Sport AND Sustainability with Formula E pilot Stoffel Vandoorne

So how does it feel to be part of one of the most sustainable sports? Great, according to Formula E champion, Stoffel Vandoorne! As he explains, Formula E, the driving competition for electric cars, is “really a championship that is on the rise, that is pushing sustainability, electrification and bringing that racing to the cities as well.” 

Stoffel gives an inspiring account of how he prepares physically and mentally for a race, what makes a Formula E car different to drive, what business leaders can learn from his champion mindset, the importance of dreaming big and never giving up, and much more! 

1:16 - Upbringing and inspiration for racing
3:34 - Preparing physically and mentally for a race
7:30 - Formula E: One of the most sustainable sports!
9:26 - The Formula E car - what’s different?
12:12 - Career in racing: focus on the journey
17:03 - What businesses can learn from racing
20:18 - Favorite race track
21:40 - Next big goal
23:06 - Life outside of racing

Stoffel Vandoorne is a Belgian professional racing driver in Formula E, the championship for electric cars. Until July 2024 he was a pilot for the DS Penske team, which Syensqo is proud to sponsor. Vandoorne's racing career started at the age of six, competing in kart championships – and this led him all the way to becoming the champion of the 2015 GP2 Series and winning the 2021–22 Formula E World Championship.

***This podcast was recorded in June 2024, when Stoffel was still with the DS Penske team. We wish him the best in his next adventure! 

For additional details about the podcast, show notes, and access to resources mentioned during the show, please visit https://www.syensqo.com/en/podcast

Transcript

Ilham Kadri: Today. I am thrilled to welcome Stoffel Vandoorne, a champion driver for the DS Penske Formula E team. For anyone in the audience who doesn't know, Formula E is the championship for electrical cars. This is probably the cleanest sport out there. So it actually has a certified net zero carbon footprint. 

We are incredibly proud at Syensqo to partner with DS Penske and to provide lightweight material for their cars to enable greater speed, greater agility. Stoffel, thank you so much for being here with us.

Stoffel Vandoorne: Thanks for having me.

Upbringing and inspiration for racing

Ilham Kadri: So I always love, Stoffel, to start the conversation with, in fact, what motivates people. I know you, you grew up,  next door. I'm sitting here in Brussels, in the heart of Brussels. You grew up in West Flanders, right here in this beautiful country of Belgium. Where did your competitive spirit come from? Did something particularly inspire you as a child?

Stoffel Vandoorne:  Yeah, so obviously my whole childhood, I grew up in Belgium. I'm, you know, currently not living there anymore, but obviously I have my roots there, my family, my friends. So it will always be, you know, very close to my heart and I always enjoy going back there. But yeah, starting from the beginning,  I think, I was always passionate about sports. When I was young, like four or five years old,  I didn't quite figure out yet which sports I was gonna, like and be the best at, let's say. Thanks  but I think, you know, quite quickly I found out that racing was my passion.  It was the only thing that I, you know, was dreaming about.I was so obsessed about, let's say, that I, that I wanted to do it all the time. So that's kind of how I started.  My dad, he's an architect and he designed a go kart track near Kortrijk in Belgium, which is where I was born as well. And when he was going there for his job, I was just going with him. And obviously he was very good friends with the owner of the go kart track. So he just, you know, let me drive some laps whilst, you know, whilst my dad was doing his business. And that's kind of how I, how I got the bug. I enjoyed it. I, you know, loved the thrill of driving fast, of the speed. And ultimately, I love the competition as well.  and I didn't really find that in all the other different sports that I was, you know, that I was playing at the time when I was,when I was younger. I just didn't have that same passion. So, quite quickly I realized that racing was the one for me.

Preparing physically and mentally for a race

Ilham Kadri: That's cool. So, that owner should be really proud today that he let you drive,  every time the young Stoffel, in his cart. So that's great. And I had the fantastic opportunity to see you race in the Misano E Prix and it was such a pleasure to do the pit line walk. And look at you guys close by coming in and I can't even imagine what it must be like going at those speeds. It must take so much discipline, training, resilience. Can you tell us more about your training and how do you prepare yourself both physically but also mentally for a race?

