Fabio Leimer

Fabio Leimer (born 17 April 1989) is a former professional racing driver from Switzerland.

Fabio Leimer
Leimer in 2015
Nationality Swiss
Born (1989-04-17) 17 April 1989
Rothrist, Switzerland
GP2 Series career
Debut season2010
Current teamRacing Engineering
Car number8
Former teamsOcean Racing Technology
Rapax
Starts63
Wins5
Poles2
Fastest laps4
Best finish1st in 2013
Previous series
2009–10–2011
200809
2008
2007
2007
2006
GP2 Asia Series
International Formula Master
Formula Master Italia
Formula Renault 2.0 Italia
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
Formula BMW ADAC
Championship titles
2013
2009
2013 GP2 Series season
International Formula Master

Career

Karting

Like many of today's racing drivers, Rothrist-born Leimer started his career in karting back in 2003, when he won the Swiss Junior Championship. He finished runner-up in the same category the following season before finishing second in the Swiss Championship ICA in 2006.

Formula BMW

In 2006, Leimer graduated to single-seater racing, competing in the Formula BMW ADAC series in Germany. He started the year with Team Rosberg, but finished the season with a different team, Matson Motorsport. During the year, he accumulated four points to be classified eighteenth in the standings. He also competed in the end-of-season Formula BMW World Final, held in Valencia, where he finished in nineteenth place.

Formula Renault

The following year, Leimer moved up to Formula Renault, racing in both the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Italian Formula Renault 2.0 championships for Jenzer Motorsport.

In the Eurocup series, he scored points in three races and took a single fastest lap at Donington Park to end the year in seventeenth place.[1]

In the Italian championship, Leimer scored points in eleven of the fourteen races and took two podium places (at Spa-Francorchamps and Valencia) to be classified eleventh in the standings.[2]

International Formula Master

In 2008, Leimer progressed to the International Formula Master series, once again racing with Jenzer Motorsport. In a very successful debut season, he finished as runner-up to champion Chris van der Drift, taking three race wins at Estoril, Imola and Monza along with five other podium places. He also helped Jenzer Motorsport finish third in the teams' standings.[3] In the accompanying Formula Master Italia series, Leimer finished in fourth place with one race win (at Mugello) from two starts.

In October 2008, Leimer took part in a three-day Indy Lights prize test with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The prize test was originally awarded to German driver Michael Ammermüller, but he declined it due to personal reasons.[4]

Leimer continued in the series for 2009, partnering Pål Varhaug, the reigning Italian Formula Renault 2.0 champion.[5] During the first six rounds of the season, he took race wins in Pau, Valencia, Brno, Brands Hatch and Spa-Francorchamps, the latter event supporting the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.[6] Leimer then sealed the title with his sixth win of the season, at the seventh round in Oschersleben.[7]

GP2 Series

Leimer won the opening sprint race of the 2010 GP2 Series season in Barcelona.
Leimer drove for the Racing Engineering team during his title-winning 2013 season.

As a result of finishing championship runner-up in the 2008 Formula Master season, in November of that year, Leimer took part in a prize GP2 test with Italian team Trident Racing at the Paul Ricard circuit in France,[8] and a year later he tested with the DAMS team at the same venue as a prize for winning the Formula Master title.[9]

In October 2009, Leimer tested with Tiago Monteiro's Ocean Racing Technology team at Jerez and later that month he was confirmed as a driver for the team in the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season, racing alongside fellow Formula Master graduate Alexander Rossi,[10] and former British Formula 3 driver Max Chilton. Leimer continued with the team into the 2010 GP2 Series, and was partnered by Chilton.[11] At the first round of the season in Barcelona, Leimer finished eighth in the feature race, a result which gave him pole position for the reverse grid sprint event which he won from the Rapax Team entry of Luiz Razia.[12] However, he did not score any further points, limiting himself to nineteenth place in the drivers' championship.

