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The LMP1-L category
Christijan moved from DTM into Formula One, firstly as a test driver for Midland in 2005. He then became a racing driver for the same team in the following year. He stayed with the team for 2007, after Spyker brought Midland. He was dismissed by the team in July because of a drop in sponsorship money. He decided to make a return to DTM for the 2008 season, and then made his debut in endurance racing with Audi in the American Le Mans Series in 2008. He stepped up to the Le Mans Series the following year and remained there for 2010. This year is Christijan’s first season in the WEC, racing with Lotus.
Nick Heidfeld began his career in Formula 1 in 2000 with Prost. He had a very unsuccessful season with many retirements and several collisions with his teammate. He then moved to Sauber for three years. Sauber then replaced the German with Giancarlo Fisichella, and Nick swapped seats with the Italian, racing for Jordan in 2004. He then moved to Williams, driving alongside Mark Webber during the 2005 season.
In 2006 he returned to Sauber which was then owned by BMW. This time he stayed for four years, achieving some high results including several podiums. Heidfeld was left without a seat for 2010, so he signed a contract with Mercedes, becoming their test driver. Near the end of the year, he became a test driver for Pirelli, just like Di Grassi did the year after. He also replaced De La Rosa at Sauber from September until the end of the season and replaced the injured Kubica at Lotus in 2011. He then moved onto Endurance racing in the WEC with Rebellion, where he races today.
In LMP2, we have another two ex-Formula One drivers. Drivers which you may be less familiar with. Stefan Johansson has spent a long time in Endurance racing, and his Formula One time was all the way back in the 80s! He first raced in F1 in 1980, with Shadow Racing. He failed to qualify for any races after his first GP and missed out on F1 until 1983. He joined Spirit, but was replaced the following year and missed out on the first 9 GP’s of the season. For round 10, he joined Tyrell to replace Martin Brundle who was injured at the time. For the last few races of the season, he joined Toleman, alongside Ayrton Senna.
He had a bit of trouble for 1985, when his contract with Toleman failed. He returned to Tyrell for the start of the season, but was quickly signed by Ferrari. He stayed with the team for 1986 and impressed with some podiums. Gerhard Berger replaced the Swede at Ferrari, so he made a move to McLaren. In 1988, Ayrton Senna replaced Stefan, so he moved to Ligier. The car was very uncompetitive so he made a move to Onyx for 1989. He managed to score a podium, but the car didn’t manage to qualify for the races.
The following two years, Johansson drove for AGS and Footwork, without any success. The Swede then made a decision to race in the CART championship in 1992 and continued to do so until 1996. Stefan first raced in Le Mans back in 1983, before his F1 career developed. He repeated this in 1984 and didn’t make a further appearance until 1990. He raced in a Porsche for 1983-84 and then moved to a Mazda in 1990-91. He switched to a Toyota in 1992 and then took another break from endurance racing. He returned in 1997, racing various cars each year until 2002, when he took another break.
He then raced again in 2003 and 2006-08. He returned again in 2012. Missing out in 2013, he came back again this year. Aged 57, he’s doing great as a racing driver, and it seems like he can’t get enough of the sport! This year, Stefan will share the car with Shinji Nakano. You may not have heard the name, but Nakano raced in Formula One in 1997-98. He raced with Prost and Minardi. He was also a test driver for Jordan in 1999. From 2000 to 2002, Nakano raced in the Champ Car series. He also took part in the 2003 Indianapolis 500 race and started in his first endurance race at Le Mans 24 hours in 2006, which he repeated in 2008. He then started in the Le Mans race in 2010 and has participated each year since then.
Bruno Senna also races in the WEC, in the LMGTE Pro class. Majority of the Formula 1 Fans waited for the moment Bruno would hit the track in an F1 car, especially that Ayrton always said that Bruno was better than himself. Bruno signed a contract with HRT to race for the 2010 season. He completed no pre-season testing, which meant he would make his racing debut in front of the cameras. After an very bad season with the poor HRT car, Bruno moved out of the team, and became test driver for Lotus. He got a chance to race when he replaced Nick Heidfeld in the second half of the season.
He managed some impressive results, and moved to Williams for a full time drive in a more competitive team. He managed a good season with many points, but also some unlucky races. The team decided to replace him with Valtteri Bottas, retaining Pastor Maldonado due to sponsorship. From the F1 cockpit, Senna jumped into an Aston Martin winning the first race in 2013 at Silverstone. He remains in the same team for 2014, although this wasn’t his first appearance in Le Mans. He joined Oreca in the LMP1 car in 2009.
In the same class there is also Gianmaria Bruni, racing for AF Corse in a Ferrari. His story with F1 began in 2003, when he tested for Minardi. He struggled to find enough sponsorship to compete in 2004, but managed to do it. The car was very uncompetitive, and he finished the season unsuccessfully. He then downgraded to the GP2 series in 2005 and 2006. His first appearance at Le Mans was in 2008, in a Ferrari F430 GT2. He races in the WEC since 2012, and won the LMGTE Pro championship in both 2012 and 2013.
The last ex-Formula One racing driver in the WEC is Pedro Lamy, in the LMGTE Am class. Pedro first raced in F1 back in 1993, when he replaced Zanardi at Lotus for the last four races. He was then signed on by the team for the full 1994 season, but suffered a major crash after four rounds. He broke both his legs and wrists, which meant he had to sit out for a year. Lamy then joined Minardi in the second half of the 1995 season. He stayed with the team for the following year, but a lack in resources in the team meant that Lamy ended his career in F1. He then started racing in the GT Championship in 1997, and the next year he was at Mercedes in Le Mans. He took part in more endurance racing in 2001 and continued to race in Le Mans each year. Now he races for Aston Martin, since last year.
From the above brief of the drivers, a small point of fact is that, almost all of them had similar paths. A further look into the careers of each drivers will reveal that many of them had unsuccessful stints at the pinnacle of Motorsport. Often, these drivers crossed each other’s paths and now race against each other again, after many years, although at a different league. It’s very interesting to look at their careers, and analyse them, realising that they were often similar. More Often or not, these drivers were related to the same F1 teams, or they raced at Le Mans before.
So what is it that attracts Le Mans to these drivers? Maybe it’s simply a different challenge, maybe it’s a chance to show what they’re still worth it. Maybe they just enjoy it. They can have many more reasons to move to Le Mans. It could even be the political side of the sport. In Formula 1, the politics are enormous, and according to some, they ruin the sport. The WEC is completely different. The level of politics is considerably lower.
Mark Webber probably decided that there was no point in continuing with Red Bull. He knew the taste of Le Mans, and he probably just wanted a new challenge, with a completely new car, with a team which has a great history and now returns to the sport.
There are some drivers who don’t like the idea of racing in Le Mans. For example Robert Kubica. It seems like LMP cars would be perfect for his rehabilitation. More space in the cockpit with similar attributes to an F1 car must surely be the perfect package, but the pole says he doesn’t like the idea of sharing a car. He wouldn’t want somebody else to crash his car, and end his race like that.
Surely we could see more of the current F1 drivers in Le Mans at some point in the future. Maybe some of the current champions, like Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton or Kimi Raikkonen could move to endurance when they retire from F1?
Written By: Jakub Kot
