Alan van der Merwe
Alan van der Merwe (born 31 January 1980) is a South African former racing driver. From 2009 to 2021, van der Merwe served as the medical car driver in Formula One.
 |
| Alan van der Merwe | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Van der Merwe driving the medical car during the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix | |
| Nationality |  South African |
| Born | 31 January 1980 Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa |
| Previous series | |
| Championship titles | |
| 2003 | British Formula 3 Championship |
Alan van der Merwe (born 31 January 1980) is a South African former racing driver. From 2009 to 2021, van der Merwe served as the medical car driver in Formula One.[1]
Racing career
[edit]Van der Merwe won the 2001 Formula Ford Festival.[2] In 2003, he was the British Formula 3 Champion,[2] and drove for Super Nova Racing in Formula 3000 in 2004.[2] His sponsorship money ran out mid-season and he took a contract as a part-time tester for BAR–Honda.[2]
In 2005 and 2006, van der Merwe raced in the A1 Grand Prix series for A1 Team South Africa,[2] with a best placed finish of 7th in New Zealand. In 2006, he joined the Bonneville 200 MPH Club,[3] driving a modified BAR–Honda 007 car to speeds in excess of 400 kilometres per hour (250 mph) for their Bonneville 400 project; an attempt to set an official land speed record for a Formula One car on the famous Bonneville Salt Flats.[4] In 2008, he drove for James Watt Automotive in the 1000 km of Silverstone, part of the 2008 Le Mans Series,[2] finishing in 33rd place and completing 159 laps. He returned to A1 Grand Prix in 2009 in the final round at Brands Hatch.[2]
FIA role
[edit]Van der Merwe was the official driver of the FIA medical car in Formula One events from 2009 until the end of the 2021 season, when he was replaced due to his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19.[5][6]
Racing record
[edit]| Season | Series | Team name | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Formula Ford Festival | Haywood Racing | 1 | 0 | 1 | NC | 1st |
| British Formula Ford Championship | 14 | 2 | 1 | ? | 2nd | ||
| 2002 | British Formula 3 | Carlin Motorsport | 30 | 0 | 1 | 98 | 8th |
| 2003 | British Formula 3 | Carlin Motorsport | 24 | 5 | 9 | 308 | 1st |
| 2004 | Formula 3000 | Super Nova Racing | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14th |
| 2005 | Formula One | BAR | Test driver | ||||
| 2006–07 | A1 Grand Prix | A1 Team South Africa | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2008 | Le Mans Series | James Watt Automotive | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 37th |
| 2008–09 | A1 Grand Prix | A1 Team South Africa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| Source:[2][7] | |||||||
Complete International Formula 3000 results
[edit](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 | DC | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Super Nova Racing | IMO 8 |
CAT 12 |
MON 9 |
NUR Ret |
MAG 9 |
SIL 8 |
HOC Ret |
HUN | SPA | MNZ | 14th | 2 | [8] |
Complete A1 Grand Prix results
[edit](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 | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–07 | A1 Team South Africa | NED SPR |
NED FEA |
CZE SPR |
CZE FEA |
BEI SPR |
BEI FEA |
MYS SPR |
MYS FEA |
IDN SPR 9 |
IDN FEA Ret |
NZL SPR 7 |
NZL FEA 16 |
AUS SPR 16 |
AUS FEA Ret |
RSA SPR |
RSA FEA |
MEX SPR |
MEX FEA |
SHA SPR 8 |
SHA FEA 12 |
GBR SPR |
GBR SPR |
NC | 0 | [9] |
| 2008–09 | NED SPR |
NED FEA |
CHN SPR |
CHN FEA |
MYS SPR |
MYS FEA |
NZL SPR |
NZL FEA |
RSA SPR |
RSA FEA |
POR SPR |
POR FEA |
GBR SPR 15 |
GBR SPR 11 |
14th | 19 | [10] |
References
[edit]- ^ "Driving the F1 Medical Car - the world's fastest ambulance". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Alan van der Merwe". Driver Database. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ^ "Bonneville 200mph Club Members by Year" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ^ Hanlon, Mike (18 July 2006). "Honda F1 car attempts land speed record at Bonneville". gizmag. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ^ "F1 unveils new Safety and Medical cars for 2015". Grand Prix Times. 6 March 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ^ "F1 Medical Car driver replaced ahead of new season". 17 March 2022.
- ^ "Alan van der Merwe". MotorSport. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ "Alan van der Merwe Career Season 2004". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- ^ "A1 Grand Prix - Season 2006–2007". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- ^ "A1 Grand Prix - Season 2008–2009". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
External links
[edit]- Alan van der Merwe career summary at DriverDB.com