Jérôme d'Ambrosio

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Jérôme d'Ambrosio
Jerome D'Ambrosio (cropped).jpg
Jérôme d'Ambrosio in Melbourne, March 2012
NationalityBelgium Belgian
Born (1985-12-27) 27 December 1985 (age 35)
Etterbeek, Belgium
Formula E career
Debut season2014–15
Car number64
Former teamsDragon Racing, Mahindra Racing
Starts68
Championships0
Wins3
Poles2
Fastest laps3
Best finish4th in 2014–15
Finished last season16th
Formula One World Championship career
Active years2011–2012
TeamsVirgin, Lotus
Entries20 (20 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry2011 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry2012 Italian Grand Prix
2012 position23rd (0 pts)

Jérôme d'Ambrosio (born 27 December 1985) is a Belgian retired racing driver. A former Formula E racer, he is now the deputy team principal for Venturi Racing. He has previously driven for Marussia Virgin Racing during the 2011 Formula One World Championship. As a result of the one-race ban given to Romain Grosjean for actions at the start of the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix, d'Ambrosio replaced the Frenchman for the 2012 Italian Grand Prix. In 2016, he competed in Formula E driving for Dragon Racing.[1] D'Ambrosio achieved his first Formula E victory in 2015 at the 2015 Berlin ePrix, and a second at the 2016 Mexican ePrix, both as a result of Lucas di Grassi's disqualification.

Career[]

Karting[]

Born in Etterbeek, Belgium, d'Ambrosio began his career in karting, between 1997 and 2002. He was a three-time Belgian champion, winning the Mini class in 1999, Junior in 2000, and Formula A in 2002. He won the Junior Monaco Kart Cup in 2000, and won World Cup Formula A in 2002.

Formula Renault[]

D'Ambrosio moved into single-seaters in 2003, winning the Belgian Formula Renault (1.6 litre) championship, driving for former Formula One driver and compatriot Thierry Boutsen's team. Also in 2003, d'Ambrosio drove in the German-based Formula König championship finishing fourth in the season standings. He also took part in a test for the Renault F1 Driver Development Programme, which he won, earning him a place on the programme for 2004, although he was not retained for further seasons. He moved into the French Formula Renault 2-litre series for 2004 where he finished fourth in the final standings and was top rookie. He also started seven races in the Eurocup. He switched to the Italian Formula Renault Championship in 2005, finishing fourth, also starting six Eurocup races. In 2006, he drove at the highest level in the Formula Renault hierarchy, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, for Tech 1 Racing, but left the series after four rounds having not scored any points.

Euroseries 3000[]

He switched to the Euroseries 3000, driving for Euronova Racing, taking three podium finishes and ending up fifth in the final standings despite missing the first half of the season. He also took part in a single race meeting of the FIA GT Championship, driving a Gillet Vertigo in the GT2 class.

Formula Master[]

For 2007, d'Ambrosio took part in the inaugural season of the International Formula Master series with the Cram Competition team. He won five races, scored 100 points and became the category's first champion.

GP2 Series[]

D'Ambrosio driving for DAMS at the Turkish round of the 2009 GP2 Series season.
D'Ambrosio driving for Virgin Racing as the team's third driver at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix.

For 2008, d'Ambrosio competed in both the GP2 Series[2] and the new GP2 Asia Series for the DAMS team, alongside Kamui Kobayashi. He finished eleventh in the GP2 drivers' championship, with a best finish of two second places. He continued with the team into the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season, and despite not taking a single victory, d'Ambrosio managed to finish runner-up to teammate Kobayashi. He continued with DAMS into the 2009 season, and finished ninth despite failing to achieve a victory. He remained with the team for the 2010 season, as part of DAMS's co-operation with the Renault Formula One team.[3] He took his first series victory at Monaco, but was later rested for two races in favour of Romain Grosjean.[4] He took his first series pole position for his home round, but retired from the feature race whilst leading. Following a podium finish at Monza, he finished twelfth in the drivers' championship.