For 2011, Leimer moved to the Rapax team alongside Julián Leal. He finished fifth overall in the Asia series, and then proceeded to take his second category win in the main series. As was the case the previous year, the victory came in the sprint race at the Catalunya circuit, and he again set the fastest lap in the process, although on this occasion he owed his reverse-grid pole position to Romain Grosjean's disqualification from the feature race. Another haul of points at Monza saw him improve to 14th position in the championship standings. He also won the feature race of the non-championship event held at the Yas Marina Circuit. Leimer switched to the Racing Engineering team for 2012, where he partnered Nathanaël Berthon. Despite failing to win a race during the season, his improved consistency, consisting of six podium finishes, saw him improve to seventh place in the drivers' championship. Leimer took the GP2 driver's championship title in 2013, with seven podium finishes and three wins.

FIA World Endurance Championship

In 2014, Leimer joined the Swiss team Rebellion Racing for the FIA World Endurance Championship after testing for the team at the pre-season "Prologue".[13] This was Leimer's first experience driving sports cars.

Super Formula

Leimer planned to race at the Japanese Super Formula in 2015, driving a Team Mugen's Honda-powered car.[14] However, on 7 March 2015, it was announced that Leimer's contract with Mugen had been prematurely terminated due to financial issues.[15]

Formula One

On 3 June 2015 the Manor Marussia F1 Team announced that they have signed Leimer as the official team reserve for 2015 and will participate in FP1 sessions at Grand Prix throughout the season.

Formula E

On 23 June 2015 Virgin Racing announced Leimer to be their driver to replace Jaime Alguersuari for the final two rounds, 10 and 11, at London after Alguersuari was suspended from racing due to minor health issues.[16] Race 10 saw him qualify 19th and finish the race in 14th position.[17] The final round saw him qualify 17th, but he crashed out of the race.[18] Leimer finished the season without scoring a point and finished 32nd out of 35 in the championship.[19]

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2006 Formula BMW ADAC Team Rosberg 18 0 0 0 0 4 18th
Matson Motorsport
2007 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Jenzer Motorsport 14 0 0 1 0 17 17th
Italian Formula Renault 2.0 14 0 0 0 2 161 11th
2008 International Formula Master Jenzer Motorsport 16 3 1 3 8 79 2nd
Formula Master Italia 2 1 1 2 1 48 4th
2009 International Formula Master Jenzer Motorsport 16 7 6 12 9 106 1st
2009–10 GP2 Asia Series Ocean Racing Technology 7 0 0 0 0 0 31st
2010 GP2 Series Ocean Racing Technology 20 1 0 1 1 8 19th
2011 GP2 Series Rapax 18 1 0 1 2 15 14th
GP2 Asia Series 4 0 0 0 1 9 5th
GP2 Final Racing Engineering 2 1 1 1 1 13 1st
2012 GP2 Series Racing Engineering 24 0 1 2 6 152 7th
2013 GP2 Series Racing Engineering 22 3 1 1 7 201 1st
2014 FIA World Endurance Championship Rebellion Racing 8 0 0 0 0 19 17th
24 Hours of Le Mans 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
2014–15 Formula E Virgin Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 32nd
2015 Formula One Manor Marussia F1 Team Test driver
2016 Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli (Pro) Octane126 6 1 4 2 5 89 5th
2017 Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli (Pro) Octane126 8 1 0 1 6 105.5 6th

Complete GP2 Series results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points
2010 Ocean Racing Technology CAT
FEA

