Max Wilson (born August 22, 1972 in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

) is a racing driver of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian parentage. He won the

Stock Car Brasil The BRB Stock Car Pro Series, formerly known as Stock Car Brasil, is a touring car racing, touring car auto racing series based in Brazil organized by Vicar. It is considered the major Brazilian and South American motorsports series. Starting in ...

title in 2010, claimed seven podiums at the International Formula 3000 Championship, and also competed in

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

and

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

. Wilson has been a color analyst on

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

and

broadcasts at Band Sports. Previously he worked at

Sportv SporTV is a Brazilian pay television sports network owned by Canais Globo, part of Grupo Globo, launched in 1991. It is the most watched sports network in Brazil. On 18 January 2013, were launched High-definition simulcasts of SporTV and ...

from 2014 to 2018.

Racing career

Junior formulae

Wilson started his motor racing career in 1985 in go-karts. He moved into single-seaters in 1993, when he was offered a ride in the Brazilian

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

Championship. In 1994 he moved to the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet Championship and finished 2nd overall, behind Felipe Giaffone.

Formula 3

Again, Wilson graduated up a level into

Formula Three Sudamericana Fórmula 3 Sudamericana was a South American Formula Three championship. It was inaugurated in 1987 and primarily held races in Brazil and Argentina, with a small number of events held in other countries across the continent. Its most notable ...

for the 1995 season. Again he finished 2nd in the championship, this time behind

Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Luiz Zonta (; born March 23, 1976) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 10 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross for RCM Motorsport. Early career Born in ...

. After testing for the WTS-F3-Team, owned by

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

's personal manager

Willi Weber Wilhelm "Willi" Friedrich Weber (born March 11, 1942 in Regensburg, Germany) is a former manager of several German racing drivers, including Michael Schumacher (until 2012), Ralf Schumacher (until November 2005), Nico Hülkenberg (until 2011), ...

, Wilson was signed by the BSR squad to compete at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is o ...

for the penultimate round of the

German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship ...

that year. He finished 5th and 6th in the double-header event. Wilson moved to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

at the beginning of 1996 to race in the German Formula Three Championship. Willi Weber had sold his WTS-F3-Team to aspiring team owner Georgis Tokmakidis, and Wilson was signed to race with Dutchman

Tom Coronel Tom Romeo Coronel (born 5 April 1972) is a Dutch professional racing driver. Tom's twin brother Tim Coronel, Tim is also a racer, just like their father Tom Coronel Sr. His most important results are winning the Masters of Formula 3, Marlboro Mast ...

as a team-mate. But the team struggled with personnel problems; Coronel ended up never racing for the team and a variety of drivers walked in and out. After winning a pre-season non-championship, the team's subsequent results were disappointing and led to Wilson, one of the championship favorites, leaving the team after two races. He then decided to join the

Italia Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

n Prema Power F3 Team as a team mate to

André Couto André Bragança Macedo e Couto ( zh, t=安德烈·高度; born 14 December 1976) is a Macau, Macanese

from mid-season on, and managed to win one championship round in wet conditions at Diepholz, despite the car having an underpowered Fiat engine. In those days almost every car on the grid was powered by the superior Opel Spiess engine. Wilson finished 10th in the championship.

Sportscars

Wilson was offered a drive with

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

to contest the 1997 FIA GT1 championship and the

Le Mans 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with the Monaco Grand ...

but turned down the offer to prioritise Formula 3000 and, ultimately, Formula 1.

Formula 3000, Formula 1 and Indycars

In 1997, Edenbridge Racing chose him to drive one of their

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championship ...

cars, alongside Werner Lupberger. He finished 5th in the championship, 19 points behind champion

after 10 rounds. He stayed on at Edenbridge for the 1998 season, and also became a test driver for the

Williams F1 Williams Racing, legally known as Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited and competing as Atlassian Williams Racing, is a British Formula One team and constructor. It was founded by Frank Williams (Formula One), Frank Williams (1942–2021) ...

team. At the end of 1999, Wilson was offered a drive with the ailing

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following ...

team for the 2000 season but a lack of financial backing saw him lose the ride at the last minute to

Gastón Mazzacane Gastón Hugo Mazzacane (born 8 May 1975) is an Argentina, Argentine racing driver. He participated in 21 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 2000 Australian Grand Prix. His father, Hugo Mazzacane, named him after the late Argentine touring ca ...

