Sophia Flörsch

Sophia Flörsch (born 1 December 2000) is a German racing driver, competing in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Campos Racing, and previously raced in Formula Regional European Championship, Formula 4 in both Germany and Italy, as well as the Ginetta Junior Championship.

Sophia Flörsch
Flörsch in 2020
Nationality German
Born (2000-12-01) 1 December 2000
Grünwald, Germany
FIA Formula 3 Championship career
Debut season2020
Current teamCampos Racing
Car number31
Starts16 (16 entries)
Wins0
Podiums0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish29th in 2020
Previous series
2019
2018
20162017
2015
FR European Championship
FIA F3 European Championship
ADAC Formula 4
Ginetta Junior Championship

Personal life

Flörsch attended Grammar School Oberhaching. Her interests include karting, skiing and wind surfing.[1]

In February 2020 she won the award for World Comeback of the Year at the 2020 Laureus World Sports Awards. [2][3]

Controversy

In 2019, Flörsch hit out at the then-new W Series women's Formula 3 championship, labelling it a "marketing thing" and a "step back on a sporting level".[4] She later downplayed the existence of a series-affiliated eSports championship held during the coronavirus pandemic.[5]

Upon entering the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2020, Flörsch called out the German media claiming that they were favouring Mick and David Schumacher due to their fathers' (Michael and Ralf respectively) successes and alleged refusal to promote other German junior formula drivers, stating on Twitter "there is just one famous Schumacher".[6]

Racing career

Flörsch began karting in 2005. From 2008 to 2014, Flörsch competed in various karting events across Europe through Kart Sport. She became the first female driver and also youngest driver of three series she competed in, the 2008 SAKC Championship, 2009 ADAC German Championship and 2010 European Championship Easykart.[1] She was also scouted by Red Bull.[7]

Ginetta Junior

In 2015, Flörsch took part in the 2015 Ginetta Junior Championship season driving for HHC Motorsport. During the season, Flörsch collected two wins and a further two podiums. She made double Ginetta history at Thruxton by becoming the youngest driver to win a Ginetta Junior race, and also the first rookie to win two out of two races in one weekend.[8] Her season was cut short due to financial issues and she finished at the mid-season point, at that time running in third in the championship, also leading the Rookie championship. Her car for the season was Car 14, which she named Paul.

Formula 4

In 2016, Flörsch signed with Motopark to drive in the ADAC Formula 4 championship.[9] Her car for the season was Car #99, which she called Hugo.[10] In her debut race, she became the first female to score points in an ADAC Formula 4 race. She almost achieved her first podium in her third race however was hit by another car in the closing laps of the race, she recovered to fifth. Her first fastest lap of the season came at race 3 in Zandvoort, in a race halted by poor weather conditions.

The following year she raced for BWT Mücke Motorsport, scoring two podiums and two fastest laps.

2018

On 13 March 2018, Flörsch participated in her first Formula 3 test, driving a Van Amersfoort Racing car. On 6 July 2018, it was announced that she would join Van Amersfoort Racing beginning with the round at Circuit Zandvoort a week later.[11] She finished 22nd in the standings, her sole point coming at the Red Bull Ring.

2018 Macau Grand Prix

From 15 to 18 November 2018, Flörsch participated in the Formula 3 World Cup at the 2018 Macau Grand Prix. During the main race, on Lap 4, she made contact with fellow driver Jehan Daruvala, who was reportedly slowing for erroneously-displayed yellow flags on the straight between Mandarin Corner (Turn 2) and Lisboa Bend (Turn 3). This caused a front left suspension failure, catapulting her into Lisboa Bend sideways at high speed, launching off Sho Tsuboi's car, through the catch-fencing and smashing into a photographers' bunker, before landing back onto her wheels.[12][13] Flörsch was reported as conscious post-crash and was hospitalised along with Tsuboi, two photographers and a marshal.[14] She was later diagnosed with a spinal fracture, for which she underwent a surgery lasting almost 10 hours the following day, subsequently reported as successful with “no fear of paralysis”, by her race team leader, Frits van Amersfoort.[15][16]

2019

Sophia Flörsch at the 2019 Macau Grand Prix.

On 14 December 2018, Van Amersfoort Racing confirmed that Flörsch would race for the team in the European F3 replacement series, Formula European Masters, in 2019.[17] After this series folded before a round was contested, Flörsch and VAR switched to the Formula Regional European Championship for updated Formula 3 machinery.[18] Having joined the championship only one week before the opening race, the team struggled throughout the entire season, and Flörsch could only manage 7th place in the drivers' standings.

Flörsch was selected by the HWA Team to attend the FIA Formula 3 Championship post-season test on 22 October 2019 in Valencia.[19] In early November, it was confirmed that Flörsch was placed on the team to compete in the 2019 Macau Grand Prix, with support from several Macanese companies and notable people.[20]

She failed to finish the race after her car suffered a mechanical failure which left her stranded ahead of the Mandarin Oriental Bend on the eighth lap.

