Thierry Boutsen

Thierry Boutsen began his motorsports journey at Pilette Racing School, quickly emerging as a standout driver and embarking on a Formula Ford career in 1977. By 1978, he was competing in the Benelux countries, driving a Crosslé and clinching 15 wins out of 18 races. His impressive performance caught the eye of his childhood hero, Jacky Ickx.

Nationality	Belgian
Born	Thierry Marc Boutsen 13 July 1957 Brussels, Belgium

With Ickx’s support, Thierry progressed to Formula 3 in 1979, securing three wins in 1980 and finishing second in the championship, just behind Michele Alboreto. He then advanced to Formula 2 in 1981, where he again finished as runner-up, this time to Geoff Lees.

In 1983, Thierry participated in the European Touring Car Championship and World Sportscar races, achieving a notable victory at Monza with teammate Bob Wollek. The same year, he invested $500,000 to join the Formula 1 circuit with Arrows at the Belgian Grand Prix and later drove for Benetton in 1987.

Thierry’s Formula 1 career peaked when Frank Williams signed him for a two-year stint in 1989. During this time, he triumphed at both the rain-drenched Canadian and Australian Grand Prix races. In 1990, he secured a win at the 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix, besting his friend Ayrton Senna. After stints with Ligier and Jordan, he retired from Formula 1 in 1993.

Post-retirement, Thierry competed in the German Super Touring Championship in 1994 and 1995 with a Ford Mondeo, but struggled against the dominant Audi and BMW teams. At the 1995 Le Mans, he and his team finished sixth in the Kremer K8-Porsche.

Thierry returned to sports cars in 1996, teaming up with Hans Stuck in a works Porsche 911 GT1. They finished second at Le Mans and won races at Brands Hatch and Spa. Despite several top finishes in 1997, victories eluded them, and they were eventually released from the team.

In 1998, Thierry raced a Porsche 911 GT1 in select US GT championship events and drove Toyota’s Le Mans contender, the GT-One. He raced the GT-One again in 1999, but an accident caused by a collision with a back-marker led to serious back injuries. This incident prompted him to retire from racing, focus on his family, and manage his aviation business, Boutsen Aviation, in Monaco.

Thierry Boutsen Formula One World Championship career

Active years	1983–1993
Teams	Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier, Jordan
Entries	164 (163 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	3
Podiums	15
Career points	132
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	1
First entry	1983 Belgian Grand Prix
First win	1989 Canadian Grand Prix
Last win	1990 Hungarian Grand Prix
Last entry	1993 Belgian Grand Prix

Thierry Boutsen Teammates

8 drivers	Involvement	First Year	Last Year
Marc Surer	32	1983	1986
Gerhard Berger	16	1985
Christian Danner	10	1986
Teo Fabi	16	1987
Alessandro Nannini	16	1988
Riccardo Patrese	32	1989	1990
Erik Comas	32	1991	1992
Rubens Barrichello	10	1993

Race Wins

Win Number	Grand Prix
1	1989 Canadian Grand Prix
2	1989 Australian Grand Prix
3	1990 Hungarian Grand Prix

Complete Formula One Results

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Pts
1983	Arrows Racing Team	Arrows A6	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA	USW	FRA	SMR	MON	BEL Ret	DET 7	CAN 7	GBR 15	GER 9	AUT 13	NED 14	ITA Ret	EUR 11	RSA 9		NC	0
1984	Barclay Nordica Arrows BMW	Arrows A6	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA 6	RSA 12		SMR 5													15th	5
		Arrows A7	BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t			BEL Ret		FRA 11	MON DNQ	CAN Ret	DET Ret	DAL Ret	GBR Ret	GER Ret	AUT 5	NED Ret	ITA 10	EUR 9	POR Ret
1985	Barclay Arrows BMW	Arrows A8	BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t	BRA 11	POR Ret	SMR 2	MON 9	CAN 9	DET 7	FRA 9	GBR Ret	GER 4	AUT 8	NED Ret	ITA 9	BEL 10	EUR 6	RSA 6	AUS Ret	11th	11
1986	Barclay Arrows BMW	Arrows A8	BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t	BRA Ret	ESP 7	SMR 7	MON 8	BEL Ret	CAN Ret	DET Ret	FRA NC	GBR NC		HUN Ret		ITA 7	POR 10	MEX 7	AUS Ret	NC	0
		Arrows A9	BMW M12/13 1.5 L4 t										GER Ret		AUT Ret
1987	Benetton Formula Ltd.	Benetton B187	Ford Cosworth GBA 1.5 V6 t	BRA 5	SMR Ret	BEL Ret	MON Ret	DET Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 7	GER Ret	HUN 4	AUT 4	ITA 5	POR 14	ESP 16	MEX Ret	JPN 5	AUS 3	8th	16
1988	Benetton Formula Ltd.	Benetton B188	Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 V8	BRA 7	SMR 4	MON 8	MEX 8	CAN 3	DET 3	FRA Ret	GBR Ret	GER 6	HUN 3	BEL DSQ	ITA 6	POR 3	ESP 9	JPN 3	AUS 5	4th	27
1989	Canon Williams Renault	Williams FW12C	Renault RS1 3.5 V10	BRA Ret	SMR 4	MON 10	MEX Ret	USA 6	CAN 1	FRA Ret	GBR 10	GER Ret	HUN 3	BEL 4	ITA 3					5th	37
		Williams FW13	Renault RS1 3.5 V10													POR Ret	ESP Ret	JPN 3	AUS 1
1990	Canon Williams Renault	Williams FW13B	Renault RS2 3.5 V10	USA 3	BRA 5	SMR Ret	MON 4	CAN Ret	MEX 5	FRA Ret	GBR 2	GER 6	HUN 1	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR Ret	ESP 4	JPN 5	AUS 5	6th	34
1991	Ligier Gitanes	Ligier JS35	Lamborghini 3512 3.5 V12	USA Ret	BRA 10	SMR 7	MON 7	CAN Ret	MEX 8											NC	0
		Ligier JS35B	Lamborghini 3512 3.5 V12							FRA 12	GBR Ret	GER 9	HUN 17	BEL 11	ITA Ret	POR 16	ESP Ret	JPN 9	AUS Ret
1992	Ligier Gitanes Blondes	Ligier JS37	Renault RS3C 3.5 V10	RSA Ret	MEX 10	BRA Ret	ESP Ret	SMR Ret	MON 12	CAN 10	FRA Ret	GBR 10	GER 7	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA Ret	POR 8	JPN Ret	AUS 5	14th	2
1993	Sasol Jordan	Jordan 193	Hart 1035 3.5 V10	RSA	BRA	EUR Ret	SMR Ret	ESP 11	MON Ret	CAN 12	FRA 11	GBR Ret	GER 13	HUN 9	BEL Ret	ITA	POR	JPN	AUS	NC	0

Sources: Wikipedia.com and Historicracing.com