Huub Rothengatter

Huub Rothengatter
Born 8 October 1954
Bussum, Netherlands
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Netherlands Dutch
Active years 19841986
Teams Spirit, Osella, Zakspeed
Races 30 (25 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Career points 0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First race 1984 Canadian Grand Prix
Last race 1986 Australian Grand Prix

Hubertus (Huub) Rothengatter (born 8 October 1954, Bussum) is a former racing driver from the Netherlands. He participated in 30 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 17 June 1984. He scored no championship points. He always drove for small and under-funded teams (Spirit, Osella and Zakspeed), and his drives all either started or became available midseason. He tried to get Dutch sponsors in various ways, such as by putting a one-page advertisement in "De Telegraaf" newspaper. Reputedly, when Niki Lauda was asked about him, he referred to him as "rattengott" – literally "God of the rats".

Rothengatter, unlike a lot of fringe drivers who waited for phone calls from F1 teams that never came, was highly successful in attracting personal sponsorship which allowed him to 'buy' his place in the low budget teams, bringing in much needed money to them and allowing him to drive F1 when he otherwise would most likely have missed out.

Rothengatter later entered into Formula One management, as a manager for Dutch driver Jos Verstappen.

Racing record

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts
1979 Docking Spitzley Racing Chevron B48 BMW SIL
8
HOC
Ret
THR
6
NÜR
5
VAL
Ret
MUG
Ret
PAU
DNQ
HOC
Ret
ZAN
12
PER
8
MIS
Ret
DON
13
18th 3
1980 Docking Spitzley Ltd Toleman TG280 Hart THR
6
HOC
5
NÜR
6
VAL
7
PAU
Ret
SIL
5
ZOL
1
MUG
Ret
ZAN
7
PER
4
MIS
4
HOC
12
7th 21
1981 Lista Racing Team March 802 BMW SIL
HOC
THR
NÜR
VAL
MUG
PAU
PER
2
SPA
13
DON
8
MIS
11
MAN
Ret
12th 6

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
1984 Spirit Racing Spirit 101 Hart Straight-4 BRA RSA BEL SMR FRA MON CAN
NC
DAL
Ret
GBR
NC
GER
9
AUT
NC
NED
Ret
ITA
8
EUR POR NC 0
Cosworth V8 DET
DNQ
1985 Osella Squadra Corse Osella FA1G Alfa Romeo V8 BRA POR SMR MON CAN DET FRA GBR GER
Ret
AUT
9
NED
NC
ITA
Ret
BEL
NC
EUR
DNQ
RSA
Ret
AUS
7
NC 0
1986 Zakspeed Racing Zakspeed 861 Zakspeed Straight-4 BRA ESP SMR
Ret
MON
DNQ
BEL
Ret
CAN
12
DET
DNS
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
Ret
AUT
8
ITA
Ret
POR
Ret
MEX
DNS
AUS
Ret
NC 0

Sources