Formula One[]

In January 2010, d'Ambrosio was announced as a reserve driver for Renault F1, rejoining the team's driver programme thanks to its newly formed links with the Gravity Sport Management company that looks after d'Ambrosio.[3]

It was announced on 16 September that d'Ambrosio would replace Lucas di Grassi at Virgin on four occasions during Friday practice: at the Singapore, Japanese, Korean and Brazilian Grands Prix. He broke the news to Belgian TV channel RTBF.[5] At his first Friday Practice in Singapore, he finished 21st, two-tenths behind teammate Timo Glock.

Virgin (2011)[]

D'Ambrosio at the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix.

On 21 December 2010, Virgin Racing confirmed that d'Ambrosio would race for the team in 2011.[6] In his first 13 races for the team, d'Ambrosio finished 11 of them with his only retirements coming in Malaysia due to a problem with his car's electronics and in Italy due to gearbox problems. His best finishes have been two 14th places, in Australia and Canada. In his home race, the Belgian Grand Prix, he finished 17th, beating his teammate Timo Glock.

D'Ambrosio at the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix

In the Virgin garage, d'Ambrosio was affectionately known as 'Custard', with the word pasted on his cockpit when he began testing for the 2011 season at Valencia. Ambrosia is a well-known UK brand of custard and rice pudding.[7]

D'Ambrosio finished the season 24th in the Drivers' Championship, ahead of Glock (whose best finishes were a pair of 15th places), but was replaced by Charles Pic for the 2012 season.[8]

Lotus (2012–2013)[]

On 24 January 2012 it was announced that d'Ambrosio would act as reserve driver for Lotus F1 ahead of the 2012 season and be present at all of the season's races along with drivers Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean. He also did co-commentary work for Sky Sports F1 for F1 practice sessions, GP2 and GP3 races and for Belgian French-speaking channel RTBF for F1 races.

D'Ambrosio made his race début for Lotus at the 2012 Italian Grand Prix; he replaced Grosjean, who was banned for one race for causing a multiple collision at the previous round in Belgium.[9] He qualified in 16th place, and started in 15th place due to a 10-place grid drop penalty applied to Pastor Maldonado.[10] He finished in 13th place, on the lead lap, 76 seconds behind.[11]

Blancpain Endurance Series[]

For 2014, d'Ambrosio switched from single seaters to GTs, joining Bentley to race a Continental GT3 in the Blancpain Endurance Series alongside Duncan Tappy and Antoine Leclerc.[12]

Formula E (2014–present)[]

Dragon Racing[]

In 2014–15, d'Ambrosio contested the inaugural season of the FIA Formula E Championship for the Dragon Racing team.

2014–15[]
D'Ambrosio at the 2014 Punta del Este ePrix

D'Ambrosio finished fourth in the drivers' championship standings, taking a victory at the Berlin ePrix after initial race winner Lucas di Grassi was disqualified for violating technical regulations. D'Ambrosio's late season form resulted in him taking three top two finishes in the final four races. D'Ambrosio was the only driver on the grid to finish every race, completing every racing lap in Formula E's inaugural season. D'Ambrosio achieved 113 points in 2014–15, 61 of which were collected in three of the last four races. Dragon Racing finished 2nd in the Teams' Championship having surpassed the Abt team in the final round with a double podium finish. D'Ambrosio out-raced his teammates, Oriol Servià and Loïc Duval in all but one race during the season, when he finished 14th in Buenos Aires.

2015–16[]
D'Ambrosio finished third at the 2015 Punta del Este ePrix

D'Ambrosio started the season well with 5th in Beijing but struggled in qualifying in the opening two rounds against Duval, only managing 10th and 8th places respectively. In Punta del Este he achieved his first Formula E pole position, with Duval joining him on the front row. He ended the race in third position, one place ahead of Duval. The result moved him into third place in the drivers' championship, behind Sébastien Buemi and di Grassi.

