Christijan Albers

Christian Albers, the son of former Dutch Rallycross champion Andre Albers, started his professional career in German Formula 3, winning the championship in 1999. He made contact with Australian Paul Stoddart, who would buy Minardi the year after, when joining his F3000 team in 2000. There was even some talk that Albers would join Fernando Alonso in the Minardi in 2001 but Stoddart decided against having two rookies and went for the more experienced Tarso Marques instead. Albers was signed as test driver but had to wait for several seasons before getting the race seat in 2005. Albers failed to make an impact in F3000 in the 2000 season and left for the German touring cars championship (DTM).

It was here that his career flourished, as he won five races and came in second in the 2003 season. Having made contacts with several Dutch sponsors during his time in DTM. Albers, having been around the Minardi team as a test driver since 2001 and having become a regular chauffeur at the team's F1x2 two seater events, now had sufficient funds to get a race-day drive. Albers entered the 2005 season with Minardi alongside Austrian Patrick Friesacher. When Minardi used the old car at the start of the year, both drivers were unable to compete in any significant way. This changed at the start of the European season at Imola, when the team introduced the PS05. It took a while, however, to find the ideal setup for the new car and Minardi remained behind the Jordans initially. Unfortunately, this was also the case in the much debated United States GP, in which only the six Bridgestone cars participated. Albers came in 5th, ahead of Friesacher but behind the Jordans. Later in the season, Minardi regularly outpaced the yellow team from Ireland and Albers put in some respectable qualifying performances.

After Minardi was sold to Red Bull, Albers stayed in Formula 1, first with Midland, later with Spyker, without scoring any more points. Halfway through the 2007 season, Albers ran out of sponsorship money and was replaced at Spyker. He briefly returned to DTM but was unable to repeat the stellar performance of his early career. He also participated in Le Mans and FIA World Endurance races. In 2014 he was briefly seen again in the Formula 1 paddock, not as a driver but as a team manager for the Caterham team. Catherham did not enter Formula 1 in 2015.