Daniel Melrose
Daniel Melrose (born June 26, 1985 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian-German racing driver. Melrose is a four-time Formula One World Champion, having won the crown in consecutive years in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Born in Australia, Melrose raced under his native flag for most of his career but gained a German passport in 2020, opting to race under the German flag in FIA events from that point forward.
Early Racing Career
Daniel spent most of his early childhood in Sydney, Australia where he did many kart races both in Sydney and around the state. He was inspired by former World Champion Chris Dagnall after meeting him when he was just 6 years old.
In 1999, after spending several years as part of the Precision Motorsport young driver program alongside fellow Australian and close friend Dave Simpson, he was invited by Ferrari to become part of their young driver program, an offer which he accepted.
From there, he rapidly raised through the ranks becoming 2001 Australia Formula 3 champion, 2002 British Formula 3 champion and 2003 International F3000 champion, before being placed in the Jordan team for last 4 rounds of the 2003 Formula One season. In the process of winning the British Formula 3 Championship, he won the Macau F3 Grand Prix in one of his many top drawer aggressive drives that would typify his driving style for the rest of his career.
Formula One Career
2003 - Jordan
Melrose made his Formula One debut at the 2003 Belgian Grand Prix, driving for Jordan Honda in the second seat after Takuma Sato and Zsolt Baumgartner had been deemed surplus to requirements. Melrose made good on his first outing, taking the fastest lap and a sixth place in the race - Jordan's best finish of the season so far. Two races later, Melrose shocked the paddock further by taking Jordan's first podium finish in nearly two years with a third in the United States Grand Prix.
2004 - Sauber
Melrose's performances were enough to convince Peter Sauber to tie down the Australian for 2004, where he'd join Kimi Räikkönen at Sauber as well as being a member of Ferrari's junior lineup.
Controversy erupted at the Ferrari pre-season launch, after he and Ferrari driver James James Davies were involved in a fracas which saw drinks being thrown and at least one of the men being removed from the venue.
Melrose majorly outperformed his Finnish teammate, his best result being a third place in the Bahrain Grand Prix - his points tally helping the Swiss team beat McLaren in the constructor's standings.
2005 - Ferrari
Following the retirement of Michael Schumacher, Melrose was promoted into a race seat with Ferrari alongside defending champion Davies. Much press speculation swirled around the pair - with it being clear that neither men were particularly fond of eachother. Unfortunately for Melrose, Davies spent much of the year berating and degrading the Australian which cost Ferrari both titles once Melrose began responding in turn - the pair frequently clashing on track.
Melrose managed two wins in this turbulent atmosphere but the relationship between him, the team and Davies had broken down to a unsalvageable level. Davies ended the season in dramatic fashion by telling the press that Ferrari would either have to choose him or Melrose - stating that he'd "never drive alongside that moron again." Melrose was released from his Ferrari contract at the end of the 2005 season.
2006-2009 - BMW Sauber
Melrose found sanctuary at the newly-formed BMW Sauber team for 2006, teaming alongside 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. It was a challenging first season for the pair but Melrose was a consistent points scorer on his return to the Hinwil based outfit. Melrose's best finish of the season was a third place in the British Grand Prix. Melrose finished the season in eighth place - on equal points with Villeneuve.
Melrose began 2007 in great form - taking wins in the opening two races in Bahrain and Malaysia as well as six consecutive pole positions. Despite this, his rival James James Davies (now at McLaren) took a commanding lead in the Driver's standings. Melrose continued to rack up the wins in the mid-season - taking three straight wins in the United States, British and European Grands Prix. However, the complexion of the championship was changed when Davies unexpectedly retired from Formula One after the Italian Grand Prix due to the fallout from the Spygate scandal. At this point, it was a three way battle between Melrose and Ferrari's duo of Luca Badoer and Robert Kubica. Melrose took one more win in the Chinese Grand Prix to bring his tally to seven for the season. At the conclusion of the season, Melrose and Badoer finished equal on points at the top - finishing the season on 112 points. Melrose would be declared champion however, due to winning seven races, compared to Badoer winning only four - becoming the first person to win the title on countback.
2010-2012 - Mercedes Team Europe
Due to BMW pulling out of Formula One, citing that they've achieved all their goals in F1, Melrose became the biggest free agent on the market during the off season. Teams up and down the grid and even around the world in other categories were clamouring for his signature for 2010. In the end he moved to the Brawn team, which had just been bought out by German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. While some teams did offer higher salaries than what Mercedes eventually paid for the superstar, Melrose reportedly accepted their offer because the contract allowed him to drive in both F1 and the F1RWRS for 2010 before making his decision for 2011 and beyond.
With a raft of new rule changes however, including the controversial switch to the two-race weekend format, it looked like the Australian and his new team team would have their work cut out through the year to fight for the world title. Testing times suggested a mammoth four-way fight for both titles between Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes, with the likes of Jacques Villeneuve and F1 returnee Rhys Davies playing the role of spoilers. Those predictions were confirmed in Bahrain with relatively subdued 3rd and 4th places for the Australian. A few more quiet races followed before the reigning champion scored his first victory at Fuji. A strong weekend in his home country followed, as Melrose took his second win on home soil in the Sunday race. From there, Melrose continued to score consistent points and podium positions to vault himself into the championship lead.
Before the German Grand Prix weekend, Melrose finally revealed to the world what his plans for 2011 would be. Many had speculated that he would try to balance a Formula 1 season alongside the F1RWRS for a second year in a row, but he defied all expectations and announced that 2010 would be his last year in Formula 1, despite being close to dead-last in the F1RWRS standings.
