Van der Garde Announces Retirement From Racing

Giedo van der Garde has announced his retirement from competition at the age of 38.

Best known for his single season in Formula 1 with Caterham in 2013, Dutch driver van der Garde has been a fixture of international sports car competition since 2016, mostly in the LMP2 ranks.

In 2016, he made his first foray into endurance racing with G-Drive Racing in the European Le Mans Series, winning that year’s LMP2 title alongside Simon Dolan and Harry Tincknell.

Van der Garde began a five-year association with Racing Team Nederland in 2018, contesting three full seasons in the FIA World Endurance Championship – scoring a single win at Fuji in 2019 together with Nyck de Vries and Frits van Eerd – and also making select outings in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

He contested a full IMSA campaign for the first time this year with TDS Racing, which ran the Team Nederland effort from mid-2019, while also making two WEC outings as a substitute driver for United Autosports, scoring two wins.

Van der Garde said a desire to pursue other interests and spend more time with his family was behind his decision to hang up his helmet.

“I have had the privilege of following my passion since childhood,” said van der Garde. “It was a fantastic time. I became world champion twice and was able to fulfill my dream – to reach Formula 1.

“I am grateful to everyone who was involved in my career and helped me, especially my parents, my father-in-law [Dutch magnate Marcel Boekhoorn] and my wife Denise. Without them I could not have done what I did.

“Although I was still competitive every race last year, I would like to spend more time with Denise and our three children. I have also become increasingly active as an entrepreneur and investor, as well as Viaplay’s F1 analyst. I want to devote more time to that as well.

“I therefore look back on my racing life with pride and look forward to the future with great pleasure!”