Thierry Marc Alain Boutsen

After winning the "Volant V" in 1977 at the André Pilette Racing School at Zolder, Boutsen entered the Belgian Formula Ford 1600 championship and won it in 1978 with 15 victories in 18 races. He also entered the 1978 Spa 24 Hours, the last race on the old 14 km Spa-Francorchamps circuit, driving a Toyota Trueno. For 1979, he moved to Formula 3, winning three races in 1980 and finishing second in the European title race behind Michele Alboreto. In 1981, he moved to Formula 2, again finishing second in the European championship — this time behind Geoff Lees — including a win at the 14-mile Nürburgring.

Boutsen entered the 1981 24 Hours of Le Mans in a WM P81-Peugeot. At 4:06 pm, travelling at around 350 km/h near the Hunaudières kink, a suspension failure caused his car to hit the guard-rail and lose its entire rear end. Boutsen escaped unhurt, but debris from the car struck three marshals and a gendarme; one marshal, Thierry Mabilat, was killed, and two others — Claude Hertault and Serge David — were seriously injured, with David losing an arm.

In 1983, Boutsen drove in the European Touring Car Championship and in World Sportscar races, where he won the first Group C race, the Monza 1000 km, co-driving a Porsche 956 with Bob Wollek. He won the 1985 Daytona 24 Hours co-driving a Porsche 956 from Preston Henn Racing alongside Wollek, A. J. Foyt, and Al Unser Sr.

Boutsen paid $500,000 for his Formula One debut with Arrows at the 1983 Belgian Grand Prix at the shortened 7 km Spa-Francorchamps. His careful handling and close performance relative to experienced teammate Marc Surer built a positive reputation within the team. With backing from Barclay cigarettes, he remained with Arrows for three further seasons. The team's first turbocharged car used powerful BMW turbo engines but suffered poor handling. Boutsen scored points twice in the Cosworth DFV-powered A6 and once in the turbo machine.

In his second season, Boutsen achieved second place at Imola after Alain Prost was disqualified for a car found to be 2 kg underweight; Boutsen had crossed the line third behind Prost and Elio de Angelis. Three more points finishes placed him 11th in the standings. A final Arrows season yielded no points in an uncompetitive car, but in parallel Boutsen drove for the Walter Brun team in Group C, clinching the World Championship title in 1986 and winning that year's Spa 1000 km.

Boutsen switched to the works Ford Europe team, Benetton, for 1987 as teammate to Teo Fabi. He scored points in six races, his best result being an awarded third place in Adelaide after the disqualification of Ayrton Senna's Lotus. At the Australian Grand Prix, Boutsen was furious after Fabi refused to let his teammate lap him for several laps. When Boutsen confronted Fabi after the race, Fabi — unable to find an F1 drive for 1988 — told Boutsen to "come back and see me when you have a pole position." Fabi had scored three poles against Boutsen's none at that stage.

In 1988, Boutsen was partnered by Alessandro Nannini. With Cosworth halting turbo engine development, Benetton switched to normally aspirated Ford DFR V8 engines ahead of the 1989 turbo ban. Boutsen's consistency in the Rory Byrne-designed Benetton B188 brought points in 10 of 16 races, including five third-place finishes, all behind the dominant McLaren-Honda cars. He placed fourth in the championship as the best non-turbo driver in the field.

Frank Williams signed Boutsen in summer 1988 to replace Nigel Mansell, who had moved to Ferrari. Boutsen drove the new Renault V10-powered Williams FW12C in 1989. The season began difficult — a heavy pre-season crash in Rio put him on the back foot, and veteran teammate Riccardo Patrese enjoyed a major form resurgence. At the Canadian Grand Prix, however, Boutsen drove well in wet conditions and took his maiden victory after Senna suffered a late engine failure. Despite being last at one stage and surviving a full 360° spin, Boutsen passed Patrese — who was suffering with a loose undertray — and took the lead three laps from the end when Senna's Honda V10 seized. Three more podiums followed before Boutsen sealed his second victory at the rain-soaked Australian Grand Prix. He had been among the drivers protesting about the conditions before the race.

In 1990, Boutsen claimed his third and final Grand Prix victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix: a lights-to-flag win from his first pole position, holding off sustained pressure from Alessandro Nannini (Benetton) and Ayrton Senna (McLaren). Despite winning three races in two years to Patrese's one, and finishing every race in 1990 in the points barring retirements, Williams chose to retain Patrese alongside the returning Mansell for 1991, believing Patrese had been more consistent.

With no vacancies at top teams, Boutsen dropped to Ligier for 1991–1992. Despite a sizeable budget and Lamborghini V12 engines, the JS35 was uncompetitive. The arrival of Renault engines in 1992 improved matters somewhat, and in his final race for the team Boutsen scored fifth place — his first points since leaving Williams.

In 1993, Barclay secured Boutsen a seat at Jordan, replacing Ivan Capelli. Boutsen was too tall for the car and was largely outpaced by young teammate Rubens Barrichello. He failed to score any points in ten races, and Eddie Jordan chose to make Boutsen's home race — the Belgian Grand Prix — his farewell, though he retired on the first lap.

For 1994, Boutsen was hired by Ford Motorsport to lead their works challenge in the newly created Super Tourenwagen Cup in Germany, driving a factory-prepared Ford Mondeo built by Eggenberger Motorsport. The following year, Boutsen was joined by his former Williams teammate Riccardo Patrese, but the season was a disaster; the team attempted to develop a four-wheel-drive Mondeo following Audi's lead but it proved totally uncompetitive. Boutsen started only the first four races of 1996 before leaving the team. Ford pulled the plug on the project at the end of that season.

Boutsen then drove sports cars in the US for Champion Racing in a Porsche 911 GT1 alongside Bill Adam and Hans Stuck. The trio finished second in class at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1997, and Boutsen won the GT-1 US Championship with Champion Racing in 1998. A crash at Le Mans in 1999 at the wheel of a Toyota GT-One prompted his retirement from racing altogether.

Boutsen founded Boutsen Aviation in Monaco in 1997 with his wife Daniela, a company specialising in the sale and acquisition of business jets; by May 2011, it had sold 205 aircraft ranging from Airbus Corporate Jets to Cessna Citations. He is also co-owner of Boutsen Energy Racing — alongside his brother-in-law Olivier Lainé and Georges Kaczka — which competes in the Formula Le Mans class in the Le Mans Series and runs cars in Formula Renault and Eurocup Mégane Trophy.

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