Max Verstappen will be the most profitable Dutchman in Pink Bull’s Formulation 1 historical past, however he isn’t its first driver heralding from the Netherlands. That honour is bestowed to Robert Doornbos, who stepped up from his third driver function to exchange Christian Klien for the ultimate three grands prix of 2006.
Mark Webber’s impending arrival on the fast-growing crew for 2007 meant Doornbos solely had a slender window by which to impress, nevertheless it didn’t assist that improvement on the RB2 had lengthy since ceased. Nor had the automobile which David Coulthard took to the crew’s maiden podium in Monaco been an everyday challenger on the sharp finish.
Pink Bull admitted to being overoptimistic on its Ferrari V8’s cooling properties, which took too lengthy to type and had knock-on results on aero effectivity. A nook hadn’t really been turned when, following the French Grand Prix in July, the pragmatic choice was taken to focus consideration on the primary Adrian Newey-designed Pink Bull that may start its finally profitable affiliation with Renault.
The crew’s solely Ferrari-powered automobile started a slide down the pecking order that meant it ended up behind Toyota, BMW Sauber and Williams in eighth general on a foundation of supertimes – though it really outscored the latter.
Maybe unsurprisingly, Doornbos didn’t handle to crack the factors, although in the identical span neither did team-mate Coulthard – who had solely managed two Q3 appearances after the event faucets have been turned off. However whereas they have been solely paired up for a short while, the 13-time grand prix winner left a giant impression on a driver who had made his F1 debut with Minardi within the ultimate eight races of 2005.
He had by no means beforehand labored with a driver of Coulthard’s standing, having raced alongside fellow rookie Christijan Albers in 2005, and so Doornbos sought to take in as a lot perception as he may from a driver that “ticks all of the packing containers” to be his favorite team-mate: “enjoyable, quick and somebody with expertise”.
Doornbos (center) changed Klien (left) for the ultimate three rounds of 2006 after spending the 12 months observing Coulthard (proper)
Photograph by: Mark Capilitan
“I used to be actually capable of study from his expertise in F1, the way you current your self to the sponsors till squeezing out the quick lap in qualifying, mainly the entire bundle,” displays Doornbos, who discovered that Coulthard “was very relaxed to be round right away”.
Doornbos was a late starter in motorsport by trendy requirements: his curiosity solely perked at age 16 by attending the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix along with his father as a visitor of Williams. What he witnessed that weekend prompted him to surrender what had been a critical tennis profession and change codes with Coulthard, one of many main lights of the age, naturally among the many drivers he aspired to emulate.
A race winner in Formulation 3000 for Christian Horner’s Arden crew in 2004, when as a rookie alongside championship-winning team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi he completed third within the standings, Doornbos was reunited with Pink Bull boss Horner for 2006 as a tester and driver of its third automobile on grand prix Fridays. That meant linking up with Coulthard, who had joined to race what amounted to a re-liveried Jaguar in 2005 after 9 years at McLaren, and Doornbos discovered “I needed to be cautious that I wasn’t fanboying initially!”
“It wasn’t like he can be destroyed for those who can be quicker than him in quali, as a result of then he would have labored on the race set-up and he had a greater race” Robert Doornbos
“After I met David for the primary time, I noticed him as the massive McLaren star who was now main the Pink Bull crew via their first years in Formulation 1,” remembers Doornbos. “He was very open and pleasant; he mentioned to me right away on the first check, ‘You need to leap on the airplane with me?’ So I believed, ‘OK, I actually made it now!’”
The expectations that got here with being a Pink Bull driver in 2006 have been vastly completely different than these going through the crew in 2024. However Doornbos instantly recognised that “that they had a imaginative and prescient, that they had large pockets they usually weren’t messing round”. As such, the donkey work now accomplished by simulator drivers hundreds of miles away from the observe was taken severely.
“Being a 3rd driver/reserve driver in these days was very completely different than what it’s now, the place you are virtually extra like a PR perform in the course of the weekend than lively function on-track,” he explains. “My technical understanding of a Formulation 1 automobile, it was nice, as a result of I used to be capable of study so much doing Michelin tyre testing; you’d check 30 units of tyres in lower than 36 hours, so it was fairly intense.”