2020

Flörsch signed with Campos Racing for the 2020 season of the FIA F3 Championship to partner Alessio Deledda and Alex Peroni. After a difficult year with several mechanical problems, she finished 29th out of 35 drivers in the standings, with a best finish of 12th. She is the first woman to race in the championship since its formation after the GP3 Series and European F3 categories were merged.[21]

Endurance racing

Flörsch combined her 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship commitments with a debut in prototype racing, skipping the Spa-Francorchamps Formula 3 Round to enter the Le Castellet 240 with Beitske Visser for Richard Mille Racing Team in the LMP2 class of the 2020 European Le Mans Series instead.[22] The campaign also included entry into the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, where she finished in 9th place alongside Visser and Tatiana Calderón.[23]

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2015 Ginetta Junior Championship HHC Motorsport 10 2 1 1 4 211 11th
2016 ADAC Formula 4 Championship Motopark 24 0 0 1 0 25 19th
2017 ADAC Formula 4 Championship BWT Mücke Motorsport 20 0 0 2 2 71 13th
Italian F4 Championship 9 0 0 0 0 28 NC†
2018 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 21 0 0 0 0 1 22nd
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
2019 Formula Regional European Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 24 0 0 1 0 149 7th
Macau Grand Prix HWA Racelab 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship Campos Racing 16 0 29th
European Le Mans Series Richard Mille Racing Team 3 0 0 0 0 2 25th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 9th

As Flörsch had not competed in the required number of rounds she was ineligible for a championship position.
* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

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

Year Entrant Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points
2018 Van Amersfoort Racing Mercedes PAU
1
PAU
2
PAU
3
HUN
1
HUN
2
HUN
3
NOR
1
NOR
2
NOR
3
ZAN
1

23
ZAN
2

17
ZAN
3

19
SPA
1

16
SPA
2

17
SPA
3

21
SIL
1

18
SIL
2

19
SIL
3

17
MIS
1

16
MIS
2

19
MIS
3

18
NÜR
1

Ret
NÜR
2

15
NÜR
3

21
RBR
1

17
RBR
2

10
RBR
3

15
HOC
1

15
HOC
2

19
HOC
3

18
22nd 1

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

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

Year Entrant Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 DC Points
2019 Van Amersfoort Racing Alfa Romeo LEC
1

9
LEC
2

8
LEC
3

5
VLL
1

9
VLL
2

5
VLL
3

C*
HUN
1

7
HUN
2

4
HUN
3

6
RBR
1

6
RBR
2

6
RBR
3

5
IMO
1

7
IMO
2

8
IMO
3

4
IMO
4

7
CAT
1

9
CAT
2

8
CAT
3

5
MUG
1

6
MUG
2

8
MUG
3

9
MNZ
1

6
MNZ
2

10
MNZ
3

9
7th 149

* The third race in Vallelunga was canceled due to bad weather and later run in Imola as a fourth round.

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points
2020 Campos Racing RBR
FEA

26
RBR
SPR

16
RBR
FEA

21
RBR
SPR

Ret
HUN
FEA

18
HUN
SPR

14
SIL
FEA

22
SIL
SPR

25
SIL
FEA

20
SIL
SPR

19
CAT
FEA

27
CAT
SPR

23
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA

21
MNZ
SPR

12
MUG
FEA

22
MUG
SPR

24
29th 0

Complete European Le Mans Series results

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

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 Rank Points
2020 Richard Mille Racing Team LMP2 Alpine A470 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC SPA LEC
11
MNZ
10
ALG
11
25th 2

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2020 Richard Mille Racing Team Tatiana Calderón
Beitske Visser
Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 364 13th 9th

References

  1. "Sophia Floersch Vita". Sophia Floersch. 13 August 2015. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  2. "Formula 1 – Sophia Floersch wins 'World Comeback of the Year' at Laureus". FormulaSpy. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  3. "Laureus Awards 2020 Highlights: Tendulkar, Springboks win for World Cup wins; Hamilton, Messi share honours". Sportstar. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  4. "'It's not the way to help women in motorsport' - female F3 driver slams W Series". Wheels24.com. 4 July 2019.
  5. "Floersch unhappy with W Series all-female Esports effort". F1i.com. 10 May 2020.
  6. "Sophia Floersch on Twitter". Twitter. 3 July 2020.
  7. "Sophia Floersch: The 14-year-old girl worth watching for". Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  8. "Sophia Floersch". Ginetta. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  9. "Sophia Floersch sights on single seaters". Paddock Scout. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  10. "Sophia Floersch on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  11. Fehling, Jonas (6 July 2018). "Formel 3: Sophia Flörsch ergattert jetzt doch Cockpit bei VAR". motorsport-magazin.com (in German). Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  12. Marcus, Simmons; Noble, Jonathan (18 November 2018). "Floersch suffers spinal fracture in Macau crash". Motorsport.com.
  13. "【澳門大賽車】F3葡京彎炮彈飛車撞向採訪區 17歲德國女車手生死未卜". Apple Daily (in Chinese). 18 November 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  14. Noble, Jonathan (18 November 2018). "Floersch conscious but hospitalized after Macau shunt". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  15. "Sophia Floersch fractures spine after airborne crash in Formula 3". the Guardian. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  16. "Sophia Florsch: 'No fear of paralysis' for F3 driver after surgery". British Broadcasting Corporation. BBC. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  17. "Sophia Flörsch secures F3 drive for 2019". Speedcafe.com. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  18. "Sophia Flörsch and Van Amersfoort Racing at the start of the Championship". ACI Sport. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  19. "Post-season testing Day 3 entry list". FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  20. "MACAU COMPANIES SUPPORT RETURN OF FLÖRSCH TO GUIA". Macau Daily Times. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  21. "Sophia Flörsch completes Campos' 2020 roster". FIA Formula 3. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  22. "Floersch, Calderon, Legge form all-female ELMS team". Motorsport.com. 12 February 2020.
  23. "The 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours entry list in full". Motorsport.com. 29 February 2020.
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