, a less experienced but more financially solvent driver. He spent 2000 as an F1 test driver for

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

as the tyre manufacturer prepared to re-enter

competition in 2001. Unable to secure a full-time Formula One ride for the 2001 season, Wilson returned to the United States and joined the Arciero-Blair Racing team to contest the CART FedEx Championship Series. The lone bright spots were a 4th place finish in Portland and leading laps in Cleveland.

Touring cars

At the end of 1996, he drove one race in the International Touring Car Championship at Interlagos for Alfa Romeo, as all manufacturers had one local driver to improve interest among local spectators. He led the second race for a while, eventually finishing in 2nd. Failing to raise a full Champ Car budget for 2002, Wilson moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

where he joined the Ford

team

Briggs Motor Sport Briggs Motorsport was an Australian motor racing team which represented Queensland-based businessman John Briggs in the sport. The team has competed in Sports Sedans, Australian GT, Formula Holden, and most notably as a touring car team compe ...

. In his second outing in a V8 Supercar, Wilson qualified fifth at the

Clipsal 500 The Adelaide 500, officially the BP Adelaide Grand Final, is an annual motor racing event for Supercars held on the streets of the east end of Adelaide, South Australia between 1999 and 2020 and again from 2022. The event uses a shortened form ...

in Adelaide. Racing for

Dick Johnson Racing Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske) is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. Founded by Dick Johnson, the team's drivers have won ten Australian Touring Car Championship titles (five of the ...

in 2003, he took his first podium finish in the championship at the final round of the year. 2004 saw Wilson fail to finish five of the rounds, driving for Triple 8 Racing. In 2005, a last-minute arrangement saw Wilson compete in the championship with Team Dynamik after his former Briggs Motor Sport team mate

Tony Longhurst Anthony Lawrence Longhurst (born 1 October 1957 in Sydney) is an Australian racing driver and former Australian Champion water skier. He is most noted for his career in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar series. Longhurst is ...

became the entrant for one of the team's

Holden Commodore VZ The Holden Commodore (VZ) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden from 2004 to 2006 as a sedan and to 2007 as a wagon and Coupé utility, Ute sold alongside the new Holden Commodore (VE), VE series. It was the fourth and final iteration ...

s. His 2005 campaign included a fifth place in the final race in China and a top ten finish at the Oran Park round. For 2006, Wilson moved to the

WPS Racing WPS Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in Australian V8 Supercar racing between 2004 and 2007. It was owned by Queensland businessman Craig Gore and sponsored by his Wright Patton Shakespeare company. History In 2003, ...

team, but immediately prior to the 2008 season the team folded, leaving Wilson without a drive. He returned to his native Brazil but did drive the Australian enduro season with

Brad Jones Racing Brad Jones Racing is an Australian motor racing team owned by Brad Jones based in Albury. The team competes in the Supercars Championship and the Super2 Series. Recently they have also returned to Australian Formula Ford where Brad and Kim be ...

, finishing fifth with Brad Jones at the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

having led the race in parts. In 2009 he returned to racing in Brazil competing in the

, winning the title in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Racing record

Career summary

Complete International Formula 3000 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

American open wheel racing results

FedEx Championship Series

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

V8 Supercar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

References

External links

Articles, Photos & Video of Max Wilson on Motorsport.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Max Supercars Championship drivers 1972 births Champ Car drivers German emigrants to Brazil German Formula Three Championship drivers Formula 3 Sudamericana drivers German racing drivers Living people Brazilian racing drivers International Formula 3000 drivers Stock Car Brasil drivers Opel Team BSR drivers Prema Powerteam drivers Dick Johnson Racing drivers Racing drivers from Hamburg