Giedo van der Garde

Giedo Gijsbertus Gerrit van der Garde (; born 25 April 1985) is a Dutch former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One in , and the FIA World Endurance Championship between 2016 and 2023. In sportscar racing, Van der Garde won the European Le Mans Series in 2016 with G-Drive.

Born and raised in Rhenen, van der Garde began competitive kart racing aged nine. After a successful karting career—culminating in his victory at the senior World Championship in 2002—van der Garde graduated to junior formulae. He won his first championship at the 2008 Formula Renault 3.5 Series with P1. After four seasons and several wins in the GP2 Series, van der Garde signed for Caterham in , having previously tested for Super Aguri and Spyker, as well as being a member of the McLaren Young Driver Programme in 2006. Van der Garde made his Formula One debut at the , but Caterham failed to score points all season with the CT03, with Van der Garde finishing a career-best 14th in Hungary. Failing to retain his seat for , Van der Garde signed for Sauber as a reserve driver. Despite being contracted as a full-time driver for , Sauber signed Felipe Nasr, resulting in a multi-million pound settlement after van der Garde sought international arbitration.

Van der Garde moved to sportscar racing in 2016, joining G-Drive Racing in both the European Le Mans Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class, winning the former in his debut season after achieving multiple victories. He spent five further seasons in WEC and the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Nederland, amongst six appearances at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Van der Garde retired at the end of 2023, becoming a full-time commentator and pundit for Viaplay.

Early life and career

Giedo Gijsbertus Gerrit van der Garde was born on 25 April 1985 in Rhenen, Netherlands.

Karting Van der Garde had a successful karting career, winning the Dutch championship in 1998. In Super A, he was the best rookie in 2001 and the world champion in 2002. He was a protégé of Jos Verstappen.

Formula Renault The following year, van der Garde joined the Formula Renault 2000 Championship and finished sixth, driving for the Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing. On the strength of his performance, he became part of the Renault F1 Driver Development programme.

GP2 Series Van der Garde driving for iSport International at the Nürburgring round of the 2009 GP2 Series season. Van der Garde signed to drive for the iSport International team in the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season, and in the 2009 GP2 Series season. At the Hungaroring, he took his first victory, in the sprint race. He added two more wins before the end of the season en route to seventh in the championship standings.

Van der Garde had not been due to compete in the 2009–10 GP2 Asia season, but competed in the second round for Barwa Addax. He drove for the same team in the 2010 GP2 Series season, equalling his seventh place in the drivers' championship, whilst team-mate Sergio Pérez was runner-up. Van der Garde driving for Barwa Addax at the Silverstone round of the 2011 GP2 Series season. Van der Garde remained with Barwa Addax for the 2011 GP2 Asia Series season, with Charles Pic replacing the Formula One-bound Pérez as his team-mate. He finished third in the championship, behind Romain Grosjean and Jules Bianchi, and led the main series after two rounds despite not winning a race. He did, however, take his first series pole position and fastest lap at Catalunya. He originally took pole position for the Monaco round as well, but was then penalised for an incident in qualifying. He took no points from the weekend and lost his championship lead to Grosjean, who eventually secured the title with one round of the series remaining. He held second place in the championship until the last round of the season at Monza, where he had a disastrous weekend and slipped back to fifth in the standings, behind Luca Filippi, Bianchi and Pic.

As part of his deal to become the Caterham Formula One team's reserve driver, van der Garde joined the marque's GP2 team for the 2012 season, alongside Rodolfo González. He returned to the winner's circle with race victories at Catalunya and Singapore, but again was not consistent enough to mount a championship challenge, finishing sixth in the points standings.

On 9 February 2015, van der Garde returned to this series for testing, racking up over 350 km at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. He drove for Campos Racing (previously known as Addax), for the first time.

Formula One career 2006 saw van der Garde being brought into the McLaren Young Drivers Programme.

On 15 December 2006, van der Garde was confirmed as the Super Aguri Formula One team's test and reserve driver for the 2007 season.

Van der Garde drove for Caterham in free practice for the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix.

On 1 February 2007, van der Garde was unexpectedly announced by Spyker F1 as the team's test and reserve driver. On 2 February 2007, Super Aguri confirmed their belief their existing contract with van der Garde was still in force, stating "Super Aguri F1 Team has a valid contract with Giedo van der Garde to drive for the team in the position of Friday and Test Driver for the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. The contract was submitted by the SAF1 Team to the Contracts Recognition Board on 23rd January 2007." However, on 20 June 2007, van der Garde tested at Silverstone with Spyker, indicating the contract dispute had been resolved. Spyker originally intended van der Garde to be the team's Friday driver at the Australian Grand Prix, but he failed to obtain the necessary superlicence from the FIA in time. Van der Garde's first Friday practice session came at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix; he went on to complete six Friday practice sessions throughout the 2012 season.

