Laurens van Hoepen on Williams: first test behind the wheel of an F1 for the Dutchman

Debut results In his debut season in Formula 2, the young Dutchman Laurens van Hoepen is achieving very convincing results at the wheel of the Trident team: 3rd in the Melbourne Feature Race, the first weekend of the season, the 20-year-old climbed onto the podium again in Miami, achieving his best placing with an excellent 2nd place. In Canada, Van Hoepen then scored his first pole position, but retired in the Feature Race after hitting the ‘Wall of Champions’ in a very chaotic race. First laps in an F1 The overall performance however caught the attention of Williams team principal James Vowles. Recently, on the Hungaroring circuit, Van Hoepen made his Formula 1 debut in a private TPC (Test Previous Cars) test, completing several laps at the wheel of a Williams from previous seasons. As recently happened to other young talents such as Leonardo Fornaroli and Rafael Camara, who took to the track with McLaren and Ferrari respectively, Van Hoepen also described all his emotions on social media: “First time behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car: a day I won’t forget!” Vowles’ objective There are reasons for this test, as Vowles explained. Van Hoepen is in fact one of the main candidates to join the Williams F1 Team Driver Academy, and the confirmation came directly from Vowles: “Most likely – he declared – the beauty of working directly with him is that we can know first-hand his level of driving. He still has room for improvement, but there is a reason why we are talking to him. We are in an excellent position in our Academy. You will see that we have high-level talent, from the first to the last.” In addition, Vowles denied all possible rumors relating to the future of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, confirming that both official drivers of the Grove company will still be part of the Williams project for the next seasons.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-06-02 18:03:00