Frédéric-Maxime Voeckler

Frédéric-Maxime Voeckler (born 2nd March, 1967 in 16ème Arrondissement, Paris, France) is a French professional racing driver best known for his appearances in Formula One.

Frédéric-Maxime is part of a large and diverse motorsport family; his older brother Jérémy-Étienne Voeckler is a former Formula One driver and two of his four children; Benoît and Adélaïde have raced at the highest level of motorsport.

Formula One

1988: Minardi

Voeckler's Formula One debut came in 1988, when he signed for Minardi alongside Italian driver Pierluigi Martini. Voeckler's best results were fifth place finishes in the Soviet Union and Australia - good enough for tenth in the championship.

1989-1990: Lotus

Voeckler's steady season in 1988 was enough for him to earn a plum seat alongside 1986 champion Guillaume Gauthier at Lotus. Voeckler's season got off to a great start, taking good points finishes in Brazil and San Marino as well as a maiden podium with third place in the attrition-hit United States Grand Prix. However it was during the Portuguese Grand Prix, another attrition-hit race, where Voeckler took a surprising maiden victory ahead of his teammate Gauthier for a Lotus 1-2.

Voeckler was joined by American driver Brendon Cassidy when Gauthier departed for Arrows ahead of 1990. Lotus were more of a midfield team in 1990 and as such Voeckler was only occasionally in the points. Despite scoring 3 points, Voeckler failed to qualify 3 times and was not retained by Lotus going into 1991.

1991: Ferrari

After Voeckler's release from Lotus, the Frenchman would sign as Ferrari's test driver, alongside regular drivers Ayrton Senna and Jean Alesi. After the Japanese Grand Prix, Senna was fired for repeated public criticism of the team's car, famously calling it "a truck", and Voeckler was called up to fill in for him at the Australian Grand Prix.

Personal Life

Frédéric-Maxime, along with his brother Jérémy-Étienne, has worked as a team principal of Voeckler Grand Prix Engineering since his father Jean-François handed the reins of the team to the pair in the early 2000s. A series of acquisitions in the following years has seen Voeckler become one of the largest motorsport companies in the world.

Frédéric-Maxime has four children - Benoît, twins Adélaïde & Marc-André and Zénaïde with his wife. Benoît has had an incredibly diverse career, having raced in several different categories including F1 and ARWS with varying success - developing a reputation as somewhat of a journeyman. Likewise, Adélaïde has raced at the highest level in ARWS as well as in Japan and Australasia. Her twin brother, Marc-Andre is a prolific sport shooter and biathlete who has represented France at several major international competitions including the Olympic Games as well as a regular competitor in domestic ice racing. Zénaïde is currently making her way up the motorsports ladder and has reached the heights of FIA Formula Two.