From the F1 exit to the best comeback stage

Stoffel Vandoorne's Formula 1 career has been a huge disappointment. Will Formula E show what he's really capable of? And if it does, is there a path back to F1?

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As he left Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo to travel to the United States Grand Prix at Austin, Stoffel Vandoorne could have been forgiven for wondering if his luck was ever going to turn.

Having claimed just eight points from the 2018 Formula 1 season at that stage and on a run of 13 races without a score (a streak he was destined to prolong in America, coming home 11th) he'd just finished a stop-start two days of testing for the HWA Formula E squad. His time at Valencia - cut short by a day so he could carry on fulfilling his remaining commitments to McLaren - also featured an early 'race' retirement as he dropped out of the simulation event after just eight corners. Vandoorne then had the added ignominy of having his car declared 'red' - its electric systems still live, an FE first - and quarantined in the pitlane until it was made safe.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.