Simona de Silvestro (born 1 September 1988) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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 is currently employed by Porsche as a factory driver. She has previously driven for Amlin Andretti in the 2015/16 season of the

FIA Formula E Championship Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars. ...

as well as several years competing in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

. Her nicknames are the "Iron Maiden" and "Swiss Miss".

Racing career

Junior formulae

She raced for

Newman Wachs Racing Newman Wachs Racing (also referred to as NWR) is an auto racing team owned by Eddie Wachs and, until his death, Paul Newman. NWR was based outside of Chicago in Mundelein, Illinois. Newman and Wachs met when they both competed in Can-Am series in t ...

's Nuclear Clean Air Energy-Entergy team in the

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship Series is an American open-wheel racing series with races throughout North America. It has previously been called Champ Car Atlantics, Toyota Atlantics (after its then engine supplier for sponsorship reasons), or just ...

in 2008 and for Team Stargate Worlds in 2009. She won the Atlantic race at the 2008

Grand Prix of Long Beach The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. It was the premier race on the CART/Champ Car Worl ...

, making her the second woman to win in that series – after

Katherine Legge Katherine Anne Legge ( ; born 12 July 1980) is a British professional auto racing driver who competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship. She holds the record for the fastest qu ...

– and providing NWR with its first win. She won four times during the 2009 season and led in points for most of the season, but ultimately finished third in the standings after retiring on the first lap during the season finale at

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...

. De Silvestro participated in an

test over 8–9 December 2009 at

Sebring International Raceway Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the Southeastern United States, southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida. Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S ...

, a joint effort between

HVM Racing HVM Racing was an auto racing team owned by Keith Wiggins that competed in the IndyCar Series. It competed in the Champ Car World Series in 2007 as Minardi Team USA when it was co-owned by Paul Stoddart. It has a long history of changes of owner ...

and Team Stargate Worlds.

IndyCar

Simona de Silvestro 2010 Indy 500 Practice Day 1

Simona de Silvestro - 2015 500 Festival - Stierch

De Silvestro competed full-time in the IndyCar Series for HVM Racing for the 2010 season. On 22 May 2010, she qualified in the 22nd position for the

2010 Indianapolis 500 The 94th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 2010. It was the 15th Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and was the premier event of the 2010 IndyCar Series season, 2010 ...

. She finished the race in 14th position, and earned

Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year The Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year is awarded annually to the racing driver deemed to have been the best performing rookie in the Indianapolis 500. Criteria include drivers' performance during practice, qualifying, and the race, their rela ...

honors. She suffered a burned right hand after a fiery crash at the

Firestone 550 The IndyCar Series held auto racing events at Texas Motor Speedway, near Fort Worth, Texas, from 1997 until 2023. The races had a variety of different title sponsors and distances over the years, and therefore the Texas round has changed names fr ...

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...

on 5 June 2010. Her team strongly criticized IndyCar Series safety officials for their response to that accident. For the season, de Silvestro started 17 races, finished ten, and recorded two top-10 finishes, with a best finish of eighth at

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington, Ohio, Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar Series, Indy ...

. She finished 19th overall in the series standings and was runner-up to

Alex Lloyd Alexander Lloyd (Birth name, né Wasiliev; born 19 September 1974) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Four of his albums, ''Black the Sun'', ''Watching Angels Mend'', ''Distant Light (Alex Lloyd album), Distant Light'' and ''Alex Lloyd (al ...

for rookie of the year honors. The 2011 season began with fourth- and ninth-place finishes at St. Petersburg and Barber; however the next race, at Long Beach, was not as successful: she started 18th and finished 20th. At the next race, the

São Paulo Indy 300 The Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestlé was an event in the IRL IndyCar Series, contested in the 2010 through 2013 IndyCar Series seasons. The event was originally announced on November 25, 2009, as the first championship event f ...

