Formula One/Characters

The 2012 Formula One grid as it stands, with 2011 drivers not yet committed below. For brevity’s sake, keep it to the current year’s drivers and those signed for next year, do not add past champions or other personnel.

#1 - Sebastian Vettel

 * Team: Red Bull
 * Nationality: German
 * Year of Debut: 2007
 * Wins: 21

Sebastian Vettel is the 2010 and 2011 World Champion, and the youngest to ever to achieve that - both becoming a World Champion, and then doing it back-to-back. Vettel's career began as a test driver for BMW Sauber, where he filled in for Robert Kubica after his crash in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, leading Toro Rosso to sign him as a replacement. He currently also holds the record for youngest pole position and youngest grand prix winner, earning both at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix when he was 21 years old. This also gave Toro Rosso its maiden win. Vettel’s performance in this race led people to dub him “Baby Schumi”, since his skills in the rain reminded people of Michael Schumacher. In 2009 he moved to Red Bull to replace the retired David Coulthard, and gave Red Bull its first victory as well in China. He was the closest challenger to Jenson Button throughout the year, finishing second. In the 2011 season he dominated almost every race, winning 11 of them and setting a new world record of 15 pole positions in one season (the previous holder being Nigel Mansell, unbeaten since 1992). He is currently one of the directors of the Grand Prix Drivers Association.

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#2 - Mark Webber

 * Team: Red Bull
 * Nationality: Australian
 * Year of Debut: 2002
 * Wins: 7

Despite his years in Formula One, Mark Webber did not hit his stride until joining Red Bull after driving for Jaguar and Williams. Until his first win, he had been known as “the unluckiest man in F1”, reinforced in people’s minds after the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix, where he raced while still ill with food poisoning before Sebastian Vettel ran into the back of his car. He raced in 2009 with steel rods in one of his legs after breaking it in an accident during a charity event. He scored his first win in Germany of that year, where he also got his first pole position. In Valencia of this year, his car flipped when he ran into Heikki Kovalainen, but sustained no injuries. Many favoured him for becoming world champion in 2010 due to allegations that Red Bull favoured Vettel (not helped by incidents in Turkey and Silverstone), but his performances dropped off at the end of the season. Did quite well in 2011, where despite winning only one race, he managed to be on the podium most of the time, including a very good comeback from 18th to 3rd place in the Chinese Grand Prix.

#3 - Jenson Button

 * Team: McLaren
 * Nationality: British
 * Year of Debut: 2000
 * Wins: 12

Jenson Button is the 2009 World Champion, and shocked everyone when he had switched from Brawn GP (now Mercedes) to McLaren, saying that now he has a championship, he is looking for a new challenge at McLaren. Since McLaren also has the 2008 champion, Lewis Hamilton, this marks the first time a team has had a double champion lineup since Prost and Senna in 1989 (incidentally, also for McLaren). His driving style has been compared to Alain Prost’s - very methodical and precise. Despite winning the championship in 2009, the latest season (2011) has been hailed as probably his best yet. He is the only one to outperform Lewis Hamilton as a teammate, and highlights included a brilliant drive in Canada, where he recovered from last place after a puncture and a drive-through to snatch first place from Vettel on the last lap of the longest-ever Grand Prix.

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#4 - Lewis Hamilton

 * Team: McLaren
 * Nationality: British
 * Year of Debut: 2007
 * Wins: 17

Lewis Hamilton is the 2008 World Champion. He also ties the record for most wins in a debut season with Jacques Villeneuve, both earning four. After successes in other driving formulae, he became the 2006 GP2 champion. Moving to McLaren the next year, he clashed with his teammate Fernando Alonso, which ended up hurting both their and McLaren’s championship prospects, causing Kimi Raikkonen to take the championship. In 2008, he won the championship at literally the last minute, passing Timo Glock at the last corner, giving him enough points to edge out Felipe Massa. 2011 was a troubled season for him - despite three wins, he had many incidents (mostly with Felipe Massa) and crashed out of several races. He has nevertheless remained a strong driver, though.

