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Dries Van Langendonck
Belgian racing driver (born 2010) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dries Van Langendonck (Dutch pronunciation: [dris fɑn ˈlɑŋ.dɔŋk]; born 30 August 2010) is a Belgian racing driver who competes in the F4 British Championship for Rodin Motorsport as part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme.
Born in Hasselt and raised in Heusden-Zolder, Van Langendonck began competitive kart racing aged eight. After a successful karting career—culminating in his victories at the junior direct-drive World Championship in 2023 and European Championship in 2024—Van Langendonck graduated to junior formulae. He became the youngest race winner in British F4 history on debut in 2025.
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Early life
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Dries Van Langendonck was born on 30 August 2010 in Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium.[1] His father, Frank Van Langendonck, is a former kart racer and administrator, and his mother, Ester Meeus, is a businesswoman and medical graduate.[2] They own and manage the local Edco Rijschool.[3] At a young age, his father built a stand for him and his older brother, Tom, to watch races at Circuit Zolder—adjacent to the family home in Heusden-Zolder.[4]
The brothers first began rental karting in July 2018 at Genk, inspired by fellow Limburg native, and then four-time Grand Prix winner, Max Verstappen.[5][6] His father worked to pay for his karting career prior to his McLaren signing, describing them as "the poorest sloebers in the paddock".[4] In addition to cutting his karting career short for financial reasons, he used six hours of daily sim racing to account for missed track-time.[4] He has cited Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna as his racing idols.[7]
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Racing career
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Karting (2018–2025)
2018–2022: National championships and international debut
Van Langendonck began competitive kart racing aged eight, contesting national championships with GKS Lemmens Power. He debuted in the RMC Golden Trophy that year, finishing seventeenth at Genk in Micro Max.[8] In 2019, he won the Dutch Championship in the Rookie class;[9] he further finished fifth and sixth in the BNL Karting Series and Rotax Max Challenge Belgium, respectively.[10] He made his international debut in 2020, contesting the WSK Euro Series with Birel ART and claiming top-10 finishes in the ROK Cup Superfinal, Andrea Margutti Trophy, and Trofeo Ayrton Senna in 60 Mini,[11] where he also claimed a second Dutch Championship with Paauwer Racing.[9] In 2021, he became the first member of Birel ART's driver development programme as he finished runner-up to Kilian Josseron at the South Garda Winter Cup and Jensen Burnett at the ROK Cup Superfinal,[12][13][14] and claimed third in the Italian Championship, where he won the Trofeo Jesolo in X30 Mini;[15][11] he finished fourth at the WSK Final Cup,[16] sixth at the WSK Champions Cup,[17] and seventh at the WSK Open Cup.[11] With Parolin, he claimed his maiden international title at the Andrea Margutti Trophy in 2022,[18] with additional top-fives at the WSK Champions Cup,[19] WSK Super Master Series,[20] and Italian Championship.[21]
2022–2024: Dominance in OK-Junior
Aged 12, Van Langendonck progressed to OK-Junior—the premier under-15 international direct-drive karting category—with Energy Corse, finishing seventh on his World Championship debut at Sarno.[22] In 2023, he finished runner-up to Lewis Wherrell in Champions of the Future—amongst top-five finishes in the European Championship and WSK Super Master Series—before joining Forza Racing.[23] He became the first World Champion from Belgium since François Goldstein in 1975 with his victory over Christian Costoya at Franciacorta,[24] which propelled him into the top-10 of the International Karting Ranking (IKR) for the first time,[25] and closed the season by winning the WSK Final Cup.[26] Van Langendonck opened his 2024 campaign with runner-up positions at the WSK Champions Cup and WSK Super Master Series to Niklas Schaufler.[23] With victories in Valencia and Slovakia—which propelled him to lead the IKR—he cruised to win the European Championship by 95 points over Costoya,[27][28] further beating him and Schaufler in Champions of the Future whilst missing the final round to compete in OK.[29] His successes in OK-Junior saw him named IKR Driver of the Year ahead of over 1,200 competitors.[30]
2024–2025: Progression to senior classes with McLaren and de Grote Belgische F1-Hoop
Joining the McLaren Driver Development Programme,[31] Van Langendonck progressed to the senior OK category in September 2024, aged 14. Following his sixth-placed debut in Champions of the Future and retiring from the rain-affected final of the World Championship at PF International, where he had an average heat position of 3.6, he won the WSK Final Cup ahead of Schaufler.[29][32][33] He joined Prema for 2025, winning the WSK Super Master Series and claiming a podium at Campillos on his OK European Championship debut,[34] where he finished eighth overall after missing half the season.[35] Upon his graduation to junior formulae midway through the season, Sporza described Van Langendonck as the "great Belgian [Formula One] hope".[4]
Formula 4 (2025–present)
2025: Youngest race winner in British F4
On his fifteenth birthday,[note 1] Van Langendonck graduated to junior formulae with his appearance in the eighth round of the F4 British Championship at Donington Park.[37] He previously tested Formula 4 machinery at Navarra, Vallelunga, and Brands Hatch, alongside simulator sessions at the McLaren Technology Centre.[4][34][38] Stating "all I can and want to do is do everything to get [to Formula One]",[4] he qualified on pole position on debut;[39] starting second in race one,[note 2] he dropped to fourteenth before claiming ninth in the reverse-grid second race.[note 3][41] In the final race, he converted pole into victory, pulling a seven-second advantage over August Raber and becoming the youngest race winner in British F4 history.[41][42] At Silverstone National, he claimed fifth in both qualifying groups before, in each race, he: was disqualified from sixth for a team administrative error; finished twentieth after receiving opening-lap front wing damage; and returned to the points with seventh.[43] He qualified fifth and seventh in each group at the season-ending Brands Hatch round;[44] starting from the pit lane in race one, he climbed to fourteenth,[45] prior to his sixth-placed race two, and fifth-placed finale, helping Rodin clinch the Teams' Cup.[46] He ended the season twenty-first overall on 38 points—having contested three of 10 rounds—with one victory and pole position.[a]
Formula One
In July 2024, Van Langendonck joined the McLaren Driver Development Programme, aged 13, in a parallel move to that of Lewis Hamilton 26 years prior, another young kart racer with minimal funding.[31] As a protégé of Warren Hughes, Van Langendonck has undergone several junior formulae tests and simulator sessions.[47][4]
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Other racing
Sim racing
To account for missed track-time due to a lack of funding in his junior career, Van Langendonck began sim racing.[4] He is one of the top-ranked iRacing drivers in the world, where he finished third in the Spa 24 Special Event—a 24-hour virtual team endurance race—in 2025,[48] before winning the first European round of the FIA F4 Global Esports Championship.[49][4]
Karting record
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Karting career summary
Complete CIK-FIA results
Complete CIK-FIA Karting World Championship results
Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
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Racing record
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Racing career summary
Complete F4 British Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
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Notes
- Since 2015, the minimum age for drivers competing in the F4 British Championship has been 15.[36]
- In the 2025 F4 British Championship, starting position for the first race was determined by each driver's second-fastest lap time in qualifying.[40]
- In the 2025 F4 British Championship, the top 12 qualifiers were subjected to a reverse-grid in the second race.[40]
- Additional references are stated in § Karting (2018–2025).
- Did not finish, but was classified 22nd.
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References
External links
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