I was finally able to confirm my involvement in the brilliant McLaren Solus GT project which had previously been top secret, and I was delighted to take part in the TopGear video to mark its public launch. I've driven this awesome car on the track and it is truly breath-taking!

TopGear video here

In 2000, Sam, former Indycar driver and now co-owner of the Arrow McLaren SP Indycar team, suffered a huge crash at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando which severely damaged his spinal cord and left him quadriplegic. A few years ago, Arrow Electronics proposed a concept to Sam to allow him to drive again. “Only if I can go fast” was his response.

The system you now see in the McLaren 720s is an evolution of that concept and the product of years of hard work from the team at Arrow. Sam steers the car using only his head - three motion sensing infra-red cameras are mounted on the dashboard of the 720S to track the movement of Sam’s head. Acceleration and braking is achieved through a tube a in his mouth. He adds pressure to the tube (he puffs) to accelerate and reduces the pressure in the tube (he inhales) to brake.

Take a look at some onboard footage below from one of our runs over the weekend to see the awesome speed with which Sam takes the car up the hill at Goodwood. Although I'm sitting behind the wheel, I'm there merely for safety and as an ‘organic ESC system’, and it's Sam in the right hand seat who is completely controlling the car. We hit 125mph just after the footbridge and the same when crossing the finish line. It was truly astonishing to see up close how well Sam controls the car and how on the limit (and sometimes beyond!) he is. He is still a racer at heart and it’s his ultimate desire to just keep going faster.

Sam Schmidt GFOS 2022

It was the first race of the season, with the added technical challenge of a new 'drive-by-wire' system of steering fitted to the car, where there is no physical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels.

There's still a great deal of development work to be done, but it's exciting to be involved with such new and innovative technology. I'd never driven a car with steer-by-wire previously, and had missed the opportunity to test prior to the race meeting because of some technical issues, so this was a great result for the team.

Changeable weather conditions made qualifying unpredictable, having to second-guess when to go for a time on a drying track, but a solid drive to 4th from 11th on the starting grid made it a successful start to the season for me and the Doerr Motorsport-run team.

The next race for the Basis McLaren is at Red Bull Ring, Austria, on 11-13th June, so fingers crossed for another good result at a circuit that saw me win for the team last year.

Looking forward to being back with Doerr Motorsport and developing the steer-by-wire technology further.

A huge thanks again to my incredible partners, Basis Technologies and Alcon, and of course to everyone here at McLaren.

Oschersleben (14-16 May)

Red Bull Ring, Austria (11-13 June)

Nurburgring (6-8 Aug)

Hockenheim (22-24 Oct).

It’s been an extraordinary year with the Basis McLaren in one of the most competitive GT4 championships in the world. There have been some great highlights from the six race weekends, including the win at Red Bull Ring, three podiums, and qualifying top 3 in four of my six sessions. My two pole positions meant I was the only driver to achieve more than one pole this season, winning the Pirelli Pole Position Award on each occasion. With slightly more luck it could have been at least two more podiums and a higher championship position.

So a massive ‘thank you’ to everyone at Basis Technologies; I couldn't have done any of it without your incredible support. Thank you!

Thanks also to McLaren Customer Racing for their support throughout the year.

Thank you to all my followers and supporters and for all your messages of support; it really is appreciated!

And lastly, thank you to everyone at Dörr Motorsport; the effort that every single member of the team has put in during this compressed season has been truly amazing.

A replacement car was delivered from Doerr's Frankfurt workshop late on the Monday. This was last year's car with the experimental 'drive-by-wire' steering fitted. The team worked frantically to convert the car back to conventional steering in time for testing to start on Thursday. Oschersleben is not considered a 'McLaren circuit' and BOP was not favouring us. However, from 17th in first free practice (from the 20-car field), we had 4 short sessions to iron out the teething problems with the 'new' car, after which I was delighted to put our car on pole and win the Pirelli Pole Position Award again.

Race 1 at Oschersleben started well, and after some great racing, which included two safety car periods, I came in for our pitstop in 2nd place right on the tail of the leader. Phil subsequently emerged from the pits in 3rd place and was looking good before being taken out by a following Mercedes, which was penalised for his actions with a drive-through penalty, but our race was over.

For race 2, Phil qualified on grid 14, and handed over to me in 12th place, but some way back, so a 9th place finish was as good as we could have hoped for.

P5 in the first race was a solid result, but the weekend ended abruptly when teammate Phil got caught up in someone else's accident on lap one of race 2 and was hit by a Mercedes and then T-boned by a KTM. Phil was fortunately OK, but the car wasn't so lucky and was written off.

Another pole position, with Phil picking up his matching pair of skis. Phil settled in to the leading pack at the start of the race holding firm in P3 until the pit window. Fred took over and exited the pits in P8. Some tough and exciting battles later and Fred crossed the finish line in P2 a fantastic result to round off an excellent weekend in Austria.

The duo move up to 5th in the championship points but within touching distance of the top 3.

Having qualified pole Fred set off in the distance at the start of the race pulling out an 8 second advantage over the chasing pack. This gap was obliterated when the safety car was deployed for a stricken BMW, just before the pit window opened.

Still under safety car, Fred pitted for the driver change to Phil who resumed in the lead still behind the safety car.