The Formula One championship was still far from over however with as many as half a dozen drivers still in realistic contention for the championship, Melrose decided to focus solely on trying to win the F1 title over the rest of the year, with former F1 champion Chris Dagnall taking over Melrose's driving duties in the F1RWRS. Over the course of the next five weekends from Germany, Melrose scored three victories and four other podium finishes to tighten his grasp on a 4th World Championship as the season hit the home stretch. He clinched that fourth world title at the Uruguayan Grand Prix weekend, where a dominating performance saw the champion-elect score wins in both races. However, Melrose was unable to add another win to the tally as his full-time F1 career ended with a disastrous 21st place finish in Abu Dhabi.
This would not mark the end of Melrose's F1 career however, as the champion made several sporadic appearances with the Mercedes team. The Australian's first appearance was at the Monaco Grand Prix in place of the benched Nathan McKane, who had been banned by the FIA at the previous race. Despite having never driven the car, Melrose immediately showed his class by finished 2nd in the Saturday race from 3rd on the grid. He followed it up with a front-row start on Sunday before converting it into a popular race victory, the 35th of his career.
Melrose would return later in the year on two separate occasions, firstly as a replacement for the banned James James Davies, and secondly as a permanent replacement for the British superstar after the latter's acrimonious split from the Mercedes team. While Melrose was unable to add to the win tally, he did display his undeniable class with three poles on the trot in Singapore and India, while also being robbed of two certain victories around the Marina Bay circuit. Despite only starting 9 of a potential 36 races, Melrose still managed to score enough points to record a 16th place finish in the championship.
After a heart-breaking near miss in the F1RWRS championship race against Nathanael Spencer, Melrose refocused his attention on establishing his eponymous Melrose Racing Team in the series. However, with Mercedes put the call out to the Australian to once again make a return, he was quick to return to the category where he made his mark. Melrose made a one-off appearance in the European Grand Prix weekend to replace former teammate Robert Kubica who had been benched by the FIA the prior weekend. While he was unable to repeat the heroics of his 2011 performances, the Australian still brought the car home in 7th in the Sunday race, banking valuable points for the team.
2013 - Ferrari, Mercedes
It didn't take long for Melrose to return to Formula One, as by now he had developed a reputation of being able to jump in a car and instantly be competitive off the bat. Former employers Ferrari took advantage of this by deciding to bury the hatchet that had long plagued their relationship by hiring him to deputize for the benched Mark Webber at Istanbul. While Melrose was unable to match the race-winning pace of teammate James James Davies, the man he had subbed for two years prior, he still managed to score a small helping of points around the demanding circuit.
That would prove to be the first of two appearances for Melrose in the 2013 Formula One season, the second of which was back in his adopted home Mercedes F1. Coming in at short notice for injured driver and friend Jeroen Krautmeir in Portugal, the former champion repeated his results from Istanbul with a 7th and a fastest lap across the two races.
2014- Marussia
Melrose would only make one start in 2014 for minnows Marussia F1 as a substitute for benched Frenchman Alexandre Premat at Donnington for the British Grand Prix. After qualifying a lowly 24th on the grid for the first race, Melrose managed to hustle his car to a scarcely believable 8th place, scoring the team's first points of the year. This result proved to be Marussia's best of the 2014 season.
2015 - Ferrari
Melrose returned to F1 yet again for another weekend in 2015 as a supersub for Ferrari. After an accident injured the team's regular driver Evgeny Restov, the former champion was drafted in to drive the famed #27 Ferrari at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend. Melrose continued his streaks of scoring at least one point in his various substitutions with a 9th place finish in race 1. However, he was unable to repeat the performance in race 2 after a late Transmission failure ended his afternoon.
2017 - Valerian Formula
With the return of the Australian Grand Prix to the calendar for the first time since 2010, Melrose was eager to make an appearance in front of his home crowd at Surfers Paradise. To that end, new team Valerian Formula provided him the opportunity to make a one-off appearance for the team. The Australian didn't disappoint the hometown crowd, as he went on to score a solid points finish in the Sunday race in front of an appreciative crowd.
2018 - Full-time return with Holden
After spending much of the last several years substituting for various drivers in F1 and other categories, Melrose finally made his long-awaited full-time return to F1 with the new works Holden Racing Team. With the team also signing former F1 and F1RWRS champion Rhys Davies, a fellow Australian, as his teammate, many expected the team to be instantly competitive.
However, the car proved to be a great disappointment, as both drivers complained of a general lack of grip, rendering both as midfield also-rans. Despite the difficulties, Melrose still managed to score points at a variety of different tracks, including Bahrain, Turkey and Cyprus.
The Finnish Grand Prix turned into one of the highlights of Melrose's season with HRT. The former champion showed a calm head to take 4th place amidst a chaotic Saturday race, before backing up with a 9th place finish on Sunday, marking the first time Melrose had scored points in both races in a weekend since 2011.
A few weeks later in monsoonal conditions at the Australian Grand Prix, Melrose managed to score an unlikely but popular pole position infront of the adoring Surfers Paradise crowd. While he was unable to maintain the front-running pace in the race, he still managed to convert the pole to a solid points finish.
2019 - Ferrari
Melrose made another happy return to Maranello in 2019 alongside American driver Dave Cassidy on a one-year contract. Unfortunately for both men, the 2019 Ferrari was a fairly unremarkable midfield runner with the pair of them only able to get a single third place finish each.
2020 - Red Bull
Melrose, still under a Ferrari ambassador deal, made the step sideways to customer team Red Bull Racing who would be considered a far more competitive package at this point. Melrose seemed rejuvenated in this new environment and took two wins on his way to third in the World Driver's Championship.
2021 - Calinetic
Following a season of rejuvenation, Melrose moved to struggling Jamaican outfit Team Calinetic ahead of the 2021 season. The team was recently bailed out by BMW who saw fit to bring Melrose to the team ahead of a return to the series in the coming years along with the team being eventually rebranded as Melrose Racing Team. Melrose was alongside 2020 runner-up Jules Bianchi. The car was predictably dreadful however Melrose scored the team's first point of the season with a tenth place at the French Grand Prix.
