Christijan Albers

Christijan Albers (Christijan Albers ) (born 16 April 1979) is a Dutch professional racing driver. After success in the DTM he drove in Formula One from 2005 until the 2007 British Grand Prix, shortly after which he was dropped by the Spyker F1 team.[1] In 2008, he returned to the DTM series as a driver for the Audi Futurecom TME team. Albers acted as Team Principal and CEO of the Caterham F1 Team from July to September 2014 after it was acquired by new team owners.[2]

Christijan Albers
Born (1979-04-16) 16 April 1979
Eindhoven, North Brabant, Netherlands
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Dutch
Active years20052007
TeamsMinardi, Midland, Spyker
Entries46
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points4
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry2005 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry2007 British Grand Prix
Christijan Albers
Le Mans Series career
Debut season2009
Current teamKolles
Starts5
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Previous series
2008
200507
200104, 2008
200102, 2004
2000
1999
1998–99
1998–99
1997
American Le Mans Series
Formula One
DTM
Formula One testing
International Formula 3000
Belcar
British F3
German F3
Formula Ford 1800 Benelux
Championship titles
1999
1997
German F3
Formula Ford 1800 Benelux
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years20092010
TeamsKolles
Best finish9th (2009)
Class wins0

Personal

Christijan was born in Eindhoven, the son of former rallycross ace and Porsche 911 Carrera campaigner André Albers, who won the 1979 Dutch International Rallycross Championship (GT Division). They are not related to their compatriot Marcel Albers, who was killed in a British Formula Three accident at Thruxton in 1992.

Albers is married to Liselore Kooijman. Their wedding took place on 11 November 2006 in Amsterdam.[3] He resides in Monaco.

Early career

Albers began kart racing at a young age, winning the Dutch National championship in 1997. That same year, he was crowned Formula Ford 1800 champion in both Netherlands and Belgium. He also participated in the Renault Megane Marlboro Masters series. In 1998, he moved up to the German Formula Three series, winning the championship in 1999 with six wins and ten poles.

In 2000, Albers raced in the International Formula 3000 championship as team-mate to Mark Webber. He failed to score a point, but team boss Paul Stoddart later signed him again. He also raced in European Formula Racing.

DTM

Beginning in 2001, Albers raced in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Mercedes-Benz, and graduated from a privately run team to the works AMG outfit in 2003 after the departure from the series of Uwe Alzen. He was instantly a front-runner, finishing runner-up in 2003 with a season-high four wins, and challenging DTM veteran and multiple champion Bernd Schneider for the title all the way up to the final race. In 2004 he again challenged for the championship lead for the most of the season but eventually finished third.

Formula One

Minardi (2005)

Albers driving for Minardi at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix.

While racing in the DTM, Albers continued to be a test and reserve driver for Minardi's Formula One interests, and also drove the team's two-seater Formula One cars. In November 2004, he set the fastest time at a Misano di Gera d'Adda Minardi test session. He was chosen by the team to drive in the Formula One World Championship in 2005. At the 2005 United States Grand Prix he gained his first championship points with a fifth-place finish, a race where only six drivers started.

Midland/Spyker F1 (2006–2007)

Albers driving the Midland M16 during the 2006 United States Grand Prix.

On 31 October 2005 Albers was confirmed as Midland's first official Formula One driver. Midland, the renamed Jordan team, made their debut in the 2006 Formula One season.

Albers started the 2006 season well, out-pacing Midland teammate Tiago Monteiro. However, during the first few races, Midland found themselves battling with the Super Aguri team, particularly Takuma Sato. At the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix, Albers found himself being crashed into by Yuji Ide and sent into a series of spectacular rolls. Incredibly he was unharmed. Ide was reprimanded by the race stewards. Ide also had his Super Licence revoked for severe dangerous driving.

Albers driving at Silverstone after Spyker's purchase of the team.
Albers driving for Spyker F1 at the 2007 British Grand Prix.

After initial confusion over Albers's plans for 2007 after the takeover of MF1 by Spyker Cars, it was eventually confirmed that he would be driving for the Spyker F1 team in 2007.

It was later found out that Albers signed a contract with Midland F1 to remain with the team prior to the sale to Spyker. Albers's personal sponsors had major influences in Spyker buying the Midland F1 team.[4]

In early 2007 he was outperformed by rookie team-mate Adrian Sutil. At Magny-Cours he ignored the lollipop telling him not to leave the pits during a pitstop, driving off with part of the fuel rig still attached. Albers expressed relief that nobody was hurt,[5] but he received a €5,000 penalty for dangerous driving. Spyker technical director Mike Gascoyne commented that he was mystified by the mistake,[6] and Niki Lauda described the incident as the stupidest thing he had ever seen in F1.[7]

On 10 July 2007 he was released from his Spyker contract, due to a lack of sponsorship money, which would have compromised the team's development programme. Team owner Michiel Mol described it as "one of the toughest decisions of my career".[1][8] His replacement for the 2007 European Grand Prix was former Spyker test driver Markus Winkelhock.[9] Sakon Yamamoto then raced for Spyker for the rest of the year.

