Zsolt Baumgartner (born 1 January 1981) is a Hungarian former racing driver who raced for the Jordan and Minardi teams in Formula One. He remains the only Hungarian driver to have competed and to have scored a point in Formula One.

Junior racing career Zsolt Baumgartner was born in Debrecen, Hungary on 1 January 1981. His father was a Renault dealer. He started karting at the age of 13 and moved into single seaters in 1997, driving in German Formula Ford. He subsequently had stints in German Formula 3, Formula Renault and Formula 3000.

In 2002, Eddie Jordan signed Baumgartner as the reserve and test driver of Jordan Grand Prix, and that same year he conducted a test run at the Hungaroring prior to the 2002 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Career

Baumgartner made his Formula One race debut at the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix, substituting for the injured Ralph Firman in the Jordan team; he also took part in the Italian Grand Prix that year.

Plans were made for Baumgartner to drive for Jordan again in 2004 with sponsorship from oil company MOL Rt. However, he failed to agree terms with Jordan and was signed by Minardi instead. This caused MOL Rt. to decrease its sponsorship amount, leading Baumgartner and his management to set up a "Zsolt Baumgartner Supporter's Club", a plan similar to that employed by Justin Wilson in 2003.

Baumgartner raced throughout the Formula One season, and after two near-misses (ninth in Monaco and tenth in Canada) he managed to take Minardi's first point in over two years by finishing eighth (classified second last and the last car to take the chequered flag) in the United States Grand Prix held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Champ Car World Series In March 2007, Baumgartner was confirmed as the test and reserve driver for Minardi Team USA, former boss Paul Stoddart's recently acquired Champ Car World Series team. He only participated in a handful of tests for the team and made no race starts. Prior to the 2008 season, Champ Car unified with the rival IndyCar Series and Stoddart and the Minardi name left the sport.

Superleague Formula In 2008, Baumgartner became the test driver for team Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in Superleague Formula.

Racing record

Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Poles Wins FLaps Podiums Points Position 1998 Championnat de France Formule Renault La Filière 21 0 0 0 0 0 NC Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Series 4 ? 0 ? ? 44 6th 1999 Eurocup Formula Renault Cram Competition 9 ? 0 ? ? 108 3rd Formula Renault Germany 4 4 3 ? 4 N/A NC 2000 German Formula Three Championship GM Motorsport 18 0 0 0 1 41 13th Macau Grand Prix GM Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 14th Korea Super Prix GM Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC 2001 German Formula Three Championship MOL-Trella Motorsport 18 0 0 0 0 25 17th International Formula 3000 Championship F3000 Prost Junior Team 7 0 0 0 0 0 29th Masters of Formula 3 MOL-Trella Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 28th 2002 International Formula 3000 Championship Coca-Cola Nordic Racing 12 0 0 0 0 1 15th 2003 International Formula 3000 Championship Coloni Motorsport 8 0 0 0 0 6 14th Formula One Benson & Hedges Jordan Ford 2 0 0 0 0 0 24th 2004 Formula One Minardi Cosworth 18 0 0 0 0 1 20th 2007 Champ Car World Series Minardi Team USA Test Driver 2008 Superleague Formula Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Test Driver

Complete German Formula Three Championship 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 2000 GM Motorsport Dallara F399 Opel ZOL1 ZOL2 HOC11 HOC12 OSC11 OSC12 NOR1 NOR2SAC1SAC2 NÜR11 NÜR12 LAU1 LAU2 OSC21 OSC22 NÜR21 NÜR22 HOC21 HOC22 13th 41 2001 MOL — Trella Motorsport Dallara F300 Opel HOC11 HOC12 NÜR11 NÜR12 OSC1 OSC2 SAC1 SAC2 NOR1 NOR2 HOC21 HOC22 LAU1 LAU2 NÜR21 NÜR22 A1R1 A1R2HOC31HOC32 17th 25

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2001 F3000 Prost Junior Team INT IMO CAT A1R MON NUR MAG SIL HOC HUN SPA MNZ 29th 0 2002 Coca-Cola Nordic Racing INT IMO CAT A1R MON NUR SIL MAG HOC HUN SPA MNZ 15th 1 2003 Coloni Motorsport IMO CAT A1R MON NUR MAG SIL HOC HUN MNZ 14th 6

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 WDC Pts Benson & Hedges Jordan Ford Jordan EJ13 Ford V10 AUS MAL BRA SMR ESP AUT MON CAN EUR FRA GBR GER HUN ITA USA JPN 24th 0 Wilux Minardi Cosworth Minardi PS04B Cosworth V10 AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER 20th 1 Minardi Cosworth HUN BEL ITA CHN JPN BRA

References

External links

Official website