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IndyCar: 2018 Driver Profile – Robert Wickens

By Matthew Elich

TAUPO, NEW ZEALAND - JANUARY 20: Robert Wickens of Canada celebrates on the podium after his second place finish in the Feature Race at the New Zealand round of the A1GP World Cup Of Motorsport at the Taupo motorsport Park on January 20, 2008 in Taupo, New Zealand. (Photo by Ross Land/Getty Images)
TAUPO, NEW ZEALAND - JANUARY 20: Robert Wickens of Canada celebrates on the podium after his second place finish in the Feature Race at the New Zealand round of the A1GP World Cup Of Motorsport at the Taupo motorsport Park on January 20, 2008 in Taupo, New Zealand. (Photo by Ross Land/Getty Images) /
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Robert Wickens shined during the first IndyCar race of the 2018 season. We take a deeper look at highlights from his career up until now.

In the aftermath of the opening round of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season at St. Petersburg, one driver that stood out was rookie Robert Wickens. After he led an incredible amount of laps and his 1st place finish was snatched from him, he has become a much talked about prospect for the season. We take a deeper look at his career highlights.

Even though Robert Wickens is considered a rookie in IndyCar, he has already had a storied career in the racing world up to this point, which may be why this new driver was so sensational in his debut at St. Petersburg for the opening race of the season.

When you add in his pole position and some of the drama at the finish with Alexander Rossi, it has now placed the 28-year-old Canadian in the spotlight as a strong contender, while adding an additional buzz to the storylines already in development for the rest of the 2018 IndyCar season.

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Prior to signing with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for the 2018 season, Wickens had most recently been competing in DTM, and he had been doing so since 2012, picking up several wins in the German touring car series and a career-high of 4th place in the series championship, which he took in 2016 season.

2011 was the last time Robert Wickens was in an open-wheel race car. That was when he became the Formula Renault 3.5 champion with five wins, 10 podiums, and seven poles throughout the season driving for Carlin Motorsport. This was not his only stint in the Renault 3.5 Series, as he also completed in the 2007 and 2008 seasons, but with fewer great results.

Wickens has competed in the Formula 2 and GP3 series in 2009 and 2010, respectively, with a career-high finish of 2nd place in the championship standings in both categories. The Canadian also played a role in Formula 1 as reserve driver for Marussia Virgin Racing during the 2011 season.

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This all amounts to a talented young driver, whose 29th birthday is today if you want to wish him well, with quite a bit of experience, and after taking pole in St. Petersburg along with his subsequent showing during the race, Robert Wickens is now another driver to keep an eye on throughout the 2018 IndyCar season.