Alan van der Merwe

Alan van der Merwe
Alan van der Merwe
Nationality	South African
Born	31 January 1980 (age 44); Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa
Previous series
2008–09; 2008; 2006–07; 2004; 2002–03; 2001; 2001;	A1 Grand Prix; Le Mans Series LMP2; A1 Grand Prix; Formula 3000; British Formula 3; British Formula Ford; Formula Ford Festival;
Championship titles
2003	British Formula 3 Championship

Alan van der Merwe (born 31 January 1980) is a South African race car driver, entrepreneur and former driver of the Formula One medical car,^[1] alongside FIA Medical Delegate Dr. Ian Roberts.

Racing career

Van der Merwe won the 2001 Formula Ford Festival.^[2] In 2003 he was the British Formula 3 Champion,^[2] and drove for Super Nova Racing in Formula 3000 in 2004.^[2] His sponsorship money ran out mid-season and he took a contract as a part-time tester for BAR–Honda.^[2]

In 2005 and 2006, Van der Merwe raced in the A1 Grand Prix series for A1 Team South Africa,^[2] with a best placed finish of 7th in New Zealand. In 2006, he joined the Bonneville 200 MPH Club,^[3] driving a modified BAR–Honda 007 car to speeds in excess of 400 kilometres per hour (250 mph) for their Bonneville 400 project; an attempt to set an official land speed record for a Formula One car on the famous Bonneville Salt Flats.^[4] In 2008, he drove for James Watt Automotive in the 1000 km of Silverstone, part of the 2008 Le Mans Series,^[2] finishing in 33rd place and completing 159 laps. He returned to A1 Grand Prix in 2009 in the final round at Brands Hatch.^[2]

FIA role

Van der Merwe was the official driver of the FIA medical car in Formula One events from 2009 until the end of the 2021 season, when he was replaced due to his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19.^[5]^[6]

Racing record

Season	Series	Team name	Races	Poles	Wins	Points	Final placing
2001	Formula Ford Festival	Haywood Racing	1	0	1	NC	1st
2001	British Formula Ford Championship	Haywood Racing	14	2	1	?	2nd
2002	British Formula 3	Carlin Motorsport	30	0	1	98	8th
2003	British Formula 3	Carlin Motorsport	24	5	9	308	1st
2004	Formula 3000	Super Nova Racing	7	0	0	2	14th
2005	Formula One	BAR	Test driver
2006–07	A1 Grand Prix	A1 Team South Africa	8	0	0	0	NC
2008	Le Mans Series	James Watt Automotive	1	0	0	2	37th
2008–09	A1 Grand Prix	A1 Team South Africa	2	0	0	0	NC
Source:^[2]^[7]

Complete International Formula 3000 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	DC	Points	Ref
2004	Super Nova Racing	IMO 8	CAT 12	MON 9	NUR Ret	MAG 9	SIL 8	HOC Ret	HUN	SPA	MNZ	14th	2	^[8]

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	21	22	DC	Points	Ref
2006–07	A1 Team South Africa	NED SPR	NED FEA	CZE SPR	CZE FEA	BEI SPR	BEI FEA	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	IDN SPR 9	IDN FEA Ret	NZL SPR 7	NZL FEA 16	AUS SPR 16	AUS FEA Ret	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	MEX SPR	MEX FEA	SHA SPR 8	SHA FEA 12	GBR SPR	GBR SPR	NC	0	^[9]
2008–09	A1 Team South Africa	NED SPR	NED FEA	CHN SPR	CHN FEA	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	NZL SPR	NZL FEA	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	POR SPR	POR FEA	GBR SPR 15	GBR SPR 11									14th	19	^[10]

References

^ "Driving the F1 Medical Car - the world's fastest ambulance". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Alan van der Merwe". Driver Database. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
^ "Bonneville 200mph Club Members by Year" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
^ Hanlon, Mike (18 July 2006). "Honda F1 car attempts land speed record at Bonneville". gizmag. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
^ "F1 unveils new Safety and Medical cars for 2015". Grand Prix Times. 6 March 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
^ "F1 Medical Car driver replaced ahead of new season".
^ "Alan van der Merwe". MotorSport. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
^ "Alan van der Merwe Career Season 2004". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
^ "A1 Grand Prix - Season 2006–2007". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
^ "A1 Grand Prix - Season 2008–2009". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 November 2020.

External links

Alan van der Merwe career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Anthony Davidson	Formula Ford Festival Winner 2001	Succeeded by Jan Heylen
Preceded by Robbie Kerr	British Formula Three Champion 2003	Succeeded by Nelson Piquet Jr.

[1] "Driving the F1 Medical Car - the world's fastest ambulance". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 3 March 2023.

[driverdb-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "Alan van der Merwe". Driver Database. Retrieved 4 July 2015.

[3] "Bonneville 200mph Club Members by Year" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2015.

[4] Hanlon, Mike (18 July 2006). "Honda F1 car attempts land speed record at Bonneville". gizmag. Retrieved 2 July 2015.

[5] "F1 unveils new Safety and Medical cars for 2015". Grand Prix Times. 6 March 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.

[6] "F1 Medical Car driver replaced ahead of new season".

[7] "Alan van der Merwe". MotorSport. Retrieved 1 December 2020.

[8] "Alan van der Merwe Career Season 2004". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 30 November 2020.

[9] "A1 Grand Prix - Season 2006–2007". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 November 2020.

[10] "A1 Grand Prix - Season 2008–2009". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 30 November 2020.

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