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#5 - Fernando Alonso

 * Team: Ferrari
 * Nationality: Spanish
 * Year of Debut: 2001
 * Wins: 27

Fernando Alonso is the 2005 and 2006 World Champion, making him the then-youngest person to win two championships (the record has now been broken by Sebastian Vettel). He earned both those wins with Renault, beating seven time champion Michael Schumacher in the process. In 2007, he signed with McLaren, but clashes with his teammate Lewis Hamilton led Alonso to break his contract with McLaren and go back to Renault, getting caught up in the Spygate controversy in the process. (He was acquitted from sanction for turning over evidence that led to McLaren’s disqualification from the constructor’s championship.) He was also caught up in the Crashgate controversy, where his teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. conspired with then team principal Flavio Briatore to deliberately crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix after Alonso pitted, to give him a win, but he was cleared of all charges of involvement. Alonso signed up with Ferrari after they gave Kimi Raikkonen financial incentive to terminate his contract early. He was involved with the 2010 German Grand Prix scandal, where under team orders Felipe Massa was forced to let Alonso by. Alonso became the first person since Schumacher in 2006 to achieve the Grand Chelem, achieving the pole and win at Singapore, leading the entire race from start to finish, and having the fastest lap - another feat that Sebastian Vettel repeated, albeit at a different track. -

#6 - Felipe Massa

 * Team: Ferrari
 * Nationality: Brazilian
 * Year of Debut: 2002
 * Wins: 11

Felipe Massa spent his early F1 years either as Sauber’s driver or Ferrari’s test driver. He became a Ferrari driver in 2006 after Rubens Barrichello broke his contract, dissatisfied with being the number two driver. He won his first pole and win in the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, then later won the Brazilian Grand Prix, making him the first Brazilian since Ayrton Senna to do so. He was a serious contender for the 2008 World Championship, losing at the last minute when Lewis Hamilton passed Timo Glock at the final corner of the final race, giving Hamilton enough points for the championship. In 2009, he was seriously injured when an errant spring from Barrichello’s car struck him in the helmet, forcing him to miss the rest of the season. He is one of the current directors of the Grand Prix Drivers Association.

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#7 - Michael Schumacher

 * Team: Mercedes GP
 * Nationality: German
 * Year of Debut: 1991
 * Wins: 91

The most successful driver in Formula One history, Michael Schumacher has the record for most championships (seven, 1994, 1995, 2000-2004) and most race wins in history. He also was only driver currently racing to have achieved the Grand Chelem until Singapore. Schumacher was most well known for being a Ferrari driver, and even more notoriously for being the favored son there, at the expense of his teammates. He retired in 2006, once claiming that he did it to save Felipe Massa’s career, since Ferrari wanted to sign Kimi Raikkonen. He had considered coming out of retirement last year to replace the injured Massa, but was unable to. He then chose to come out of retirement and signed with Mercedes GP, bringing his career full circle, since he started his career at Mercedes. Many suggest that his comeback is a failure, considering he failed to score a single podium this past season (compared to Rosberg's two) and after controversy in Hungary, where he nearly put former teammate Rubens Barrichello through the wall.

#8 - Nico Rosberg

 * Team: Mercedes GP
 * Nationality: German
 * Year of Debut: 2006
 * Wins: 1

Son of Finnish Formula One champion Keke Rosberg, Nico Rosberg currently holds the record for youngest driver to set a fastest lap at a grand prix, doing it at his debut race in the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix. He won the GP2 championship in its inaugural year (2005), and drove for Williams for four years before signing with Mercedes. Technically, he was the first driver to sign, and should have had the number three, but the superstitious Michael Schumacher requested that they switch numbers instead, as he always drove with an odd number. ---

#9 - Kimi Räikkönen

 * Team: Lotus (previously called Renault)
 * Nationality: Finnish
 *  Year of Debut: 2001, left in 2010 and returned in 2012
 * Wins: 18

A previous Championship winner (2007) who left in 2010 to join the World Rally Championship, and had some good wins. He then tried NASCAR racing for two races in 2011 and decided to return to F1 once again.

