Alexander Georg Wurz (born 15 February 1974) is an Austrian former professional racing driver, driver training expert and businessman. He competed in Formula One from until , and is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours. He is currently under contract to race for the Toyota factory racing team in the WEC ( World Endurance Championship). In Formula 1, he is a commentator for TV and media, as well as being Williams F1 Team's driver coach, chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, and occasionally a driver steward.

Career

Cycling

Born in

Waidhofen an der Thaya Waidhofen an der Thaya (; Czech: ''Český Bejdov'') is an Austrian town located on the German Thaya river in the district of the same name in Lower Austria. It is the northernmost of the capitals of the Districts of Austria. Population Tw ...

, Wurz competed in cycling events in his youth, and won the

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...

World Championship in 1986 at the age of 12. In 2000, Wurz started a

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which ...

team with his countryman Markus Rainer. The team,

Rainer-Wurz.com Rainer-Wurz.com was an international mountain bike team owned and run by former MTB rider Markus Rainer and former Formula One driver Alexander Wurz. The team was formed in 1995 as Rainer Bike Team by Markus after he retired from top-line riding ...

, is sponsored by sponsors

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

, Siemens, and Cannondale, and has won the World Cup several times. In the early 2000s, niche bicycle brand Katarga presented a limited edition high-end

called the Alexander Wurz EVO SL, whose frame prominently featured Wurz's autograph.

Auto racing

Early career

Like most

Formula One drivers Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheel car, open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rul ...

, Wurz's motorsport career began with

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

. In 1991, Wurz drove in

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula Fo ...

. In 1993, he switched to the

German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship t ...

. During his time in Formula 3, Wurz crashed out of the lead at a race at

AVUS The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS, is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern par ...

in 1995 after a collision with the safety car. From 1996, Wurz drove an

Opel Calibra The Opel Calibra is a coupé, engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel between 1989 and 1997. In the United Kingdom, where it remained on sale until 1999, it was marketed under the Vauxhall brand as the Vauxhall Calibra. It was also ...

for the

Joest Racing Joest Racing is a sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany. Early years As a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began ...

touring car team in the DTM. Also in 1996, Wurz, together with Davy Jones and

Manuel Reuter Manuel Reuter (born 6 December 1961 in Mainz) is a German former race car driver. He has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice: *in 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans for Sauber-Mercedes *in 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans for Joest Racing He also won the Int ...

, won the

Le Mans 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

and in so doing became the youngest ever winner of the 24-hour race, a record he still holds.

Formula One

=Benetton (1997–2000)

Wurz's Formula One debut was on 15 June 1997 at

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

for Benetton filling in for fellow Austrian

Gerhard Berger Gerhard Berger (born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. He competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, twice finishing 3rd overall in the championship ( and ), both times driving for Ferrari. He won ten Grands Prix, a ...

, who could not race due to illness. Wurz achieved a podium position in his third race ( 1997 British Grand Prix) before returning to being a test driver upon Berger's return to the cockpit at the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in Rh ...

, which Berger won. Wurz was given a full-time race seat for the 1998 season with Benetton and spent three more seasons at the team, partnered each year by

Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian professional racing driver, also captain of the official ''Nazionale Piloti'' association football team (composed of the racing drivers). He has ...

. In 1998, he outscored Fisichella by one point to finish joint 7th in the driver's championship together with

Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born 18 May 1967) is a German former racing driver. He competed in multiple disciplines including Sportscars, Formula One and DTM. He had his most success in Formula One, entering over 150 Grands Prix and winning three. E ...

. At the 1998 Monaco Grand Prix, he was running second ahead of

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

for a brief period, but his hopes of a podium finish were ruined when Schumacher collided with him when tried to pass at Loews hairpin. The collision broke his suspension, causing him to spin off and crash at the Nouvelle Chicane exiting the tunnel. The 1999 season was a disappointment for both drivers with the uncompetitive B199 (although Fisichella scored a podium in Canada). In the 2000 season, Wurz scored points only at the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921. In 2013 it ...

, while Fisichella scored podium finishes three times. For 2001, Benetton's last season before its transformation into

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

, he was replaced with

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super ...

