How four blasts from F1’s past are performing in IMSA SportsCar Championship

After his tenure in Formula 1, Sebastien Bourdais has carved out an impressive career in sports car racing.

When drivers step back from Formula 1, their racing careers are usually far from over — and many of those racers left F1 to try their hand at endurance racing, instead.

Over the weekend, the IMSA SportsCar Championship was held at Road America, with Porsche Penske Motorsport securing an outstanding victory. Interestingly, four drivers participating this weekend also had prior experience with Formula 1.

Paul di Resta

Paul di Resta is the most experienced driver on this list, with three full seasons of Formula 1 under his belt. He competed full-time for Sahara Force India from 2011 to 2013, achieving a highest finish of fourth twice. Although he made a brief return to Williams in 2017, di Resta has primarily concentrated on endurance racing since then.

Di Resta is participating in a partial season with United Autosport’s LMP2 program in IMSA this year, along with a European Le Mans Series season with the same group, and a full FIA World Endurance Championship season with Peugeot. His best result for the whole season is a third place at Sebring, but the pinnacle of his career is undoubtedly his class victory at the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Sebastien Bourdais

Sebastien Bourdais, already having a career in American open-wheel racing, joined the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula 1 team in 2008 for a full season and half of the 2009 season. Despite securing two best finishes in seventh place, he was eventually replaced by Sebastian Vettel.

Bourdais has achieved considerable success in both American open-wheel and endurance racing. Currently, he is competing with the No. 01 Cadillac prototype team, which has had varied results this year.

The team’s best performance culminated in a victory at Long Beach, and they have also claimed two runner-up positions, one third place, one fifth place, and one 10th place. The weekend at Road America proved to be quite challenging for Bourdais and his teammate, Renger van der Zande, particularly when Bourdais spun the car shortly after taking the wheel from van der Zande.

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Felipe Nasr

Felipe Nasr has achieved considerable success in sports car racing to the point where many fans might have forgotten that this Brazilian driver competed in two seasons of Formula 1 with the Sauber team. Despite his best finish of fifth in F1, his skills weren’t fully showcased. However, after leaving F1, he has enjoyed significant success in the world of prototype racing.

This year, Nasr is giving Porsche Penske Motorsport a run for their money, claiming victories at both the Rolex 24 and the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. He’s also managed to secure three third-place finishes and a second place at Road America. His least impressive performance in 2024 has been a fourth place in Detroit, which is still quite an achievement.

Jack Aitken

Jack Aitken, among all the racers listed, arguably has the least experience in F1, having only contested in one race: the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. During this race, Lewis Hamilton, a Mercedes driver, tested positive for COVID-19 and couldn’t participate. Consequently, George Russell, a Williams driver, was promoted to make his debut for Mercedes. This provided an opportunity for Jack Aitken, Williams’ reserve driver, to get behind the wheel. He ended up finishing in 16th place.

This year, he is a member of the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing GPT team, partnering with the seasoned Pipo Derani, and they’ve produced outstanding results. Aitken has contributed to achieving three second-place finishes so far this year, along with a fourth place at Road America.

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