Samuele Buttarelli (born 2 May 1992 in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

) 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

Master Junior Formula

Buttarelli began his single–seater career in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

–based Master Junior Formula in 2007. He competed in just three of the 21 races and was subsequently classified in 23rd place.

Formula Renault 2.0

The following year, Buttarelli stepped up to

Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to auto racing, motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before mov ...

, competing in the Italian Formula Renault 2.0 and Swiss Formula Renault 2.0 series with Cram Competition. In the Italian series, he competed in the first ten races of the season before leaving the championship, taking a best result of 10th at Misano, whilst in the Swiss series he took part in six races, with a sixth place 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" ( ...

being his best race result.

Formula Three

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, Buttarelli graduated 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 newly named European F3 Open Championship for the emiliodevillota.com team. He took part in the first six rounds of the season before leaving the series after the

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 ...

round in October, where he had just secured his best race results of the season. He was classified in 18th place in the standings. In June 2009, Buttarelli joined

Carlin Motorsport 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 ...

to contest the

Masters of Formula 3 The Masters of Formula 3 was a Formula Three race held annually, usually at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Due to noise restrictions in the Zandvoort area, the 2007 and 2008 races were held in the Belgian circuit of Circuit Zolder, ...

event held at

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 ...

. After qualifying on the back row of the grid, he finished as the last classified finisher in 31st position. In September 2009, he also made his debut 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 ...

, racing for RC Motorsport 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 ...

, where he finished the two races in 18th and 17th places respectively. For the 2010 season, Buttarelli joined

Prema Powerteam Prema Racing, previously known as Prema Powerteam, is an Italian motorsport team, owned and operated through the ''DC Racing Solutions'' parent company. Founded in 1983, the team is based in Grisignano di Zocco and currently operates out of Ita ...

to contest the Italian Formula Three Championship. After securing three podium places and a

fastest lap In motorsports, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. In some racing series, like NASCAR, the fastest lap award championship points for a driver or team. In Formula One and MotoGP no point is awarded for the fastest lap. Formula O ...

in the first ten races, Buttarelli split with the team after the fifth round at Varano. He did, however, secure a seat alongside Daniel Mancinelli at

Team Ghinzani Team Ghinzani is a motor racing team based in Italy, involved in many areas of motorsport. The team was founded in 1992 by Piercarlo Ghinzani, who raced in Formula One between and . History Team Ghinzani have raced in Italian Formula Three C ...

in time for the next round of the series 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 ...

, where he took a podium in the second race. He eventually finished the season in eighth place.

Formula Le Mans

In July 2009, Buttarelli took part in a one–off round of the Formula Le Mans series in

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

, sharing an Oreca FLM09 with

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 ...

regular

Jérôme d'Ambrosio Jérôme d'Ambrosio (; born 27 December 1985) is a Belgian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Since October 2024, d'Ambrosio has served as deputy team principal of Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari in F ...

, who was using the weekend to learn the circuit as it would host the final round of the GP2 Series season. The pair dominated the event, winning both races whilst also taking a

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

and fastest lap. However, as they were guest drivers they were ineligible for championship points.

International Formula Master

In the summer of 2009, Buttarelli took part in the

International Formula Master International Formula Master, also known as Formula Super 2000, was a European-based junior single seater formula. The series was conceived as a competitor for Formula Three and made its debut at Valencia in 2007. European television channel Eur ...

events that supported the and , as part of series organiser N.Technology's Talent Support Program (T.S.P). In his four races in the series he took a best result of ninth in 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 ...

sprint race.

Racing record

Career summary

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buttarelli, Samuele 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Genoa Italian racing drivers Italian Formula Three Championship drivers Euroformula Open Championship drivers International Formula Master drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault 2.0 Alps drivers Auto GP drivers FIA Formula Two Championship drivers Prema Powerteam drivers De Villota Motorsport drivers Cram Competition drivers RC Motorsport drivers DAMS drivers Carlin racing drivers