today, 08:35 | by Mark Hanselman
Former Formula 1 driver Giedo van der Garde has decided to hang up his helmet immediately. So there will no longer be a farewell race. Van der Garde looked back on his career, with successes in various motorsport classes, and reflected on the role of Jos Verstappen.
In 2002, Van der Garde was crowned world karting champion at the age of 17. In the following years he regularly had to compete against Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel in the entry-level classes. In addition, in 2008 he managed to win the title in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, a class of equivalent level to the GP2 Series, now known as Formula 2. The Dutchman then switched to the GP2 Series.
Van der Garde was the last Dutchman to be active in Formula 1 before Max Verstappen. In 2013 he drove the full season for Caterham F1, where he was not eligible for points finishes, but managed to impress in wet qualifying sessions in Monaco and Belgium. He has also been active as a test driver for Sauber, where the Formula 1 chapter was closed.
Van der Garde responds to farewell
‘It all started with passion, me and my father. Together we conquered the world,” says Van der Garde in a farewell video on Instagram. ‘Racing became my life. I met new rivals, and made new friendships. I won a number of races, and lost a few, but I made my dream come true,” he says about his time in Formula 1. “I was dealt a blow, but I kept going, because the passion was still there. I made new friendships, won races again, and conquered the world again,” continues the 38-year-old, who won the European Le Mans Championship and took the world title with Racing Team Netherlands in the LMP2 class in the World Endurance Championship .
Special word of thanks for Verstappen senior
Jos Verstappen played a key role in the start of Van der Garde’s career. The Limburger won the world title in karting with Verstappen engines. “Those karting years were great anyway,” says Van der Garde The Telegraph. ‘Then I drove a lot, thirty weekends a year. I felt little pressure because it was really about having fun. 2002 was the year in which I worked very actively with Jos Verstappen, who guided me. I’ve learned a lot from him.’
Read the article on the mobile website
Not inside
2023-12-16 07:35:00
#Van #der #Garde #ends #motorsport #career #effect #Maximum