Albers returned with the Spyker team for the Rotterdam street racing event in the Netherlands, on the 18 / 19 August.[10]

Team principal at Caterham F1 (2014)

On 2 July 2014 Tony Fernandes sold the Caterham F1 Team to a consortium of Swiss-Middle Eastern investors. Subsequently, team principal Cyril Abiteboul stepped down and Albers was given his position in the team by the consortium. He ran the team on a day-to-day basis until Caterham collapsed following the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.[11]

Return to DTM

Albers driving an Audi at Norisring in 2008.

Christijan Albers returned to the DTM-series in December 2007 as the Dutchman was invited by the Audi-team of Futurecom TME for a week of testing in Jerez de la Frontera.[12] He tested for this team again on the Mugello Circuit in early March.

Christijan Albers was confirmed as a race driver for the Futurecom TME race team for 2008. He raced alongside Katherine Legge in a 2006 Specification Audi A4 DTM.[13]

Albers is the Netherlands's most successful driver in the DTM series, finishing as runner-up in the 2003 championship.

Sportscar racing

It was announced on 9 October 2008 that Albers would be racing with Audi Sport North America in the American Le Mans Series. He piloted the #1 R10 TDI, partnered with Emanuele Pirro at Laguna Seca, the ALMS final round. This was another step by Audi to bring youth to their Le Mans programs, following Marcel Fässler's two races in the R10. He finished this race in second place behind the #2 car from the same team.

He moved into the Le Mans Series for the 2009 season, moving to the customer Audi team, run by Colin Kolles.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Poles Wins Points Position
1997 Formula Ford 1800 Benelux ? ? ? ? ? 1st
1998 German Formula Three Van Amersfoort Racing 20 1 2 120 5th
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 N/A NC
British Formula 3 Opel Team BSR 1 0 0 0 NC
Masters of Formula Three Van Amersfoort Racing 1 0 0 N/A NC
1999 German Formula Three Opel Team BSR 18 6 6 229 1st
British Formula 3 1 0 0 0 NC
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 N/A NC
Masters of Formula Three 1 0 0 N/A 4th
Korea Super Prix 1 0 0 N/A NC
2000 International Formula 3000 European Arrows 9 0 0 0 27th
2001 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Persson Motorsport 20 0 0 19 14th
2002 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Team Rosberg 20 0 0 5 12th
2003 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters HWA AMG 10 0 4 64 2nd
2004 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters HWA AMG 11 1 1 50 3rd
2005 Formula One Minardi F1 Team 19 0 0 4 19th
2006 Formula One MF1 Racing
Spyker MF1 Racing
18 0 0 0 22nd
2007 Formula One Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team 9 0 0 0 25th
2008 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Futurecom TME 11 0 0 0 17th
American Le Mans Series Audi Sport North America 1 0 0 21 19th
2009 Le Mans Series Kolles 5 0 0 6 14th
Le Mans 24 Hours Kolles (LMP1) 1 0 0 N/A 9th
2010 Le Mans 24 Hours Kolles (LMP1) 1 0 0 N/A NC
2012 FIA World Endurance Championship Lotus 1 0 0 0,5 87th

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points
2000 European Arrows F3000 IMO
Ret
SIL
Ret
CAT
12
NÜR
Ret
MON
Ret
MAG
7
A1R
Ret
HOC
DNQ
HUN
Ret
SPA
8
25th 0

Complete DTM results

(key)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos. Pts
2001 Persson Motorsport AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM HOC
QR

13
HOC
CR

13
NÜR
QR

13
NÜR
CR

12
OSC
QR

11
OSC
CR

11
SAC
QR

16
SAC
CR

2
NOR
QR

13
NOR
CR

16
LAU
QR

12
LAU
CR

16
NÜR
QR

8
NÜR
CR

9
A1R
QR

11
A1R
CR

Ret
ZAN
QR

8
ZAN
CR

Ret
HOC
QR

14
HOC
CR

9
14th 19
2002 Team Rosberg AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM HOC
QR

