Getty Images In 2007, Giedo van der Garde was embroiled in a contract dispute between two back-of-the-grid Formula 1 teams, Spyker and Super Aguri. Each had announced he would be their reserve driver, with Spyker eventually prevailing, but he never participated in a race weekend.
Times have changed. Spyker is now Force India, Super Aguri defunct barely after the 2008 season. And van der Garde, well on the radar of a race seat then but having fallen into relative obscurity since, re-entered the frame with Caterham as one of its reserve drivers a year ago.
Van der Garde participated in five of the last six Friday free practice one sessions, six in total in 2012, and has been confirmed as a race driver for the team this season. At 27, he’s the oldest rookie on the grid by a full four years.
“The main thing for me is that my dream is coming true,” he told the Formula 1 official website in a “rookie diary.” “I told my Dad when I was very young that I was going to be an F1 driver and now it’s happening. I never stopped working for it, never stopped believing it would happen, and with the help and support of a lot of very good people, I’m where I want to be.”
The 2007 season also marked the last time a Dutch driver was on the grid, when Christijan Albers raced for Spyker.
Van der Garde has spent the last four seasons in GP2, and raced in the World Series by Renault before that. He and Caterham teammate Charles Pic, only a sophomore in F1 at age 23, were teammates with the Barwa Addax team in GP2 in 2011.
As a rookie in a team that has yet to score a point in three seasons, expectations are minimal, other than gaining experience and furthering car development.
“Do I feel under pressure? No,” he said. “Not from the team as we’re realistic about what we can do this year. The pressure that does exist is from myself and my trainer. We are preparing as well as possible for the year ahead, but that’s good pressure, the sort that motivates you and pushes you to perform. But pressure on track? No. I know what to do – the team have helped me prepare as well as possible and I’m ready for what’s ahead.”
See also:
F1′s five rookies for 2013: what you need to know
Inside the mind of an F1 rookie
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