His cool personality (and lack of smiling) earnt him the nickman "Iceman" that he has on his helmet.

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#10 - Romain Grosjean

 * Team: Lotus (previously Renault)
 * Nationality: French Swiss
 * Year of Debut: 2009
 * Wins: 0

Grosjean was the 2007 Formula Three Euroseries drivers' champion and the inaugural GP 2 Asia Series champion and drove in Formula One in 2009. He is currently the reigning GP 2 Asia Series and GP 2 Series champion and holds the unique achievements of being the only two-time GP 2 Asia champion and the only driver to hold both the GP 2 Asia series and main GP 2 series titles simultaneously.

He was a test driver in the 2008 and 2009 season for Renault, driving five races in the 2009 season with average results. In 2010 he raced in the GT 1 championships, Auto GP and GP 2. He returned as a test driver in 2010 and drove two races and was then announced to get a full time driver spot in 2012.

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#11 - Paul Di Resta

 * Team: Force India
 * Nationality: British
 * Year of Debut: 2011
 * Wins: 0

Paul Di Resta is a Scottish racing driver who is also the current DTM champion of 2010 and was Force India's third driver last year. His performances have resulted in him being promoted to a full time race seat this year.

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#12-Nico Hülkenberg

 * Team: Williams
 * Nationality: German
 * Year of Debut: 2010
 * Wins: 0

One of the rookies of Formula One, Nico Hulkenberg is the current champion of the GP2 Championship, the feeder series to F1. He had served as Williams’s test driver since 2007, and had been linked to a Ferrari seat during Felipe Massa’s injury. After both of Williams’s drivers left the team, he was ascended to a full driving position, being paired with veteran Rubens Barrichello. In Brazil he took his maiden pole position, much to the shock of everyone else.

He is currently signed as Force India's third driver for 2011 and 2012. He has confirmed that he will not drive for Williams next year since they could not agree on contract terms.

#14 - Kamui Kobayashi

 * Team: Sauber
 * Nationality: Japanese
 * Year of Debut: 2009
 * Wins: 0

Kamui Kobayashi served as Toyota’s test driver, and replaced Timo Glock for the final two races of the 2009 season after Glock suffered from a broken leg and cracked vertebra after a crash in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. He scored points and raced competitively during those two races, leading a reformed Sauber to offer him a racing seat. He is a fan favourite for his aggressive overtaking moves and his willingness to challenge anyone for position, including the likes of Michael Schumacher, without a second thought.

#15 - Sergio Pérez

 * Team: Sauber
 * Nationality: Mexican
 * Year of Debut: 2011
 * Wins: 0

Sergio Pérez is the champion runner-up for this year's GP2 championship, failing to score enough points to surpass Pastor Maldonado. He has previously won the Formula Three championship in the National Class (category for older chassis).

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#16 - Daniel Ricciardo
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 * Team: Toro Rosso
 * Nationality: Australian
 * Year of Debut: 2011
 * Wins: 0

#17 - Jean-Éric Vergne

 * Team: Toro Rosso
 * Nationality: French
 * Year of Debut: 2012
 * Wins: 0

#18 - Pastor Maldonado

 * Team: Williams
 * Nationality: Venezuelan
 * Year of Debut: 2011
 * Wins: 0

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#19 - Bruno Senna

 * Team: Williams
 * Nationality: Brazilian
 * Year of Debut: 2010
 * Wins: 0

Nephew of three-time champion Ayrton Senna, Bruno Senna made his debut two years ago, after nearly securing a seat at Brawn before they decided to go with Rubens Barrichello instead. He takes career advice from Ayrton’s former teammate and friend Gerhard Berger. Senna missed the 2010 British Grand Prix due to disciplinary reasons, but returned to the cockpit next race.

This year he got signed up for Williams, the same team that his uncle was part of and many of the team members actually worked with him.