Ret
HOC
CR

Ret
ZOL
QR

13
ZOL
CR

6
DON
QR

11
DON
CR

4
SAC
QR

13
SAC
CR

8
NOR
QR

10
NOR
CR

6
LAU
QR

20
LAU
CR

14
NÜR
QR

18
NÜR
CR

17
A1R
QR

19
A1R
CR

13
ZAN
QR

Ret
ZAN
CR

12
HOC
QR

11
HOC
CR

9
12th 5
2003 HWA Team AMG-Mercedes CLK 2003 HOC
5
ADR
1
NÜR
1
LAU
7
NOR
1
DON
5
NÜR
2
A1R
3
ZAN
1
HOC
12
2nd 64
2004 HWA Team AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2004 HOC
2
EST
1
ADR
2
LAU
2
NOR
2
SHA
6
NÜR
16†
OSC
12
ZAN
3
BRN
Ret
HOC
7
3rd 50
2008 Futurecom TME Audi A4 DTM 2006 HOC
Ret
OSC
16
MUG
13
LAU
14
NOR
Ret
ZAN
Ret
NÜR
11
BRH
14
CAT
10
BUG
13
HOC
Ret
17th 0
  • † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete Formula One 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 WDC Pts
2005 Minardi F1 Team Minardi PS04B Cosworth CR-3L 3.0 V10 AUS
Ret
MAL
13
BHR
13
19th 4
Minardi PS05 Cosworth TJ2005 3.0 V10 SMR
Ret
ESP
Ret
MON
14
EUR
17
CAN
11
USA
5
FRA
Ret
GBR
18
GER
13
HUN
NC
TUR
Ret
ITA
19
BEL
12
BRA
14
JPN
16
CHN
16
2006 Midland F1 Racing Midland M16 Toyota RVX-06 2.4 V8 BHR
Ret
MAL
12
AUS
11
SMR
Ret
EUR
13
ESP
Ret
MON
12
GBR
15
CAN
Ret
USA
Ret
FRA
15
GER
DSQ
HUN
10
TUR
Ret
22nd 0
Spyker MF1 Racing Spyker M16 ITA
17
CHN
15
JPN
Ret
BRA
14
2007 Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team Spyker F8-VII Ferrari 056H 2.4 V8 AUS
Ret
MAL
Ret
BHR
14
ESP
14
MON
19
CAN
Ret
USA
15
FRA
Ret
GBR
15
EUR HUN TUR ITA BEL JPN CHN BRA 25th 0

Did not finish the race, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points
2008 Audi Sport North America LMP1 Audi R10 TDI Audi 5.5L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
SEB STP LNB UTA LIM MID AME MOS DET PET MON
2
19th 21

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2009 Kolles Christian Bakkerud
Giorgio Mondini
Audi R10 TDI LMP1 360 9th 9th
2010 Kolles Christian Bakkerud
Oliver Jarvis
Audi R10 TDI LMP1 331 DNF DNF

Complete Le Mans Series results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 Rank Points
2009 Kolles LMP1 Audi R10 TDI Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel) CAT
Ret
SPA
7
ALG
Ret
NÜR
Ret
SIL
5
23rd 6

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points
2012 Lotus LMP2 Lola B12/80 Lotus (Judd) 3.6 L V8 SEB SPA LMS SIL
19
SÃO BHR FUJ SHA 87th 0.5

References

  1. "Spkyer drops Albers". F1Racing.net, now GPUpdate.net. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  2. Galloway, James. "Caterham Team Principal Christijan Albers resigns just nine weeks after joining". Sky Sports. BSkyB. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  3. "Christijan Albers married his fiancee Liselore Kooijman". flagworld.auto123.com. 2006-11-15. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
  4. "Albers re-signs with Spyker MF1", Grandprix.com article dated September 29, 2006.
  5. pitpass – the latest, hottest F1, GP2, GP2 Asia & A1GP news
  6. "autosport.com — F1 News: Gascoyne mystified by Albers' mistake". Autosport. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  7. "Sack Albers, Lauda tells Spyker, FIA". homeofsport.com. 2007-07-03. Archived from the original on 2007-07-30. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  8. "Christijan Albers loses Spyker drive". ITV Sport. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  9. "Winkelhock name to return to F1". news.bbc.co.uk. 2007-07-18. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  10. "Albers returns at Spyker next week". gpupdate.net. 10 August 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  11. "Caterham to continue racing as sale is confirmed". f1fanatic.co.uk. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  12. "Albers returns to DTM". f1.gpupdate.net. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  13. "Christijan Albers Confirmed At Futurecom TME". dtm.de. 2008-04-05. Archived from the original on August 15, 2011. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Sebastiaan Bleekemolen
Dutch Formula Ford
Champion

1997
Succeeded by
Jeroen Bleekemolen
Preceded by
Bas Leinders
German Formula Three Champion
1999
Succeeded by
Giorgio Pantano
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