, an accident between her and

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes part-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 06 Dallara-Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He is one of four drivers to have w ...

put her nine laps down, after the race was postponed to the next morning due to severe rain conditions. She started 13th and finished 20th, nine laps down, but recorded the fastest lap of the race. She received second degree burns on her right hand and superficial burns on her left hand in a crash during practice for the

2011 Indianapolis 500 The 95th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 29, 2011. The race was part of the 2011 IndyCar Series season, 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season. The track opened for practice on May 14 and ...

on 19 May. The crash, which sent her car sailing into the

catch fence The following is a glossary of terminology used in motorsport, along with explanations of their meanings. 0–9 ;1–2 finish: When two vehicles from the same team finish first and second in a race. Can be extended to 1–2–3 or 1–2–3– ...

before flipping and landing on its left tires, was caused by a mechanical failure in the left rear of her No. 78 Dallara-Honda. On 21 May, using her backup car, she qualified 24th for the race with a four-lap average of 224.392 mph. After a crash at the Milwaukee Mile during qualifying, de Silvestro was cleared to drive in the race, but withdrew after experiencing dizziness and impaired vision. At the next race, in Iowa, she was not cleared to compete, due to continuing dizziness. De Silvestro missed round 13 of the season at Sonoma, after being refused entry to the United States. De Silvestro said she did not know why she was turned away. She finished 20th overall in the 2011 series standings. De Silvestro returned to HVM Racing for the

2012 IndyCar Series season The 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 17th season of the IndyCar Series, and the 101st season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 96th Indianapolis 500, held on Sunday, May 27. The series was sanctioned by IndyCar, and too ...

, piloting the No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy sponsored Dallara-Lotus. The entry was one of five cars to start the season powered by the new Lotus engine. The Lotus proved to be significantly underpowered compared to the Chevrolet and Honda engines used by the rest of the field. By the end of May, all entrants other than de Silvestro's No. 78 had abandoned the Lotus powerplant and switched to either Chevy or Honda. De Silvestro was saddled for the entire season with the inferior Lotus. The underpowered engine made it impossible for de Silvestro to be competitive, resulting in consistently poor qualifying and race results. On several occasions the car was black flagged for failing to maintain the minimum safe speed, including the

2012 Indianapolis 500 The 96th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 27, 2012. It was the premier event of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season. For the first time since 1996 all entries featured turbocharged ...

. For the season, de Silvestro qualified for all 15 races on the schedule, started 14, and finished 6. Her best finish was 14th at Detroit and Iowa. She finished 24th overall in the series standings. On 30 October 2012, de Silvestro signed on with

KV Racing Technology KV Racing Technology was an auto racing team that last competed in the IndyCar Series. The team was originally formed as PK Racing before the 2003 season by Australian businessman Kevin Kalkhoven and former Formula One team manager Craig Pollo ...

for the

2013 IndyCar Series season The 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 18th season of the IndyCar Series and the 102nd season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 97th Indianapolis 500 held on Sunday, May 26. The 2013 season was the second to feature the D ...

, driving the No. 78

Dallara Dallara Group S.r.l. is the largest multi-national Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Giampaolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' M ...

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

with sponsorship from Nuclear Clean Air Energy. De Silvestro joined veteran driver

Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed "TK", is a Brazilian racing driver who is the team principal of Arrow McLaren. He is best known for racing in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) from 1998 to 2002, an ...

to make KV Racing Technology a two-car team for the 2013 season. On 5 October 2013 at the

Grand Prix of Houston The Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers was an annual auto racing, auto race on the IndyCar Series circuit. It was held in a street circuit located in downtown Houston for four years, then retur ...