2016–17[]

D'Ambrosio placed seventh in the first race of the season.[13] After a good performance that race, his season was disastrous, scoring only 13 points.

2017–18[]

2017-18 Season was D'Ambrosio's last season with Dragon Racing. He finished the 2018 Zurich ePrix in 3rd place, which was his last podium with Dragon. Ultimately, the season was generally dismal, once again, with 27 points to his name. In 2018-19 Formula E Season he would move to Mahindra Racing.

Mahindra[]

D'Ambrosio moved to Mahindra Racing in 2018. He partners Pascal Wehrlein at the team.

2018–19[]

He finished third in the 2018 Ad Diriyah ePrix. In the 2019 Marrakesh ePrix, he won his first race on track in Formula E and led the championship for the first time in his Formula E career. However, he generally struggled throughout the rest of the season, consequently finishing 11th in the driver’s championship.

2019-2020[]

D’Ambrosio had two teammates throughout the season, namely Pascal Wehrlein and Alex Lynn. However, his season was generally dismal. Despite some good qualifying performances, he struggled in the races. He eventually finished 16th in the driver’s standings, with just 19 points. This turned out to be his last season in Formula E, as he would become the deputy team principal of the Venturi Formula E Team.[14]

Other Appearances[]

D'Ambrosio featured in the first episode of the Amazon motoring show "The Grand Tour" as a test driver putting in lap times for LaFerrari, Porsche 918 and a McLaren P1.

Racing record[]

Career summary[]

Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Podiums Points Position
2003 Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium Thierry Boutsen Racing ? ? ? ? ? 1st
Formula König ? ? ? ? ? 240 4th
2004 Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 Graff Racing 14 0 0 ? 156 4th
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 7 0 0 2 28 16th
2005 Formula Renault 2.0 Italia Euronova Racing 17 1 1 4 199 4th
Formula Renault 2.0 Italia Winter Series 2 ? 2 ? 40 3rd
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 6 0 0 ? 22 15th
Italian Formula 3000 Light 1 0 0 ? 9 6th
2006 Euroseries 3000 Euronova Racing 10 0 0 3 39 5th
Formula Renault 3.5 Series Tech 1 Racing 7 0 0 0 0 36th
FIA GT Championship Belgian Racing (GT2) 1 0 0 0 0 NC
2007 International Formula Master Cram Competition 16 1 5 11 100 1st
2008 GP2 Series DAMS 20 0 0 2 21 11th
GP2 Asia Series 10 0 0 2 12 11th
2008–09 GP2 Asia Series DAMS 11 1 0 4 36 2nd
2009 GP2 Series DAMS 20 0 0 3 29 9th
2010 GP2 Series DAMS 18 1 1 2 21 12th
Formula One Virgin Racing Test driver
2011 Formula One Marussia Virgin Racing 19 0 0 0 0 24th
2012 Formula One Lotus F1 Team 1 0 0 0 0 23rd
2013 Formula One Lotus F1 Team Reserve driver
2014 Blancpain Endurance Series M-Sport 5 0 0 0 15 17th
2014–15 Formula E Dragon Racing 11 0 1 3 113 4th
2015–16 Formula E Dragon Racing 10 2 1 3 83 5th
2016–17 Formula E Faraday Future Dragon Racing[15] 12 0 0 0 13 18th
2017–18 Formula E Dragon Racing 12 0 0 1 27 14th
2018 Stock Car Brasil Cimed Racing Team 1 0 0 0 0 NC†
2018–19 Formula E Mahindra Racing 13 0 1 2 67 11th
2019–20 Formula E Mahindra Racing 10 0 0 0 19 16th

† As d'Ambrosio was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results[]

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

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points
2006 Tech 1 Racing ZOL
1
19 		ZOL
2
19† 		MON
1
12 		IST
1
14 		IST
2
22 		MIS
1
16 		MIS
2
19 		SPA
1 		SPA
2 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		DON
1 		DON
2 		LMS
1 		LMS
2 		CAT
1 		CAT
2 		36th 0