Stoffel Vandoorne: Yeah, so obviously Formula E is, you know, you're racing at the highest level in electric racing. And all the people, all the drivers that are there, are there for the same reason. They're there to try and win races, try and win championships,  and do that collectively as a team. So you're going up against the very best. So it makes it even harder to, you know, to really make a difference to them because everyone has won championships before they've won a lot of the series before they've arrived there. So you're really competing against the very best. So it's all in the small details where you can make difference, that goes from the technical side with the team,  really analyzing the data that we have available.  Also for us drivers,  you know, we work very closely with our engineers and one driver prefers something a little bit different than another one. So it's really a collaboration that you have to, that you have to establish. And then you obviously have the physical and the mental side as well.  Physically we have to be very fit.  It's quite tough for us because, The teams want us to be quite light because the lighter you are, the better it is for the performance of the car. But at the same time, you have to be strong enough to drive the cars. We have no power steering. We have a lot of G forces on our body. When we are braking, when we are cornering, so the racing is very intense from a physical side, but also mentally,  managing the energy through the race is very difficult. We have a lot of information on our, on our, our screens or displays that we have in our cars.  We're constantly communicating with our team to,  you know, to give them information so they can help us get through the race as well. And in the end, it comes down to a really small, small margins. And, you know, as soon as you have a small little mistake or something that is not 100 percent right, you're not gonna win the race. So,  it's a great feeling when it goes well, when, you know, you're on the podium when you have a victory together with your team. It's a very rewarding feeling because it's not just yourself that has done the job. It's really a team effort.  and every single person in the team has contributed to that.

Ilham Kadri: Yeah. And I heard that you are following very rigorous diets, right? That's what the crew said. 

Stoffel Vandoorne: Yeah, definitely. And we have a physio with us during all the races,  and she's also helping us with our nutrition. So to make sure that we eat,  at the right times of the day,  that we eat the right food as well. Some countries we even import our own foods, let's say, because the quality of the food sometimes is not always up to the standard that we want. So, sometimes we just want to be safe. It's not the most enjoying meals, let's say, but at least it's safe and, and we can't afford to be sick. So we always take great precaution.

Formula E: One of the most sustainable sports! 

Ilham Kadri: Well, that's the ticket to pay to be a champion. So, maybe as I said, right, Formula E has a net zero carbon footprint. It's a big deal for Syensqo, our employees, we call explorers. How does it feel to be part of such sustainable sport, Stoffel? I think Formula E is getting to the mind and the heart. And I was really, you know,  impressed,  at the Misano E Prix, you know, to see so many people, so many families, so many kids coming in. So how does it feel to be part of this new sustainable sport?

Stoffel Vandoorne: Yeah, it's great. Obviously I joined Formula E five, six years ago now. And, and it's really a championship that is on the rise, that is pushing sustainability, electrification and bringing that racing to the cities as well.  So the championship has been Carbon Net Zero for, you know, for some years now, and it's been, kind of miles ahead of other championships, and it's great that, you know, that is the continuous message that everyone is pushing. Not only the championship, but also the teams are putting a massive effort into that with everything we do. With the production of parts, even just with the  or, or food and, and, and beverage that we bring to the circuits. Everything is in, in,  in,  you know, cardboard, disposable, disposable bags. We have no plastic water bottles anymore. So we're really trying to take care of everything that we do. Of course, for us drivers, that's not the main focus because we're here to perform, but for sure we want to, you know, we're kind of the pillars, right, of the sport and people look up to us. So that's definitely something you have to have on your mind and, and a message that we kind of push over in the world.

The Formula E car - what’s different? 

Ilham Kadri: Yeah. So coming a bit to the performance of the car and, you know, socializing it with our audience, how does a Formula E car compare to a hyper car, for example? Are there any differences when it comes to speed and control? And I'm curious, especially since we provide materials, what would be your ideal car and how fast, you know, you would like to reach the hundred kilometer per, per hour?

Stoffel Vandoorne: Yeah, I would say Formula E is a very different car to any other race car. First of all, it's fully electric. So, already there is, there is very little sound, very little noise in the car. So in the beginning, when you drive those car for the first time, It is quite strange because when you grow up in all the other,  different series, you actually realize the noise, the sound is actually a big part of our cues that we use for driving and feeling things inside the car. So, that was quite different. Then I would say the braking in a Formula E car is very particular,  because we regenerate a lot of energy through, through the braking phase. So actually we have no brake discs at the back of our car because it's fully electric. So the feeling on the brake pedal, and the way that you have to brake is quite different to other cars. So that takes a little bit of time of adaptation. And then,  you have the tires as well, which are a big topic in Formula E. Because we have tires that are both good for dry and rain conditions, so we don't have to change them. They work in all the conditions,  but they're also very difficult to manage to get them in the right temperature window.  And stuff like that. So, you know, the cars are continuously evolving. Next year, they're going to be even faster. We're going to have four wheel drive, which means that the acceleration is going to be super, super impressive.I think, faster than Formula One cars, probably. Maybe not quite the top speed and the cornering speed, but it's a different concept of car. We have less freedom on the aerodynamics,  so they go a little bit slower in the corners, but the acceleration will be, will be very, very impressive.

Ilham Kadri: Wow. So what, what is it, how fast can you reach the a hundred kilometer per hour  in the near future?

Stoffel Vandoorne:  I think it's gonna be like around two seconds, I would say. Yeah.

