Categories: Picture of the dayRace and classic pictures

One GP2 champion, seeking new employment

(C) Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service

Mercedes weren't the only ones celebrating clinching a championship last Sunday at Sochi. Over in the GP2 paddock, ART was helping Stoffel Vandoorne celebrate clinching the drivers' title in the feeder series as well.

The big question now is, what will the 23-year-old Belgian do next? The McLaren F1 test and development driver did exactly what he was told to do this year by going out an absolutely dominating the 2015 GP2 season - he sealed the title by pulling over 100 points clear of Alexander Rossi with four races still to go before the end of the year. That's quite a resounding success by anyone's standards.

But with the way forward at McLaren blocked by confirmation that Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button will stay with the team in 2016, what will Vandoorne do next? Another team on the Formula One grid perhaps? Another year in GP2 isn't an option, as former champions are forbidden from returning to the series in future years.

Maybe that's why we catch him trying his hand at being a cameraman, catching the behind-the-scenes celebrations in the ART garage after Sunday's sprint race that saw him secure the title. So was he any good? We'll have to ask the TV producers whether he has a good eye for this sort of work or whether he should stick to racing in the future!

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.