F1RWRS Career
2010-2011 - JLD Motorsport
2010
Looking for a new challenge and disenchanted by the high-stakes political bickering in Formula 1, Daniel Melrose followed former Brawn driver Frank Zimmer to the Formula 1 Rejects World Race Series. The reigning F1 champion signed on as lead driver for the JLD Motorsport team, which was a joint effort between German manufacturer Mercedes and Porsche, alongside former BMW Sauber and Precision teammate Dave Simpson. Both Simpson and Melrose tried to balance a full time Formula One campaign alongside the F1RWRS, with Simpson focusing more on the F1RWRS and Melrose more on trying to win a fourth world title.
Whilst this strategy worked in getting him that title, it came at the expense of Melrose's F1RWRS campaign as ended up a lowly 17th in the championship, having missed the final 3 races of the year and been replaced by Chris Dagnall for the final two. There was some promise in Melrose's season however as in the final race he did in Bahrain. There, he put in a solid drive for a season best result of 6th place along with the fastest lap of the race.
2011
In 2011, Melrose decided to retire from Formula One on a full time basis to focus on other categories elsewhere, including the F1RWRS. For the second year in a row however his season started slowly with just a sole 5th place finish to his name after round 3.
However a brilliant mid-season streak from Luxembourg to the Tasman Grand Prix in Adelaide, including two wins in Belgium and England, and a second place put him solidly in the lead of the championship after 10 rounds.
The team entered a slump in the final third of the season however, which culminated to an embarrassing double DNPQ for the JLD team at the Australian Grand Prix at Bathurst. This coupled with a late season push by Briton Nathanael Spencer meant that Melrose ended up losing the championship to the Brit by 7 points after both failed to score points at the final round in Laguna Seca.
2012 - Melrose Racing Team
Behind the scenes at JLD over the second half of the 2011 season, a consortium comprising of Melrose's own racing team, Melrose's former employers BMW and title sponsor QANTAS made a bid to take over the JLD team after both Mercedes and the Volkswagen group pulled out their support of the team.
By the end of the year, a deal was struck between the various parties which meant that MRT and BMW would take over the JLD team in a 70/30 split with Melrose and incumbent teammate Jeroen Krautmeir as the two drivers for season 2012.
Despite the resources available to the team, Melrose's season got off to the worst possible start with a double DNPQ but came back strongly with a third place in round 3. Both MRTs continued to have inconsistent seasons through the year and Melrose was absolutely thrashed by his younger teammate on occasion as the Australian simply couldn't get either the M3 or the M3B to work with his driving style. Despite that, Melrose scored 4 podium finishes over the course of the season for an eventual 7th place finish in the Driver's championship, including finishing second in the same race that Krautmeir scored MRT's only win that year.
During the oval testing session that MRT conducted at the Talladega Superspeedway Melrose wrote off both his race car and spare car in the space of 2 days after having several enormous accidents over the course of the test, the last of which gave him a moderate concussion. Another huge accident the next week at Laguna Seca where he car became airbourne and barrel-rolled down the front straight gave him another conucssion meant that he had to sit out the season ending race at Indianapolis, which was a double points race that year.
At that point, disheartened by continual lack of success in the series and after a failed bid to become the new Commissioner of the F1RWRS, Melrose announced his retirement from driving duties in the F1RWRS effective immediately.
2013 - ArrowTech
For a few weeks, Melrose seemed content with retirement at just 27 years of age but eventually decided to make a sensational return to driving duties for the ArrowTech ART team. It immediately became clear that Melrose and the ArrowTech car gelled together in pre-season testing, showing he had lost none of his touch despite the string of accidents. This form continued into the early flyaway races with Melrose leading the team's charge with 3 points finishes in the first 3 races, including a sensational 2-3 finish for the team at the 2013 F1RWRS Mexican Grand Prix with Melrose leading home teammate Daniel Martins.
However after that point the team lost its way in the early development race. with Melrose only scoring 1 point in the following 6 races, the race where he scored that point being one of his best to date similar to several burn from the stern performances in the past. ArrowTech and Melrose returned to form at the Belgian Grand Prix. On race day, he damaged the front wing of his car early on before setting about simply driving the wheels off the ArrowTech car for 3rd place, his second podium finish of the season. However, Melrose was adamant that had he not thrown it into the wall early on he stood a good chance of winning that race.
After qualifying for the Mediterranean Grand Prix Melrose was arrested, charged and released on bail for trashing his hotel room after MRT's absolutely horrific showing in qualifying which resulted in a double DNQ, a shocking result even by MRT's poor standards that year.
2013-2014 - Jones Racing
2013
In the wake of the incident in Cyprus, Melrose had a public spat with Arrowtech's latest shareholder Prince Falik, which led to the Australian tearing his two year contract with the team over a year early before accepting an offer from Jones Racing to drive for them in the final two races of the season. This came after Jones' incumbent driver Kay Lon got the sack after being arrested by Chinese authorities over alleged sexual assault charges. Despite being disappointing in the two races for the Jones team, he got a full time contract for 2014 with an option to extend his contract for 2015.
At the now non-championship Budweiser 500, driving for Horizon Motorsport, he finished 10th from 19th on the grid, beating home new boss Jones by over a lap in the process.
2014
Pre-Season testing for the Jones team, and Melrose in particular, was promising with many predicting that the team would be points contenders throughout the year. The Australian didn't fail to deliver on those predictions as he scored podium placed finishes in both of the first two races. His performance in the season opener in Adelaide was particularly special as not only did he remain on the lead lap against the much faster cars of Dagnall and the MRTs, he was consistently the best of the rest in the race all afternoon.
