Kevin Ceccon (born 24 September 1993 in

Clusone Clusone (Bergamasque: ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. Located in the Val Seriana, it received the honorary title of city on 15 May 1957 with a presidential decree which ratified a Napoleon Bonaparte ...

) is a professional

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 ...

from

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 Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Career

Karting

Prior to his single–seater career, Ceccon enjoyed a long and successful spell in the junior

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 ...

ranks. In 2005 he achieved a fifth place in the Copa Campeones Trophy Junior class before finishing fourth in the

Italian Open Masters The Italian ACI Karting Championship is a kart racing series based in Italy. Until 2010 it was called Italian Open Masters. Champions Source: Formula A/ KF1 Intercontinental A/ KF2/ OK/OKN Intercontinental A Junior/ KF3/KFJ/ OKJ/OKJN Interc ...

KF3 category the following year. In 2008 he won the Italian Open Masters KF3 title, and also secured podium finishes in both the South Garda Winter Cup and Andrea Margutti Trophy.

Formula Three

In 2009, Ceccon took the substantial jump from karting to

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

, racing in the

European F3 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

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 ...

. After a slow start to the season, he finished in the points on nine occasions to be classified 11th in the standings, with fourth–place finishes at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

and

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 ...

being his best race results. He also took part in three rounds of the Italian Formula Three season, finishing in the points in four of his six races to finish 14th in the series. Ceccon continued with the team 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 ...

, improving to fourth place in the final standings after taking six podium places, including his first series win at the final round of the year in

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 ...

. In September 2010, Ceccon made a one–off appearance in the

Italian Formula Three Championship The Italian Formula Three Championship was the Formula Three racing competition in Italy. History Formula Three has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone for F1 hopefuls - it is typically the first point in a driver's care ...

round 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 ...

, retiring from the first race before finishing 12th in the second event.

GP2 Series

In November 2010, Ceccon took part in four days of post–season

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 ...

testing, held at

Yas Marina Circuit The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is a 5.281 km (3.281 mi) motorsport circuit situated on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke. It has hosted the season-ending Formula One ...

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 ...

, driving for

Scuderia Coloni Coloni Motorsport, also known as Scuderia Coloni, was an auto racing team from Italy. Founded by former racing driver Enzo Coloni in 1983, the team participated in Formula Three between 1983 and 1986, before racing in Formula One as Enzo Coloni ...

for the first two days, before switching to DPR for the final two days. It was announced in May 2011 that Ceccon would race in the Barcelona and

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, ...

rounds of the 2011 season for Scuderia Coloni, replacing fellow Italian

Davide Rigon Davide Rigon (born 26 August 1986) is an Italian professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and other selected GT races for AF Corse. He is also currently part of the Scuderia Ferrari Formula ...

who was injured in the

first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of the season in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. In doing so, he became the youngest ever GP2 Series driver, taking the record previously held by

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 ...

Javier Villa Javier Villa García (born 5 October 1987) is a Spanish former racing driver living in Arriondas, Asturias, Spain. He drove in the GP2 Series from 2006 towards 2009. In 2010 he switched to touring cars, driving at the Spanish Mini Challenge and ...

by almost a year. After eight races, with a best finish of eleventh, he opted to concentrate on Auto GP, in which he was challenging for the series lead, and relinquished his seat to

Luca Filippi Luca Filippi (born 9 August 1985 in Savigliano, Italy) is an Italian former auto racing driver. He competed in GP2 Series from 2006 to 2012, and the IndyCar Series from 2013 to 2016. In 2008 he was the official Honda Racing F1 test driver. Career ...

. He finished 30th in the drivers' championship standings.

Auto GP

For the 2011 season, Ceccon graduated to the

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, racing for Italian team

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 ...

. He was eligible for the newly created Under 21 Trophy, which he won at the penultimate round of the season in

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 ...

. In doing so, he also secured a prize GP2 Series test. He currently leads the overall standings with one round of the series remaining, seven points ahead of

DAMS A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

driver Sergei Afanasiev.

GP3 Series

Ceccon moved to the

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

for 2012, driving for

Ocean Racing Technology Ocean Racing Technology (ORT) was a racing team that took part in both the GP2 Main Series and the GP2 Asia Series Championships. The team, owned by Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes, was formed at the end of the 2008 season after being purchased ...

. He returned to GP3 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 ...

, replacing

Christopher Höher Christopher Höher (born 19 May 1997) is a former Austrian racing driver. Career Formula 3 Höher began his career in racing in 2011 in a Dallara 302 Opel Spiess for Franz Wöss Racing at the Austria Formula 3 Cup at the age of 13 years. Hi ...

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 ...

. Despite only competing in four rounds out of nine, he finished fifteenth in the standings.

Formula One

Ceccon tested with

Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso SpA (; ), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One constructor. It was one of two Formula One constructors owned by Austrian conglomerate company Red Bull, the other being Red Bul ...

at the

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 ...

young driver test during the week after the Grand Prix there. He drove on the second day of the test (November 16), after

Stefano Coletti Stefano Coletti (born 6 April 1989) is a Monaco, Monégasque former professional Auto racing, racing driver who raced for SMP Racing in the European Le Mans Series. His sister Alexandra Coletti is an alpine skier. He is the first Monégasque drive ...

drove on the first, and finished the day with the 10th fastest time, 4.620s behind

Jean-Éric Vergne Jean-Éric Serge Raymond Vergne (; born 25 April 1990), also known by his initials JEV, is a French racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot and in Formula E for DS Penske. In formula racing, Vergne compete ...

, who set the fastest time.

Racing record