Career in racing: focus on the journey

Ilham Kadri: Yeah. Wow. Wow. I think I read it recently. There was someone who broke a record below seconds, but I cannot remember just now who was that. Now I really like something that you say to the younger drivers and you are a young champion,  and you tell them, enjoy the journey. And this is, we have something in common. I'm a big believer in that because so often the journey is more important than the destination. And if your journey is fabulous, enriching, you know, learning experience.  There will be more than one, you know, destination and great. You will, you may have choices, right in your destinations. Can you tell us a little bit more about your own journey in your racing career, including those sobering moments, tough moments? Can a champion be vulnerable? And, what took you here, right? To, this?

Stoffel Vandoorne: Yeah, exactly. I think. Anyone or any athlete's career,  it's not just about the success. It's a lot about the difficult moments and how you really deal with them, because when you look at a success, there's very few moments of those and okay, some people have more success than other ones, but in racing, usually you lose more than, than, than you win. Let's say so you really got to enjoy the moments and the times when everything aligns well and and you know when you have those opportunities to to to win and to fight for championships because unfortunately, they're they're not there every year it depends on so many things, you know, you got to be at the right place at the right time and have the right package available. But it's really how you deal with those tough times. And I think that's something that has made me stronger as well.  As an athlete, how you deal with those moments always continue to, you know, to be motivated, to push your team, to push the people around you. Because ultimately things always come around and you have to be, you know, you have to be ready for when the times are there. 

So yeah, I think through my career, you know, I've had some very good times. I've won a lot of championships when I was in the junior ranks but then I also had some very difficult moments, especially in Formula 1 when I was there in 2017 18. I wasn't at the right place at the right time. It was a, you know, kind of, you're dreaming all your life to get to Formula One and then it didn't turn out the way that you, that you like it to have. And that's sometimes a little bit hard to accept, but I feel like today I'm much stronger because of that, because I've learned how to deal with setbacks when things are not going right. I make sure I always turn up motivated now and full of energy before the races.

Ilham Kadri: Well, thank you, Stoffel, for sharing this. I think you are a strong champion because you can also reflect on those setbacks and sobering moments, like in any journey. I mean, as a business leader, as a leader, as a professional, we always, we all face those setbacks and that's what makes us stronger. And that's exactly what you are saying. So, you know, in racing, you fail more than you win. It's interesting. Let's take a minute to talk about some of the big highlights of your career. You've won several titles,  you mentioned those when you were really young, but including the 2022 Formula E World Championship, how did that feel then?

Stoffel Vandoorne: Yeah, I would say the Formula E championship probably ranks as one of my,  you know, my top ones because it's a world championship.  And the championships that I won before were in the junior series and they were obviously very important for, for my career and to succeed as a professional racing driver. But once you get to the top, it's even harder to win because all the people that are there have, have won and they're all champions. So, to win the Formula E championship was definitely one of the best achievements.  It was a very tough fight, tough battle for the whole season. And, I think, you know, the year just went very well. We didn't really have any bad moments.  the focus that you have when you're, you know, a championship fight this is really something special and it really pushes you to to other limits, let's say so when you find yourself in that position, it's it's a great feeling and obviously winning the championship was yeah, it was a huge achievement for us.

What businesses can learn from racing 

Ilham Kadri: Yeah, it's amazing. And I think what you said is also important is the whole team is teamwork. And when you go to the race and I had the chance not only to visit your team and even get into these twin cars in Paris, right? I mean, it's crazy how, closed, you know, environment it is and how much you need to be fit, right? To get, to get into the car and then, do the journey, the racing into such a close environment. So physically, mentally is really challenging. So now moving to businesses. And obviously we have a lot of listeners, business listeners. I always say that businesses can learn a lot from champions like you. And you know what Syensqo is the demerger from Solvay, we just created the, and we launched two companies after 160 years of existence,  here in Belgium. At Syensqo, our purpose is to be explorers who push the boundaries of science and create breakthroughs that advance humanity. So one of the breakthroughs can be solid state batteries, smaller, lighter, more energy density to allow you to drive faster and longer. And this takes a lot of passion and the will to go beyond. And I think you are a brilliant role model for all of us, because you have to have such incredible discipline. You talked about your diet, your training, determination, in face of setbacks and winning mindsets. And that's what we want our explorers really to have that winning mindset and you role model all of those. So what do you think scientists, we fail a lot in science as well before winning and business people can learn from you, Stoffel.

Stoffel Vandoorne: I think it's, you know, you made some great points there and I feel in racing now and not only racing, probably I'm forgetting definitely other sports as well. But I think Formula E is kind of a laboratory and what we see more and more is that. Companies want to associate with Formula E teams,  not just as a pure sponsorship, but really for a B2B opportunity, let's say. Because I think there is, there is great ways for, you know, the teams to benefit from the companies that they're associating with. In our case, that's Syensqo and vice versa, let's say, so, I think those partnerships are great when, you know, both parties can, you know, can be fruitful because of that, let's say. And I think in business it's a similar mindset to racing, I would say.  I think a lot of things probably go wrong before they go right. But the key to that is to, you know, to keep trying to never give up because ultimately a solution will be there. A solution will arise and you will have the benefits of that after that.

Favorite race track

Ilham Kadri: Yeah, never give up, right? Don't, don't give up on your dreams and big ones. You've been to probably every racetrack in the world by now. Which one is your favorite and why?

Stoffel Vandoorne: My favorites? I mean, the Formula E racing tracks, they're a bit different than the normal racing tracks. Or the permanent ones, let's say.  In terms of the permanent ones, I love, I love Spa. It's our Belgian, you know, racetrack. It's a beautiful racetrack. I think it's one of the best in the world. You know, beautiful scenery, a lot of elevation, one of the longest ones as well. And a very, yeah, very fast and flowing circuit.  Then in Formula E itself, we mainly race on street circuits and I would say probably one of my favorites there is Monaco because this race is so special. It's got a massive hype, a massive buzz around it every time we race here. And I, and I'm living here now as well in Monaco. So it's a very unique feeling when you wake up in the morning. On race day that the streets are closed that you know the streets that you normally drive on on your scooter or with your car and you just got them to yourself to go and race on so that's um yeah, that's a pretty unique feeling.

Next big goal

Ilham Kadri: It's really special. So I cannot wait to come and see you in Spa and Monaco next time. What is your next goal? I mean, I know you, you, you enjoyed the journey. Do you have, do you dream big? Do you have next dreams? Do you see yourself in 10, 20 years, or is it only about the journey?

Stoffel Vandoorne:  I think you have to be, you have to have a little bit of both to be honest. I think you need to have short term goals and long term goals to try and make your path, let's say. I think in the short term, my goal is definitely to try and win another Formula E championship. That's where a lot of my energy goes towards is to get a second championship in Formula E.  I'm also racing in endurance racing, and I, I literally just got back from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and, and I would say that's also one of the races that,  that,  I would really love to win in, in the future at some point.

So,  yeah, the thing is, it's, it's always very hard to know exactly where the journey will lead you. And you have to live a little bit in the moment.  But,  it's still important to kind of  try and have your perfect path in front of you.

Life outside of racing 

Ilham Kadri: Yeah. And, yeah, I didn't know about 24 Hours Le Mans, I did it two years ago. You know, you can imagine, I like cars and racing. So, and it's another atmosphere, completely different from the formula type of race. And I can understand the vibe is so beautiful. So, I'm curious now. And, as we are curious in this podcast, what do you like to do outside of racing? And, often in the business life, people ask me or ask us, do we have a balance between our private and professional life? So do you have one and what does this mean? That's balance and what you, what are you doing when you are not racing?

Stoffel Vandoorne: Yeah, I mean, at the moment,  I would say this year and last year, they have been pretty busy and I've not really had a lot of time at home. Sometimes,  when I have a few days, I just like to do nothing actually, because it's good to, to,  to switch off from all the racing because that, you know, you can't have it. 24 7 on your mind, but things I like to do outside of racing. I'm quite active with investing and, and looking at companies, trying to understand what they are, what they're doing. what they are doing.  I think,  you know, it's an athlete's career only last for a couple of years and you don't, you know, you don't necessarily know when exactly that's gonna, that's gonna stop. So I think it's always very important to prepare the future as well. And, you know, try to make sure that you can retire in a happy place. So, I think I've always been pretty business minded, try to look for companies that I like personally and, that I, you know, believe in, in their business model.  So yeah, that's definitely taking up some time as well when I have some free time.

Ilham Kadri: Yeah. Well, I mean, I hope don't scare us. You're not returning anytime soon. All right.

Stoffel Vandoorne: No, I'm, I'm not, I'm not, I'm still here for a while.

Ilham Kadri: thank you so much for this amazing conversation, Stoffel. You are special to us, not only a big champion, and we love what you are doing. We follow you, we watch you. It happens that you are Belgian, and we are Belgian.I'm not, but I married a Belgian guy. My son is Belgian. I lead a Belgian company. So we are very, very proud of you. And we can also all learn from you great leadership lessons from the champion you are, your discipline, your determination, your humility on sharing your vulnerabilities, which is for us, the DNA of great leaders.

So you've inspired us today to go full speed ahead to achieve great things. And I'm sure our listener and our scientists who are, you know, innovating light weighting for cleaner mobility are going to be so much inspired to know that they are contributing indirectly to your, to your win. So thank you very much, Stoffel.

Stoffel Vandoorne: Thanks for having me.