Grand Prix Rejects

This is a list of F1 drivers born outside of their home country. (doesn't include dual nationality drivers)

Lorenzo Bandini (Italian, born in Libya)
Henry Banks (American, born in Surrey, England)
Mike Beuttler (British, born in Cairo)
David Brabham (Australian, born in Wimbledon)
Peter Broeker (Canadian, born in Germany)
Dave Charlton (South African, born in Yorkshire)
Ettore Chimeri (Venezuelan, born in Lodi, Italy)
John Cannon (Canadian, born in London - on the other side of the globe)
The great Johnny Claes (Belgian, born in London)
John Cordts (Canadian, born in Germany)
Ernie de Vos (Canadian, born in The Hague)
Gerhard Mitter (German, born in Czechoslavkia)
Al Pease (Canadian, born in Darlington)
Nelsinho Piquet (Brazilian, born in Heidelberg, Germany)
David Prophet (British, born in Hong Kong)
Pierre-Henri Raphanel (French, born in Algiers)
Jochen Rindt (Austrian, born in Mainz, Germany)
Keke Rosberg (Finnish/German, born in Stockholm)
Peter Ryan (Canadian, born in New York)
Harry Schell (American, born in Paris)
Hans Stuck (German, born in Poland)
Alfonso Thiele (American, born in Istanbul)
Sam Tingle (Rhodesian, born in Manchester)
Rikky von Opel (Liechtensteiner, born in New York)
Eppie Wietzes (Canadian, born in the Netherlands)

And here's some from other series;
Johnny Cecotto, Jr. (Venezuelan, born in Augsburg, Germany)
Gil de Ferran (Brazilian, born in Paris)
Jake Rosenzweig (American, born in London)
Bruno Spengler (Canadian, born in France)
Ho-Pin Tung (Chinese, born in the Netherlands)

If your birthplace definitely determined your nationality, then;
Banks would be the only Briton to compete in the Indy 500 during its time in F1.
Rosberg would finally win Sweden's first world title, and Finland would have to wait another 16 years for theirs.
Bandini, Beuttler, Mitter, Prophet, Raphanel, Stuck and Thiele would be the first drivers from their respective countries, and Bandini would be the first African to win a Grand Prix and not Scheckter, with Beuttler the first Northern African driver in F1, to be followed by Raphanel.
Stuck, and not Robert Kubica, would be the first Pole in F1.
Cecotto, Sr. would be the first Venezuelan in F1, and not Chimeri.
Nelsinho Piquet's sole podium in 2008 would be on home soil at Hockenheim.
Rindt would be the first German World Champion, and not Schumacher.
Wietzes would drive with a Dutch flag on his nose cone, not a Canadian one, and would have most likely competed in the Dutch Grand Prix.

Out of all the 13 Canadians to have raced in F1, only 6 of them were actually born on Canadian soil. That's a percentage of 46%.

Wasn't the American WDC Mario Andretti born in Italy? As was the French Jean Alesi?

dr-baker wrote:Wasn't the American WDC Mario Andretti born in Italy? As was the French Jean Alesi?

Andretti was born in what is now Croatian territory (Istria), although at the time it was administered by the Kingdom of Italy - Alesi, however, was born in Avignon, although his parents were of Sicilian descent.

Don't forget the Italo-American Alfonso Thiele, born in Istanbul

If I remember well, Gil de Ferran born in France.

ryangregg12345 wrote:This is a list of F1 drivers born outside of their home country. (doesn't include dual nationality drivers)

Mike Beuttler (British, born in Cairo)
David Prophet (British, born in Hong Kong)

Max Chilton (British, born on Krypton)

mario wrote:

dr-baker wrote:Wasn't the American WDC Mario Andretti born in Italy? As was the French Jean Alesi?

Andretti was born in what is now Croatian territory (Istria), although at the time it was administered by the Kingdom of Italy - Alesi, however, was born in Avignon, although his parents were of Sicilian descent.

I knew Alesi grew up in Avignon (I lived there myself once upon a time 10 years ago) but I thought he was actually born in Sicily. Looks like I was wrong. Never mind.

dr-baker wrote:

mario wrote:Andretti was born in what is now Croatian territory (Istria), although at the time it was administered by the Kingdom of Italy - Alesi, however, was born in Avignon, although his parents were of Sicilian descent.

I knew Alesi grew up in Avignon (I lived there myself once upon a time 10 years ago) but I thought he was actually born in Sicily. Looks like I was wrong. Never mind.

His Christian name is very Italian however - Giovanni Alesi which translates into John Alesi in English.

Jochen Rindt was Austrian, but born in Germany. So they wouldn't have had to wait so long for Schumacher to come along and give them their first title.

The less we say about Bertrand Gachot's many nationalities, the better, but at least we know he was born in Luxemburg.

watka wrote:Jochen Rindt was Austrian, but born in Germany. So they wouldn't have had to wait so long for Schumacher to come along and give them their first title.

I thought that Rindt thought of himself as German rather than Austrian (being born in Germany to German parents, but having to be raised by his grandparents in Austria after the rest of his family was killed in an air raid on Hamburg). I'm not sure if Rindt technically was fully Austrian - he had an Austrian racing licence and, presumably, an Austrian passport (the FIA defines the nationality of its drivers from their passports), but I am not sure if he accepted full Austrian citizenship.

mario wrote:

watka wrote:Jochen Rindt was Austrian, but born in Germany. So they wouldn't have had to wait so long for Schumacher to come along and give them their first title.

I thought that Rindt thought of himself as German rather than Austrian (being born in Germany to German parents, but having to be raised by his grandparents in Austria after the rest of his family was killed in an air raid on Hamburg). I'm not sure if Rindt technically was fully Austrian - he had an Austrian racing licence and, presumably, an Austrian passport (the FIA defines the nationality of its drivers from their passports), but I am not sure if he accepted full Austrian citizenship.

