Why Mercedes’ Stoffel Vandoorne’s Formula E Victory is a Big Achievement

Published 08/14/2020, 11:04 AM EDT

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Not too many drivers can claim to be winners in more than a handful of series. However, former McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne has just become the latest entrant into that elite list. Having taken his first win in the Formula E series yesterday, the Belgian has managed to achieve something very special indeed.

Apart from his win in the Formula E series, Vandoorne has also won races in 5 other single-seater categories. Those being namely, Formula 4 Eurocup 1.6, Formula Renault 2.0, Formula Renault 3.5, GP2, and Super Formula.

This rare achievement from Vandoorne brought him high praise from famous F1 reporter Will Buxton. On hearing of Vandoorne’s achievement, Buxton put out a tweet that highlighted just how treasured Stoffel’s record really is.

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Buxton’s tweet read, “Great tweet and stat from The Bish. What a brilliant achievement by Stoffel Vandoorne. Got me thinking and looking, though. Alexander Rossi (TR1600, FBMW, F Master, GP3, FR3.5, GP@, Indy) and Felix Rosenqvist (FR2.0, FPA, F3, FA1, Indy Lights, FE, Indy) sit just ahead on seven.”

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Stoffel Vandoorne still well behind Juan Pablo Montoya’s record of 10 single-seater category wins

Buxton’s research didn’t stop at Rossi and Rosenqvist. As he delved deeper into the topic he came across Juan Montoya’s record. Montoya’s ridiculous 10 single-seater series wins shocked him. He put out a tweet saying, “You can actually add in Indycar as a separate category to both IRL and ChampCar, I think, so doesn’t that put Montoya on 10??? Astonishing.”

Montoya had a very successful career in F1 itself. The Colombian raced for the likes of Williams and McLaren and competed in a total of 95 Grand Prix races. He won 7 of them and finished on the podium a total of 30 times, which is a podium finish in nearly every third race. Pretty impressive one would say.

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As for Vandoorne, his time in F1 wasn’t so successful. He raced for a McLaren team that was struggling, as a result, he never won a podium. He competed in 42 Grand Prix races for a total of 26 points. However, with how his Formula E career seems to be progressing he wouldn’t be dwelling on his disappointing F1 career too much.

 

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Written by:

Ronan Carvalho

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Ronan Carvalho is senior F1 author for Essentiallysports. Ronan is currently pursuing his Journalism degree from St. Xavier's College.
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