It was a really completely different state of affairs to what he’d confronted at Minardi, which Doornbos says survived beneath Paul Stoddart on a week-to-week foundation because of “pure ardour”. At Faenza, which was purchased out by Dietrich Mateschitz for 2006 and rebranded as Toro Rosso to afford Liuzzi and Scott Velocity an opportunity to show themselves in F1’s ultimate V10-powered racer, Doornbos remembers being informed the crew solely had yet one more energy steering unit left which was out there to the very best bidder.
Though expectations of Pink Bull in 2006 weren’t on a par with immediately, Doornbos relished being a part of a crew that took its testing severely
Photograph by: Edd Hartley
As he turned immersed within the function awkwardly shared between Liuzzi and Klien in 2005, with the Austrian getting the lion’s share of racing alternatives, Doornbos credit Coulthard with opening his eyes to the significance of giving correct suggestions. Having heard tales of how the monosyllabic Kimi Raikkonen in his early profession would provide minimal suggestions and depend on his expertise to type issues out, Doornbos modelled his strategy on the Scot. “I attempted to clarify it correctly,” he says, and shortly seen that Coulthard started to respect his enter into debriefs on Fridays because of this.
Finishing 21 days of testing in an RB2 alongside 15 Fridays meant Doornbos had loads of seat time within the RB2 and already “felt really part of the crew” earlier than his race call-up – foreshadowing the chopping and altering that may change into a function of Pink Bull-run groups in years to comply with.
Qualifying on a moist observe for the Chinese language Grand Prix, the place his first F1 run had include Jordan in 2004, would show the spotlight of his temporary tenure as he instantly outpaced Coulthard and reached Q3 in tenth. However their fortunes reversed instantly after the beginning of a race immortalised as Michael Schumacher’s ultimate victory when first-corner contact with Robert Kubica’s BMW Sauber broken the Pink Bull’s entrance wing. His restoration to twelfth, with a quickest lap seven tenths faster than Coulthard, was a story of what may need been.
Christian Klien’s favorite automobile:
“That would have been a sport changer,” he displays. But the efficiency caught in Horner’s thoughts, Doornbos chuckles. It was even talked about on stage in the course of the 20 years of Pink Bull celebration at Goodwood in July.
“We had amusing about it,” says Doornbos. “[DC] was aggressive, nevertheless it wasn’t like he can be destroyed for those who can be quicker than him in quali, as a result of then he would have labored on the race set-up and he had a greater race.”
Doornbos says he felt compelled “to step up my sport” as soon as straight in contrast towards Coulthard. However the next races have been uninspired. He lined up proper behind Coulthard at Suzuka in 18th, however a poor begin consigned Doornbos to an in the end lonely race to thirteenth. A ten-place grid penalty for an engine change left him twenty second on the grid at Interlagos, however with tough dealing with, he struggled to complete twelfth.
“It wasn’t magical, however the crew wasn’t successful races both that point,” Doornbos displays. “I do not suppose there was a giant distinction race-pace-wise however technique, I feel he had the higher hand then.
“If you get into F1, there are extra drivers that may produce a quick lap, however to execute the right weekend, that is a special ball sport. You want a bit extra time and I feel to be sincere, three weekends is not sufficient for a crew to say, ‘OK, he is completely ineffective or he is mega’.”
Outpacing Coulthard in qualifying for his Pink Bull race debut in China was undone with first nook Kubica tangle
Photograph by: Mark Capilitan
Whereas Doornbos headed for Champ Automotive, successful twice and ending third within the standings in 2007, Coulthard remained at Pink Bull till the top of 2008, when he retired from F1 and was changed by the crew’s first world champion Sebastian Vettel. He nonetheless stays on the books immediately for demo occasions and is a paddock common as a TV pundit, a job Doornbos additionally holds within the Netherlands. The 2 stay on pleasant phrases immediately.
Reflecting on his prolonged profession, which later took in a stint with Mercedes within the DTM, Doornbos says Coulthard was “simply the perfect man you possibly can have within the crew”.
“All of the sponsors have been joyful for him to remain for thus lengthy, it was very spectacular what he did,” concludes Doornbos. “He is been actually quick and he gained 13 grands prix, so complete hats off to him.”
Doornbos has large respect for a driver who gained 13 F1 races
Photograph by: Gareth Bumstead
