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Edition

Australia
Special feature

Gallery: Vandoorne joins elite club of points-scoring F1 debutants

Stoffel Vandoorne made his long-awaited debut in Formula 1 last weekend, impressing onlookers by scoring a point. Motorsport.com shows you who else has managed to do the same in the 21st century.

Local hero Mark Webber

Local hero Mark Webber

Brousseau Photo

2001 Australian GP, Kimi Raikkonen, Red Bull Sauber Petronas

2001 Australian GP, Kimi Raikkonen, Red Bull Sauber Petronas

Photo by: Brousseau Photo

Just 20 races at Formula Renault level were all Kimi Raikkonen needed to convince Peter Sauber for a seat - had social media existed back then, that would have certainly generated a similar amount of outrage as Max Verstappen's case. Not that he was too anxious – we’ve all heard the infamous story of him sleeping just 30 minutes before the race. Helped by a penalty for BAR's Olivier Panis, he took sixth on his debut before helping Sauber take its best ever result (fourth) in the constructors' championship that season.
2002 Australian GP, Mark Webber, KL Minardi Asiatech

2002 Australian GP, Mark Webber, KL Minardi Asiatech

Photo by: Brousseau Photo

It didn't take long for Mark Webber to become a national hero - scoring two points on your home circuit with a team that had collected just the one point since 1995 was no mean achievement, even if it was helped by 14 non-finishers. He never scored a point again that year, but it was enough to put Minardi ninth in that year's constructors' standings ahead of newcomers Toyota.
2004 Canadian GP, Timo Glock, Jordan Ford

2004 Canadian GP, Timo Glock, Jordan Ford

Photo by: Jordan Grand Prix

Timo Glock was handed his F1 debut when Jordan had a legal dispute with one of its drivers, Giorgio Pantano. The German went on to finish only 11th, but the disqualifications of both Toyotas and Williams BMWs promoted him to seventh. Perhaps more important than those two points was that he managed to beat his compatriot teammate Nick Heidfeld. Glock had further three races that year, but was only back in 2008 full-time after winning the GP2 crown.
2005 San Marino GP, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Red Bull Racing

2005 San Marino GP, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Racing

After his 2004 title in Formula 3000, Vitantonio Liuzzi was rumoured to be linking up with Ferrari. Instead, he ended up staying with Red Bull, the team that supported him throughout his junior years. Although he beat teammate David Coulthard, Liuzzi crossed the line 11th, only to be promoted into the top eight by a penalty for Ralf Schumacher's Toyota and the disqualification of both BAR-Hondas. He was only given four races that year, but Liuzzi subsequently ended up racing in F1 for four full-time seasons.
2006 Bahrain GP, Nico Rosberg, Williams

2006 Bahrain GP, Nico Rosberg, Williams

Photo by: XPB Images

Being the son of an F1 champion, Nico Rosberg had expectations to live up to, but he wasted no time to impress. 12th on the grid, he had front wing damage and was dead last after the start, but fought through the field nevertheless to take seventh. He also recorded the fastest lap of the race, becoming the youngest-ever driver to do so. Unfortunately for him, Williams had just ended its partnership with BMW and was not the force it used to be.
2007 Australian GP, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes

2007 Australian GP, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes

Photo by: XPB Images

Another GP2 champion, another impressive debut - Lewis Hamilton became the first driver to kick off his F1 career on the podium since Jacques Villeneuve in 1996. While that on its own was special, the next eight consecutive podiums were what made him look as one of the finest drivers of his generation. And, as we know, he certainly is.
2007 USA GP, Sebastian Vettel, BMW Sauber

2007 USA GP, Sebastian Vettel, BMW Sauber

Photo by: XPB Images

Sebastian Vettel started his F1 career as a BMW test driver and the German was fortunate enough to stand in for the injured Robert Kubica in 2007 at Indianapolis. He already had a decent amount of testing mileage behind him, but qualifying seventh on the grid at an unknown track was impressive. He had a bad start, but recovered to finish eighth and became the youngest ever driver to score points in F1. The rest is history.
2008 Australian GP, Sebastien Bourdais, Scuderia Toro Rosso

