Stoffel Vandoorne has won the GP2 title in Russia with four races still to run.
The 23-year-old, who is part of McLaren’s young driver programme, secured the title with fourth place in the sprint race which gave him an unassailable lead over rival Alexander Rossi, who finished sixth.
Vandoorne has led the championship since winning the opening round in Bahrain and has taken five wins so far this year, all in Feature Races. He is the 11th driver to win the GP2 title, which he won in his second year in the category.
| Year | Champion |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Nico Rosberg |
| 2006 | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2007 | Timo Glock |
| 2008 | Giorgio Pantano |
| 2009 | Nico Hulkenberg |
| 2010 | Pastor Maldonado |
| 2011 | Romain Grosjean |
| 2012 | Davide Valsecchi |
| 2013 | Fabio Leimer |
| 2014 | Jolyon Palmer |
| 2015 | Stoffel Vandoorne |
2015 Russian Grand Prix
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- Russia’s second grand prix gets higher rating
- 2015 Russian Grand Prix team radio transcript
Enigma (@enigma)
11th October 2015, 9:01
Really happy for him. One of the very best drivers in lower categories for a few years – he beat Kvyat to the Eurocup title in 2012, then finished runner-up as a rookie to the more experienced Magnussen and Palmer in Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2 respectively. This year he’s been untouchable.
He was arguably worthy of a chance in F1 in 2014, he should have raced this year and he absolutely must race in 2016. It would be a big shame if he doesn’t get the opportunity he’s continously proven he deserves.
Hopefully McLaren-Honda is a front-runner when Alonso and Button retire a year or three from now, and Vandoorne gets the chance to fight for grand prix victories.
Patrick (@paeschli)
11th October 2015, 11:41
It’s also great that he clinches the title before the 6 week pause, let’s hope he will find a F1 drive next year.
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
11th October 2015, 9:03
Great job! He was destined wasn’t it. After a few years, finally we’ve got a great GP2 champion with no disrespect to others but Davide Valsecchi or Maldonado or Leimer, you knew they are good but not very good. Stoffel is very good and hopefully a ‘great’ on day.
Congratulations and good luck!
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
11th October 2015, 9:07
That’s three years in succession that he’s done enough to warrant a F1 drive, yet it looks like he might not get it because McLaren and Honda want to run around with drivers who should have quit by now. What do he and Magnussen have to do?
Selbbin (@selbbin)
11th October 2015, 11:33
Wait. Or get a drive in a smaller team. McLaren needs experience right now.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
11th October 2015, 9:15
@craig-o Alonso and Button should have quit by now? 2 of the best drivers currently in F1? Yeah, ok…
I understand you’re passionate about Vandoorne, but to let it cloud your judgement to such an extent defies all logic
Anyway congrats to Stoffel Vandoorne. He’s an awesome driver and I hope he’s in F1 race seat in 2016. No place for him at Mclaren though while Alonso and Button are still around
Philip (@philipgb)
11th October 2015, 10:37
Agreed. The solution to bringing future top tier drivers drivers in isn’t to push current top tier drivers out. Alonso could still go toe to toe with Hamilton and Vettel in the right machinery and Button can give all three of them an honest challenge.
The field is just made up of drivers that are staying in the sport through the backing they bring.
SpinningPlates
13th October 2015, 2:41
(@philipgb)
You mean Ricciardo? I think after his thrashing last year, it’s about time we retired Vettel from his ill-deserved ‘top three drivers on the grid’ title.
Philip (@philipgb)
13th October 2015, 11:28
You mean Kvyat? Or Jean-Éric Vergne? I think after their thrashing of Ricciardo this year and 2012 respectively we should retire Ricciardo from this ill-deserved top driver status. Or perhaps just drop the notion that one season of being beaten by a team mate completely nullifies all past success.
Alonso was beaten by Hamilton (a rookie) in 2007 and Hamilton was beaten by Button in 2011. Button was beaten by Rubens Barrichello in 2008. Rubens Barrichello was beaten by Schumacher in every year at Ferrari. Schumacher was beaten by Rosberg at Mercedes and Rosberg is now being beaten by Hamilton. You see you can go round in circles proving one driver is better than another. Vettel is a top talent, 2014 was a blip with several compounding reasons why he was outperformed. Ricciardo may be up there at that level, but we haven’t seen enough from him to properly measure that yet and even if he is as well, it just means he is on that level as well, not that Vettel isn’t.
CountryGent (@countrygent)
11th October 2015, 10:00
Hamilton was a global sensation from his first race, and Verstappen was world famous before he ever sat in an F1 car: Q.E.D. sponsors shouldn’t deter teams from fielding young talent. From junior statistics alone, there is absolutely no reason to put Vandoorne in the same category.
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
11th October 2015, 16:21
@countrygent No reason? Surely Vandoorne’s record pretty much matches Hamilton and Hulkenberg? No championship finishes lower than 5th place, multiple titles.
Patrick (@paeschli)
11th October 2015, 11:39
An important day for Belgian open-wheel racing. Let’s hope for a more successful career im F1 than Jérôme d’Ambrosio …
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
11th October 2015, 20:17
What a great year for him, what a crushing advantage! He must be delighted, I hope McLaren find a solution soon and put him in a Manor.