More points at the Long Beach round confirmed his status as a dark horse amongst the upper-midfield runners. A couple of more third placed finishes in France and Belgium plus a number of other points finishes meant that Melrose spent the majority of the year right in the thick of the battle for best of the rest honours. This string of good performances led to team boss Sammy Jones taking up his offer for the Australian for 2015, although a performance clause was inserted in the contract which baffled many pundits.
Before the Chinese Grand Prix, Melrose announced that MRT would open up a consultancy firm for 2015 which quickly lead to a technical partnership deal with Autodynamics Grand Prix, one of the two new teams for 2015. The proposal didn't sit well with Sammy Jones however and it eventually lead to Melrose terminating his Jones Racing contract for 2015, albeit on amicable terms. Melrose's association with Jones Racing ended on a high note with a pair of second places at the two non-championship races at the Bud Light 800 and the endurance race at the Luxembourg Grand Prix.
2015 - Simpson Motorsport
With Melrose one of the biggest free-agents on the market heading into the off-season, many teams up and down the grid were fighting for his services in 2015. Despite many predicting he'd go to Sunshine for 2015, Melrose signed a deal with the new Simpson Motorsports team, allegedly as return for the favour Melrose paid team boss and good friend Dave Simpson to get him the BMW reserve driver slot back in 2007.
Regardless of what the reason was for the decision, the alarm bells were already ringing in pre-season testing. It became apparent very quickly that many of the midfield and backmarker teams from 2014 had made a huge leap forward in terms of performance, throwing the mostly conservative plans of the Simpson Motorsport team into turmoil.
Despite persistent rumours that he was about to jump ship to Sunshine, Melrose kept his head down and tried to extract the maximum out of the ill-handling Simpson-BMW package in their bid to qualify for a race, with little success. Melrose's patience finally ran out at the Monaco Grand Prix when, after failing to pre-qualify for the third time in succession, leading to Melrose quitting the team,
In the meantime, an opening appeared at the Holden Racing Team with the sacking of Englishwoman Poppy Whitechapel. The Australian was quick to pounce at the opportunity, and immediately signed on for a 12 race deal, starting at the next race in Mexico City.
2015 - Holden Racing Team
Melrose arrived at Mexico City with a new lease of life in his now floundering F1RWRS career as he set about getting used to the HRT. While new teammate Frank Zimmer had the upper hand on the Australian all weekend, Melrose did finish a respectable 9th after a solid, if unspectacular drive amongst relatively heavy attrition.
In a car that was slowing but surely losing its pace to the midfield, Melrose failed to qualify for the first F1RWRS race at Montreal, a track where he had scored his first Formula One victory, before being taken out in a first lap collision at the next race in Great Britain.
As a result, HRT dropped down into pre-qualifying as their results had only left them a dismal 12th in the constructors championship, where only the top 11 were guaranteed berths in qualifying proper. Melrose was then sacked by the team in the fallout that resulted from it and replaced by test driver John Zimmer.
After spending several races on the sidelines while racing in Rejects of LFS, Melrose made a sensational return to the team for the final race of the F1RWRS season in Brazil, replacing incumbent Frank Zimmer who still had an outstanding warrant against him from the Brazilian Police. Despite his best efforts, Melrose was unable to haul the team out of pre-qualifying, bringing his F1RWRS career to a close for the time being.
2016-2017 - Part-time appearances
2016 - Melrose Racing Team & Dofasco
After MRT driver Kay Lon was sensationally sacked after just one race with the team, the team was left scrambling to find a replacement drivers. After overtures to both David Neuberg and Alexey Buyvolov failed, the team drafted in owner Melrose at the last minute for Bathurst.
In his first race for his own team since the end of 2012, Melrose qualified a solid 4th on the grid behind teammate Mark Dagnall and the two Kamahas, but a disastrous showing the race culminated in a double-DNF for the team.
Melrose would return later in the year as a one-off replacement for the under-performing Calvin Brooks at the Dofasco Racing organisation while the team searched for a permanent replacement. The pairing of Melrose and incumbent Alexey Buyvolov provided Dofasco with their best race in their short existence. After both cars qualified for the first time, Buyvolov managed to finish in a fine 9th place, while Melrose was running in his wheel-tracks in the sister car, before a late mechanical problem relegated him to being classified 13th.
However, with no other drivers forthcoming and Brooks refusing to return, the team was forced to withdraw the following weekend in Argentina, and collapsed a few weeks later amidst mounting debts. Melrose returned to IndyCar duties in America after his appearance.
2017 - Autodynamics & Boxtel
After the demise of the Horizon Motorsport IndyCar program, Melrose found himself without a full-time drive in either F1 or the F1RWRS. However, an opportunity arose with the Autodynamics Grand Prix team after signed driver Jean-Vincent Albertini received a ban for the first half of the 2017 season. Melrose was quickly signed up to replace him for 8 races alongside Nicolas Steele.
Melrose struggled to adapt to the car, failing to qualify for the first race of the year where Steele scored a podium in the other car. From there, Melrose was generally overshadowed by his younger teammate, but not before scoring his first points of the year at Brands Hatch. Unreliability prevented him from adding to the points tally however, and he was not retained when Albertini returned from his suspension.
He would soon find his way back into the field with the Boxtel Engineering squad. Having recently been the subject of a takeover, new management decided to ditch their previous lineup in exchange for Melrose and former title rival Nathanael Spencer. Even their combined experience and talents failed to improve the fortunes of the team, as Melrose failed to start a race in 7 attempts for Boxtel. Combined with his earlier results at Autodynamics, Melrose recorded a lowly 21st in the F1RWRS championship standings, having participated in 15 of the 16 scheduled races.
IndyCar Career
2015-2016 - Horizon Motorsport
2015
After losing his drive at Holden, Melrose decided to dabble in other racing categories, including IndyCar in America. To that end, Melrose participated in the final race of the 2015 season with Horizon Motorsport to complement their existing four car program.
