Robert Wickens

Robert Wickens
Wickens at the 2011 Nürburgring World series by Renault round
Nationality	Canadian
Born	March 13, 1989 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DTM career
Debut season	2012
Current team	HWA AG
Car no.	6
Former teams	Mücke Motorsport
Starts	66
Wins	5
Poles	4
Fastest laps	4
Best finish	4th in 2016
Finished last season	4th (124 pts)
Previous series
2011 2010 2009 2009 2008–09 2007–08 2007 2007–08 2006 2006 2005–06	Formula Renault 3.5 Series GP3 Series FIA Formula Two British Formula 3 Formula Three Euroseries A1 Grand Prix Champ Car Atlantic World Series by Renault Formula BMW ADAC Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula BMW USA
Championship titles
2011 2006	Formula Renault 3.5 Series Formula BMW USA
Awards
BBC Rising Star Award, INSIDE TRACK Canadian Racing Competing At The Highest Levels of International Competition

Robert Tyler Wickens (born March 13, 1989) is a Canadian racing driver, currently driving in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for the HWA Team.^[1] Wickens is also a part of the revitalized Mercedes-Benz Junior Team, together with Christian Vietoris and Roberto Merhi. In 2009 he finished in second place in the FIA Formula Two Championship, and in 2010 he was runner-up in the GP3 Series. In his return to Formula Renault 3.5, where he competed in 2008, he won the 2011 season championship with Carlin Motorsport, with backing of Marussia. Wickens then left the series to race in the DTM.

Career

Karting

Wickens started his karting career in 2001 with wins in the Junior Heavy Marigold Fall Classic and the Junior Lite Iron Man Enduro. He was three-time champion of the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship in 2002, 2003, and 2005 in various classes. He also won races in ASN Canadian National Formula Junior, SKUSA ProMoto Tour, BeaveRun, PA, 80cc Junior OKRA Grand National, and Junior Heavy Mosport Grand Prix.

Formula BMW

In 2005, when he was sixteen years old, Wickens started his formula racing career. Thanks to Junior Scholarship from BMW, he participated in Formula BMW USA for Team Apex Racing USA. He scored five podiums including two wins, which brought him third place and best rookie's title. Also he competed in Formula BMW World Final, where he finished sixth.

He remained in the series in 2006 for the same team, but after few races switched to the EuroInternational, because he became a Red Bull Junior Team driver.^[2] The Canadian amassed three wins, seven podiums and won the championship. Besides repeat appearance in Formula BMW World Final, Wickens was guest driver at the Nürburgring Formula BMW ADAC round, which was a support race for the Formula One European Grand Prix. After three months he again appeared at Nürburg to competing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 for Motopark Academy.

Champ Car Atlantic

Wickens driving for the Red Bull Junior Team at Houston during the 2007 Champ Car Atlantic season.

In 2007 Wickens moved to the Champ Car Atlantic for Red Bull/Team Forsythe. He took one win and another three podiums and was third in season standings, yielding Raphael Matos and Franck Perera.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

After four races at the end of the 2007 season,^[3] Wickens moved up to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for the 2008 season, with Carlin Motorsport.^[4] He claimed one win at Silverstone^[5] and finished season on the twelfth place with 55 points.

Formula Three Euroseries

Apart from involvement in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, in 2008 Wickens competed in Formula Three Euroseries with Signature-Plus, missing the Hockenheim, Mugello and Brands Hatch rounds. His best results came at the second, rainy races on the Norisring and Bugatti Circuit, where he won. Both times, due to insufficient distance covered, half points were awarded. He continued his participation in 2009, but switched to Kolles & Heinz Union and only competed in the Hockenheim and Dijon rounds, failing to score a point.

FIA Formula Two Championship

Wickens was the only North American driver in the revamped FIA Formula Two Championship for the 2009 season, driving car number 12.^[6] Wickens dominated the opening race of the series, leading every lap from pole position to become the first driver since Philippe Streiff in September 1984 to win an international Formula Two race. He repeated that in race two, to lead the championship. However, those were his only two wins of the season, as he struggled with reliability later in the season. Despite five retirements, Wickens ended up as the runner-up in the championship, albeit 51 points behind runaway champion Andy Soucek.

In November 2009 Wickens revealed that he had held "off the record" talks with several Formula 1 teams, and believe that his chances of driving in Formula 1 were increased by the fact that he is the only potential rookie North American driver who currently holds a valid FIA superlicence.^[7]

In June 2011 it was announced that Wickens had been signed to the Virgin Racing team as a reserve driver but that he would continue to race in the GP3 series.

GP3 Series

In 2010 Wickens raced in the GP3 Series with Status Grand Prix.^[8] After getting third place in Barcelona qualifying,^[9] a good start and Nigel Melker retiring on the opening lap upped him to second place in the first race.^[10] In the second race he started from seventh place and made his way up to fourth, which allowed him to lead the driver's standings.^[11]

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

Robert Wickens at the 2011 Nürburgring World series by Renault round

Wickens was crowned the champion of the series in 2011, after edging out teammate Jean-Éric Vergne at the final race.