On 1 February 2013, van der Garde's management announced that he would drive for Caterham as their second driver for the 2013 Formula One season, next to Charles Pic. Van der Garde finished his first Formula One race with an 18th place at the 2013 Australian Grand Prix.

At the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix, van der Garde achieved Caterham's highest ever qualifying place with 15th, this was also the first time that a Caterham made it to Q2 in the 2013 season. Van der Garde equalled his career best 15th during the race despite an early collision with Williams F1 driver Pastor Maldonado. He later improved on this performance by finishing 14th during the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix, ahead of his teammate Pic as well as Marussia drivers Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton.

Van der Garde then bested his previous best qualifying position at the 2013 Belgian Grand Prix by qualifying 14th after electing to go on slicks on a continuously drying track, having finished the Q1 session in third place after adopting a similar strategy. But despite a good start that saw him remain in touch with the more established teams for the first few laps, he was unable to improve upon his grid position and finished 16th, a lap down on the leaders.

Sauber (2014–2015) 2014 On 21 January 2014, it was announced that van der Garde had joined Sauber F1 Team as a reserve and test driver for the 2014 season. He took part in the first free practice session in seven of the season's Grands Prix in this role.

During events that became public in 2015, van der Garde has claimed that, although in June 2014 he was guaranteed a position as one of the Sauber's two nominated race drivers for the Formula One season, by November 2014, the team informed him that he was no longer required. The team instead announced Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr as their race drivers for the 2015 season, causing Van der Garde to file an international arbitration complaint with the Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution in December 2014.

On 11 March 2015, van der Garde obtained Court orders enforcing his Swiss award thus compelling Sauber to permit Van der Garde to participate at the Australian Grand Prix held in Melbourne, with F1 sessions scheduled from Friday, 13 to Sunday, 15 March. Sauber's response was to appeal that decision and publicly announce that they would not compromise the safety of the team or other drivers by putting van der Garde in the car, because the Sauber C34 chassis had been tailored to fit Ericsson and Nasr who, through their lawyers, also joined in the appeal.

The appeal was heard the following day, on Thursday, 12 March 2015, at which time Sauber also argued that van der Garde's contract had been terminated by the team in February with the approval of the FIA's Contract Recognition Board and that Van der Garde violated the confidentiality clauses of the contract by discussing it with the media. Lawyers representing Ericsson and Nasr further argued that Van der Garde had not followed due process by failing to give prior notice of his legal action until after it was instituted. Further, the court adjourned the hearing until the following day to hear submissions on contempt of court proceedings brought by Van der Garde's lawyers against Sauber's team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn.

Due to the risk of having its assets seized for disobeying court orders, Nevertheless, based on media speculation about Bernie Ecclestone's intervention to avoid further negative publicity on the sport, Ericsson and Nasr did participate in Friday afternoon's second practice session.

On Saturday, 14 March 2015, the dispute reached a temporary resolution thanks to van der Garde announcing that he would forego racing in Melbourne, with a view to finding a more permanent solution in the future. The Sauber team and its new drivers for 2015, Ericsson and Nasr, were thus able to complete the Australian Grand Prix's Saturday qualifying session and Sunday race.

On 18 March 2015, van der Garde confirmed that he and Sauber had reached a settlement after he relinquished, once and for all, his rights to race in F1 with the team. In return for termination of the contract by mutual consent, it is reported that van der Garde received compensation in the amount of US$16 million.

Post-Sauber (2015–present) In April 2015, van der Garde's manager downplayed rumours of a return to Formula 1 during that season, with Manor Marussia, adding that the focus was for a 2016 race seat in DTM or LMP1.

TV career As Max Verstappen joined Formula 1 in 2015, van der Garde was often asked for his analysis in Dutch TV Shows. Between 2015 and 2021, van der Garde was a usual guest in several Dutch TV shows to talk about Verstappen in Formula One. In December 2021, it was announced that van der Garde would join the analyst team of Viaplay from 2022 onwards. At the new Dutch sports channel, van der Garde is accompanied by other analysts such as former Formula One driver Christijan Albers and racing driver Tom Coronel.

Sportscar career

2016: ELMS title For the 2016 season, van der Garde would return to racing, making his maiden sportscar racing appearance with G-Drive Racing in the European Le Mans Series. Partnering with Simon Dolan and Harry Tincknell, he went on to take the title in his debut season, with the outfit having taken victory at Silverstone and Estoril.

Van der Garde would also make his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the same year.