Competing for the $800 000 grand prize at Fontana, Melrose proved to be instantly competitive, qualifying on the inside of the 4th row alongside IndyCar regulars Beth Lestrade and Rusty Gannit. From there, Melrose managed to avoid most of the attrition behind him and found himself in the lead with just 3 laps to go on an alternate strategy. However, he was forced to pit for a splash of fuel with 2 laps to go, leaving Martin van der Meyede to collect the win. Melrose eventually crossed the line in a heartbreaking 3rd, and a lap down.
2016
Despite the disappointing finish, Horizon Motorsport were quick to sign him for a full-time campaign in 2016, replacing team co-owner Dean O'Lauchlan in the #73 that Melrose used for much of his career. With his years of experience and his recent form on Ovals, Melrose was expected to be one of the title contenders.
The new Ford V6 Turbo turned out to be down on power compared to its rivals however, resulting in a downturn in performance for the entire team. As a result, Melrose only managed three top 10 finishes in the entire first half of the season, the best of which was an impressive run to 7th in his debut Indianapolis 500. After the poor run in the first half of the year, Ford introduced major upgrades to the engine in conjunction with Jack Roush in time for the Michigan 500.
Things took a turn for the worse however, when all four Horizon Motorsport cars withdrew within the first 20 laps at Michigan after issues with the new turbochargers were discovered. With threats from Melrose that the team was ready to defect to BMW for 2017, Ford redoubled their efforts in time for the following race at Toronto.
From there, fortunes improved for Melrose, as he managed to score several major results for the team to close out the season, including two heroic efforts in Canada. The first was surviving attrition to finish 5th around the streets of Toronto, while he backed it up with a run to third place in Montreal, a favourite stomping ground in his F1 career. While Melrose only scored one more points finish in the last five races, he still managed enough points to finish 18th in the standings, in what had been a difficult campaign for the entire team.
With a raft of new rule changes proposed in 2017, the Horizon Motorsport team took the shock decision to withdraw from the series to focus on a NASCAR and RejectTrucks program. Melrose quickly announced his own withdrawal from the series, returning to Europe to accept an offer with Autodynamics Grand Prix.
Personal Life
Melrose has run the same basic helmet design for virtually his entire career. He initially started off with a green and gold helmet with the Southern Cross during his early karting days before he changed it to the Boxing Kangaroo, the unofficial mascot of Australia, upon joining the Precision Motorsport Young Driver Program. He has been one of the few drivers who are vehemently against running sponsorship logos on their helmet and bending over to the pressures of commercialisation for the sake of keeping the same helmet for the duration of their careers.
Melrose currently lives alone in Munich, Germany where his team is based after spending many years living in Liechtenstein. In his early career especially, his driving almost seemed to be a way for him to deal with the "demons" in his head that seemingly plagued him for much of his teenage years, which ended up being the motivating force of his career. Melrose has one younger sibling named Joel who is currently driving for JLD Motorsport in the F3RWRS.
Melrose is known for being incredibly talkative over the radio and, as a result, his strategic ability throughout his career is second to none and while his ability to set up a car is good, he has never considered himself a great technically minded driver as he usually ends up driving around any minor problems with the car. He also has a strange habit of listening to rock music over the radio fed to him by the team to help him get into 'the zone' on any given weekend.
For all his prowess on the track, Melrose has had many issues over the years with his various personal managers, with almost all his associations with them ending on very hostile terms. One particularly bad break up with a manager, who was also in a relationship with him at the time, led to Melrose withdrawing his entry from the 2014 F1RMGP 24 Hour V8 Bathurst Enduro and swearing that he'll never have another personal manager for the rest of his career.
Whilst on a training camp in Tropico during the 2015 season, Melrose was one of the most high-profile people caught up in the Tropican-Venezuelan conflict at the time. Venezuelan president Hugo Chaves learned of the former world champion's presence in the island Nation and appointed him the new President of Tropico on the evening of June 5th. Despite initial concerns that the strong Nationalist faction on the island would be uproar over the appointment, the vast majority of the Tropican people approved of his placement, as the Australian had done much to help the explosive growth of the Tropican tourist industry over the past several years. The position has been largely symbolic with the Prime Minister looking after the day-to-day running of the country.
Daniel has a younger brother, Joel who also raced single seaters but has been retired since the mid 2010s.