, de Silvestro finished second in the first race for her first podium finish, joining

Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver and model. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win ...

and

Sarah Fisher Sarah Marie Fisher (born October 4, 1980) is an American retired professional race car driver who competed in the Indy Racing League (IRL, now IndyCar Series) and the Indianapolis 500 intermittently from 1999 to 2010. She also raced in the ...

as the only women in IndyCar history to record a podium finish. On 2 April 2015, de Silvestro announced she would drive the Andretti Autosport No. 29 Honda in the

2015 IndyCar Series season The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series was the 20th season of the IndyCar Series and the 104th season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 2015 Indianapolis 500, 99th Indianapolis 500, which was held on May 24. Will Power returned ...

in an attempt to make the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

. De Silvestro finished fourth in the second race of the season, the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana. On 19 January 2021,

Paretta Autosport Paretta Autosport is an automotive racing organization owned by Beth Paretta, the former director of Street & Racing Technology, SRT Motorsports. Paretta Autosport competed in the 2021 Indianapolis 500 IndyCar Series, IndyCar race with driver Sim ...

announced they would make their Indycar debut at the

2021 Indianapolis 500 The 2021 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was a 500-mile (800 km, 200 lap) race in the 2021 IndyCar Series, held on May 30, 2021, at the Indianapolis ...

with de Silvestro as the driver in the no. 16 Rocket Pro

Formula One

In February 2014,

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

team

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG, currently competing in Formula One as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and also known simply as Kick Sauber or Sauber, is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who pro ...

announced that de Silvestro would join the team as an "affiliated driver" and would undergo a year-long training programme with the team, with the ultimate objective of racing in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. De Silvestro began testing with the team at the end of April 2014 at

Fiorano Circuit The Fiorano Circuit () is a private racetrack owned by Ferrari for development and testing purposes. It is located in Fiorano Modenese, near the Italian town of Maranello. Construction began in 1971 and the circuit officially opened on 8 Apri ...

. She had her first drive in the 2012 Sauber on 26 April, and completed 112 laps during the test. However, in October 2014, Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn stated that the team had suspended de Silvestro's driving chances due to contractual troubles.

Formula E

On 15 June 2015, it was announced de Silvestro would drive for Andretti's

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

team at the championship's double-header finale in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She was confirmed with the team full-time for the 2015-16 season opposite Formula Renault 3.5 champion

Robin Frijns Robin Christiaan Maria Frijns (born 7 August 1991) is a Dutch racing driver. He most recently raced in Formula E with Envision Racing, and in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Team WRT as part of the BMW in motorsport, BMW factory driver l ...

. In 2016, de Silvestro became the first female driver to score points in Formula E with a 9th place in the

2016 Long Beach ePrix The 2016 Long Beach ePrix (formally the 2016 Faraday Future Long Beach ePrix) was a Formula E Electric motorsport, electric car race held on April 2, 2016, before a crowd of 17,000 spectators, at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Long Beach Street ...

. She finished the championship in 18th place with 4 points. De Silvestro returned to the driving seat for

Venturi Racing Venturi Racing (formerly Venturi Formula E Team) was a Monegasque motor racing team controlled by Scott Swid (Chairman and principal owner) and José M Aznar Botella. The team competed in the FIA Formula E World Championship. Venturi Racing co ...

at the December 2018

Ad Diriyah Diriyah (; formerly romanized as Dereyeh and Dariyya) is a town and governorate in Saudi Arabia. Located on the northwestern outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Diriyah was the original home of the House of Saud, and served as the capital of ...

test, where up to nine women took part. She placed tenth overall, fastest of all female drivers. Between 2019 and 2023, De Silvestro served as

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

's reserve driver. In 2024, she participated in the all-female pre-season test held at

Circuito del Jarama The Circuito de Madrid Jarama - RACE, formerly known as ''Circuito del Jarama'' and ''Circuito Permanente del Jarama'' is a motorsport racetrack located in San Sebastián de los Reyes, north of Madrid. It was home to the Spanish Grand Prix ni ...

, joining new team

Kiro Race Co The Kiro Race Co, competing as Cupra Kiro, is an American-owned, British-based motor racing team that currently competes in the FIA Formula E Championship, an all-electric racing series. The team was previously owned and managed by Chinese comp ...

