Christijan Albers facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Christijan Albers

Albers at the 2006 United States Grand Prix
Born	(1979-04-16) 16 April 1979 (age 46) Eindhoven, North Brabant, Netherlands
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Dutch
Active years	2005–2007
Teams	Minardi, Midland, Spyker
Entries	46
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	4
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2005 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry	2007 British Grand Prix

Christijan Albers (born 16 April 1979) is a former professional racing driver from the Netherlands. He had great success in the DTM racing series. Later, he raced in Formula One from 2005 until 2007. After his racing career, he even became the team boss for the Caterham F1 Team for a short time in 2014.

About Christijan

Christijan was born in Eindhoven, a city in the Netherlands. His father, André Albers, was also a famous race car driver. André won the Dutch International Rallycross Championship in 1979. Christijan is married to Liselore Kooijman, and they got married in Amsterdam in 2006. He lives in Monaco.

Early Racing Days

Christijan started kart racing when he was very young. He won the Dutch National championship in 1997. In the same year, he became the champion in the Formula Ford 1800 series in both the Netherlands and Belgium.

In 1998, he moved up to the German Formula Three series. He won that championship in 1999, taking six wins and ten poles. A pole position means he started the race from the very front. In 2000, Christijan raced in the International Formula 3000 championship.

DTM Success

From 2001, Albers raced in the DTM series for Mercedes-Benz. He quickly became one of the top drivers. In 2003, he finished second overall in the championship. He won four races that year, showing how fast he was. In 2004, he was again a strong contender for the title and finished third.

Formula One Adventure

Minardi (2005)

Albers driving for Minardi at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix.

While racing in DTM, Albers also worked as a test driver for the Minardi Formula One team. This meant he helped them test their cars. In 2005, he was chosen to race for Minardi in the Formula One World Championship. At the 2005 United States Grand Prix, he scored his first championship points. He finished fifth in that race, which was special because only six cars started it.

Midland/Spyker F1 (2006–2007)

Albers driving the Midland M16 during the 2006 United States Grand Prix.

In 2005, Albers was confirmed as a driver for the Midland team. This team was formerly known as Jordan. He started the 2006 season well, often being faster than his teammate.

At the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix, Albers was involved in a crash. Another driver, Yuji Ide, crashed into him, causing Albers' car to roll over many times. Luckily, he was not hurt. Ide later had his racing license taken away because of dangerous driving.

Albers driving at Silverstone after Spyker's purchase of the team.

Albers driving for Spyker F1 at the 2007 British Grand Prix.

Later, the Midland team was bought by Spyker Cars and became the Spyker F1 team. It was confirmed that Albers would continue to drive for them in 2007. His personal sponsors played a big part in Spyker buying the team.

In 2007, his new teammate, Adrian Sutil, often performed better than him. At a race in France, Albers made a mistake during a pit stop. He drove off with part of the fuel hose still attached to his car. He was glad no one was hurt but received a €5,000 fine for dangerous driving.

On 10 July 2007, Albers left the Spyker team. This was because of a lack of sponsorship money. This money was needed to help the team improve their cars. His replacement for the next race was Markus Winkelhock.

Team Principal at Caterham F1 (2014)

In 2014, Christijan Albers became the team boss for the Caterham F1 Team. This happened after the team was sold to new owners. He managed the team every day for a few months. However, the Caterham team eventually stopped racing after the 2014 season.

Back to DTM

Albers driving an Audi at Norisring in 2008.

In December 2007, Christijan Albers returned to the DTM series. He was invited by the Audi team for testing. He was then confirmed as a race driver for the 2008 season. He raced alongside Katherine Legge. Albers is known as the most successful Dutch driver in the DTM series. He finished second in the championship in 2003.

Sportscar Racing

In 2008, Albers also started racing in sportscar events. He joined Audi Sport North America in the American Le Mans Series. He finished second in his first race with them. In 2009, he moved to the Le Mans Series with the Kolles team, which also used Audi cars.

Helmet Design

Albers' helmet design

Christijan Albers' racing helmet was orange with many black dots. Later, he changed it to the same design but with black as the main color and orange dots.

TV Analyst Career

Since 2022, Albers has been a regular Formula One expert for the Dutch sports TV channel, Viaplay. He shares his knowledge and thoughts about the races with viewers.

Career Summary

Images for kids

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  Albers' helmet design

See also

In Spanish: Christijan Albers para niños