8
CAT
SPR

1
MON
FEA

Ret
MON
SPR

17
IST
FEA

13
IST
SPR

15
VAL
FEA

Ret
VAL
SPR

Ret
SIL
FEA

17
SIL
SPR

13
HOC
FEA

21
HOC
SPR

Ret
HUN
FEA

Ret
HUN
SPR

11
SPA
FEA

12
SPA
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

Ret
MNZ
SPR

DNS
YMC
FEA

Ret
YMC
SPR

15
19th 8
2011 Rapax IST
FEA

Ret
IST
SPR

20
CAT
FEA

8
CAT
SPR

1
MON
FEA

9
MON
SPR

7
VAL
FEA

Ret
VAL
SPR

14
SIL
FEA

15
SIL
SPR

11
NÜR
FEA

DSQ
NÜR
SPR

8
HUN
FEA

11
HUN
SPR

11
SPA
FEA

Ret
SPA
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

7
MNZ
SPR

2
14th 15
2012 Racing Engineering SEP
FEA

4
SEP
SPR

6
BHR1
FEA

7
BHR1
SPR

12
BHR2
FEA

2
BHR2
SPR

8
CAT
FEA

12
CAT
SPR

11
MON
FEA

18
MON
SPR

Ret
VAL
FEA

4
VAL
SPR

3
SIL
FEA

14
SIL
SPR

9
HOC
FEA

2
HOC
SPR

4
HUN
FEA

9
HUN
SPR

14
SPA
FEA

Ret
SPA
SPR

5
MNZ
FEA

5
MNZ
SPR

2
MRN
FEA

3
MRN
SPR

3
7th 152
2013 Racing Engineering SEP
FEA

1
SEP
SPR

12
BHR
FEA

1
BHR
SPR

9
CAT
FEA

18
CAT
SPR

9
MON
FEA

Ret
MON
SPR

13
SIL
FEA

4
SIL
SPR

15
NÜR
FEA

4
NÜR
SPR

3
HUN
FEA

4
HUN
SPR

3
SPA
FEA

4
SPA
SPR

5
MNZ
FEA

1
MNZ
SPR

6
MRN
FEA

5
MRN
SPR

3
YMC
FEA

4
YMC
SPR

3
1st 201

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2009–10 Ocean Racing Technology YMC1
FEA

17
YMC1
SPR

Ret
YMC2
FEA

Ret
YMC2
SPR

Ret
BHR1
FEA

20
BHR1
SPR

15
BHR2
FEA

Ret
BHR2
SPR

DNS
31st 0
2011 Rapax YMC
FEA

10
YMC
SPR

6
IMO
FEA

6
IMO
SPR

2
5th 9

Complete Formula One participations

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

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WDC Points
2015 Manor Marussia F1 Team Marussia MR03B Ferrari 059/3 1.6 V6 t AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN AUT GBR HUN
TD
BEL ITA SIN JPN RUS USA MEX BRA ABU

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points
2014 Rebellion Racing LMP1 Lola B12/60 Toyota (RV8KLM 3.4 L V8) SIL
Ret
SPA
Ret
LMS
Ret
COA
Ret
FUJ
10
SHA
8
BHR
6
SÃO
7
17th 19

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2014 Rebellion Racing Dominik Kraihamer
Andrea Belicchi
Rebellion R-One-Toyota LMP1-L 73 DNF DNF

Complete Formula E results

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

Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Points
2014–15 Virgin Racing Spark SRT01-e SRT01-e BEI PUT PDE BUE MIA LBH MCO BER MSC LON
14
LON
Ret
32nd 0

Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali results

Year Class Team Car Pos.
2016 Trofeo Pirelli Pro Octane126 Ferrari 458 Challenge Evo 20th
2017 Trofeo Pirelli Pro Octane126 Ferrari 488 Challenge 1st

References

  1. "Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup 2007". driverdb.com. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  2. "Formula Renault 2.0 Italy 2007". driverdb.com. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  3. "2008 International Formula Masters". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  4. "Leimer in the US for Formula Master rookie prize". automobilsport.com. 25 October 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  5. "2008 Formula Master Vice-Champion returns". F1SA. 4 February 2009. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  6. Straw, Edd (30 August 2009). "Rossi takes second IFM season win". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  7. English, Steven (5 September 2009). "Leimer wraps up IFM title with victory". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  8. "Leimer enjoys GP2 test". crash.net. 13 November 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  9. "IFM champion claims GP2 Series prize". formulamaster.net. International Formula Master. 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  10. "Ocean Racing Technology prepares for the first GP2 Asia Series races". oceanracingtech.com. Ocean Racing Technology. 18 October 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  11. "Ocean reveals 2010 GP2 line-up". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  12. "Leimer dominates Barcelona sprint". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  13. Dagys, John. "Leimer Confirmed at Rebellion for LMP1 Campaign". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  14. "Honda 2015 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  15. "2013 GP2 champion Fabio Leimer loses Super Formula seat". 7 March 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  16. "Alguersuari's licence suspended on FIA doctors' orders". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  17. "London ePrix - Official FIA Formula E Championship". FIA Formula E. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  18. "London ePrix - Rd 11 - Official FIA Formula E Championship". FIA Formula E. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  19. "Driver Standings". FIA Formula E. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Chris van der Drift
International Formula Master
Champion

2009
Succeeded by
Series folded
Preceded by
Davide Valsecchi
GP2 Series
Champion

2013
Succeeded by
Jolyon Palmer
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