Artem Valeryevich Markelov ( rus, Артём Вале́рьевич Марке́лов, p=ɐrˈtʲɵm vɐˈlʲerʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mɐrˈkʲeləf; born 10 September 1994) is a retired

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

racing driver who last competed in the

FIA Formula 2 Championship The FIA Formula 2 Championship (F2) is a second-tier single-seater championship organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Held on road racing, racing circuits, the championship was introduced in 2017, following the re ...

for

HWA Team HWA Team, also known as HWA RACELAB, is the auto racing team of HWA AG, a German company based in Affalterbach, that also develops and builds vehicles and components for Mercedes-AMG race cars. It is named after founder Hans-Werner Aufrecht. ...

in 2020.

Career

Karting

Born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Markelov began

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

in 2006 and raced mostly in his native Russia for the majority of his karting career, working his way up through the junior ranks to progress into the KF2 category by 2010.

ADAC Formel Masters

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, Markelov moved into

open-wheel racing Formula racing, also known as open-wheel racing in North America, is any of several forms of Open-wheel car, open-wheeled single-seater Auto racing, motorsport. A "formula", first devised by Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA for ...

, competing in

ADAC Formel Masters ADAC Formel Masters was an ADAC sanctioned open wheel racing series based in Germany, held annually from 2008 to 2014. It was replacement of the local Formula BMW championship. The first season was in 2008 and is the main feeder series to the ATS F ...

with

Motopark Academy Motopark Academy (raced under Lotus moniker from 2012 to 2014) is an auto racing team based in Oschersleben, Germany, next to the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben race track. In 2013, the team competed in the GP2 Series under the name Russian Time ...

, taking eleven podiums in twenty-three races, including one win at

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...

. As a result, Markelov finished in fourth place in the final championship standings.

Formula Three

2011

During the 2011 season, Markelov made his Formula Three debut, with Motopark, in the

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring, officially Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other mot ...

round of the

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

2012

Markelov and Motopark – now under the Lotus moniker – elected to compete in the

German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. He finished seventh in the standings, scoring three podiums, including sprint-race wins at Lausitz and Hockenheim.

2013

Markelov stayed in the German series for another year in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, remaining with Motopark. He had eighteen podiums in twenty-three races, including wins in both main races at Lausitz. He finished as runner-up to his teammate

Marvin Kirchhöfer Marvin Kirchhöfer (born 19 March 1994) is a German racing driver who currently competes in the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe, GT World Challenge Europe for Garage 59. He is a McLaren factory driver. Kirchhöfer achieved successes on the Junior ...

GP2 Series / FIA Formula 2

2014

Markelov made his

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

debut in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

with

Russian Time Russian Time (previously known as RT Russian Time) was a Russian motor racing team founded by Igor Mazepa to compete in the GP2 Series, a category of open-wheel racing cars designed to prepare drivers for Formula One. From 2015 to 2018, the tea ...

, where he joined

Mitch Evans Mitchell William Evans (born 24 June 1994) is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He currently (since 2016) drives for the Jaguar Racing, Jaguar TCS Racing team in Formula E. In 2012, he won the GP3 Series and he raced in the GP2 Serie ...

. Markelov had only one point-scoring finish at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, ho ...

, finishing the season 24th, twenty positions behind Evans in the drivers' championship.

2015

Markelov and Evans remained with Russian Time in 2015. Markelov took his first podium at

, when he started from the 22nd position on the grid. He made the progress in the championship to the thirteenth place, being more consistent, but he was still eight positions behind the Evans in the standings.

2016

Markelov continued to race with Russian Time in 2016, but this time he was joined in the team by Raffaele Marciello. Markelov claimed his first GP2 Series win in the feature race in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, starting from the fifteenth starting position. However, he was not as consistent as Marciello, finishing tenth in the drivers' championship.

2017

For the 2017 season, the GP2 Series was rebranded as the

. While Markelov remained with Russian Time for his fourth consecutive season with the

Dallara GP2/11 The Dallara GP2 cars are a set of racing cars developed by Italian manufacturer Dallara for use in the GP2 Series, a feeder series for Formula One. GP2/05 The Dallara GP2/05 is an open-wheel formula racing car, developed by Italian chassis manuf ...

machinery, which was also the final year of use for the chassis in the championship, being joined by

Luca Ghiotto Luca Ghiotto (born 24 February 1995) is an Italian racing driver who competes in the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2025 European Le Mans Series for Inter Europol Competition. He also competed in select rounds in the 2024 IndyCar Series for Dale ...

