Alexander Wurz will retire

This will thus mark the end of a career that began in 1989 and will conclude at the upcoming Six Hours of Bahrain, the WEC season finale.

The career of the immense Austrian has been marked by many high points. At the age of 12, he became world champion and vice-European champion in BMX. He then turned to the track, starting with karting. Although he achieved victories in the Austrian and German Formula Ford and Formula 3, it was in 1996 that he made a name for himself with the general public when he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans at just 22 years old.

The following season, he moved to Formula 1 with Benetton, where he reached the podium in his third race. He then stayed for four years with the future Renault team before becoming the third driver at McLaren. In 2006, he retained the same role at Williams. In 2007, he became a main driver again, still with Williams, for what would be his final season in F1. It was crowned with a final podium in Montreal.

He then returned to his former passions, namely endurance racing. His arrival at Peugeot went ideally as he won the race again, 13 years after his first success in Sarthe.

For the 2012 season, he switched to Toyota, which was making its return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He secured the Japanese manufacturer’s first victory in the third race of the season.

In 2014, Toyota was the favorite to win the race. Alexander Wurz’s crew was even in the lead for more than 15 hours before having to retire due to an electrical short circuit. Such a disappointment was hard to accept, as he himself admits: « Endurance, especially Le Mans, is one of the most difficult sports. I have been leading in most of the 24 Hours of Le Mans I have participated in. But being in the lead for 15 hours last year before retiring was the hardest. I had put so much effort in 2014 into preparing for this race that it was very hard to retire. In previous years, such a defeat would have made me stronger, ready to bounce back for a new challenge. But not this time. It was the moment when I knew my time at the highest level was coming to a natural end. »

He will therefore focus on developing his businesses, particularly in advising young drivers or designing new tracks.

As for Toyota, they will therefore need to find a replacement. The former F1 driver, Kamui Kobayashi, who became the Japanese manufacturer’s reserve driver at the start of the season, is being mentioned.

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr