 m of the Nordschleife (N\u00fcrburgring) with a Porsche 956.<\/p>\n
There was also this German junior team, placed on Sauber-Mercedes C291 cars by the brand with the star. These three young drivers had the privilege of finishing in the top category. There was Karl Wendlinger, the man who beat Michael Schumacher in German F3. His future in F1 was sealed after a serious accident in Monaco, 15 days after the death of Ayrton Senna. The eldest, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, is the only one of the three to have passed through F3000, the predecessor of GP2. Finally, there is no need to introduce Michael Schumacher.<\/p>\n
But transfers are more often made in the other direction, notably towards prototypes like the LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype). These cars were close to reaching 400 km\/h on the Hunaudi\u00e8res straight in the 80s. Today, their chassis, running gear, and engine torque make them true streamlined F1 cars, very challenging to drive.<\/p>\n
Depending on the periods, we witness the involvement of entire generations of single-seater drivers in endurance teams. At the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, for example, no fewer than 23 former Formula 1 race drivers were at the start of the race (plus Franck Montagny and Mark Webber, who would later secure a seat in F1), and that doesn’t include the presence of numerous test drivers who didn’t have the chance to race in a Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
In recent years, Bruno Senna, Nick Heidfeld, Anthony Davidson, and Giancarlo Fisichella have taken the leap. In 2013, three former F1 drivers, already winners at Le Mans, were at the start of the 24 Hours.<\/p>\n
Alexander Wurz, who has no victory in F1, made a triumphant return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans by winning the only victory for the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP on the Sarthe circuit (in 2009). It was the second Le Mans victory for the Austrian. He holds the record as the youngest winner (22 years old) thanks to his success in 1996 at the wheel of a TWR Porsche WSC-95.<\/p>\n
Marc Gen\u00e9 was also part of the team with this Peugeot 908. The Spaniard completed 4 seasons in Grand Prix and was, among other things, a test driver for Ferrari.<\/p>\n
The most famous former F1 driver still active in endurance racing is undoubtedly Allan McNish. The Scot is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours, twice with Audi. His fame is as much due to his performances as to his aggressiveness. He has caused spectacular incidents and accidents in ALMS, Grand Am, and Le Mans.<\/p>\n
As for the record holder for victories on the Le Mans circuit, it is the Dane Tom Kristensen (9 wins, including 7 with Audi). He was a test driver for Minardi, Tyrrell, Williams, and Jaguar, without securing a full-time position.<\/p>\n
In the history of F1 drivers who have finished on the top step of the Le Mans podium, four names can be mentioned among many others:<\/p>\n
– Lucien Bianchi, Belge d’origine italienne, n’est autre que le grand oncle de Jules Bianchi, titulaire chez Marussia F1. L. Bianchi a d\u00e9croch\u00e9 un podium au Grand Prix de Monaco en 1968 au volant d’une Cooper-BRM. 4 mois plus tard, la mythique Ford GT40 du duo Bianchi\/Rodr\u00edguez passe en t\u00eate la ligne d’arriv\u00e9e des 24h du Mans. Cette ann\u00e9e marque l’apog\u00e9e du pilote belge. Il trouve la mort en mars 1969 \u00e0 34 ans, au volant de la magnifique Alfa Romeo T33, lors d’essais pr\u00e9liminaires en vue de d\u00e9fendre son titre.<\/p>\n
– Le c\u00e9l\u00e8bre N\u00e9o-z\u00e9landais Bruce McLaren suivra ce destin tragique l’ann\u00e9e suivante. \u00c9galement victorieux au Mans sur une Ford GT40, en 1966, il d\u00e9c\u00e9dera \u00e0 Goodwood au volant d’un prototype CanAm de sa conception. On conna\u00eet la suite de l’histoire. L’entreprise McLaren est aujourd’hui une des \u00e9curies les plus titr\u00e9es de la F1.<\/p>\n