=Testing (2001–2006)

In , Wurz was a test driver for

. In he was almost promoted as race driver for

to replace

Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three For ...

but he remained as test driver after

Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One W ...

took over. In April 2005, with

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver. He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...

injured, Wurz drove for McLaren in the

2005 San Marino Grand Prix The 2005 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio Foster's di San Marino 2005) was a Formula One motor race held on 24 April 2005 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. The 62-lap race was the fourth round of the ...

, finishing fourth in the race, but taking third place after both BAR-Honda drivers were disqualified. This gave him the record for the longest interval between podium finishes at eight years. Since signing to McLaren as test driver, Wurz had been eager to return to racing. At various times, rumours linked him to a return to a full race seat. In he was strongly linked to a race seat at Jaguar, where the under-fire

Antônio Pizzonia Antônio Reginaldo Pizzonia Júnior (born 11 September 1980) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who has raced in Formula One and the Champ Car World Series. Born in Manaus, he started his car racing career in the Formula Vauxhall Junio ...

was struggling. However, McLaren were struggling with their abortive new car and blocked the move to retain Wurz as a development driver. Jaguar then decided to give Pizzonia more time to prove himself, before drafting in Justin Wilson.

=Williams (2007)

Wurz signed a deal with

WilliamsF1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams and automotive engineer Patrick Hea ...

to become the team's official test and reserve driver at the beginning of 2006. He drove the third car at all Friday sessions in . It was announced on 3 August 2006 that Wurz would replace Mark Webber as a race driver at Williams for the season. This was Wurz's first full-time race drive since 2000, and his teammate was

Nico Rosberg Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German-Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Fin ...

. At the Monaco GP on 27 May 2007, Wurz scored his first points for Williams, finishing in 7th place after qualifying 11th. He came third for the third time in his F1 career at the

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix du Canada) is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a sp ...

on 10 June 2007, having started 19th on the grid in an action packed race. He nearly repeated this at the

European Grand Prix The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a count ...

, but was unable to overtake Mark Webber at the final chicane. That race turned out to be Wurz's last points finish. On 8 October 2007 he announced his immediate retirement from Formula One, meaning that the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix was his final race. He cited doubts over his own commitment as the main reason for his departure. He was replaced by Williams test driver

Kazuki Nakajima is a retired Japanese professional racing driver who drove in Formula One for the Williams-Toyota team from to . In 2012 and 2014, he won the Super Formula Championship driving for TOM'S. Racing for Toyota Gazoo Racing, he won the 2018, 2019 ...

for the final race of the 2007 season in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

=Honda and Brawn GP (2008–2009)

Wurz was the

Honda F1 The Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda has participated in Formula One, as an engine manufacturer and team owner, for various periods since 1964. Honda's involvement in Formula One began with the season, and in 1965 they achieved their fi ...

test driver for the

2008 Formula One season The 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 62nd season of Formula One motor racing, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) – the governing body of motorsport – as the highest class of competition ...

, a role he kept when the team became

Brawn GP Brawn GP was a Formula One constructor which competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team was formed in 2009 by a management buyout led by Ross Brawn of the Honda Racin ...

in .

=Williams (2012)

= For the

2012 Formula One season The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 66th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 63rd FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internati ...

, Wurz rejoined the Williams F1 Team, this time to guide the team's inexperienced drivers

Bruno Senna Bruno Senna Lalli (, born 15 October 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He is the nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, three-time Formula One world champion. He is also the first man to win a race in every WEC class, and was the 2017 W ...

and

Pastor Maldonado Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (; born 9 March 1985) is a Venezuelan professional racing driver, who competed in Formula One for the Williams (2011–2013) and Lotus (2014–2015) teams and as a Pirelli test driver until 2017. Before entering Fo ...

Sportscars

Wurz signed with

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...

to be part of their driving squad for the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

and he also participated 1000km of Spa in the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the f ...

. In 2009, together with

Marc Gené Marc Gené i Guerrero (born 29 March 1974) is a Spanish professional racing driver. He is best known as a tester for Williams and Ferrari in Formula One, Minardi Formula One driver and factory driver for Peugeot's Le Mans team, with which he ...

and

David Brabham David Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian professional racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians t ...