Safety car in and it was a straight fight to the finish, with Phil fending off the pressure from the chasing Mercedes behind to take their first win of the GT4 series.

Fast Freddie qualified on Saturday morning for race 1 and put the Basis Technologies on pole position more than half a second ahead of the nearest rival. On a drying track the times were tumbling all the time. Fred found the grip to secure his first pole in 2020 and a rather nice set of Pirelli skis in the process.

An excellent qualifying left us starting P2 for race 2, splitting the two KTMs. The race pace did not quite match the qualifying pace however but we fought till the end to finish a credible P5. A finish of any sort was a huge relief.

Having qualified P3 for race 1, things were looking promising for a solid result in race 1 at Sachsenring. Phil started well and settled into P3. Seamless driver changeover and we stayed in P3 until just one lap from the end when suddenly I lost all power and coasted round to the finish line to finish a lowly P12 having been fully set for a P3 and a very satisfying podium.

Hampered by engine problems throughout the weekend, we were still unlucky not to secure another podium at Hockenheim.

Race 1 ended in a DNF after engine problems left us down on power for most of the race.

Race 2 was looking far more promising and with only two laps to go we were sitting a comfortable P3. However, fuel pick up issues put paid to a certain podium finish with us eventually crossing the finish line in a disappointing P8.

On Sunday morning I qualified the Basis McLaren P3 for race 2. Decent pace and a good position for the start.

However, in the race the set-up of the car wasn’t kind to the tyres, and lap times in the race were soon falling away, giving us a real fight to remain in the top points scoring positions (we were also hampered by a longer pit stop as a performance penalty for finishing on the podium in race 1 the previous day). So a P5 finish was a very good result in the circumstances. We will now go through all the data we have available to determine why this happened and ensure we can sort it for Hockenheim in a few weeks’ time.

Overall though, a very positive start to the season with a decent number of championship points to build on, and of course another trophy for the cabinet from race 1!

Having started the race P3 we had high hopes. Teammate Phil Dӧrr made a good start and challenged for the lead into turn 1 but unfortunately sustained some steering damage after contact with the BMW. A loose toe link and bent hub caused the car to be very different in right hand corners to left hand corners, unstable under braking and with lots of vibration at high speed. It was a real fight therefore to bring the car home in P3 from a field of 20 cars with constant pressure from the Porsche and Mercedes behind, and a big relief.

Excellent progress made on the tight and twisty Oschersleben circuit in the east of Germany, venue for what will now be the season finale.

1. Nurburgring, GER 14-16/08

2. Hockenheim, GER 18-20/09

3. Sachsenring, GER 04-04/10

4. Red Bull Ring, AUT 16-18/10

5. Zandvoort, NL 30/10-01/11

6. Oschersleben, GER 06-08/11

1. Nurburgring, GER 14-16/08

2. Zandvoort, NL 21-23/08

3. Hockenheim, GER 18-20/09

4. Sachsenring, GER 04-04/10

5. Red Bull Ring, AUT 16-18/10

6. Oschersleben, GER 23-25/10

Excellent progress was made in Barcelona preparing for the upcoming season. Times were falling throughout, after many miles on the brand new car.

Fred will partner Phil Dӧrr in the coming season in the McLaren 570S GT4. The season will once again feature 12 races across 6 race weekends in Germany, Holland and Austria. There will be stiff competition from manufacturers such as Aston Martin, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, BMW, KTM and Ginetta but Fred, Phil and the team are hoping for some strong results to add to the podiums achieved in 2019.

The rain did not dampen what was a very successful test with Teo Martin Motorsport. Freds first taste of GT3 machinery went flawlessly throughout, with lots learned and some very quick times.

Check out some onboard footage on the Videos page

What a fantastic year 2019 was, thanks to the amazing support of Basis Technologies and McLaren. Returning to racing was something I didn’t think was possible just a year or so ago, so to do it with the company I work for still feels like a dream. Thank you to everyone at Basis Technologies & McLaren for making it possible, and to everyone who supported me in 2019.

Red Bull Ring, Austria, was just my second GT race meeting, and what an unforgettable weekend it was! P3 from 21st on the grid after being excluded from qualifying for disarming the auto fire extinguisher, after qualifying! And what a fantastic, nail-biting race it was. Danish teammate Thomas Krebs had a great first stint, and I managed to secure our podium place on the very last lap. The team and all our supporters present were understandably overjoyed. It was an incredible end to the weekend; what a feeling!

Nurburgring, Germany, was another highlight, with a second place race finish, which could have been a win after driving the race with an aircon problem, costing us around 7 tenths a lap.

Hockenheim, Germany, was memorable for the fantastic hospitality laid on by the Dorr Group at their Home of Speed facility at the race circuit, and it was so good to entertain sponsor Basis Technologies and their guests. The racing was sadly not so memorable; I don’t like to criticise BoP but when all 5 McLarens qualified at the bottom of both qualifying sessions (with no exception), the organisers have unfortunately got it wrong.

It really has been a privilege to represent both Basis Technologies and McLaren, on and off the track, in my first full season of racing, and I'm so excited about what the future will bring.

With VIP guests Basis Technologies enjoying event hospitality, Fred drove the newly released McLaren 600LT Spider in one of its first public appearances.