DTM

Wickens, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters 2014 - Hockenheimring

On April 3, 2012, Mercedes announced the revival of the Mercedes-Benz Junior Team that has guided several notable drivers in their racing careers like Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Karl Wendlinger and Michael Schumacher. With that announcement came the news that Robert Wickens, together with the reigning Formula 3 Euroseries champion Roberto Merhi and DTM-sophomore Christian Vietoris, would become a part of the new Junior Team and that the three of them would drive for the Junior Team in the 2012 DTM season. In addition to that, 7-time F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher will be involved with the three drivers by serving as a mentor. Wickens' entry into the DTM meant that he would be one of two Canadians in the drivers field, together with Bruno Spengler.^[12]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2005	Formula BMW USA	Team Apex Racing USA	14	2	1	2	5	122	3rd
	Formula BMW World Final	Team Autotecnica	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	6th
2006	Formula BMW USA	EuroInternational Team Apex Racing USA	14	3	3	3	7	149	1st
	Formula BMW ADAC	ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC†
	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0	Motopark Academy	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC†
	Formula BMW World Final	EuroInternational	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	8th
2007	Champ Car Atlantic	Red Bull/Team Forsythe	12	1	1	2	4	255	3rd
	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Carlin Motorsport	4	0	0	0	0	6	25th
2007–08	A1 Grand Prix	A1 Team Canada	14	1	2	1	4	75	9th
2008	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Carlin Motorsport	17	1	1	3	4	55	12th
	Formula Three Euroseries	Signature-Plus	14	1	0	0	2	10.5	15th
2009	FIA Formula Two Championship	Motorsport Vision	16	2	5	3	6	64	2nd
	Formula Three Euroseries	Kolles & Heinz Union	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	British Formula 3	Carlin Motorsport	2	0	0	0	1	12	16th
	Atlantic Championship	Genoa Racing	1	0	0	0	0	12	14th
2010	GP3 Series	Status Grand Prix	16	3	1	2	7	71	2nd
2011	Formula Renault 3.5 Series	Carlin Motorsport	17	5	7	4	10	241	1st
	Formula One	Marussia Virgin Racing	Test driver
2012	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Mücke Motorsport	10	0	0	0	0	14	16th
2013	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	HWA Team	10	1	1	0	3	70	5th
2014	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	HWA Team	10	1	2	0	1	41	12th
2015	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	HWA AG	18	1	0	1	2	61	13th
2016	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Mercedes-Benz DTM Team HWA I	18	2	1	3	5	124	4th

^† As Wickens was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(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	DC	Points
2007–08	A1 Team Canada	NED SPR	NED FEA	CZE SPR	CZE FEA	MYS SPR 3	MYS FEA Ret	CHN SPR 15	CHN FEA Ret	NZL SPR Ret	NZL FEA 2	AUS SPR 3	AUS FEA 6	RSA SPR 1	RSA FEA 12	MEX SPR 7	MEX FEA 5	CHN SPR 2	CHN FEA 20	GBR SPR	GBR FEA	9th	75

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(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	DC	Points
2007	Carlin Motorsport	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	MON 1	HUN 1	HUN 2	SPA 1	SPA 2	DON 1	DON 2	MAG 1	MAG 2	EST 1 12	EST 2 10	CAT 1 7	CAT 2 11	25th	6
2008	Carlin Motorsport	MNZ 1 Ret	MNZ 2 Ret	SPA 1 14	SPA 2 Ret	MON 1 19	SIL 1 9	SIL 2 1	HUN 1 Ret	HUN 2 8	NÜR 1 13	NÜR 2 18	LMS 1 14	LMS 2 22	EST 1 3	EST 2 12	CAT 1 3	CAT 2 3	12th	55
2011	Carlin Motorsport	ALC 1 2	ALC 2 5	SPA 1 1	SPA 2 2	MNZ 1 Ret	MNZ 2 Ret	MON 1 2	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 2	HUN 1 5	HUN 2 7	SIL 1 1	SIL 2 1	LEC 1 2	LEC 2 19	CAT 1 1	CAT 2 Ret	1st	241

Complete Formula Three Euroseries results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2008	Signature-Plus	Dallara F308/011	Volkswagen	HOC 1	HOC 2	MUG 1	MUG 2	PAU 1 9	PAU 2 8	NOR 1 7	NOR 2 2	ZAN 1 8	ZAN 2 Ret	NÜR 1 12	NÜR 2 16	BRH 1	BRH 2	CAT 1 Ret	CAT 2 14	LMS 1 7	LMS 2 1	HOC 1 23	HOC 2 8	15th	10.5
2009	Kolles & Heinz Union	Dallara F309/001	Volkswagen	HOC 1 11	HOC 2 11	LAU 1	LAU 2	NOR 1	NOR 2	ZAN 1	ZAN 2	OSC 1	OSC 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	BRH 1	BRH 2	CAT 1	CAT 2	DIJ 1 14	DIJ 2 7	HOC 1	HOC 2	22nd	0

