Robin Frijns
| Robin Frijns | |
|---|---|
 Frijns in 2012. | |
| Nationality |
 Dutch |
| Born |
7 August 1991 Maastricht (Netherlands) |
| Previous series | |
| 2013 2012 2011 2010–11 2009–10 |
GP2 Series Formula Renault 3.5 Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Formula BMW Europe |
| Championship titles | |
| 2012 2011 2010 |
Formula Renault 3.5 Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula BMW Europe |
Robin Frijns (born 7 August 1991 in Maastricht, Netherlands) is a Dutch auto racing driver, but lives in Belgium. He is the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion, and the first driver to have won the series in his debut season since Robert Kubica in 2005.[1]
Career
Karting
Frijns has been an active kart racer in Belgium and France. In 2008, he finished third in the KF2 European Championship category and runner-up in the French Championship, at the same level.
Formula BMW
Frijns began his formula racing career in the 2009 Formula BMW Europe season with Josef Kaufmann Racing.[2] He finished third overall in the championship, with a win at Silverstone and six podiums. He also finished as the highest-placed rookie in the championship.
Formula Renault
Formula Renault 2.0
Frijns made his first attempt at Formula Renault 2.0, racing at the Spa-Francorchamps round of the 2010 Northern European Cup. Driving for Josef Kaufman Racing once more, Frijns finished second in the first race of the meeting, fifth in the second race, and won the third.
In 2011, Frijns joined the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship full-time, continuing to drive for Josef Kaufman Racing.[3] He won the title on his first attempt, winning five races over the course of the season – including both races at Silverstone – and finishing forty-five points ahead of his nearest rival, Carlos Sainz, Jr..
Frijns also competed in the Northern European Cup, finishing the season fourth overall, despite missing the Oschersleben, Most and Monza rounds of the championship. Over the course of the season, he won one race and finished on the podium seven times.
Formula Renault 3.5
In 2012, Frijns made the transition to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series – the highest tier of the World Series by Renault – this time racing for British team Fortec Motorsports.[4] As in 2011, Frijns won the title on his first attempt,[5] winning races at Motorland Aragón, the Moscow Raceway and the Hungaroring, and scoring five podiums and four poles over the course of the season.
Frijns' title came amidst controversy when he was involved in a collision with rival driver Jules Bianchi in the final race of the season in Barcelona.[1] Bianchi passed Frijns at the start of lap 21, and he quickly came under more pressure from Carlin driver Kevin Magnussen. Magnussen made an attempt to pass Frijns at the Repsol corner, but Frijns moved to block him. The move forced Bianchi wide, and he skirted across the gravel trap and into the wall and retirement. Frijns went on to finish the race in seventh place, but race stewards decided that he had caused an avoidable collision and twenty-five seconds were added to his race time, demoting him to fourteenth place.[6] As Bianchi had failed to score, and fellow title rival Sam Bird had failed to score enough points, Frijns' title remained intact. In the days following the meeting, Bianchi accused Frijns of intentionally running him off the road,[7] a charge which Frijns denied.[8]
GP2 Series
After the end of 2012, Frijns announced that he would not compete in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2013 and after his announcement at Sauber as test driver, his new team expressed their desire for Frijns to be racing in 2013 as he would not be testing for them full-time in 2013.
After an impressive test with Mercedes' DTM team, Frijns was not offered a drive with the manufacturer. Frijns instead opted to try for a GP2 seat, and tested with veteran team Trident Racing and new team Russian Time. Frijns showed impressive pace and Trident's team principal Maurizio Salvadori praised him and stated his intentions to have Frijns race for the team. However a lack of funding put him on the sidelines for the start of 2013 in Malaysia.
Before the second race in Bahrain, Frijns announced that he would race with new-for-2013 team Hilmer for the second event of the season, replacing Conor Daly and partnering Pål Varhaug. Frijns qualified in a very respectable 10th position ahead of pre-season favourite James Calado, but struggled to adapt to the new Pirelli tyres in the races, before a collision in the first race with Stéphane Richelmi whilst in a points-scoring position compromised his weekend. Team principal Franz Hilmer however was impressed with Frijns and hoped he could compete full-time with the team in 2013.
In only his second weekend, Frijns took a win and a second place at Circuit de Catalunya supporting the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.