2008 Australian GP, Sebastien Bourdais, Scuderia Toro Rosso

Photo by: XPB Images

As a four-time Champ Car champion, Sebastien Bourdais had been widely regarded as one of the best drivers not to have been given a chance in F1. He finally made it in 2008 and Bourdais was close to having a fairy tale debut in the series. The Frenchman worked his way up to fourth in an attrition-heavy race, only to retire with mechanical issues. He was still classified seventh, however, scoring two points.
2009 Australian GP, Sebastien Buemi, Scuderia Toro Rosso

2009 Australian GP, Sebastien Buemi, Scuderia Toro Rosso

Photo by: XPB Images

Taking advantage of the chaos that surrounded the start of 2009 F1 season, Sebastien Buemi became another Red Bull protege to score on his debut, having finished seventh. He was ahead of Bourdais in both qualifying and the race, which became a more and more frequent occurrence as the season went on before Bourdais was dropped in favour of Jaime Alguersuari.
2011 Australian GP, Paul di Resta, Force India

2011 Australian GP, Paul di Resta, Force India

Photo by: XPB Images

2011 saw the start of Paul di Resta's three-year spell with Force India, and the Scot kicked off his F1 career in decent shape. 14th in qualifying and 12th in the race, he was never within the top 10 but he ended up scoring a point after the disqualification of the two Saubers, which ruined the arguably more impressive debut of another rookie: Sergio Perez.
2014 Australian GP, Kevin Magnussen, Mclaren-Mercedes

2014 Australian GP, Kevin Magnussen, Mclaren-Mercedes

Photo by: XPB Images

While scoring points in a debut race has become relatively common in the past decade, a podium finish still counts as a sensational performance. Kevin Magnussen became the third driver to do so since 1971, but unlike Villeneuve or Hamilton, he didn't do it with the best car in the field. What's more, third on the road became second following Daniel Ricciardo's exclusion.
2014 Australian GP, Daniil Kvyat, Scuderia Toro Rosso

2014 Australian GP, Daniil Kvyat, Scuderia Toro Rosso

Photo by: XPB Images

Magnussen wasn't the only rookie starting his 2014 season on a high note. Although his Toro Rosso teammate Jean-Eric Vergne stole the show, Daniil Kvyat put on a quick and consistent performance, having qualified eighth and taken ninth, which would turn out to be his joint-top finish of the season.
2015 Australian GP, Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Toro Rosso

2015 Australian GP, Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Toro Rosso

Photo by: XPB Images

In 2015, Toro Rosso picked two highly-rated youngsters, who went on to impress throughout the season. But it was Carlos Sainz who got the better of Max Verstappen in their very first race as teammates. The Spaniard was seventh on the grid and gained three places after the start, but eventually had to settle for ninth while Verstappen retired with an engine problem.
2015 Australian GP, Felipe Nasr, Sauber

2015 Australian GP, Felipe Nasr, Sauber

Photo by: XPB Images

Despite spending 2014 as a Williams reserve driver, Felipe Nasr ended up driving for Sauber, which did not score any points in the year before. Nasr made sure the team wouldn't suffer the same fate in 2015, though, as the Brazilian was running sixth after the start and managed to improve by one position by the time he took the chequered flag. Little did he know at the time that, a year on, it would still remain the best finish of his F1 career yet.
2016 Bahrain GP, Stoffel Vandoorne, Mclaren-Honda

2016 Bahrain GP, Stoffel Vandoorne, Mclaren-Honda

Photo by: XPB Images

Although the Belgian only scored one point, Stoffel Vandoorne certainly had one of the strongest debuts of the past decade. Having never previously driven the 2016-spec McLaren, he adapted to the complex machinery in no time. He showed his pace by outqualifying Jenson Button, then ran a precise, strong race of the kind we've seen plenty of times in GP2 to bank a well-earned point for 10th.
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