Racing record

Career summary Season Series Team name Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2003 Formula Renault 2000 Masters Van Amersfoort Racing 6 0 2 0 3 72 6th Dutch Formula Renault Championship ? ? ? ? ? 69 4th Zandvoort Masters Championship ? ? ? ? ? ? 2nd 2004 Formula 3 Euro Series Opel Team Signature-Plus 20 0 0 0 2 37 9th Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 13th Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 15th Bahrain Superprix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 15th 2005 Formula 3 Euro Series Team Rosberg 20 0 1 1 2 34 9th Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series ASM Formule 3 20 1 2 0 4 37 6th Masters of Formula 3 1 0 1 1 1 N/A 2nd 2007 Formula One Spyker F1 Test driver Formula Renault 3.5 Series Victory Engineering 17 0 0 0 0 67 6th 2008 Formula One Force India Test driver Formula Renault 3.5 Series P1 Motorsport 15 5 2 3 8 137 1st 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series GFH Team iSport 10 1 0 0 0 11 12th 2009 GP2 Series iSport International 20 3 0 0 3 34 7th 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series Barwa Addax Team 2 0 0 0 0 0 34th 2010 GP2 Series Barwa Addax Team 20 0 0 0 4 39 7th 2011 GP2 Series Barwa Addax Team 18 0 1 1 5 49 5th GP2 Asia Series 4 0 0 0 2 16 3rd 2012 Formula One Caterham F1 Team Test driver GP2 Series Caterham Racing 24 2 2 2 6 160 6th 2013 Formula One Caterham F1 Team 19 0 0 0 0 0 22nd 2014 Formula One Sauber F1 Team Test driver 2016 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 G-Drive Racing 6 2 0 1 4 103 1st 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 2 0 0 0 0 30 21st Extreme Speed Motorsports 2 0 0 0 0 2017 Audi Sport TT Cup Audi Sport 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Racing Team Nederland 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Racing Team Nederland 8 0 0 0 0 85 7th 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Racing Team Nederland 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 15th 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Racing Team Nederland 8 1 1 1 4 130 6th 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Racing Team Nederland 5 0 0 0 0 52 9th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 11th IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC‡ European Le Mans Series - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 Racing Team Nederland 3 0 0 2 3 676 15th 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 TDS Racing 7 0 0 1 2 1832 4th FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 United Autosports 2 1 0 0 1 37 14th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Graff Racing10000N/A17th † As Van der Garde was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. ‡ Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points 2003 Van Amersfoort Racing BRN1 BRN2 ASS1 ASS2 OSC1 OSC2 DON1 DON2 6th 72

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2004 Opel Team Signature-Plus Dallara F302/018 Spiess-Opel HOC1 HOC2 EST1 EST2 ADR1 ADR1 PAU1 PAU2 NOR1 NOR1 MAG1 MAG2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 BRN1 BRN2 HOC1 HOC2 9th 37 2005 Team Rosberg Dallara F305/039 Spiess-Opel HOC1 HOC2 PAU1 PAU2 SPA1 SPA2 MON1 MON2 OSC1 OSC2 NOR1 NOR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 LAU1 LAU2 HOC1 HOC2 9th 34 2006 ASM Formule 3 Dallara F306/012 Mercedes HOC1 HOC2 LAU1 LAU2 OSC1 OSC2 BRH1 BRH2 NOR1 NOR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 CAT1 CAT2 LMS1 LMS2 HOC1 HOC2 6th 37

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points 2007 Victory Engineering MNZ1 MNZ2 NÜR1 NÜR2 MON1 HUN1 HUN2 SPA1 SPA2 DON1 DON2 MAG1 MAG2 EST1 EST2 CAT1 CAT2 6th 67 2008 P1 Motorsport MNZ1 MNZ2 SPA1 SPA2 MON1 SIL1 SIL2 HUN1 HUN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 LMS1 LMS2 EST1 EST2 CAT1 CAT2 1st 137

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps G-Drive Racing Jake Dennis Simon Dolan Gibson 015S-Nissan LMP2 222 DNF DNF Racing Team Nederland Jan Lammers Frits van Eerd Dallara P217-Gibson LMP2 356 11th 7th Racing Team Nederland Nyck de Vries Frits van Eerd Dallara P217-Gibson LMP2 340 26th 15th Racing Team Nederland Nyck de Vries Frits van Eerd Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 349 19th 15th Racing Team Nederland Job van Uitert Frits van Eerd Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 356 16th 11th LMP2 Pro-Am 2nd Graff Racing Roberto Lacorte Patrick Pilet Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 303 37th 16th LMP2 Pro-Am 4th

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rank Points Ref 2021 nowrap| Racing Team Nederland LMP2 nowrap| Oreca 07 nowrap| Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8

SEB WGL WGL ELK LGA PET NC† 0† 2022 nowrap| Racing Team Nederland LMP2 nowrap| Oreca 07 nowrap| Gibson GK428 V8

LGA MDO

ELK PET 15th 676 2023 nowrap| TDS Racing LMP2 nowrap| Oreca 07 nowrap| Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8

4th 1832