Thierry Boutsen

Quick Facts

Full Name	Thierry Boutsen
Occupation	Formula One Driver
Date Of Birth	Jul 13, 1957(1957-07-13)
Age	67
Birthplace	Brussels
Country	Belgium
Horoscope	Cancer

Thierry Boutsen Biography

Thierry Boutsen is one of the most popular and richest Formula One Driver who was born on July 13, 1957 in Brussels, Belgium. Thierry Marc Boutsen (born 13 July 1957) is a Belgian former race driver who raced with his Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan teams in Formula One. He raced in the 164 World Championship Grands Prix (163 starts) with three wins as well as achieving 15 podiums, and collecting 132 points in his career. His best result at the top of the World Drivers Championship was fourth place in 1988 while driving for Benetton. He was also third at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race for sportscars (in 1993 with the Peugeot 905 and in the year 1996 in the Porsche 911 GT1).

In 1983, Boutsen participated for the European Touring Car Championship and in World Sportscar races, where Boutsen won his inaugural Group C race, the Monza 1000 km race with Bob Wollek driving a Porsche 956. He also took home the famed Daytona 24 hours race on the calendar in 1985, driving his Porsche 956 from the Preston Henn Racing alongside Bob Wollek, AJ Foyt and Al Unser Sr.

1988 saw Boutsen with a new teammate, the fast, chain-smoking Italian Alessandro Nannini. When Cosworth stopped development of their turbocharged V6 engine, Benetton were forced to switch to normally aspirated Ford DFR V8 engines in anticipation of the banning of turbos in 1989. Boutsen’s consistency, mechanical sympathy and speed in the Rory Byrne designed Benetton B188 saw him score points in 10 of the 16 races, including five 3rd-place finishes (all behind the all-conquering McLaren-Honda’s), and place 4th overall as the best non-turbo driver in the field.

His reputation as a reliable, fast driver with good development skills saw Frank Williams sign him on a two-year contract to replace Nigel Mansell (who was off to Ferrari) and drive the new V10 Renault powered Williams FW12C. 1989 began with Boutsen on the back foot due to a heavy pre-season testing crash in Rio and because veteran teammate Riccardo Patrese had a major resurgence in form. However at the Canadian Grand Prix, Boutsen drove well in wet conditions and took his maiden victory after Senna suffered a late engine failure. Although it was a welcome win (Boutsen became the first new winner in F1 since former Arrows teammate Gerhard Berger had won the 1986 Mexican Grand Prix for Benetton. Between then only Senna, Prost, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and Berger had won a race), it was considered a lucky win for the Belgian as he had been last at one stage and had a full 360° spin, though luckily he managed to keep his car off the walls. He managed to catch and pass Patrese who was suffering with a loose undertray and took the lead 3 laps from the end when the Honda V10 engine in Senna’s McLaren MP4/5 seized. Three more podium finishes came before Boutsen rounded the year off with a second victory at the rain-soaked Australian Grand Prix. Ironically Boutsen had been one of the drivers protesting about the conditions at the circuit before the race.

In 1983, he signed a contract worth $500,000 to be a driver into Formula One and made his debut wearing Arrows in his home race which was the 1983 Belgian Grand Prix at the short 7 km (4.3 miles) Spa. Although he did not score any points in 1983, his meticulous control and close race performance were in comparison to teammates Marc Surer. With support from Barclay cigarettes, he was with the team for an additional three seasons. The first season saw Arrows have to struggle in their first turbocharged car. It had strong BMW turbo engines, but poor handling. Boutsen had two points in the old Cosworth-DFV powered A6 and also in the turbo engine. His second season was marked by noteworthy results, including 2nd spot at Imola. Boutsen finished third, a few places behind Alain Prost and Elio de Angelis. However, after racing, Prost got disqualified for his race because the car was 2 kilograms less than the weight limit. Another three points scored saw Boutsen finish 11th overall in the standings. The final season of Arrows did not yield any points scored by Boutsen in a non-competitive car However, in the midst of F1 Boutsen drove in his Walter Brun group in the Group C. He won his first World Championship title with them in 1986. He also won the race that season’s Spa 1000 km.

Thierry Boutsen Net Worth

Thierry Boutsen is one of the richest Formula One Driver from Belgium. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Thierry Boutsen 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

In 1977, after winning”Volant V” in 1977 “Volant V” in 1977 at the Andre Pilette Racing School, Zolder, Boutsen entered the Belgian Formula Ford 1600 championship and took it home in 1978 by winning 15 times over 18 events. He also competed in his first race in 1978, the Spa 24 Hours race, the final auto race held on the former 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) Spa-Francorchamps race- in an Toyota Trueno. In 1979, he made the switch towards Formula 3, winning three races in the year 1980, and finishing second spot on the podium in the European title race, second only to Michele Alboreto. In 1981, he changed into Formula 2 and was again second in the European championship, and also won on the 14.2-mile Nurburgringin the same race, this time ahead of Geoff Lees.

He also took part in 1982’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race began at 3pm, which was one hour earlier than normal because of the elections for Parliament which were also held that weekend. At 4:06 pm Boutsen had a huge accident shortly following the Hunaudieres kink, which was about 400m (0.25 miles) ahead of it hit the Mulsanne head (the “hump”) when his WM P81-Peugeot was speeding at around 350 km/h (217 mph). A suspension part was broken and the vehicle struck the guardrail, causing the loss of the entire rear side. Boutsen was not damaged, but the debris field from the hurled pieces and bodywork was scattered over 150 meters (490 feet). Three marshals were hit by the wreckage. One of the marshals, Thierry Mabilat, was killed when he was injured in the chest with an unattached piece of guard rail. Two of his fellow colleagues, Claude Hertault and Serge David (who lost an arm) were severely injured.

Boutsen got his big chance when he switched to the works Ford F1 team, Benetton, for the 1987 season as teammate to Teo Fabi. While the package wasn’t a race winner it did allow him to run regularly in the top 6. He scored points in six races, his best being awarded 3rd place in Adelaide after the disqualification of Ayrton Senna’s Lotus and moved to 8th overall. At the Australian Grand Prix, Boutsen was furious with Fabi when the Italian refused to let his teammate lap him for a number of laps. When Boutsen confronted Fabi about this after the race, a frustrated Fabi (who had been unable to find an F1 drive for 1988), told the Belgian to “come back and see me when you have a pole position”. Fabi scored no wins in his F1 career but did have 3 poles to his name while at that stage Boutsen could only boast his 2nd place at Imola in 1985.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

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Who is Thierry Boutsen Dating?

According to our records, Thierry Boutsen married to Daniela Boutsen. As of December 1, 2023, Thierry Boutsen’s is not dating anyone.

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Boutsen started in only the first four races in 1996 before leaving the team and turning his attention to sports car racing. After three years of limited success, Ford pulled the plug on the project at the end of that season to focus solely on the British series.

Facts & Trivia

Thierry Ranked on the list of most popular Formula One Driver. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in Belgium. Thierry Boutsen celebrates birthday on July 13 of every year.

Boutsen then drove sports cars in the US, driving for Champion Racing in a Porsche 911 GT1, alongside Bill Adam and Hans Stuck. The trio finished 2nd in class at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1997, Boutsen won the GT-One US Championship with the Champion Racing in 1998. After a crash at Le Mans in 1999 at the wheel of a Toyota GT-One he retired from racing altogether.