Francesco Simonazzi (born 8 March 2004) is an

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 ...

racing driver who competes in the

2025 European Le Mans Series The 2025 European Le Mans Series is the twenty-second season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 6 April and will finish at Algarve International Circ ...

for

Duqueine Team Duqueine Team, formerly known as Duqueine Engineering, is a French sports car racing team founded in 2014. The team currently competes in the European Le Mans Series in LMP2. They previously operated Isotta Fraschini's Hypercar entry in the FIA ...

. He previously competed in the

Euroformula Open Championship The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

with BVM Racing from

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, finishing runner-up in the latter season.

Junior racing career

Lower formulae

2019

In 2019, Simonazzi made his car racing debut, competing in the

Italian F4 Championship Italian Formula 4 Championship is the first formula racing series regulated according to Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2014 Italian F4 Championship, effectively replacing the F ...

with

Cram Motorsport Cram Motorsport (formerly known as Cram Competition) is an auto racing team based in Italy. Cram started in 1994 out of the Tatuus racing department. It has participated in Formula Alfa Boxer, Formula Renault 2000, Formula 3 Germany, Formula Maste ...

. He experienced a challenging rookie year, scoring points on just one occasion, with an eighth place coming 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 ...

. The Italian missed the final two rounds of the season, which meant that he ended up 22nd in the standings.

2020

Simonazzi returned to

Italian F4 Italian Formula 4 Championship is the first formula racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2014 Italian F4 Championship, effectively replacing the Formula Abarth. The Italian F4 championship ...

for 2020, contesting the first round for DRZ Benelli. Having scored two points in a pair of appearances for

Jenzer Motorsport Jenzer Motorsport is an auto racing team based in Switzerland. Founded in 1993 by Andreas Jenzer the team is currently competing in FIA Formula 3, Italian F4 and F4 Spanish and has had a number of drivers who would turn out to be successful in ...

, which also included a one-off start in Spanish F4, where he took the first podium of his career, Simonazzi drove for BVM Racing in the remaining half of the Italian F4 campaign. More points finishes followed, as the Italian finished 18th in the championship with a best result of sixth at the season finale 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 ...

2021

The following year, Simonazzi once again raced in the

. He remained with BVM and scored 28 points, having competed in merely four of the seven rounds, which left him 14th at season's end. He also made an appearance in the F2000 Italian Formula Trophy during 2021, scoring his first two victories in car racing.

Euroformula Open

2021

In 2021, Simonazzi spearheaded BVM's return to the

, racing in the final two rounds 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 ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. With the former event yielding a triple of points finishes, Simonazzi was classified 18th in the standings.

2022

He returned to the series for the 2022 season, being the sole driver for BVM Racing once more. Despite low grid numbers, the Italian struggled in the opening rounds, having to wait until the middle of the season for his first podium, which he scored 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 biggest success of his season would follow just two rounds later, as, after finishing second in Race 2, Simonazzi scored his first win in the category at the

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 ...

, inheriting victory after original race winner

Vladislav Lomko Vladislav "Vlad" Lomko (; born 27 December 2004) is a Russian racing driver who is racing under a French license. He currently competes in the 2025 European Le Mans Series for Vector Sport. Lomko previously drove for Inter Europol Competition ...

was awarded a five-second penalty for colliding with

Frederick Lubin Frederick Barclay Lubin (born 23 August 2004) is a British racing driver. He competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship for United Autosports. Early life and education From London, Lubin is the grandson of Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay an ...

. A less successful weekend in

followed, which included Simonazzi causing a collision with

Christian Mansell Christian Mansell (born 9 February 2005) is an Australian racing driver, who most recently competed in the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship for Trident. He previously competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship from 2022 to 2024, finishing fifth ...

, which sent the Australian's car flipping upside down, before Simonazzi capped off his season by taking second place in Race 1 at

. This result meant that the Italian finished sixth in the standings, being the second-lowest full-time competitor in the standings, only ahead of Alex García.

2023

Simonazzi returned to the

Euroformula Open The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

in 2023, remaining with BVM Racing once more.

2024

Simonazzi was retained by BVM Racing for a third season of

in 2024.

2025

Simonazzi opted not to continue in

in 2025, but remained in a developmental role for BVM Racing.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

Simonazzi was announced to race in the

2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship The 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula Three, Formula 3 cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was the fourteenth season of Formula 3 racing and the fif ...

with

Rodin Carlin Carlin, formerly known as Carlin Motorsport and Rodin Carlin, was a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It primarily competed in junior racing championships such as FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3. Carlin also competed in top level s ...

for the final two rounds, replacing

Max Esterson Maxwell Esterson (born October 9, 2002) is an American racing driver and esports driver, who competes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Trident. He previously competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Jenzer Motorsport and in the GB3 ...

who returned to the

GB3 Championship The GB3 Championship is a single seater motorsport series based in the United Kingdom. The championship is the UK's premier single-seater category, and is aimed at young racing drivers moving up from FIA Formula 4 championships, the GB4 Cha ...

Endurance racing career

2025: ELMS debut

Simonazzi switched to the

European 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 fo ...

for 2025, joining French outfit

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

^† As Simonazzi was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
* Season still in progress.

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

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

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results

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

Complete Euroformula Open Championship results

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

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

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

Complete European Le Mans Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simonazzi, Francesco Living people 2004 births Italian racing drivers Euroformula Open Championship drivers Spanish F4 Championship drivers Italian F4 Championship drivers BVM Racing drivers Jenzer Motorsport drivers Cram Competition drivers Sportspeople from Reggio Emilia FIA Formula 3 Championship drivers Carlin racing drivers Rodin Motorsport drivers 21st-century Italian sportsmen European Le Mans Series drivers Duqueine Team drivers