#20 - Heikki Kovalainen

 * Team: Caterham (previously Lotus)
 * Nationality: Finnish
 * Year of Debut: 2007
 * Wins: 1

Heikki Kovalainen started as Renault’s test driver before being promoted to a full driving position upon Fernando Alonso’s move to McLaren. After Alonso moved back to Renault, Kovalainen became the fourth Finn to race for McLaren (after Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen, and Kimi Raikkonen). In the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix he suffered a crash that left him buried under the tire barrier and semi conscious (he apparently was conscious throughout the rescue effort, but did not remember anything between the crash and waking up at the hospital). He became the hundredth driver to win a Formula One grand prix at Germany of that year.

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#21- Vitaly Petrov

 * Team: Caterham
 * Nationality: Russian
 * Year of Debut: 2010
 * Wins: 0

Vitaly Petrov is the first Russian to compete in Formula One. He spent the past four years competing in the GP2 championship, ending up as runner up to Nico Hulkenberg in 2009. He is also currently the tallest driver on the grid at 1.85 meters. A rather inconsistent rookie season has done little to shift the widepsread doubt that he has the seat more for his ability to shift Renaults in Russia than to drive one particularly quickly. A particularly stunning error of judgment was spinning into a barrier in Q1 at Spa...after deliberately running over a damp kerb to determine how wet it actually was. However, he has also produced some decent drives, including a fifth at Hungary, and notably fending off a determined Alonso for much of the race at Abu Dhabi. (The Spaniard made his feelings abundantly clear post-race)

#22-Pedro de la Rosa

 * Team: HRT
 * Nationality: Spanish
 * Year of Debut: 1999
 * Wins: 0

Pedro de la Rosa had been the former number 22 at Sauber. He started his career in Arrows and Jaguar before joining McLaren, serving as a test driver before replacing Juan Pablo Montoya for the remainder of 2006. He continued to work as McLaren’s test driver and as chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association. He was involved in the Spygate controversy alongside Fernando Alonso, but escaped sanctions due to turning over evidence. In 2010 he secured a drive with Sauber and stepped down from the GPDA chairman’s position, suggesting the now Mercedes test driver Nick Heidfeld to be his replacement. He was dropped by Sauber after Monza after a poor performance, scoring only six points (compared to Kobayashi's twenty-one), replaced by, ironically enough, Nick Heidfeld.

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#23 - Narain Karthikeyan

 * Team: HRT
 * Nationality: Indian
 * Year of Debut: 2005
 * Wins: 0

Narain Karthikeyan is India's first Formula One driver, making his debut with Jordan back in 2005, scoring five points in the scandal of Indianapolis. After the 2005 season he became a tester for Williams and stayed in that position until the end of 2007 but a lack of sponsorship meant that Kazuki Nakajima was given preference once Alexander Wurz retired. After spending some time in Superleauge Formula and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (being voted most popular driver of that series) among others, he announced his comeback with Hispania Racing for the 2011 season. -

#24-Timo Glock

 * Team: Marussia (previously Virgin)
 * Nationality: German
 * Year of Debut: 2004
 * Wins: 0

Timo Glock made his debut in 2004, replacing Giorgio Pantano for the rest of the season. He then spent the next few years in Champ Car and GP2, becoming the 2007 champion of GP2. He raced for Toyota in 2008 and 2009, but had to miss the final three races of 2009 when he crashed in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, suffering a broken bone and vertebra.

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#25- Charles Pic

 * Team: Marussia (previously Virgin)
 * Nationality: French
 * Year of Debut: 2012
 * Wins: 0

Karun Chandhok

 * Nationality: Indian
 * Year of Debut: 2010
 * Wins: 0

Karun Chandhok had been the former number 20 in Hispania Racing Team, becoming only the second Indian to race in Formula One. He was replaced by Sakon Yamamoto for the German and Hungarian Grand Prixs, for experimental reasons. Later HRT claimed he failed to fuffill contractual obligations, became a popular presenter on the Radio 5 Live F1 coverage.

He is linked with a move to Force India for 2011, but was found out not to have gotten the job

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Christian Klien

 * Nationality: Austrian
 * Year of Debut: 2004
 * Wins: 0

Christian Klein is HRT's current test driver. He had begun his career in Jaguar before it was bought out and became Red Bull. After being dropped in favor of Mark Webber, Klien served as test driver for Honda and BMW Sauber before becoming HRT's test driver. He replaced Sakon Yamamoto in the Singapore Grand Prix when Yamamoto came down with food poisoning.