Formula One
On 18 October 2012, Sauber announced that Frijns will be driving their car during the third round of Young Drivers Test in Abu Dhabi alongside the team's testing and reserve driver Esteban Gutiérrez.[9] As the highest-placed Formula Renault driver not attached to any established Formula One team, Frijns was also added to Red Bull Racing's line-up for the test.[10]
Reflecting on Frijns' 2012 season, ESPN commentator Ben Evans opined that "anything less than a Formula One race seat next year would be a travesty".[11]
On 23 November 2012 it was announced that Robin Frijns would become part of the Sauber F1 Team, and would serve as test and reserve driver in 2013.[12]
On 21 January 2014, Frijns confirmed that he will be a reserve driver for the Caterham F1 Team in the 2014 F1 season.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Formula BMW Europe | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 265 | 3rd |
| 2010 | Formula BMW Europe | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 16 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 383 | 1st |
| Formula Renault 2.0 NEC | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 70 | 14th | ||
| 2011 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 245 | 1st |
| Formula Renault 2.0 NEC | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 238 | 4th | ||
| 2012 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Fortec Motorsport | 17 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 189 | 1st |
| 2013 | GP2 Series | Hilmer Motorsport | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 47 | 15th |
| Formula One | Sauber | Test driver | |||||||
* Season in progress.
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Fortec Motorsports | ALC 1 3 |
ALC 2 1 |
MON 1 Ret |
SPA 1 7 |
SPA 2 3 |
NÜR 1 3 |
NÜR 2 5 |
MOS 1 1 |
MOS 2 17 |
SIL 1 2 |
SIL 2 9 |
HUN 1 1 |
HUN 2 5 |
LEC 1 7 |
LEC 2 9 |
CAT 1 3 |
CAT 2 14 |
1st | 189 |
Complete GP2 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Hilmer Motorsport | MYS FEA |
MYS SPR |
BHR FEA 21 |
BHR SPR 23 |
ESP FEA 1 |
ESP SPR 2 |
MON FEA Ret |
MON SPR 15 |
GBR FEA 13 |
GBR SPR Ret |
GER FEA 6 |
GER SPR Ret |
HUN FEA |
HUN SPR |
BEL FEA 9 |
BEL SPR Ret |
ITA FEA |
ITA SPR |
SGP FEA |
SGP SPR |
ABU FEA |
ABU SPR |
15th | 47 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Frijns gets title in clash, da Costa wins". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). 21 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
- ↑ "Josef Kaufmann Racing — Formula BMW Europe Season 2009". jk-racing.de (Josef Kaufmann Racing). 9 January 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2009. "Josef Kaufman Racing will compete in the 2009 Formula BMW Europe Championship with the drivers Robin Frijns, Kazeem Manzur and Facu Regalia"
- ↑ "Frijns e Tunjo si affidano a Kaufmann" [Frijns and Tunjo join Kaufmann]. ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian) (Inpagina). 26 January 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ↑ "Frijns completes Fortec Formula Renault 3.5 line-up". Fortec Motorsports (Fortec Motorsport Ltd.). 30 January 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ↑ Collantine, Keith (21 October 2012). "One to Watch — Robin Frijns". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ↑ "Frijns penalised but keeps title". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). 21 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ↑ "Bianchi says Frijns pushed him out". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). 22 October 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
- ↑ "Frijns: Bianchi clash a racing incident". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). 22 October 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
- ↑ Collantine, Keith (18 October 2012). "Frijns gets Sauber test chance". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ↑ Freeman, Glenn (19 October 2012). "Robin Frijns says Sauber Formula 1 test crucial for career". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ↑ Evans, Ben (19 October 2012). "F1 hopefuls battle for Formula Renault 3.5 title". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collatine). Retrieved 22 October 2012.
- ↑ "Sauber F1 Team signs Esteban Gutiérrez as its race driver, Robin Frijns becomes test and reserve driver". Sauber F1 Team. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
External links
- Official website
- Robin Frijns career summary at DriverDB.com
- Robin Frijns on Twitter
| |||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Felipe Nasr |
Formula BMW Europe Champion 2010 |
Succeeded by Championship disbanded |
| Preceded by Kevin Korjus |
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Champion 2011 |
Succeeded by Stoffel Vandoorne |
| Preceded by Robert Wickens |
Formula Renault 3.5 Series Champion 2012 |
Succeeded by Kevin Magnussen |