Timo Glock’s departure from Marussia was made official one week ago. Since then he’s been announced as an official BMW driver in the DTM, meaning his F1 career is at least in hiatus.
It’s a situation Glock is familiar with. Having made his debut for Jordan in 2004 and scored in his first race in Canada, Glock found himself without a drive in 2005.
It took him three years to return to F1 via Champ Car racing in the USA followed by GP2. Here’s a look at his F1 career to date in pictures.
Jordan, Champ Car and GP2: 2004-2007
Glock started four races for Jordan, all substituting for Giorgio Pantano as the Italian driver became involved in a sponsorship dispute with the team. He scored points with seventh place on his debut, and brought the car home 15th in the last three races of the year.
In a one-off season in ChampCar he finished eighth in the championship and top rookie. He came close to winning in Montreal, where he began the final lap in the lead but had to yield to Oriol Servia after cutting the chicane while defending once too often.
Glock gambled on a return to Europe and F1’s feeder category GP2 in 2006. His season began quietly with the struggling BCN team, but after switching to iSport he scored an excellent win at home in Germany, passing Jose Maria Lopez on the final lap in Hockenheim.
The following year he clinched the championship despite a couple of misfortunes including a embarrassing collision with team mate Andreas Zuber when the pair shared the front row at Magny Cours. He was also taken out by a rival during a pre-race installation lap at Spa.
Toyota: 2008-2009
Glock had tested for BMW but Toyota got his name on a contract for 2008, bringing him in as a replacement for Ralf Schumacher. Despite early-season crashes in Australia and Germany Glock delivered a podium finish on home ground.
The following year promised much but came up short: Glock was on the podium twice but ended the season injured after crashing in Suzuka. With Toyota pulling out of the sport he was left to search for a new team.
Virgin and Marussia: 2010-2013
Glock joined the new Virgin team for 2010 for what turned out to be the first of three frustrating seasons. The team’s progress was glacially slow, finishing last in 2010 and 2011.
In 2012, now called Marussia, they were poised to cause an upset by beating Caterham to the lucrative tenth place in the championship. But luck turned against them in Brazil – Glock was involved in an incident with Jean-Eric Vergne while leading the Marussias – and they fell to 11th.
According to Glock, the potential income lost by that ultimately led to the team dropping him, as they now require for a driver who can bring backing. Glock tested for BMW’s DTM last week and will race for them in the ten-round series which begins in May at the Hockenheiring.
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Images © Marussia, Toyota F1 World, Ford.com, BMW, GP2, Boris1964, Potts
Kingshark (@kingshark)
28th January 2013, 11:48
Is that Glock?
At the end of the day, that’s what we’ll all remember him for. ;-)
Commendatore (@commendatore)
28th January 2013, 14:17
Yep, a shameful end to a thrilling season that was. At the end of 2007 at least justice was served, unlike 2008. In that regard, I personally won’t miss Glock… at all. :)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
28th January 2013, 14:38
@commendatore The only “shameful” thing is that there are some who continue to claim Glock did anything wrong at Brazil in 2008. Which, of course, he did not.
He was driving his own race and by gambling to stay out on dry-weather tyres he gained a place on where he had been:
https://www.racefans.net/2008/11/04/2008-brazilian-grand-prix-analysis/
It’s a pity that Glock continues to get criticism from a few whose who plainly aren’t familiar with the facts and in their ignorance insist he was somehow trying to help Hamilton just because of how he was overtaken.
Slr (@slr)
28th January 2013, 12:03
I’m sad to see Glock go. Whilst I don’t think he would have gone on to win championships, he didn’t could have been one of those drivers who stuck around in solid cars for many years like Heidfeld. I’ll remember Glock best for his second places at Hungary 2008 and Singapore 2009, which were brilliant drives. If you told me after Singapore 2009 that it would turn out to be Glock’s last points finish, I would have died of laughter.
Glock is a good driver who deserves a place in Formula One, and it is sad to see him go because of financial reasons. Whilst it would nice for him to come back eventually, I kind of get the feeling he won’t be.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
28th January 2013, 12:10
Honestly, I’m not sad to see Glock go. I’m disappointed, certainly, but I would not call myself sad. I think he acheived as much as he was going to in Formula 1, and that there wasn’t much hope of some upwards movement unless Marussia have somehow come up with a car that is capable of scoring points from the first race of 2013.
I think a lot of my ultimate reaction to Glock’s departure will come down to the driver who replaces him. Given the circumstnces surrpinding his exit, his replacement will probably be well-monied, but there are a few drivers out there with plenty of potential to go with their bank balances. If Marussia were to enlist one of them, then my disappointment would be dampened. If, however, they went for someone like Bruno Senna (who has had more than enough chances in Formula 1 and has only proven that he does not belong in the sport), then I would be pretty upset.
GeeMac (@geemac)
28th January 2013, 12:44
Ah Bahrain 2009, the race when Toyota blew a golden chance to win their first race with an appalling strategy call.
sato113 (@sato113)
28th January 2013, 18:15
@geemac can you explain how their strategy lost them the win? i remember they were 1-2 on the grid but cant remember how they messed up the race. cheers
GeeMac (@geemac)
28th January 2013, 19:15
@sato113 If I recall correctly they chose to run a option-prime-option strategy, switching to the options before the track was right for them.
Rob Wilson (@rob-wilson)
28th January 2013, 12:52
Is that Glock going slowly? It is! That’s Glock!
GeeMac (@geemac)
28th January 2013, 12:56
It was the “YES” in the middle of those two sentences that made that bit of commentary.
Rob Wilson (@rob-wilson)
28th January 2013, 13:18
A millio- hundred thousand local hearts sink in the grandstands!
f1alex (@f1alex)
28th January 2013, 16:29
Haha That’s the bit I always remember too! Actually, I think i could recite the entire commentary from that final lap if I tried :D
jh1806 (@jh1806)
28th January 2013, 12:59
The TF109 is a stunning car; the cleanliness of the lines on (most of) the 2009 cars was great to look at.
thatscienceguy
28th January 2013, 13:33
It’s truly horrific in anything but straight on. If you can see any of its side you see the god-awful slab side of the fin, and those vile hub caps. Looking at the picture at the top of 2008-2009 of it hopping over the Singapore kerbs induces quite spectacular vomiting episodes.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
28th January 2013, 16:34
Any Brazil 2008 pics?
Russell Gould (@russellgould)
28th January 2013, 18:30
I will miss him on the grid. He always struck me as a fair and honest racer. He’s certainly not at the bottom of the list of those having 2013 seats. Too bad for F1, but it’s DTM’s gain.
Good luck, Timo.
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
28th January 2013, 18:34
Just a pity he didn’t take the seat alongside Kubica at Renault in 2010, would have done much better than Petrov, that would have been almost certain.
By the way, the Toyota TF109 was quite a beautiful car, particularly before the shark fin was added!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th January 2013, 20:47
@ed24f1 It had potential to look so much better, the flash of red should have been much more pronounced. That said, it did look alright.
Abdurahman (@)
29th January 2013, 5:27
It says above he scored in his first race in 7th position? Was that possible in 2004??