There is a passage in David Tremayne's recent biography of Rindt:

...Ever after [his bringing-up by his grandparents in Austria], Jochen fervently regarded himself as Austrian, not German.

"Jochen was not the sort of man to tell stories about his family," said the keeper of his flame in Austria, historian Erich Walitsch. "But one thing is true, he hated being referred to as a German, though for some reason he never applied for an Austrian passport. He and his whole family were victims of World War Two, and that perhaps was the reason why Jochen just did not like Germans in general."

Found another one. Not an F1 driver, but as ryangregg also listed IndyCar drivers, this should be OK. Bernard Jourdain, a Mexican driver with 18 IndyCar starts, was born in Brussels.

Also, because I'm a pedantic bastard, I'd like to dispute Lorenzo Bandini being born in a foreign country, as Libya was an Italian colony at the time of Bandini's birth

And let's not forget Lucien Bianchi, the Belgian who was born in Milan.
Paul Frère was born in Le Havre (France).

Andrea Chiesa, Swiss driver who struggled to qualify his Osel-... Fondmetal on numerous occasions in 1992, was in fact born in Milan, Italy. Like all the greats

I only just now learned that Max Verstappen was born in Belgium.

I think Max has dual nationality because his mother is Belgian.

Tomas Scheckter, Monte-Carlo Monaco

Sutil has an uruguyan father i believe

Gino Bianco, who drove the Escuderia Bandeirantes Maserati A6GCM in the last four rounds of the 1952 season under the Brazilian flag, was in fact born in Italy. Some sources say Turin, other claim Milan.

Rudolf Schoeller, Swiss driver who took part in the 1952 German Grand Prix, was born in Düren, Germany.

Hermano da Silva Ramos, born to a French mother and a Brazilian father in Paris, competed under the Brazilian flag, and scored 2 championship points in the 1956 Monaco Grand Prix.

Alfonso de Portago, Spanish millionaire and nobleman, was born in London, England. No wonder he scored his best result of 2nd during the 1956 British Grand Prix, even though he managed tha, co-driving the Ferrari D50 with Peter Collins.

Andre Testut, born in Lyon, France and racing as a Monegasque. Not sure about his residence here, as he scored two consecutive DNQs trying to qualify for his home Grand Prix in 1958 and 1959.

Lance Reventlow, born in London, England. The only child of Danish nobleman Count Court von Haugwitz-Hardenberg-Reventlow and American socialite Barbara Hutton, Lance could pick his nationality once he reached the legal age of 21. He chose American citizenship stating, "I thought it over for a full 20 seconds."

From the more recent drivers - Ralph Firman, who competed for Jordan under the Irish licence, was in fact born in Norwich, England.

tommykl wrote:Also, because I'm a pedantic bastard, I'd like to dispute Lorenzo Bandini being born in a foreign country, as Libya was an Italian colony at the time of Bandini's birth

Technically the same holds for Raphanel, since his birthplace Algeria was a department of France at the time. By the way I'm pretty sure there were some other French drivers born in Morocco (a French colony at the time) but maybe they only drove F2 cars or something.

Waris wrote:

tommykl wrote:Also, because I'm a pedantic bastard, I'd like to dispute Lorenzo Bandini being born in a foreign country, as Libya was an Italian colony at the time of Bandini's birth

Technically the same holds for Raphanel, since his birthplace Algeria was a department of France at the time. By the way I'm pretty sure there were some other French drivers born in Morocco (a French colony at the time) but maybe they only drove F2 cars or something.

French national André Guelfi was born in Morocco and took part in the 1958 Moroccan GP as a F2 entrant, finishing 15th (an unusually high amount of finishers for that time, as Graham Hill was actually classified behind him in 16th). In fact, some sources list hims as a Moroccan, which led to a debate on our IRC channel about whether or not Morocco should be on the list of countries that have hosted a GP but never had a race driver in F1.

Nuppiz wrote:

Waris wrote:

tommykl wrote:Also, because I'm a pedantic bastard, I'd like to dispute Lorenzo Bandini being born in a foreign country, as Libya was an Italian colony at the time of Bandini's birth

Technically the same holds for Raphanel, since his birthplace Algeria was a department of France at the time. By the way I'm pretty sure there were some other French drivers born in Morocco (a French colony at the time) but maybe they only drove F2 cars or something.

French national André Guelfi was born in Morocco and took part in the 1958 Moroccan GP as a F2 entrant, finishing 15th (an unusually high amount of finishers for that time, as Graham Hill was actually classified behind him in 16th). In fact, some sources list hims as a Moroccan, which led to a debate on our IRC channel about whether or not Morocco should be on the list of countries that have hosted a GP but never had a race driver in F1.

Robert La Caze (who is also the oldest living F1 driver) is in a similar situation as Guelfi. He was born in France, but their are sources claiming him as a French driver as well as sources saying he's Moroccan, the latter opinion being upheld by Wikipedia.

Waris wrote:

tommykl wrote:Also, because I'm a pedantic bastard, I'd like to dispute Lorenzo Bandini being born in a foreign country, as Libya was an Italian colony at the time of Bandini's birth

Technically the same holds for Raphanel, since his birthplace Algeria was a department of France at the time. By the way I'm pretty sure there were some other French drivers born in Morocco (a French colony at the time) but maybe they only drove F2 cars or something.

Indeed. I eliminated Raphanel because I thought Algeria gained independence in 1960, for some reason

Alexander Albon (Thai, born in London)

ryangregg12345 wrote: ↑29 Sep 2013, 16:21
David Brabham (Australian, born in Wimbledon)

Same applies to Gary Brabham.