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete GP2 Series results[]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2008 DAMS CAT
FEA
Ret 		CAT
SPR
15
Ret
Ret 		MON
FEA
9 		MON
SPR
7 		MAG
FEA
6 		MAG
SPR
Ret 		SIL
FEA
9 		SIL
SPR
12 		HOC
FEA
Ret 		HOC
SPR
11 		HUN
FEA
9 		HUN
SPR
Ret 		VAL
FEA
5 		VAL
SPR
2 		SPA
FEA
8 		SPA
SPR
2 		MNZ
FEA
7 		MNZ
SPR
6 		11th 21
2009 DAMS CAT
FEA
3 		CAT
SPR
3 		MON
FEA
6 		MON
SPR
2 		IST
FEA
Ret 		IST
SPR
15 		SIL
FEA
19 		SIL
SPR
12 		NÜR
FEA
10 		NÜR
SPR
7 		HUN
FEA
16 		HUN
SPR
Ret 		VAL
FEA
9 		VAL
SPR
4 		SPA
FEA
Ret 		SPA
SPR
Ret 		MNZ
FEA
4 		MNZ
SPR
4 		ALG
FEA
Ret 		ALG
SPR
10 		9th 29
2010 DAMS CAT
FEA
Ret 		CAT
SPR
10 		MON
FEA
8 		MON
SPR
1 		IST
FEA
10 		IST
SPR
8 		VAL
FEA
Ret 		VAL
SPR
8 		SIL
FEA
11 		SIL
SPR
11 		HOC
FEA 		HOC
SPR 		HUN
FEA
6 		HUN
SPR
Ret 		SPA
FEA
Ret 		SPA
SPR
Ret 		MNZ
FEA
5 		MNZ
SPR
2 		YMC
FEA
14 		YMC
SPR
8 		12th 21

Complete GP2 Asia 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 DC Points
2008 DAMS DUB1
FEA
11 		DUB1
SPR
8 		SEN
FEA
Ret 		SEN
SPR
Ret 		SEP
FEA
3 		SEP
SPR
Ret 		BHR
FEA
11 		BHR
SPR
12 		DUB2
FEA
7 		DUB2
SPR
3 		11th 12
2008–09 DAMS SHI
FEA
9 		SHI
SPR
5 		DUB
FEA
7 		DUB
SPR
C 		BHR1
FEA
2 		BHR1
SPR
3 		LSL
FEA
5 		LSL
SPR
7 		SEP
FEA
Ret 		MYS
SPR
DSQ 		BHR2
FEA
3 		BHR2
SPR
2 		2nd 36

Complete Formula One 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 WDC Points
2010 Virgin Racing Virgin VR-01 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 BHR AUS MAL CHN ESP MON TUR CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN
TD 		JPN
TD 		KOR
TD 		BRA
TD 		ABU  –  –
2011 Marussia Virgin Racing Virgin MVR-02 Cosworth CA2011 2.4 V8 AUS
14 		MAL
Ret 		CHN
20 		TUR
20 		ESP
20 		MON
15 		CAN
14 		EUR
22 		GBR
17 		GER
18 		HUN
19 		BEL
17 		ITA
Ret 		SIN
18 		JPN
21 		KOR
20 		IND
16 		ABU
Ret 		BRA
19 		24th 0
2012 Lotus F1 Team Lotus E20 Renault RS27-2012 2.4 V8 AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA
13 		SIN JPN KOR IND ABU USA BRA 23rd 0

Complete Formula E results[]

