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McLaren Young Driver and Formula Renault 3.5 championship contender, Stoffel Vandoorne spent the weekend of the Belgian Grand Prix as part of the McLaren team.
The Belgian, who won the F4 Eurocup 1.6 in 2010 and the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup in 2012 had a chance to be part of the McLaren family at Spa-Francorchamps.
Vandoorne was introduced to McLaren Matt Bishop by former F1 driver Alex Wurz two years ago. Then, Bishop had talks with team engineers Sam Michael and Phil Prew about this upcoming racer.
“Early 2012, Matt invited me to the McLaren Technology Centre and introduced me in person to Sam and Phil - just a general chat. Then, at the end of 2012, when I won the Formula Renault 2.0 championship, Sam called me and asked me if I wanted to join the McLaren Young Driver Programme. I said yes, of course!” Vandoorne said in a McLaren feature.
“Over the six months I've been with McLaren I've made big progress in the fitness side, and I'm confident that I can improve even further from now on too. Also, on the technical side, it's really good to be having discussions with the McLaren engineers - to really learn about race engineering - as well as to just chat about racing with them in general,” the Belgian added.
He also confirmed that his career is now managed by Richard Goddard, Jenson Button's manager.
“Like almost every single-seater racing driver, they want to be an F1 world champion,” Vandoorne continued.
“At the moment that's still quite far away for me, I know that, but I'm trying to work my way up there. I'm currently driving in World Series by Renault 3.5, which is a very good formula. And this season is going quite well for me so far. So, hopefully, one day I'll be able to take the step up to F1 and then be able to fight for an F1 world championship. But I'm certainly not under-estimating what a big task that will be,” he said.
In his first season in the Formula Renault 3.5 series, Vandoorne is competing against another member of the McLaren programme, Kevin Magnussen.
“Kevin and I have had some really good battles on track this season, and we're each other's main rivals at the moment, and I have a lot of respect for him. He's a very good driver. And, yes, probably it's going to be a McLaren Young Driver who's going to be the winner of the Formula Renault 3.5 championship this year, which is great for McLaren. Hopefully that'll be me, of course!”
“I'm only in my first year in the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, my goal is absolutely to win races and to try and win the championship first time out. At the moment I'm lying second in the championship table, but there's still a lot to play for,” Vandoorne concluded.
The Belgian, who won the F4 Eurocup 1.6 in 2010 and the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup in 2012 had a chance to be part of the McLaren family at Spa-Francorchamps.
Vandoorne was introduced to McLaren Matt Bishop by former F1 driver Alex Wurz two years ago. Then, Bishop had talks with team engineers Sam Michael and Phil Prew about this upcoming racer.
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| Stoffel Vandoorne. (Photo: McLaren) |
“Early 2012, Matt invited me to the McLaren Technology Centre and introduced me in person to Sam and Phil - just a general chat. Then, at the end of 2012, when I won the Formula Renault 2.0 championship, Sam called me and asked me if I wanted to join the McLaren Young Driver Programme. I said yes, of course!” Vandoorne said in a McLaren feature.
“Over the six months I've been with McLaren I've made big progress in the fitness side, and I'm confident that I can improve even further from now on too. Also, on the technical side, it's really good to be having discussions with the McLaren engineers - to really learn about race engineering - as well as to just chat about racing with them in general,” the Belgian added.
He also confirmed that his career is now managed by Richard Goddard, Jenson Button's manager.
“Like almost every single-seater racing driver, they want to be an F1 world champion,” Vandoorne continued.
“At the moment that's still quite far away for me, I know that, but I'm trying to work my way up there. I'm currently driving in World Series by Renault 3.5, which is a very good formula. And this season is going quite well for me so far. So, hopefully, one day I'll be able to take the step up to F1 and then be able to fight for an F1 world championship. But I'm certainly not under-estimating what a big task that will be,” he said.
 |
| Sam Michael and Stoffel Vandoorne. (Photo: McLaren) |
In his first season in the Formula Renault 3.5 series, Vandoorne is competing against another member of the McLaren programme, Kevin Magnussen.
“Kevin and I have had some really good battles on track this season, and we're each other's main rivals at the moment, and I have a lot of respect for him. He's a very good driver. And, yes, probably it's going to be a McLaren Young Driver who's going to be the winner of the Formula Renault 3.5 championship this year, which is great for McLaren. Hopefully that'll be me, of course!”
“I'm only in my first year in the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, my goal is absolutely to win races and to try and win the championship first time out. At the moment I'm lying second in the championship table, but there's still a lot to play for,” Vandoorne concluded.