Robert Doornbos

Doornbos and teammate Christijan Albers would have become the first all-Dutch team line-up since Carel Godin de Beaufort and Ben Pon drove together for the Ecurie Maarsbergen team at the 1962 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort were it not for the fact that Doornbos raced with a Monegasque licence.

Effectively, he became Minardi's last Formula One driver, since the team was bought by Red Bull just before the Belgian Grand Prix.

In the final race of the season, Doornbos retired on the final lap while Albers had retired a few laps earlier.

Robert Michael Doornbos (born 23 September 1981) is a Dutch former racing driver who also competed with a Monégasque licence.

It was 1997 Formula One Champion Jacques Villeneuve who suggested that he should go for a series such as Formula Ford, as he was too big and too old to race karts.

His interest in motorsport grew after he was invited to the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix as a guest of Williams F1.

He gave up tennis and focused on racing, joining the JR racing team for the 1999 Opel Lotus UK Winter series.

He had a successful season, finishing second in the championship after taking four pole positions, four fastest laps and four wins.

In 2000, he competed in the Formula Ford Zetec Benelux series, finishing second in the Belgian championship and fifth overall with one pole, three fastest laps and six podiums.

Returning to the UK in 2001, Doornbos contested the Scholarship class of the British Formula Three championship with FGR Racing.

He finished the year fifth in the championship, taking two poles, two wins and nine podiums.

He drew attention to himself with a second-place finish in the Formula Three support race to the British Grand Prix.

He then moved to the German Formula Three championship with Team Ghinzani.

He picked up four podiums, but no win.

The year also featured a sixth-place finish in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix.

Continuing with the team in 2003, Doornbos competed in the European Formula Three Championship, visiting the podium seven times.

He took pole position at Spa-Francorchamps for the Formula Three Masters event, and finished second in Korea.

With support from Red Bull, Doornbos joined reigning International Formula 3000 champions Arden International for the 2004 FIA International Formula 3000 Championship.

Partnered with Vitantonio Liuzzi, Doornbos claimed Rookie of the Year after finishing third in the championship.

During the year, he took a fastest lap and four podium finishes, including a race win at Spa-Francorchamps.

Prior to the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix, it was announced that Doornbos would be the official Friday test driver for the Jordan Formula One team, replacing Timo Glock, who had been promoted to race duties in place of Giorgio Pantano, whose sponsorship money had "dried up".

He has been test and third driver for the Jordan and Red Bull Racing Formula One teams, as well as driving for Minardi and Red Bull Racing in 2005 and 2006.

Doornbos impressed as test driver for the final few races of the season, and was reappointed with the newly-sold Jordan team for the 2005 season.

Doornbos completed Friday testing duties for Jordan in all but two of the first 11 events of the year, with French Renault F1 test driver Franck Montagny testing at the European Grand Prix, and Jordan being banned from using a third car at the Canadian Grand Prix after using too many tyres at the previous race.

On 19 July Doornbos was appointed as a Minardi race driver for the 2005 German Grand Prix onwards, replacing Austrian Patrick Friesacher, who had encountered sponsorship issues.

In his first Formula One race, he collided with Jacques Villeneuve, the man who gave advice to Doornbos to start his career as a race driver.

The Minardi team ceased to exist in its previous form at the end of 2005, being bought out by Red Bull and becoming their Scuderia Toro Rosso team.

Doornbos was unable to find a race drive for 2006, but Christian Horner, his former F3000 boss, had since been appointed as Sporting Director of Red Bull Racing, where he was appointed the team's test and reserve driver.

He thus spent most of 2006 testing at the racetracks on Fridays, ready to step into a race drive if either David Coulthard or Christian Klien were unable to race.

In his role as the Red Bull test driver, he once more showed his talents as a racing driver.

In the majority of the Grand Prix tests on Fridays, he was to be found in the top 10, and a number of times he achieved a top three time.

At the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, he was involved in a controversial incident with Fernando Alonso, which resulted in the Spaniard incurring a two-second qualifying penalty.

After the Italian Grand Prix, when Red Bull Racing announced that Klien had been dropped from the team, Doornbos was promoted to the second race driver role alongside Coulthard for the remaining three races.

He entered with a bang by qualifying in the top 10 for his first race, in China.

Doornbos then drove for Minardi Team USA in the 2007 and final season of the Champ Car World Series.

He competed in the Superleague Formula racing series in 2008, and drove for the Netherlands team in A1 Grand Prix's 2008–2009 season.

In 2009, Doornbos competed in the IndyCar Series.

He began the season with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, but switched to HVM Racing after the race in Kentucky Speedway.

Doornbos's first sport was tennis.

Doornbos raced a total of eight Grand Prix for the team, his best result being a 13th position in the Turkish and Belgian Grands Prix.