V8 Supercars

It was announced on 19 August 2015 that she would partner

Renee Gracie Renee Elise Gracie (born 5 January 1995) is an Australian adult film actress and racing driver. Early life Gracie was born in Brisbane and grew up in the southern outskirts in Kuraby. She attended John Paul College throughout her upbringing ...

Prodrive Racing Australia Tickford Racing (formerly known as Prodrive Racing Australia and Ford Performance Racing) is an Australian motor racing team which competes in the Supercars Championship. The team currently campaigns two Ford Mustangs, with their current driver ...

in the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

for

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

. Following an impact with the wall at Forrest's Elbow on lap 15 for Gracie, the car underwent extensive repairs before being sent back out to finish 21st and 40 laps down – one more lap lost and the car would not have been classified. On 5 September 2016 it was announced that she had signed a three-year contract as a full-time driver for

Nissan Motorsport , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departmen ...

in the Australian

Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

, beginning from the 2017 Series. This followed another appearance at Bathurst alongside Gracie, this time with the Nissan squad, where the pair managed to stay out of trouble amid the chaotic final laps and finish in 14th place and two laps down. De Silvestro will compete in the 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000 as a wildcard entry for team Dick Johnson Racing.

GT3

In 2020, De Silvestro returned to Europe as a factory

GT driver; contesting the

2020 ADAC GT Masters The 2020 ADAC GT Masters was the fourteenth season of the ADAC GT Masters, the grand tourer-style sports car racing founded by the German automobile club ADAC The ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's ...

for

Timo Bernhard Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former racing driver from Germany. He was a sports car racing, sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is the ninth and most recent driver to c ...

's Team75 with

Klaus Bachler Klaus Bachler (born 27 July 1991, in Unzmarkt) is an Austrian racing driver. As a Porsche-contracted driver, Bachler has won races in multiple high-level categories, including the Porsche Supercup, ADAC GT Masters, GTWC Europe Endurance Cup, IM ...

. She finished 23rd in the championship with 41 points. The duo switched to Herberth Motorsport for the

2021 ADAC GT Masters The 2021 ADAC GT Masters was the fifteenth season of the ADAC GT Masters, the grand tourer-style sports car racing founded by the German automobile club ADAC. Montaplast drivers Ricardo Feller and Christopher Mies won the title in a closely-fou ...

Bobsleigh

In early 2022, de Silvestro announced that she had started training in the winter sport of monobob, with a goal to compete for Switzerland at the

2026 Winter Olympics The 2026 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Milano Cortina 2026, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 at sites across Lombardy and North ...

. Her first competitive event was the 2022 Swiss championships where she placed fifth.Browne, Ken (1 March 2022).
'Iron Maiden' Simona de Silvestro sets sights on bobsleigh at Milano-Cortina 2026
Olymyics.com retrieved 9 October 2023.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As de Silvestro was a guest driver, she was ineligible to score points.

American open-wheel racing results

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

Atlantic Championship/Champ Car Atlantic

: * Podium (non-win) indicates second and third place finishes : ** Top 10s (non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes

IndyCar Series

: ''¹ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 Indianapol ...

died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

Indianapolis 500

Complete Formula E results

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

Complete Supercars Championship results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

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

Notes

References

External links

* *
Profile on Racing Reference

IndyCar Driver Page

IndyCar 11 in '11 video
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Silvestro, Simona 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Thun Atlantic Championship drivers IndyCar Series drivers Female IndyCar Series drivers Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Indianapolis 500 drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula BMW USA drivers Formula E drivers Supercars Championship drivers Swiss female racing drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Cram Competition drivers EuroInternational drivers Walker Racing drivers Newman Wachs Racing drivers US RaceTronics drivers HVM Racing drivers KV Racing Technology drivers Andretti Autosport drivers Kelly Racing drivers Meyer Shank Racing drivers Champ Car drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers Rowe Racing drivers Nismo drivers Sauber Motorsport drivers Italian female racing drivers Italian racing drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia drivers Swiss racing drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers 21st-century Italian sportswomen 21st-century Swiss sportswomen