Robert Wickens

Wickens dominated the opening race of the series, leading every lap from pole position to become the first driver since Philippe Streiff in September 1984 to win an international Formula Two race.

He repeated that in race two, to lead the championship.

However, those were his only two wins of the season, as he struggled with reliability later in the season.

Despite five retirements, Wickens ended up as the runner-up in the championship, albeit 51 points behind runaway champion Andy Soucek.

Robert Tyler Wickens (born March 13, 1989) is a Canadian racing driver from Guelph, Ontario, driving in the Michelin Pilot Challenge for Bryan Herta Autosport.

Wickens started his karting career in 2001 with wins in the Junior Heavy Marigold Fall Classic and the Junior Lite Iron Man Enduro.

He was three-time champion of the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship in 2002, 2003, and 2005 in various classes.

He also won races in ASN Canadian National Formula Junior, SKUSA ProMoto Tour, BeaveRun, PA, 80cc Junior OKRA Grand National, and Junior Heavy Mosport Grand Prix.

In 2005, when he was sixteen years old, Wickens started his formula racing career.

Thanks to Junior Scholarship from BMW, he participated in Formula BMW USA for Team Apex Racing USA.

He scored five podiums including two wins, which brought him third place and best rookie's title.

Also he competed in Formula BMW World Final, where he finished sixth.

He remained in the series in 2006 for the same team, but after few races switched to the EuroInternational, because he became a Red Bull Junior Team driver.

The Canadian amassed three wins, seven podiums and won the championship.

Besides repeat appearance in Formula BMW World Final, Wickens was guest driver at the Nürburgring Formula BMW ADAC round, which was a support race for the Formula One European Grand Prix.

After three months he again appeared at Nürburg to competing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 for Motopark Academy.

In 2007 Wickens moved to the Champ Car Atlantic for Red Bull/Team Forsythe.

He took one win and another three podiums and was third in season standings, yielding Raphael Matos and Franck Perera.

After four races at the end of the 2007 season, Wickens moved up to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for the 2008 season, with Carlin Motorsport.

He claimed one win at Silverstone and finished season on the twelfth place with 55 points.

In his return to Formula Renault 3.5, where he competed in 2008, he won the 2011 season championship with Carlin Motorsport, with backing of Marussia.

Wickens then left the series to race in the DTM for the HWA Team.

Apart from involvement in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, in 2008 Wickens competed in Formula 3 Euro Series with Signature-Plus, missing the Hockenheim, Mugello and Brands Hatch rounds.

His best results came at the second, rainy races on the Norisring and Bugatti Circuit, where he won.

Both times, due to insufficient distance covered, half points were awarded.

In 2009 he finished in second place in the FIA Formula Two Championship, and in 2010 he was runner-up in the GP3 Series.

He continued his participation in 2009, but switched to Kolles & Heinz Union and only competed in the Hockenheim and Dijon rounds, failing to score a point.

Wickens was the only North American driver in the revamped FIA Formula Two Championship for the 2009 season, driving car number 12.

In November 2009 Wickens revealed that he had held "off the record" talks with several Formula 1 teams, and believe that his chances of driving in Formula 1 were increased by the fact that he is the only potential rookie North American driver who currently holds a valid FIA superlicence.

In 2010 Wickens raced in the GP3 Series with Status Grand Prix.

After getting third place in Barcelona qualifying, a good start and Nigel Melker retiring on the opening lap upped him to second place in the first race.

In the second race he started from seventh place and made his way up to fourth, which allowed him to lead the driver's standings.

In June 2011 it was announced that Wickens had been signed to the Virgin Racing team as a reserve driver but that he would continue to race in the GP3 series.

Wickens was crowned the champion of the series in 2011, after edging out teammate Jean-Éric Vergne at the final race.

Wickens left DTM after the 2017 season and signed to drive for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the 2018 IndyCar Series, going on to claim pole position in his debut race at the 2018 St. Petersburg Grand Prix.

His promising debut IndyCar season came to a premature end when a violent crash during the 500-mile race at Pocono left him a paraplegic.

Wickens issued a further statement clarifying that he was hopeful to be able to walk again, due to his spinal cord being bruised rather than completely severed and that he had felt 'some feeling and movement' back in his legs although the nerves were not in a state to walk.

Though a paraplegic as of late October 2018, he hoped to be able to walk on his own within two years of the accident.

In 2022, Wickens returned to full-time racing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge with Bryan Herta Autosport, driving a Hyundai car with adapted hand controls in the TCR category.

He won the TCR drivers' championship in 2023 alongside his teammate, Harry Gottsacker.