Complete Formula Two results

(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	DC	Points
2009	Motorsport Vision	VAL 1 1	VAL 2 1	BRN 1 9	BRN 2 Ret	SPA 1 Ret	SPA 2 3	BRH 1 4	BRH 2 2	DON 1 Ret	DON 2 Ret	OSC 1 8	OSC 2 4	IMO 1 4	IMO 2 2	CAT 1 Ret	CAT 2 3	2nd	64

Complete GP3 Series results

(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	DC	Points
2010	Status Grand Prix	CAT FEA 2	CAT SPR 4	IST FEA 11	IST SPR 21	VAL FEA 2	VAL SPR 16	SIL FEA 9	SIL SPR 5	HOC FEA 1	HOC SPR 5	HUN FEA 4	HUN SPR 2	SPA FEA 1	SPA SPR 11	MNZ FEA 2	MNZ SPR 1	2nd	71

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Atlantic Championship

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2007	Red Bull Forsythe Racing	LVG 2	LBH 3	HOU 10	POR1 1	POR2 4	CLE 5	MTT 5	TOR 7	EDM1 4	EDM2 10	SJO 3	ROA 7	3rd	255
2009	Genoa Racing	SEB	UTA	NJ1	NJ2	LIM	ACC1	ACC2	MDO	TRR	MOS 4	ATL	LS	14th	12

Complete Formula One participations

(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	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	WDC	Points
2011	Marussia Virgin Racing	Virgin MVR-02	Cosworth CA2011 2.4 V8	AUS	MAL	CHN	TUR	ESP	MON	CAN	EUR	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	KOR	IND	ABU TD	BRA	–	–

Complete DTM results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Points
2012	Mücke Motorsport	DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé	HOC 14	LAU 22†	BRH 14	SPL 13	NOR 9	NÜR 7	ZAN Ret	OSC 7	VAL Ret	HOC Ret									16th	14
2013	HWA Team	DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé	HOC Ret	BRH 3	SPL 12	LAU 4	NOR 2	MSC 12	NÜR 1	OSC 22†	ZAN 16	HOC 18									5th	70
2014	HWA Team	DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé	HOC 18	OSC Ret	HUN 11	NOR 1	MSC 14	SPL DSQ	NÜR 9	LAU 5	ZAN 8	HOC 17									12th	41
2015	HWA AG	DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 7	LAU 1 6	LAU 2 18	NOR 1 2	NOR 2 1	ZAN 1 Ret	ZAN 2 19	SPL 1 Ret	SPL 2 20†	MSC 1 12	MSC 2 22	OSC 1 Ret	OSC 2 16	NÜR 1 8	NÜR 2 Ret	HOC 1 Ret	HOC 2 18	13th	61
2016	Mercedes-Benz DTM Team HWA I	Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM	HOC 1 2	HOC 2 5	SPL 1 11	SPL 2 20	LAU 1 3	LAU 2 3	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 11	ZAN 1 1	ZAN 2 16	MSC 1 1	MSC 2 5	NÜR 1 9	NÜR 2 13	HUN 1 10	HUN 2 10	HOC 1 23†	HOC 2 9	4th	124

^† Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 75% of the winner's race distance.

References

1. "Mercedes-Benz Junior Team: Bringing on new talent in the DTM". Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. 2012-04-03. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
2. Robert Wickens redbull-juniorteam.com
3. "Wickens to replace Ammermuller". autosport.com. 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
4. "Aleshin and Wickens stay with Carlin". autosport.com. 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
5. "Wickens claims first victory in World Series". wsr.gpupdate.net. GPUpdate.net. 2008-06-08. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
6. "Robert Wickens and Julien Jousse sign up for F2". FIA Formula Two Championship. 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
7. Canada's F1 hope may need deep pockets to realize dream theglobeandmail.com 05 November 2009
8. Robert Wickens Targets GP3 Series Title With Status Grand Prix, PaddockTalk, April 1, 2010, Retrieved 2010-04-05
9. "Nigel Melker takes first ever GP3 Series pole". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 2010-05-08. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
10. "Varhaug storms to victory in Barcelona". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 2010-05-08. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
11. "Rossi leads from start to finish". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 2010-05-09. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
12. "Mercedes-Benz Junior Team: Back for 2012!". Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited. 2012-04-03. Retrieved 2012-04-03.

External links

• Official website robertwickens.com
• Robert Wickens at redbull-juniorteam.com
• Career statistic driverdb.com