Frédéric-Maxime Voeckler

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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 Spanish 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 Japanese 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.

Results

Formula One

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Points
1988 Lois Minardi Team SpA Minardi M188 Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 BRA
Ret
SMR
10
MON
Ret
MEX
14†
CAN
Ret
DET
10
FRA
7
GBR
14
GER
Ret
HUN
Ret
YUG
11
SOV
5
ITA
10
BEL
13
JPN
8
AUS
5
10th 4
1989 Camel Team Lotus Lotus 101 Renault RS1 3.5 V10 BRA
4
SMR
6
MON
Ret
FRA
8
USA
3
CAN
Ret
GBR
8
GER
Ret
HUN
6
SOV
Ret
POR
1
ITA
Ret
BEL
10
JPN
8
AUS
Ret
MEX
Ret
9th 18
1990 Camel Team Lotus Lotus 102 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8 USA
6
BRA
Ret
PAC
Ret
SMR
6
MON
6
CAN
Ret
MEX
9
FRA
Ret
GBR
DNQ
GER
DNQ
HUN
8
BEL
8
ITA
9
POR
DNQ
JPN
14
AUS
10
13th 3
1991 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 643 Ferrari 037 3.5 V12 USA BRA PAC SMR MON CAN MEX FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN
4
AUS
3
12th 5