Complete Formula One Grand Prix results
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Jordan Honda | Jordan EJ13 | Honda RA003E 3.0 V10 | AUS | MAL | SMR | ESP | AUT | MON | CAN | GBR | EUR | GER | HUN | ITA | BEL 6 |
USA 13 |
BRA 3 |
JPN 13† |
13th | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Red Bull Sauber Petronas | Sauber C23 | Petronas 04A 3.0 V10 | AUS 10 |
MAL Ret |
BHR 3 |
MON 6 |
CAN 4 |
USA 10 |
CHN 12 |
BRA 15 |
ARG 5 |
JPN Ret |
9th | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro | Ferrari F2004M Ferrari F2005 |
Ferrari 053 3.0 V10 Ferrari 055 3.0 V10 |
AUS 8 |
MAL 4 |
BHR 5 |
SMR 14 |
ESP 2 |
MON 1 |
EUR Ret |
CAN 4 |
USA 2 |
FRA 1 |
GBR Ret |
GER 2 |
HUN Ret |
TUR 3 |
ITA Ret |
BEL 3 |
BRA 5 |
URU 5 |
JPN Ret |
CHN Ret |
5th | 75 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | BMW Sauber F1 Team | BMW Sauber F1.06 | BMW P86 2.4 V8 | BHR Ret |
MAL 12 |
AUS 7 |
BEL 4 |
EUR 13 |
SMR 7 |
MON 7 |
ESP 7 |
GBR 3 |
CAN 8 |
USA Ret |
FRA Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN 8 |
TUR 9 |
ITA 4 |
BRA 9 |
URU 9 |
JPN 8 |
CHN 6 |
8th | 30 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | BMW Sauber F1 Team | BMW Sauber F1.07 | BMW P86/7 2.4 V8 | BHR 1 |
MAL 1 |
AUS 5 |
JPN 11 |
SMR 7 |
GER 2 |
ESP Ret |
MON Ret |
CAN Ret |
USA 1 |
GBR 1 |
EUR 1 |
FRA 4 |
HUN 1 |
TUR 3 |
ITA 3 |
BEL 3 |
CHN 1 |
URU 4 |
BRA Ret |
1st | 112 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | BMW Sauber F1 Team | BMW Sauber F1.08 | BMW P86/8 2.4 V8 | BHR 3 |
MAL 2 |
AUS 4 |
JPN 1 |
TUR 2 |
EUR 1 |
MON 1 |
CAN 1 |
USA Ret |
FRA 1 |
GBR 3 |
GER 2 |
HUN 3 |
ESP 4 |
BEL Ret |
ITA 3 |
SIN 11 |
CHN 2 |
URU Ret |
BRA 2 |
1st | 130 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | BMW Sauber F1 Team | BMW Sauber F1.09 BMW Sauber F1.09B |
BMW P86/9 2.4 V8 | BHR 8 |
AUS Ret |
MAL‡ 3 |
USA 12 |
JPN 2 |
ESP 5 |
TUR 6 |
EUR Ret |
MON 10 |
GBR 3 |
IRE 4 |
GER 4 |
BEL 1 |
ITA Ret |
HUN 1 |
SIN 1 |
CHN 1 |
BRA 1 |
URU 1 |
ABU 6 |
1st | 100 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Petronas Mercedes Team Europe | Mercedes MGP 001 | Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 | BHR I 3 |
BHR II 4 |
USA I 3 |
USA II Ret |
JPN I 1 |
JPN II 3 |
AUS I 2 |
AUS II 1 |
TUR I 7 |
TUR II Ret |
EUR I EX |
EUR II 3 |
MON I 2 |
MON II 1 |
GBR I 6 |
GBR II Ret |
IRE I 5 |
IRE II 1 |
GER I Ret |
GER II 1 |
ESP I 4 |
ESP II 1 |
ITA I 2 |
ITA II 2 |
HUN I Ret |
HUN II 1 |
SIN I 2 |
SIN II 3 |
KOR I 7 |
KOR II Ret |
BRA I EX |
BRA II 3 |
URU I 1 |
URU II 1 |
ABU I 5 |
ABU II 21 |
1st | 471 | ||
| 2011 | Petronas Mercedes Team Europe | Mercedes MGP W02 | Mercedes FO 108Y 2.4 V8 | BAH I | BAH II | USA I | USA II | JPN I | JPN II | KOR I | KOR II | TUR I | TUR II | ESP I | ESP II | MON I 2 |
MON II 1 |
GBR I | GBR II | IRE I | IRE II | EUR I | EUR II | GER I | GER II | HUN I | HUN II | ITA I | ITA II | URU I | URU II | BRA I 7 |
BRA II | SIN I Ret |
SIN II Ret |
IND I 3 |
IND II 7 |
ABU I 4 |
ABU II 15 |
16th | 85 | ||
| 2012 | Petronas Mercedes Team Europe | Mercedes MGP W03 | Mercedes FO 108Z 2.4 V8 | BAH I | BAH II | MAL I | MAL II | JPN I | JPN II | KOR I | KOR II | TUR I | TUR II | EUR I 21 |
EUR II 7 |
MON I | MON II | GBR I | GBR II | CAN I | CAN II | USA I | USA II | GER I | GER II | ESP I | ESP II | ITA I | ITA II | ABU I | ABU II | IND I | IND II | URU I | URU II | BRA I | BRA II | SIN I | SIN II | 30th | 6 | ||
| 2013 | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro | Ferrari F1310 | Ferrari Type 057 2.4 V8 | BAH I | BAH II | MAL I | MAL II | JPN I | JPN II | TUR I Ret |
TUR II 7 |
AUT I | AUT II | IRE I | IRE II | MON I | MON II | ESP I | ESP II | USA I | USA II | CAN I | CAN II | GBR I | GBR II | ITA I | ITA II | 25th | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | Mercedes MGP W04 | Mercedes FO 108Z 2.4 V8 | POR I 7 |
POR II Ret |
GER I | GER II | KOR I | KOR II | IND I | IND II | ABU I | ABU II | SIN I | SIN II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Full Tilt Poker Marussia F1 Team | Marussia MR03 | Ferrari Type 058 3.0 V10 | BAH I | BAH II | MAL I | MAL II | BRA I | BRA II | MEX I | MEX II | USA I | USA II | CAN I | CAN II | GBR I 8 |
GBR II | ESP I | ESP II | AUT I | AUT II | TUR I | TUR II | GER I | GER II | POR I | POR II | ITA I | ITA II | ABU I | ABU II | IND I | IND II | CHN I | CHN II | KOR I | KOR II | JPN I | JPN II | SIN I | SIN II | 27th | 4 |