, he took outright victory in the

, driving a works Peugeot. The 13-year gap between Wurz's victories is the largest in the event's history. Together with his victory in 2010 of the 12hrs race of Sebring with Marc Gené and Anthony Davidson and his victory of the 1000 miles race of Road Atlanta with Stéphane Sarrazin and Franck Montagny in 2011 it made him win the 3 big Sportscar Classic Races in a Peugeot 908. Wurz continued to race for

Peugeot Sport Total Team Peugeot Total is the factory team of French car manufacture Peugeot. The team competes in the Dakar Rally and the FIA World Rallycross Championship. Main victories The team won two Dakar Rally and one 24 Hours of Le Mans. Rally raid c ...

through 2010 and 2011, though no further Le Mans wins were forthcoming. In November 2011, Toyota Motorsports confirmed Wurz as one of their factory drivers for the companies planned return to the 24 Heures du Mans in 2012. Wurz will drive their new LMP1 Hybrid Prototype alongside

Nicolas Lapierre Nicolas Lapierre (born 2 April 1984) is a French professional racing driver. He raced with Toyota and with Alpine Racing in the past seasons of the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is a two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring, with overal ...

and

.Wurz leaves Peugeot to head Toyota driver lineup
/ref>

Rallycross

In May 2018 Wurz announced that he would follow in the footsteps of his father by making his competitive rallycross debut at the

FIA World Rallycross Championship The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...

's World RX of Norway at Lånkebanen the following month, driving a Ford Fiesta Supercar for MJP Racing Team Austria.

Road safety

Wurz is involved in many projects regarding road safety and driver education and training. In 2006, he and his father founded the company ''Test and Training International'', a leader in the field of road safety and driver training. He also works closely with the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile), since 2011 as an operating partner of the

FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy The FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy is a programme founded by the FIA Institute for Motor Sport Safety and Sustainability to develop young driver talent worldwide. In its first year (2011) the Institute selected 12 drivers to take pa ...

Medical car driver

In the

2008 Singapore Grand Prix The 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, formally known as the 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, was a Formula One race held on 28 September 2008 at 20:00 SST at the newly built Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore. It was the 15 ...

, Wurz drove the medical car after regular driver Jacques Tropenat fell ill.

Team management

Team Superfund

Wurz lodged an entry for his own team into Formula One (announced on 31 May 2009) but the application was unsuccessful.

Team Superfund A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

was one of several new applicants hoping to compete in the sport from the 2010 season onwards. It was believed that Wurz would prefer to align the team with an existing constructor based in the UK, perhaps renting space, facilities and staff from its factory, while Superfund takes time to build up its own headquarters, possibly based on existing resources in Austria. The team would have been funded by Christian Baha, the owner of the

Superfund Group Superfund Group (formerly Quadriga) is an asset management company, specializing in alternate quantitative investment strategies. The Superfund Group was founded in 1994 by Christian Baha in Vienna, Austria and utilizes fully automated propri ...

, and the cars would be powered by Cosworth engines.

Personal life

Wurz is the second son of former rallycross driver Franz Wurz, who won the European Rallycross Championship in 1974, 1976 and 1982. Wurz is married to Julia Horden and has three sons: Charlie (also a racing driver), Felix and Oscar. He used to race with different coloured boots on each foot, but since his return to racing in 2007, he wears matching pairs. On 10 November 2015 Wurz announced via his Twitter that after 20 years he would retire from racing.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete International Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete Formula One results

( key) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Sports car racing

Le Mans 24 Hours results

Le Mans Series results

: ¹ Driver run for the

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010.

, no points awarded for the

American Le Mans Series results

: ¹ Driver run for the

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010.

, no points awarded for the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

( key)

Supercar

References

External links

* * * interview
Tyler's Long One: Alex Wurz
interviewer
Graham Tyler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wurz, Alexander 1974 births Living people People from Waidhofen an der Thaya District 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers Austrian Formula One drivers Benetton Formula One drivers McLaren Formula One drivers Williams Formula One drivers Austrian racing drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers BMX riders FIA GT Championship drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers EFDA Nations Cup drivers American Le Mans Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Austrian Formula Three Championship drivers Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Austrian expatriate sportspeople in England FIA World Endurance Championship drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers Sportspeople from Lower Austria Walter Lechner Racing drivers RSM Marko drivers G+M Escom Motorsport drivers Team Joest drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Peugeot Sport drivers Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers