Matevos "Matos" Isaakyan (; born 17 April 1998) is a Russian former

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 ...

. He is a former member of the

SMP Racing SMP Racing is a Russian racing team and driver academy mostly known for competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, FIA Formula 2 Championship and FIA Formula 3 Championship with the goal of training and unveiling new talents from Russia. ...

driver programme.

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 ...

, Isaakyan 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 his native Russia in 2010, finishing fifth in the Russian Super Mini Championship. The following year he stepped up to the Russian KF3 Championship, finishing seventh, before placing fifth in the same category in 2012.

French F4

Isaakyan graduated to

single-seaters An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

in 2013, racing in the

French F4 Championship French F4 Championship, formerly known as Formula Renault Campus France, Formula Campus, Formul'Academy Euro Series, F4 Eurocup 1.6 is a form of open wheel racing founded in 1993 by Louis Drouet. It is based in France and aims at karting gradua ...

. He took five podium places and two fastest laps on his way to fifth in the championship.

Toyota Racing Series

In January and February 2014, Isaakyan raced in the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

-based

Toyota Racing Series The Formula Regional Oceania Championship is New Zealand's premier formula racing category. The series includes races for every major trophy in New Zealand circuit racing including the New Zealand Motor Cup and the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy. ...

for the ETEC Motorsport team. He took a best race result of sixth at the opening round in Teretonga to finish ninth in the championship, one place behind teammate and fellow Russian Denis Korneev.

Formula Renault 2.0

Isaakyan's main racing program for 2014 was in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championship, racing for

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 ...

team

JD Motorsport JD Motorsport was an auto racing team based in Vespolate, Italy that competed in formula single-seaters in Europe. History The team was formed in 1995 by Roberto Cavallari and Alfredo Cappelletti. In 1996 the team started to participate in Form ...

. He was ineligible to race at the first round of the season in

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 ...

due to the fact he had not yet turned 16 years of age. He was, however, allowed to take part in the free practice sessions. During the season, Isaakyan took seven podium places, including a double win 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 ...

, to finish third in the championship, behind

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 ...

and champion

Nyck de Vries Hendrik Johannes Nicasius "Nyck" de Vries (; born 6 February 1995) is a Dutch racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing, Toyota and in Formula E for Mahindra Racing, Mahindra. In formula racing, ...

. He also finished second to Leclerc in the Junior Championship standings. Isaakyan also contested the opening three rounds of the 2014 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, taking a best race result of seventh at both

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 ...

and

Moscow Raceway Moscow Raceway is an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-approved Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing venue in the Volokolamsk, Volokolamsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located near the villages of Sheludkovo and Fedyuko ...

. In 2015, Isaakyan remained with JD Motorsport to contest full-seasons in both Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps.

GP3 Series

Isaakyan made his debut with

Koiranen GP Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport, formerly also known as Koiranen bros. Motorsport and Koiranen GP, is a Finnish auto racing team based in Lahti, Finland. The team currently fields a one car entry in the LMP3 class of Asian Le Mans Series and Prototype ...

at the Bahrain round of the 2015 season and finished twenty first with two points. The following year, Isaakyan competed with the team full-time and finished seventeenth overall (his highest race result being fourth in the sprint race at

Formula V8 3.5

Whilst competing full-time in GP3, Isaakyan debuted in the series with

in place of original choice Vladimir Atoev. He claimed his maiden victory in the sport at the first race at

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 finished ninth overall.

Formula 2

In , Isaakyan entered the final two rounds of 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

Charouz Racing System Charouz Racing System (CHRS, also was known as Lotus in World Series Formula V8 3.5) is a racing team from Czech Republic, created in 1985 by . History In the 1980s, Charouz participated in the European Championship of Circuit Races' 1600 ...

replacing injured Sauber Junior driver

Juan Manuel Correa Juan Manuel Correa Borja (; born August 9, 1999) is an American-Ecuadorian racing driver who currently competes in the 2025 Indy NXT with HMD Motorsports. He previously competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship from and with Van Amersfoort R ...

Racing record

Career summary

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

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † As Isaakyan was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series results

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

Complete GP3 Series results

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

Complete World Series Formula V8 3.5 results

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

Complete European Le Mans Series results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isaakyan, Matevos 1998 births Living people Racing drivers from Moscow Russian racing drivers French F4 Championship drivers Formula Renault 2.0 Alps drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Toyota Racing Series drivers Russian GP3 Series drivers Russian sportspeople of Armenian descent World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Russian Circuit Racing Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers SMP Racing drivers Auto Sport Academy drivers JD Motorsport drivers Koiranen GP drivers Charouz Racing System drivers AV Formula drivers AF Corse drivers