| 2015 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari F2015 | Ferrari Type 058 3.0 V10 | BAH I | BAH II | MAL I | MAL II | BRA I | BRA II | MEX I | MEX II | USA I | USA II | CAN I | CAN II | GBR I | GBR II | GER I | GER II | ESP I | ESP II | RUS I | RUS II | AUT I | AUT II | ITA I | ITA II | CPR I | CPR II | ABU I 9 |
ABU II Ret |
IND I | IND II | JPN I | JPN II | KOR I | KOR II | SIN I | SIN II | CHN I | CHN II | 29th | 2 |
| 2017 | Eni Valerian Formula Ferrari | Valerian F01 | Ferrari Type 059 3.0 V10 | USA I | USA II | JPN I | JPN II | IND I | IND II | BAH I | BAH II | CYP I | CYP II | HUN I | HUN II | GER I | GER II | GBR I | GBR II | AUS I Ret |
AUS II 8 |
PAC I | PAC II | MEX I | MEX II | AUT I | AUT II | ITA I | ITA II | EUR I | EUR II | ESP I | ESP II | ABU I | ABU II | RUS I C |
RUS II C |
BRA I | BRA II | CHN I | CHN II | 27th | 4 |
| 2018 | Kmart Holden Racing Team | Holden HRT-008 | Holden LSF1-18 3.0 V10 | USA I Ret |
USA II 11 |
JPN I Ret |
JPN II 15 |
BAH I 6 |
BAH II Ret |
TUR I 11 |
TUR II 8 |
CYP I 8 |
CYP II 16† |
MED I Ret |
MED II Ret |
GER I 13 |
GER II 13 |
FIN I 4 |
FIN II 8 |
RUS I 17 |
RUS II Ret |
SIN I 16 |
SIN II 9 |
AUS I 20 |
AUS II 8 |
GBR I 11 |
GBR II 14 |
FRA I 3 |
FRA II 5 |
NED I 18 |
NED II 20 |
HUN I 9 |
HUN II 10 |
ABU I 11 |
ABU II Ret |
CHN I 14 |
CHN II 18 |
MEX I 8 |
MEX II 22 |
BRA I 14 |
BRA II 12 |
15th | 39 (51) |
| 2019 | Scuderia Ferrari Vodafone | Ferrari 3510 | Ferrari Type 060 3.0 V10 | USA I 8 |
USA II 11 |
JPN I Ret |
JPN II 9 |
AUS I 10 |
AUS II 12 |
BAH I Ret |
BAH II 12 |
TUR I 9 |
TUR II 16 |
CYP I 4 |
CYP II 7 |
SMR I Ret |
SMR II 12 |
FIN I Ret |
FIN II 7 |
GER I 23† |
GER II 10 |
JOR I 7 |
JOR II 9 |
GBR I Ret |
GBR II 6 |
FRA I 6 |
FRA II 3 |
NED I Ret |
NED II 15 |
HUN I 8 |
HUN II 8 |
ABU I 9 |
ABU II Ret |
SIN I 7 |
SIN II 8 |
CHN I Ret |
CHN II 4 |
MEX I Ret |
MEX II 7 |
BRA I 7 |
BRA II 7 |
9th | 86 |
- * The F1 points system changed for 2010
- ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
- † Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.
Complete F1RWRS Results
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | JLD Motorsport | JLD 01 | Porsche 366 | GER 11 |
LUX 13 |
SAX 12 |
CHN 9 |
TAS 16 |
BHR 6 |
BEL INJ |
GBR | AUS | 17th | 7 | |||||||
| 2011 | Qantas JLD Motorsport | JLD M2 | BMW P84/5 | BAV 5 |
GER 14 |
SAX 16 |
LUX 6† |
BEL 1 |
GBR 2 |
ENG 1 |
KEN DSQ |
NED 4 |
TAS 8 |
2nd | 66 | ||||||
| JLD M2B | AUS DNPQ |
NSW 10 |
SUR 7† |
CHN 3 |
USA 10 |
||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Qantas Melrose Racing Team | MRT M3 | BMW P86/12 | BAV DNPQ |
SAX DNPQ |
GER 3 |
LUX Ret |
BEL 14† |
NED 3 |
GBR 4 |
KEN 2 |
ENG 7 |
TAS 9 |
7th | 43 | ||||||
| MRT M3B | SUR Ret |
NSW 3 |
AUS Ret |
CHN 15 |
USA Ret |
500 INJ | |||||||||||||||
| 2013 | ArrowTech ART | ArrowTech AT-03 | Ford HB IV | TAS 5 |
AUS 4 |
MEX 2 |
USA Ret |
MON Ret |
FRA 6 |
GBR 8 |
GER 10 |
NED Ret |
BEL 3 |
POR 9 |
MED Ret |
MAC 5 |
CHN 11 |
=8th | 18 | ||
| Castrol Jones Racing | Jones CJR-102B | Ford HBD VI | JPN 8 |
BRA Ret | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Castrol Jones Racing | Jones CJR-103 | Ford HBD VI | TAS 3 |
AUS 3 |
BRA 9 |
MEX Ret |
USA 4 |
MON Ret |
FRA 3 |
GBR Ret |
GER 11 |
BEL 3 |
ITA 5 |
MED 5 |
NED 10 |
MAC Ret |
CHN 7 |
JPN 5 |
6th | 25 |
| 2015 | Gulf Simpson Motorsports | Simpson GSM-010 | BMW P89/NA | TAS DNQ |
AUS DNPQ |
MED DNPQ |
MON DNPQ |
=26th | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Valvoline Holden Racing Team | HRT-005 | Holden LSF1 | MEX 9 |
USA 11 |
CAN DNQ |
GBR Ret |
GER | BEL | AUT | ITA | NED | CHN | JPN | BRA DNPQ | |||||||
| 2016 | Virgin Melrose Racing Team | MRT M7 | BMW P90/16 | AUS | NSW Ret |
36th | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| Dofasco Lukoil Racing | Dofasco DR 03 | Lancia 016/1 | GBR | ITA | AUT | CAN | USS | USN | GER | NED | MON | BEL | MEX 13† |
ARG | CHN | JPN | |||||
| 2017 | BOC Autodynamics Grand Prix | Autodynamics AGP17 | Gillet GV11B | AUS DNQ |
NSW Ret |
GBR 5 |
ITA Ret |
AUT Ret |
CAN 12 |
USS 8 |
USN Ret |
21st | 2 | ||||||||
| Boxtel Engineering | Boxtel BOX-017 | Ford XR8C | GER | NSE DNPQ |
BEL DNPQ |
MON DNPQ |
MOR DNPQ |
ARG DNQ |
JPN DNPQ |
CHN DNPQ |
- * Season in Progress
- † Driver did not finish race, but was classified as they had completed 75% race distance (2010-12) or 90% race distance (2013).