– L’Autrichien Jochen Rindt a remport\u00e9 le Mans en 1965 avec une Ferrari 250 LM. Il est le seul pilote a avoir \u00e9t\u00e9 sacr\u00e9 champion \u00e0 titre posthume en Formule 1. Il trouve la mort lors des essais du Grand Prix d’Italie 1970, 4 courses avant la fin du championnat. Aucun autre pilote ne r\u00e9ussira \u00e0 gagner suffisamment de points pour le d\u00e9tr\u00f4ner, \u00e0 commencer par Jacky Ickx, autre figure embl\u00e9matique de la F1 et de l’Endurance.<\/p>\n
– Le seul pilote encore vivant de ces quatre hommes est l’Autrichien Helmut Marko. Il a effectu\u00e9 9 d\u00e9parts en F1, a gagn\u00e9 le Mans en 1971 sur une Porsche 917 K et est aujourd’hui le \u201cbras arm\u00e9\u201d de Dietrich Mateschitz pour g\u00e9rer le programme des jeunes pilotes Red Bull.<\/p>\n
Another noteworthy fact is the strong French presence in endurance racing, both in Europe and North America. This includes former F1 drivers as well as touring car and GT racers.<\/p>\n
Among them:<\/p>\n
– Olivier Pla, le champion Le Mans series 2009 en LMP2.<\/p>\n
– Benoit Treluyer et Lo\u00efc Duval. Ils ont tous deux ayant bifurqu\u00e9 vers une carri\u00e8re au Japon avant de d\u00e9crocher la victoire mancelle avec Audi.<\/p>\n
– Romain Dumas, pilote officiel Porsche. C’est une l\u00e9gende vivante de l’endurance gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 des statistiques impressionnantes, que ce soit en GT ou en Prototype.<\/p>\n
– Jean-Karl Vernay. Il a exp\u00e9riment\u00e9 avec succ\u00e8s les \u00e9preuves de monoplace aux Etats-Unis avant de triompher en Porsche Carrera Cup avec le S\u00e9bastien Loeb Racing.<\/p>\n
– Simon Pagenaud. Il s’est battu cette ann\u00e9e pour le titre Indycar jusqu’\u00e0 la derni\u00e8re course.<\/p>\n
– Franck Montagny. Il a \u00e9t\u00e9 un pilote de F1 surtout reconnu pour ces qualit\u00e9s de pilote d’essai. Il a effectu\u00e9 un court passage tr\u00e8s remarqu\u00e9 aux Etats-Unis (Champ Car et ALMS). Il est mont\u00e9 4 fois sur le podium au Mans.<\/p>\n
– Nicolas Prost, le fils de son p\u00e8re. Il est pilote de d\u00e9veloppement Lotus F1 Team et est une force de l’\u00e9quipe d’endurance Rebellion aux cot\u00e9s de l’Allemand Nick Heidfeld.<\/p>\n
– S\u00e9bastien Bourdais. Il a \u00e9t\u00e9 4 fois de suite champion de Champ Car (record absolu, tout championnat de monoplaces US confondus) avant son passage difficile en F1 chez Toro Rosso. Au Mans c’est le r\u00e9gional de l’\u00e9tape. Il est n\u00e9 tout pr\u00e8s du virage du Tertre Rouge et a grandi avec la course. C’est un fan du circuit sarthois mais la victoire se refuse \u00e0 lui, avec 3 deuxi\u00e8me places et l’un des plus faible \u00e9cart entre les deux premiers: 13 s 854 au bout de 24h de course.<\/p>\n
– Enfin, le “touche-\u00e0-tout” St\u00e9phane Sarrazin, pilote de F1 (Minardi, Prost, Toyota) et pilote de rallye (champion de France et pilote d’usine Subaru en WRC). Il est une des valeurs s\u00fbres de l’endurance (double champion Le Mans Series, 3 pole positions et 4 podiums aux 24h du Mans).<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of the Formula 1 World Championship in 1950, the connection between drivers and endurance racing has never been broken. They are the worthy successors of pioneers like the Frenchman Louis Rosier, descendants of a time when the Indianapolis 500 was part of the F1 calendar… a time when you could find almost the same vehicles at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix and the Le Mans 24 Hours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mark Webber has chosen to embark on new adventures as a factory driver for Porsche, with a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans (both for Porsche and Webber). He continues the long tradition of F1 drivers who pursue their careers behind the wheel of endurance prototypes or GTs…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":39398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1749],"tags":[75,918],"class_list":["post-16321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","category-news","tag-autre-sport","tag-webber"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n