Zsolt Baumgartner

Zsolt Baumgartner (born 1 January 1981) is a Hungarian former racing driver who raced for the Jordan and Minardi teams in Formula One. He remains the only Hungarian driver to have competed and to have scored a point in Formula One.

Junior racing career Zsolt Baumgartner was born in Debrecen, Hungary on 1 January 1981. His father was a Renault dealer. He started karting at the age of 13 and moved into single seaters in 1997, driving in German Formula Ford. He subsequently had stints in German Formula 3, Formula Renault and Formula 3000. he also took part in the Italian Grand Prix that year.

Plans were made for Baumgartner to drive for Jordan again in 2004 with sponsorship from oil company MOL Rt. However, he failed to agree terms with Jordan and was signed by Minardi instead. This caused MOL Rt. to decrease its sponsorship amount, leading Baumgartner and his management to set up a "Zsolt Baumgartner Supporter's Club", a plan similar to that employed by Justin Wilson in 2003.

Baumgartner raced throughout the Formula One season, and after two near-misses (ninth in Monaco and tenth in Canada) he managed to take Minardi's first point in over two years by finishing eighth (classified second last and the last car to take the chequered flag) in the United States Grand Prix held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Champ Car World Series In March 2007, Baumgartner was confirmed as the test and reserve driver for Minardi Team USA, former boss Paul Stoddart's recently acquired Champ Car World Series team. He only participated in a handful of tests for the team and made no race starts. Prior to the 2008 season, Champ Car unified with the rival IndyCar Series and Stoddart and the Minardi name left the sport.

Superleague Formula In 2008, Baumgartner became the test driver for team Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in Superleague Formula.

Racing record

Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Poles Wins FLaps Podiums Points Position 1998 Championnat de France Formule Renault La Filière 21 0 0 0 0 0 NC Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series 4 ? 0 ? ? 44 6th 1999 Eurocup Formula Renault Cram Competition 9 ? 0 ? ? 108 3rd Formula Renault Germany 4 4 3 ? 4 N/A NC 2000 German Formula Three Championship GM Motorsport 18 0 0 0 1 41 13th Macau Grand Prix GM Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 14th Korea Super Prix GM Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC 2001 German Formula Three Championship MOL-Trella Motorsport 18 0 0 0 0 25 17th International Formula 3000 Championship F3000 Prost Junior Team 7 0 0 0 0 0 29th Masters of Formula 3 MOL-Trella Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 28th 2002 International Formula 3000 Championship Coca-Cola Nordic Racing 12 0 0 0 0 1 15th 2003 International Formula 3000 Championship Coloni Motorsport 8 0 0 0 0 6 14th Formula One Benson & Hedges Jordan Ford 2 0 0 0 0 0 24th 2004 Formula One Minardi Cosworth 18 0 0 0 0 1 20th 2007 Champ Car World Series Minardi Team USA Test Driver 2008 Superleague Formula Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Test Driver

Complete German Formula Three Championship results (key)

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key)

Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Pts Benson & Hedges Jordan Ford Jordan EJ13 Ford V10 AUS MAL BRA SMR ESP AUT MON CAN EUR FRA GBR GER HUN ITA USA JPN 24th 0 Wilux Minardi Cosworth Minardi PS04B Cosworth V10 AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER 20th 1 Minardi Cosworth HUN BEL ITA CHN JPN BRA