Complete Rejects of LFS Results
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Red Bull World Race Team | Scaven S15 | Autodynamics-Judd 3.0 V8 | BLA HEA |
BLA FEA |
WES HEA |
WES FEA |
FER HEA |
FER FEA |
SOU HEA |
SOU FEA |
AST HEA 6 |
AST FEA 7 |
KYO HEA 15 |
KYO FEA DNQ |
KYO 300 4 |
20th | 7 |
Complete F1RICS Results
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | McDoggle Racing Team | Lola B15/00 | Ford V6T | SAO | WDW | GAT | KAN | TEX | INDY | MIL | ROA | MIC | MON | EUR | NHA | WGI | NAS | KEN | POC | SUZ | SUR | VAN | POR | LAG | FON 3 |
39th | 35 | ||
| 2016 | Horizon Motorsport | Lola B16/00 | Ford V6T | SAO 7 |
SLU 18 |
MIA 8 |
GAT 20 |
LBH 16 |
AUS 14 |
POR 19 |
INDY 7 |
MIL 11 |
DON 19 |
EUR 31 |
WGI 27 |
NHA 17 |
MIC 28 |
TOR 5 |
ROA 13 |
KEN 7 |
POC 12 |
MON 3 |
LAG 16 |
SUR 26 |
SUZ 12 |
TEX 17 |
FON 14 |
18th | 51 |
Career Summary
| Year | Series | Team | Position |
| 1994 | NSW Midget Karting | Independent | 1st |
| 1995 | Australian Midget Karting | Independent | 2nd |
| 1996 | Australian Rookie Karting | Independent | 4th |
| 1997 | Formula C Championship | Precision Motorsports | 2nd |
| 1998 | Formula C Championship | Precision Motorsports | 1st |
| 1999 | Australian Formula Ford Championship | Fastlane Racing | 4th |
| 2000 | Australian Formula Ford Championship | Fastlane Racing | 1st |
| 2001 | Australian Formula Three Championship | Piccola Scuderia | 1st |
| Macau Grand Prix | 4th | ||
| 2002 | British Formula Three Championship | Fortec Motorsport | 1st |
| Macau Grand Prix | 1st | ||
| 2003 | International F3000 Championship | Super Nova Racing | 1st |
| 2004 | Formula One | Minardi Cosworth | 13th |
| 2005 | Formula One | Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro | 1st |
| 2006 | Formula One | BMW Sauber | 4th |
| 2007 | Formula One | BMW Sauber | 1st |
| 2008 | Formula One | BMW Sauber | 6th |
| 2009 | Formula One | BMW Sauber | 1st |
| 2010 | Formula One | Mercedes GP | 1st |
| F1RWRS | JLD Motorsport | 17th | |
| 2011 | F1RWRS | Qantas JLD Motorsport | 2nd |
| Formula One | Mercedes Team Europe | 16th | |
| 2012 | F1RWRS | Qantas Melrose Racing Team | 7th |
| Formula One | Mercedes Team Europe | 30th | |
| 2013 | F1RWRS | ArrowTech ART | =8th |
| Castrol Jones Racing | |||
| Formula One | Scuderia Ferrari | 25th | |
| Mercedes AMG | |||
| 2014 | F1RWRS | Castrol Jones Racing | 6th |
| Formula One | Marussia F1 Team | 27th | |
| 2015 | F1RWRS | Simpson Motorsports | =26th |
| Holden F1RWRS Racing Team | |||
| Formula One | Scuderia Ferrari | 29th | |
| RoLFS | Red Bull World Race Team | 20th | |
| F1RICS | McDoggle Racing Team | 39th | |
| 2016 | F1RWRS | Melrose Racing Team | 36th |
| Dofasco Racing | |||
| F1RICS | Horizon Motorsport | 18th | |
| 2017 | F1RWRS | Autodynamics Grand Prix | 21st |
| Boxtel Engineering | |||
| Formula One | Valerian Formula | 27th | |
| 2018 | Formula One | Holden Racing Team | 13th* |
F1 Records Held
- Youngest Driver to score a point: 18 years, 255 days (2004 Australian Grand Prix)
- Youngest Driver to lead a lap: 18 years, 338 days (2004 European Grand Prix)
- Youngest Driver to score a fastest lap: 18 years, 352 days (2004 Canadian Grand Prix)
- Youngest Driver to win a Grand Prix: 18 years, 352 days (2004 Canadian Grand Prix)
- Youngest Driver to win a Grand Prix from pole position: 19 years, 302 days (2005 San Marino Grand Prix)
- Youngest Driver to score a Hat Trick: 19 years, 330 days (2005 Monaco Grand Prix)
- Youngest Driver to score a Grand Chelem: 19 years 330 days (2005 Monaco Grand Prix)
- Youngest Driver to lead the World Championship: 19 years, 337 days (2005 European Grand Prix)
- Youngest Driver to win the World Championship: 20 years, 101 days (2005 Japanese Grand Prix)
| Sporting Accolades | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: James James Davies |
Formula One World Champion 2007 |
Succeeded by: Himself |
| Preceded by: Himself |
Formula One World Champion 2008 |
Succeeded by: Himself |
| Preceded by: Himself |
Formula One World Champion 2009 |
Succeeded by: Himself |
| Preceded by: Himself |
Formula One World Champion 2010 |
Succeeded by: Robert Kubica |