Max Wilson

Max Wilson (born August 22, 1972 in Hamburg, Germany) is a racing driver of Brazilian parentage.

Junior formulae

He started his motor racing career in 1985 in go-karts. His tenacious racing style led him to move into single-seaters in 1993, when he was offered a ride in the Brazilian Formula Ford 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 for the 1995 season. Again he finished 2nd in the championship, this time behind Ricardo Zonta.

After testing successfully for the WTS-F3-Team, owned by Michael Schumacher's personal manager Willi Weber, Max was snatched up by the BSR squad to compete at Magny-Cours for the penultimate round of the German Formula Three Championship that year. A 5th and a 6th place in double header generated further interest in the unknown youngster.

Wilson moved to Munich at the beginning of 1996 as his personal friend Mario-Alberto Bauér managed to find a seat for Max in the German Formula Three Championship. Willi Weber had sold his WTS-F3-Team to aspiring team owner Georgis Tokmakidis and Max was signed to race with Dutchman Tom Coronel as a team-mate. But the team dwindled due to persistent 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 results were disappointing and led to Max, aside Jarno Trulli, Nick Heidfeld and Arnd Meier one of the championship favorites, leaving the team after a couple of races.

Against all warnings he then decided to join the Italian Prema Power F3 Team as a team mate to André Couto from mid-season on and managed to win one championship round in wet conditions at Diepholz, despite the notoriously underpowered Fiat-engine. In those days almost every car on the grid was powered by the superior Opel Spiess engine. Restrained by the power disadvantage the initial title favourite ended up in 10th in the championship.

Formula 3000 / Formula 1 / Indycars

In 1997, Edenbridge Racing chose him to drive one of their Formula 3000 cars, alongside Werner Lupberger. He finished 5th in the championship, albeit only 19 points behind champion Ricardo Zonta after 10 rounds.

He stayed on at Edenbridge for the 1998 season, and also became a test driver for the Williams F1 team.

At the end of 1999, Wilson was offered a drive with the ailing Minardi team but a lack of financial backing saw him lose the ride at the last minute to Gastón Mazzacane, a less experienced but more financially solvent driver. But all was not lost: after an impressive stint at Williams, Wilson spent 2000 as an F1 test driver for Michelin as the tyre manufacturer prepared to re-enter Formula One competition.

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 Champ Car World Series. In his rookie year, he posted some inspiring results against the likes of Michael Andretti, Christian Fittipaldi and Kenny Bräck.

Touring cars

At the end of 1996, he drove one race in ITC 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 packed his bags and headed for Australia where he joined the Ford V8 Supercars team Briggs Motor Sport. Keeping in mind he had never driven anything but an open-wheeler, the extra weight, right hand drive and sheer size of a V8 Supercar seemed a significant challenge for the young Brazilian. Wilson, however, had other ideas.

In just his second outing in a V8 Supercar, Wilson managed to snare fifth position on the grid at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. His trend for setting the pace during qualifying continued throughout the year, qualifying inside the top 15 starters in 11 of the 14 events during his debut year in the championship.

Wilson continued his impressive qualifying form with Dick Johnson Racing in 2003 where he capped off the year with his first podium finish in the championship at the final round of the year.

2004 was a tough year for Wilson when he failed to finish five of the rounds due to a variety of reasons while in a position for some solid results whilst driving for Triple 8 Racing.

A last-minute arrangement saw Wilson compete in the championship with Team Dynamik after his former Briggs Motor Sport team mate, Tony Longhurst became the entrant for one of the team's Holden Commodore VZs. During his 2005 campaign he again showed glimpses of his true potential which 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 team however immediately prior to the 2008 season the team folded, leaving Wilson without a drive. Wilson returned to his native Brazil but did drive the Australian enduro season with Brad Jones Racing, finishing an excellent fifth with Brad Jones at the Bathurst 1000 having led the race in parts.

In 2009 he returned to racing in Brazil competing in the Stock Car Brasil winning the title in 2010.

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