Formula 1 | Formula E

Although he has only competed in 41 Formula 1 Grands Prix in his career, Stoffel Vandoorne claims to have never doubted his abilities as a racing driver, he who now plays in Formula E.

Moreover, while the last two races of the 100% electric championship will be contested this weekend in Seoul, the Belgian is in a very good position: he leads the classification at the wheel of his Mercedes and is 36 points ahead of Mitch Evans and 41 on Eduardo Mortara, his two closest pursuers.

Note also that the German team also leads the constructors’ championship with a 36-point lead over Venturi Racing. Mercedes may not be winning in F1 anymore, but they could still clinch two more world titles this year!

Coming back to F1, Vandoorne really lacked success during his short stint in the discipline: after a very successful freelance replacing Jenson Button in 2016 (10th in Bahrain), he was named starter at McLaren in 2017 and 2018 when the team was in great difficulty on the sporting level.

And if he had not suffered too much from the comparison with Fernando Alonso the first year, the double world champion will be ruthless the following season: he will inflict a scathing 21 to 0 in their duel in qualifying and will score 50 points against 12 .

His results having finally been deemed insufficient, McLaren will decide to replace him with Carlos Sainz for the 2019 season and the Belgian will never return to F1. But the one who is now 30 years old has therefore never doubted him.

« I’m still the same guy, just a little older! » Vandoorne joked.

“Obviously Formula 1 was a different environment and it was particularly difficult at the time, but I remained confident in my abilities and my talent in a racing car.

« And I think from the moment I joined Formula E, I knew that if the conditions were right, I would be able to win races and championships. »

« The first year was quite complicated because the team was new, there was so much to learn, but we had a few podiums and pole positions and I would say it was quite a good season. Let’s say I didn’t doubted anything. »