Federico Leo (born August 27, 1988, in

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

) is an Italian

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

Career

Formula Junior

Leo began his single–seater career in late 2005 in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Formula Junior 1600 Winter series, scoring nine points to finish 13th in the standings. The following year he took part in a full season in the category, recording one podium finish to be classified in 12th place.

Formula Renault 2.0

At the end of the 2006 season, Leo took part in the Italian Formula Renault 2.0 Winter series for

RP Motorsport RP Motorsport was an auto racing team based in Italy in Piacenza. The Italian team won many times the EuroFormula Open Championship, becoming one of the most successful outfit in the series. In February 2022 the team assets were sold to Irish ra ...

, finishing in 15th place. In 2007, he continued with the team into the main championship, although he failed to score a point in the fourteen races he contested.

Formula Three

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Leo stepped up to 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 ...

with the Italian

Ombra Racing Ombra Racing is an auto racing team based in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the M ...

team. He finished ninth in the standings after taking a single podium place in the opening round at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain, Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" ( ...

. He also made a one–off appearance in the

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single sea ...

round at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

in May. After starting both races from the back of the grid, he finished 14th in race one before retiring from the second race.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

At the end of 2008, Leo took part in Formula Renault 3.5 Series collective testing at

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and t ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. After testing for both

RC Motorsport RC Motorsport was an auto racing team based in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the ...

and

Pons Racing Pons Racing was a motorcycle and auto racing team owned by the British company Pons Racing UK Limited. The team principal is former 250 cc world champion, Sito Pons. In motorcycle road racing world championships, Pons has fielded riders s ...

, Leo signed with the latter to contest the 2009 season, alongside

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...

Marcos Martínez Marcos Martínez may refer to: * Marcos Martínez (racing driver) Marcos Martínez Ucha (born 15 October 1985 in Madrid, Spain) is a professional racecar driver. Career Martínez competed in karting events from 1998 until 2002, when he entered ...

. He scored eight points over the course of the 17–race season, with those points coming at the final round of the campaign at the new

Motorland Aragón MotorLand Aragón (alternative Spanish name: Circuito de Alcañiz) is a race track used for motorsports located in Alcañiz, Spain. The circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke in conjunction with the British architectural busin ...

circuit with a pair of seventh-place finishes. During the off–season Leo tested with several different teams, including

Fortec Motorsport Fortec Motorsport Ltd. is a motor-racing team that races in the GB3 Championship, GB4 Championship, and F4 British Championship. The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton. Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, ...

and

Draco Racing International Draco Racing was a motorsport team. It was most well known for operating in the World Series by Renault, but had also taken part in Formula Opel Lotus, International Formula 3000 and Euro Formula 3000. Career Formula Opel Lotus E ...

, but remained with Pons Racing for a second season in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. After scoring a fifth place in the opening round at Motorland Aragón, Leo took just three more points finishes and was classified in 17th place, tied on 16 points with both

Walter Grubmüller Walter Grubmüller (born 13 January 1989 in Vienna) is an Austrian racing driver. Career Karting Beginning his karting career in his native Austria in 2000, Grubmüller did not move up into the major international series until 2002, with an ap ...

and

Jan Charouz Jan Charouz (born 17 July 1987) is a Czech former auto racing driver. He won the 2009 Le Mans Series season and 2006 F3000 International Masters season, as well as taking fourth place in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2010 he was the Renault ...

Auto GP

In May 2010, Leo made his debut in the new

Auto GP Auto GP, sometimes referred to as the Auto GP World Series and formerly known as both Euro Formula 3000 and the Euroseries 3000, was a European formula racing series. The series' roots can be traced back to 1999 and the Italian Formula 3000 serie ...

championship at

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

, replacing

Adrian Zaugg Adrian Zaugg (born 4 November 1986 in Singapore) is a former South African race car driver of Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nati ...

at the

Trident Racing Trident Motorsport (formerly known as Trident Racing) is a motor racing team that competes in Open-wheel car, single-seater formula racing. It was founded in 2006 in order to compete in the GP2 Series, GP2 championship, which was Europe's second h ...

team. After finishing in ninth place in the feature race, Leo took fifth place in the sprint event after surviving a startline accident that eliminated six cars. In October 2010, Leo rejoined the team for the final round of the season at Monza, finishing the two races in fifth and seventh places respectively to be classified 16th in the final standings.

Sportscars

In April 2010, Leo tested a

Lola B08/80 The Lola B08/80 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Lola Cars International. It is effectively the LMP2 version of the larger Lola B08/60; they are the first closed-cockpit sports prototypes built by Lola since the T92/10 of 1992. The B08/80 is ...

LMP2 car at

Vallelunga Vallelunga (Italian for ''long valley'') is a valley, or plateau,Tonino Floris, Marco Spada, ''Pedalando nel Lazio''p. 97 Edizioni Mediterranee, 1996 . near Campagnano di Roma, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in S ...

for the Italian Racing Box team, and in August 2010 it was announced that he would join the team for the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...

round at the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtai ...

, the penultimate round of the season. He stayed with the team for the final round of the year at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

, where he and teammates

Fabio Babini Fabio Babini (born 3 November 1969) is an Italian professional racing driver and entrepreneur. Born in Faenza, Babini competed in the FIA GT Championship from 2000 until 2004 and in one race of the American Le Mans Series each year from 2001 t ...

and Ferdinando Geri finished 13th overall and 5th in the LMP2 class. He was classified 17th in the final LMP2 standings. For 2011, Leo raced in the

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

with

AF Corse AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Chal ...

, sharing a

Ferrari 458 The Ferrari 458 Italia (Type F142) is an Italian mid-engine sports car produced by Ferrari. The 458 is the successor of the F430, and was first officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was succeeded by the 488 GTB (Gran Turi ...

with fellow Italian driver

Francesco Castellacci Francesco Castellacci de Villanova (born 4 April 1987 in Rome) is a professional racing driver from Italy. Francesco studied at Marymount International School, Rome and Universita' Bocconi before starting his career as a racing driver. Together ...

. The duo won the drivers' title at the final round of the season in

Zandvoort Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...

, finishing nine points clear of the

Graff Racing Graff Racing is an auto racing team based in France.Graff Racing
Translation from fr, February 20, 2021, The team was founded in 1 ...

entry of Mike Parisy.

GP2 Series

Leo 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 ...

début at the final round of the 2010 season in

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 ...

, replacing

Edoardo Piscopo Edoardo Piscopo (born 4 February 1988) is a former Italian racing driver. Career Formula BMW After previously competing in karting, Piscopo began his single seater career in Formula BMW USA in 2005, where despite missing the first rounds he ...

at the Trident Racing team. He finished the feature race in 19th place, but retired from the sprint event.

Racing record

Career summary

† – As Leo was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

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

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leo, Federico 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Varese Italian racing drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Auto GP drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers GP2 Series drivers International GT Open drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Italian Formula Renault 1.6 drivers Pons Racing drivers AF Corse drivers Trident Racing drivers RP Motorsport drivers Team Lazarus drivers Ombra Racing drivers Euronova Racing drivers 24H Series drivers Ligier European Series drivers