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

Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Points
2014–15 Dragon Racing Spark SRT01-e SRT01-e BEI
6 		PUT
5 		PDE
8 		BUE
14 		MIA
4 		LBH
6 		MCO
5 		BER
1 		MSC
11 		LDN
2 		LDN
2 		4th 113
2015–16 Dragon Racing Spark SRT01-e Venturi VM200-FE-01 BEI
5 		PUT
14† 		PDE
3 		BUE
16 		MEX
1 		LBH
7 		PAR
11 		BER
16 		LDN
8 		LDN
3 		5th 83
2016–17 Faraday Future Dragon Racing Spark SRT01-e Penske 701-EV HKG
7 		MRK
13 		BUE
8 		MEX
14 		MCO
Ret 		PAR
Ret 		BER
13 		BER
13 		NYC
Ret 		NYC
10 		MTL
11 		MTL
9 		18th 13
2017–18 Dragon Racing Spark SRT01-e Penske EV-2 HKG
NC 		HKG
15 		MRK
15 		SCL
8 		MEX
11 		PDE
9 		RME
7 		PAR
12 		BER
19 		ZUR
3 		NYC
13 		NYC
Ret 		14th 27
2018–19 Mahindra Racing Spark SRT05e Mahindra M5Electro ADR
3 		MRK
1 		SCL
10 		MEX
4 		HKG
Ret 		SYX
6 		RME
8 		PAR
Ret 		MCO
11 		BER
17 		BRN
13 		NYC
9 		NYC
11 		11th 67
2019–20 Mahindra Racing Spark SRT05e Mahindra M6Electro DIR
9 		DIR
DNS 		SCL
NC 		MEX
10 		MRK
13 		BER
5 		BER
DSQ 		BER
7 		BER
15 		BER
16 		BER
18 		16th 19

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Personal life[]

In June 2013, D'Ambrosio married Natalie Sifferman, but divorced two years later.

In 2020, he married Austrian jewellery designer and model Eleonore von Habsburg at the Civil Registry of Monaco. [16] [17]

References[]

  1. ^ "Drivers want Formula E to fix calendar black hole". Motorsport, Sam Smith, Journalist 2016-11-11
  2. ^ "Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix to feature GP2 and GP3 as support races this year". New Straits Times, 18 March 2016
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b English, Steven (1 February 2010). "Renault's d'Ambrosio, Tung join DAMS". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  4. ^ Beer, Matt (20 July 2010). "Grosjean returns to GP2 in Germany". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  5. ^ Wood, Ryan (19 September 2010). "D'Ambrosio to replace Di Grassi on Fridays". thef1times.com. . Archived from the original on 23 September 2010.
  6. ^ "Virgin give Jerome D'Ambrosio a racing seat for 2011". BBC News. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  7. ^ "D'Ambrosio aka Custard to his mechanics". yallaf1.com. 10 February 2013. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Marussia Virgin Racing Completes 2012 Race Driver Line-up". Virgin Racing. 27 November 2011. Archived from the original on 29 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  9. ^ "D'Ambrosio to replace Grosjean". planet-f1.com. TEAMtalk media. 4 September 2012. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  10. ^ "2012 Italian Grand Prix grid". F1Fanatic. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  11. ^ "Formula 1 Gran Premio Sandander d'Italia 2012". Formula1.com. 9 September 2012. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  12. ^ Watkins, Gary (28 March 2014). "Ex-F1 man Jerome D'Ambrosio gets Bentley Blancpain GT drive". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  13. ^ "Sebastien Buemi wins Formula E season opener in Hong Kong". Grand Prix Times, Jack Leslie | 9 October 2016
  14. ^ Kew, Matt (30 October 2020). "D'Ambrosio retires from racing, takes Venturi role". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Analysis: Why energy saving will be key in Marrakesh". Motorsport, Sam Smith, Journalist 2016-11-12
  16. ^ "Mariage civil d'Eleonore de Habsbourg-Lorraine et de Jérôme d'Ambrosio à Monaco". Histoires Royales (in French). 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  17. ^ Foussiane, Chloe. "Eleonore von Habsburg Weds Race Driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio in Low-Key Royal Wedding". Town & Country. Retrieved 2 August 2020.

External links[]

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Jan Charouz 		International Formula Master
Champion
2007 		Succeeded by
Chris van der Drift
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