Gregor Foitek (born 27 March 1965) is a Swiss former Formula One driver who entered for multiple teams during the 1989 and 1990 seasons. He failed to qualify for any of the races he entered in 1989, largely due to the poor performance of his car.
He is widely considered to be the cause of a crash during a 1988 International Formula 3000 race at Brands Hatch that severely injuried Johnny Herbert.
Before Formula One[]
After winning the 1986 Swiss Formula 3 Championship, Foitek made his debut in the International Formula 3000 championship for the final round of the 1986 season with Horag Racing, although he failed to finish the race.
He stayed in the series with Genoa Racing in 1987. With three races remaining in the season, he moved to replace Altfrid Heger in GA Motorsport's third car.
He stayed on the team for the 1988 season, earning his only win in the series at the Vallelunga Circuit from pole position. He finished 4th in two other races in the first half of the season. The latter half of the season was filled with a string of retirements.
Foitek was widely blamed for causing a major accident at Brands Hatch that year that injured Johnny Herbert. Foitek hit Herbert's car from behind on the first lap, slamming Herbert nose first into the barriers. Herbert sustained severe leg injuries that nearly ended his career.
Formula One Career[]
1989[]
Foitek joined EuroBrun for the 1989 season. Following a poor 1988 season, the team had dramatically reduced their staff and F1 involvement for 1989, keeping only a handful of engineers and mechanics. As a result, they were the only single-car team on the grid that year.
The 1989 season saw an increase in the number of car entries, largely due to the banning for turbochargers. There were 39 entries, which was 8 cars more than the previous year. There were only 26 places on the starting grid, so 13 of the lowest performing cars were required to pre-qualify for each race, with only the 4 fastest cars earning a place in qualifying.
For much of the 1989 season, EuroBrun used the ER188B, which was a version of the ER188 from 1988 that had been modified to fit a Judd CV V8 engine.
Foitek made his debut in the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 1989 season. He managed to pre-qualify for the event, but did not qualify for the event after setting a time that was nearly 6.5 seconds slower than the pole position lap time set by Ayrton Senna. The EuroBrun car proved to be slower than the competition and the team failed to qualify in any other races that season, consistently finishing in the middle of the time sheets during pre-qualifying.
The ER189 car debuted at the 1989 German Grand Prix, but it too failed to qualify. The new car proved to be slower than the previous car and after one more failed attempt to pre-qualify at the 1989 Hungarian Grand Prix, Foitek reverted back to the ER188B, but after again failing to pre-qualify for the 1989 Belgian Grand Prix he left the team.
After sitting out for two races, Foitek briefly joined Rial Racing for the 1989 Spanish Grand Prix to replace Christian Danner, who had quit due to the team's lack of performance. The team was not required to pre-qualify for the race. While qualifying for the race, the rear wing of Foitek's car broke and caused an accident that destroyed the car. Foitek immediately left the team and sat out the rest of the 1989 season having never made it out of qualifying.
1990[]
Foitek signed a contract with Motor Racing Developments (MRD) to race in the first two rounds of the 1990 season. Ahead of the season, Moneytron Onyx (eventually renamed Monteverdi Onyx Formula One) was in need of new ownership after losing their main financial backer. Foitek's father Karl Foitek purchased 25% of the struggling team.
Karl Foitek opted to give Stefan Johansson's seat to Gregor Foitek. However, since Foitek had already signed a contract with MRD to drive in the first two races, Johansson stayed with the team for the opening two rounds of the 1990 season.
Gregor Foitek participated in his first Formula One at the 1990 United States Grand Prix with MRD, qualifying to start 23rd position on the grid. He had made his way up to 10th position when he crashed on lap 39. His second race with the team at the 1990 Brazilian Grand Prix was also cut short on lap 14 due to a transmission issue.
For the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix, Foitek was free to drive for the team. He was forced to retire early in his first race for the team due to an engine failure. Foitek's best finish was at the 1990 Monaco Grand Prix two weeks later. He was running in 6th position ahead of Éric Bernard late in the race, but Bernard pushed Foitek into the barriers when overtaking. Despite crashing 6 laps from the finish, Foitek was still classified in 7th position.
Foitek suffered another engine failure at the 1990 Canadian Grand Prix, running as high as 10th position. After a 15th place finish in Mexico, he failed to qualify for the French Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix. He managed to qualify for the last grid slot at the 1990 German Grand Prix but failed to finish after spinning out in the first half of the race.
After failing to qualify for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Karl Foitek withdrew funding from the team and barred his son from driving a car he now believed to be dangerous. This ultimately led the team to cease operations.
1992[]
With no available seats for 1991, Foitek was forced to race elsewhere. In 1992, Foikte was linked with a seat on the new Andrea Moda team. However, the team signed Alex Caffi and Enrico Bertaggia for the start of the season instead.
After Formula One[]
Without a Formula One contract in 1992, Foitek moved to IndyCar. He raced at two road courses for AJ Foyt Enterprises at the start of the season, but mechanical issues forced him to retire from both races. He didn't make any other motorsport appearances.
In 2007, Foitek and his two brothers purchased the family company after their father retired.
Formula One Statistical Overview[]
Formula One Record[]
| Year | Entrant | Team | WDC Points | WDC Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 |  EuroBrun Racing
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EuroBrun-Judd | 0 | NC |
 Rial Racing
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Rial-Ford Cosworth | |||
| 1990 |  Motor Racing Developments
|
Brabham-Judd | 0 | NC |
| Moneytron Onyx
|
Onyx-Ford Cosworth |
Career Statistics[]
| Entries | 22 |
| Starts | 7 |
| Pole Positions | 0 |
| Race Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Fastest Laps | 0 |
| Points | 0 |
| Laps Raced | 299 |
| Distance Raced | 1,283 km (797 mi) |
Career Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts | Pos | |||||||
| 1989 | 
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0 | NC | |||||||
| DNQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | ||||||||||||||
| 1990 |
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0 | NC | |||||||
| Ret | Ret | Ret | 7th | Ret | 15th | DNQ | DNQ | Ret | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||
| Key | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning | ||
| 1st | Winner | Ret | Retired | ||
| 2nd | Podium finish | DSQ | Disqualified | ||
| 3rd | DNQ | Did not qualify | |||
| 5th | Points finish | DNPQ | Did not pre-qualify | ||
| 14th | Non-points finish | TD | Test driver | ||
| Italics | Fastest Lap | DNS | Did not start | ||
| 18th† | Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance) | NC | Non-classified finish (<90% race distance) | ||
| 4thP | Qualified for pole position | [+] More Symbols | |||
Notes[]
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