. Markelov won the first race in the FIA Formula 2 Championship history. He also collected wins at

Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Located in southwestern Iberia, it lies on the Campi� ...

and

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

While it wasn't enough to prevent

Charles Leclerc Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc (; born 16 October 1997) is a Monégasque racing driver who competes in Formula One for Ferrari. Leclerc was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Ferrari, and has won Grands ...

winning the drivers' championship, he brought the teams' championship to Russian Time with the help of Ghiotto.

2018

Markelov remained with Russian Time in . He finished the season in fifth.

2019

Following the 2018 season, Markelov was left without a drive in the 2019 Formula 2 season after Russian Time withdrew from the series. However, following

Jordan King Jordan King (born 26 February 1994 in Warwick) is a British racing driver. He is currently the reserve driver for the Mahindra Formula E Team, for whom he made his Formula E debut at the 2024 Berlin ePrix. Previously, King has been a race wi ...

's participation in the 2019 Indianapolis 500, Markelov was called up by

MP Motorsport MP Motorsport is a Dutch auto racing team currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, Eurocup-3, Spanish Formula 4 Championship and the newly established F1 Academy in 2023. The team has also participated in ...

for the Monaco round as a one-off replacement. He scored points in both races, with a sixth place in the first race and a fourth place in the second race. As a result of the weekend at

following the Lap 2 feature race crash that killed BWT Arden driver

Anthoine Hubert Anthoine Gérard Pol Hubert (; 22 September 1996 – 31 August 2019) was a French professional racing driver. He was the 2018 GP3 Series champion and a member of the Renault Sport Academy. He died following an accident during the feature rac ...

, the team signed Markelov to finish out the season at

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

and

, although the car number changed from 19 to 22.

2020

In , Markelov continued to race in F2 with the same team, now

HWA Racelab HWA Team, also known as HWA RACELAB, is the auto racing team of HWA AG, a German company based in Affalterbach, that also develops and builds vehicles and components for Mercedes-AMG race cars. It is named after founder Hans-Werner Aufrecht. H ...

. He was joined by

Giuliano Alesi Giuliano Ryu Alesi (born 20 September 1999) is a French professional racing driver. He is the son of French racing driver and Formula One Grand Prix winner Jean Alesi and Japanese actress and TV personality Kumiko Goto. Career Karting Born ...

, son of former

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver

Jean Alesi Jean Robert Alesi (; born Giovanni Roberto Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Alesi won the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix with Ferrari. Born and raised in Avignon, Alesi started karting a ...

, who left

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

at the end of the 2019 season. However Markelov had a disappointing season scoring only 5 points compared to championship winner Mick Schumacher's 215.

Formula One

In February 2018, Markelov was announced as

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

development driver for the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship and drove in an official Formula One session for the first time at the 2018 Russian Grand Prix. He then made an appearance for the team at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test. It was rumoured that Markelov was a contender for a drive at Williams for 2019, but it ultimately went to

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for AF Corse. Kubica competed in Formula One between and , and the World Rally Championship ...

Personal life

Markelov is married to former TV show host Katya Zhuzha. Their son Max was born in 2020. He is also the step father of Katya Zhuzha's child from another marriage, Nicole Markelova.

Racing record

Karting career summary

Racing career summary

^† As Markelov was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete ADAC Formel Masters results

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

Complete German Formula Three Championship results

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

Complete GP2 Series/FIA Formula 2 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Toyota Racing Series results

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

Complete Formula One participations

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

Complete Super Formula results

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Markelov, Artem 1994 births Living people Racing drivers from Moscow Russian racing drivers ADAC Formel Masters drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers GP2 Series drivers Toyota Racing Series drivers FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers Motopark Academy drivers Russian Time drivers MP Motorsport drivers Arden International drivers HWA Team drivers Super Formula drivers Team LeMans drivers M2 Competition drivers Virtuosi Racing drivers ISport International drivers