He is not currently signed for a seat next year. ---

Sakon Yamamoto

 * Team: HRT
 * Nationality: Japanese
 * Year of Debut: 2006
 * Wins: 0

Sakon Yamamoto had previously driven for backmarkers Super Aguri and Spyker before becoming Renault’s test driver and competing in GP2. He signed up as Hispania Racing Team’s test driver. In the British Grand Prix he replaced Bruno Senna due to disciplinary reasons on Senna’s part. He then went to replace Karun Chandhok for the next two races, as an experiment on HRT’s part, though that didn’t prevent fans from suggesting that it was because he had the money to buy a seat. He missed the Singapore Grand Prix due to food poisoning, but is due back in the cockpit for Japan, provided he recovers.

He is not currently signed for a seat next year.

Lucas di Grassi

 * Team: Virgin
 * Nationality: Brazilian
 * Year of Debut: 2010
 * Wins: 0

One of the rookies of Formula One, Lucas di Grassi competed in Formula Three and GP2, becoming Timo Glock’s closest rival in the 2007 season. He signed up to be Renault’s test driver in 2009, and this year joined Virgin Racing, ironically with his old rival Glock as his teammate.

He is not currently signed for a seat next year.

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Robert Kubica

 * Team: Renault
 * Nationality: Polish
 * Year of Debut: 2006
 * Wins: 1

Robert Kubica is the first Polish driver to compete in Formula One. He started as BMW Sauber’s test driver, replacing Jacques Villeneuve in the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix after Villeneuve crashed in the previous race. He would go on to replace him after Villeneuve decided to end his Formula One career with immediate effect. In 2007 Kubica had a massive crash in the Canadian Grand Prix, but only suffered a concussion and sprained ankle (credit must go to the HANS device, for his crash was similar to the fatal one of Roland Ratzenberger). In next year’s Canadian Grand Prix, he would secure his first win in F1. His continuation in Formula One was put in doubt when at the end of 2009, BMW Sauber announced its withdrawal, and then Renault, the team he signed for, was in danger of doing the same until it was bought out by an outside party.

Between tests for the 2011 season, a crash in the Ronde di Andora Rally has almost severed his right hand and given him multiple fractures his arm and leg. It is unlikely that he will be racing in 2011, but Renault are optimistic of his recovery for the following year, and he himself wants to return before the end of 2011. Alas he did not as he felt he wasn't ready to join the 2012 season and will be trying for the 2013 season.

Rubens Barrichello

 * Nationality: Brazilian
 * Year of Debut: 1993
 * Wins: 11

Rubens Barrichello currently holds the record for most entries and starts in Formula One, 300 entries as of the 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix, 296 starts. He also has the record for longest continuous racing career in F1, currently in his eighteenth season. Barrichello was one of the casualties of the infamous 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, crashing in Friday practice, nearly choking on his tongue but survived with only a broken arm and nose. Barrichello is most notorious for serving as the number two driver in Ferrari, infamously letting Michael Schumacher pass in the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix on team orders. This and other events led him to break his contract with Ferrari and signed up with Honda. He was retained when Ross Brawn bought out Honda (renamed Brawn GP) because they needed experienced drivers in the wake of the ban of mid-season testing. After a successful 2009 season, he signed with Williams, the last team of his mentor Ayrton Senna. He is the current GPDA chairman, after Nick Heidfeld stepped down to become a Pirelli tire tester.

Currently out of the 2012 season with no say on whether or not he plans to leave F1 permanently.

Jaime Alguersuari

 * Nationality: Spanish
 * Year of Debut: 2009
 * Wins: 0

Jaime Alguersuari is the youngest driver to compete in Formula One history, entering the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix at 19 years and 125 days. He is also the youngest person to win the British Formula Three Championship. He DJs in his spare time.

Currently out of the 2012 season and this season is working for the BBC as commentary (he previously worked for the Spanish broadcaster as a technical adviser - a common role for drivers).