Stefano Coletti (born 6 April 1989) is a Monégasque 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. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

who races for

SMP Racing SMP Racing is the motor sport endurance racing team and also motorsport management created in 2013 by Boris Rotenberg, founder of the SMP Bank of Russia. Description The goal of SMP Racing is to train and unveil new talents. The team's training ...

in 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 ...

. His sister Alexandra Coletti is an alpine skier. He is the first Monégasque driver since

Louis Chiron Louis Alexandre Chiron (3 August 1899 – 22 June 1979) was a Monégasque racing driver who competed in rallies, sports car races, and Grands Prix. Among the greatest drivers between the two World Wars, his career embraced over thirty years, ...

(1931) to have won a race in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

Career

Karting

Born in La Colle, Monaco, Coletti enjoyed a successful

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with 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 fu ...

career prior to moving into

single-seater An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula 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 th ...

racing. In 2003, he finished as runner-up in the Italian Open Masters ICA–Junior category before winning the Andrea Margutti Trophy and European Championship ICA–Junior titles in 2004.

Formula BMW

In 2005, Coletti moved up to

Formula racing Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single ...

, joining Eifelland Racing to contest the Formula BMW ADAC championship, where he finished eighteenth in the standings. He also took part in the Formula BMW World Final in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

for ASL Team Mücke Motorsport, finishing in twenty-fifth place. He continued in the championship in 2006, taking four podium places, including a single victory, to finish seventh in the standings. He also took part in four Formula BMW USA races, winning three of them to finish the season in fifth place, despite missing a large proportion of the championship. Coletti once again competed in the Formula BMW World Final, held at the

Circuit Ricardo Tormo Circuit Ricardo Tormo, also known as ''Circuit de Valencia'' and officially named ''Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo'', is a motorsport race track located in Cheste (Valencian Community, Spain) and built in 1999. The track is ...

, where he finished in third place, behind Mika Mäki and race winner

Christian Vietoris Christian Vietoris (; ; born 1 April 1989) is a German racing driver. He competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, most recently for HWA Team. Vietoris has also been a part of the revitalized Mercedes-Benz Junior Team, together with Robert W ...

Formula Renault

In August 2006, Coletti made his debut in the

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits. It served as a support series to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to 2015. Renault Sp ...

series, driving for the

Cram Competition Cram Motorsport (formerly known as Cram Competition) is an auto racing team based in Italy. Cram started in 1994 out of the Tatuus Tatuus is an Italian chassis manufacturer for a series of formula racing series, being first founded in 1980. Th ...

and Motopark Academy teams, although he failed to score a point in any of the six races he entered. In 2007, he joined the

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Epsilon Euskadi team to contest both the Eurocup and Italian Formula Renault 2.0 championships. He finished fourth in the Eurocup standings after taking a win 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 behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone ...

and two further podium places, whilst in the Italian series he took two victories – both at Misano – to finish in tenth place.

Formula Three

Coletti moved up to the

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

for the 2008 season, joining the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Signature-Plus team. However, he left the team after the first four races after being dropped from the Red Bull Driver Development scheme. Coletti missed the next round of the series at Pau before joining Prema Powerteam, who he remained with for the rest of the season. He took a best race result of fourth to finish the year in twentieth position. He also took part in the Masters of Formula 3 and

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

non-championship races, but retired from both events. In January 2009, Prema announced that Coletti would be staying with the team for the 2009 season. At the first round of the year in Hockenheim, Coletti qualified on the front row of the grid before going on to win the opening race of the season. The following month, Coletti took part in the Masters of Formula 3 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 Amsterda ...

, qualifying in fourth position before finishing the race in third place, behind

Finns Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...

Mika Mäki and race winner

Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Alfa Romeo, having previously driven for Mercedes from to and Williams from to . Bottas has scored race wins and podiums. He ...

. Coletti was involved in a controversial incident after the first race at the

Norisring The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the 19 ...

. Having finished third to move into third in the championship, Coletti had an altercation with race winner

Jules Bianchi Jules Lucien André Bianchi (; 3 August 1989 – 17 July 2015) was a French motor racing driver who drove for the Marussia F1 Team in the FIA Formula One World Championship. Bianchi had previously raced in Formula Renault 3.5, GP2 and Form ...

. Coletti felt that Bianchi had said "bad words" to him, and struck the

ART Grand Prix ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team that competes in formula single-seaters in Europe. In 2012, it competed in the GP2 Series and GP3 Series as Lotus GP to reflect sponsorship from British sports and racing car manufacturer Lotus. The ...

driver and championship leader. Coletti was then stripped of his third place, and was excluded from the rest of the meeting. Coletti failed to score points after the

Oschersleben Oschersleben () is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2020 about 19,000. History On November 23, 994 Oschersleben was first mentioned in a document by the Emperor Otto III. In 123 ...

rounds, and finished tenth in the championship.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

In November 2008, Coletti sampled Formula Renault 3.5 Series machinery for the first time, testing for RC Motorsport at Valencia alongside former

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 Eccl ...

driver Andy Soucek. On 15 May 2009 it was announced that Coletti would race for Prema Powerteam in the

round of the

2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series The 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series was the fifth Formula Renault 3.5 Series season. It began on 18 April at the Circuit de Catalunya and finished on 25 October at the brand-new Ciudad del Motor de Aragón in Alcañiz. It was the fifth season of ...

, replacing

Frankie Provenzano Francesco "Frankie" Provenzano (born February 12, 1986 in Rome) is an Italian racing driver. Career Formula Renault Provenzano began his formula racing career with the BVM Minardi team in Italian Formula Renault, finishing second to Jaime Algue ...

. He originally finished in eleventh place, but after Marco Barba received a 25-second penalty, Coletti was promoted into the final points paying position in tenth. Coletti returned to the series for a full season in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, driving alongside Greg Mansell at Comtec Racing. He took five podium finishes on his way to sixth place in the championship.

GP3 Series

Coletti also contested fourteen races of the inaugural

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 th ...

season for the

Tech 1 Racing Tech 1 Racing is a racing team based in Toulouse, France. They currently compete in the World Series by Renault and Eurocup Mégane Trophy. Tech 1 also operate the Panis Racing LMP2 entry to the European Le Mans Series and the Ultimate LMP2 Pr ...

team, replacing Daniel Juncadella after the first round of the championship. His team-mates were variously Doru Sechelariu,

Jean-Éric Vergne Jean-Éric Vergne (born 25 April 1990), also known as JEV, is a French racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E Championship with Dragon Racing. He became the 2017–18 ABB Formula E Champion, after clinching fifth in the New York ePrix ...

, Jim Pla and the returning Juncadella. Coletti finished the year ninth in the championship; the best-placed of the Tech 1 drivers.

GP2 Series

Stefano Coletti GP2 2014 Silverstone 002

Coletti made his GP2 debut in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

when he replaced

Davide Valsecchi Davide Valsecchi (born 24 January 1987) is an Italian former racing driver and the 2012 GP2 Series champion. Career Formula Renault Valsecchi drove in Renault-based series from 2003 to 2007, rising from Italian Formula Renault and the Formula R ...

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated i ...

. He suffered a fraught first meeting in the series, receiving three drive-through penalties. In race one he received one for jumping the start and one for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit, before retiring from the race. In race two he stalled on the grid and was penalised for starting from the grid instead of the pitlane; he collided with

Dani Clos Daniel Clos Álvarez (born 23 October 1988) is a Spanish professional racecar driver who was, in 2012, the test driver for the now defunct HRT Formula One team. Career Karting Born in Barcelona, Clos was a fairly successful karter at the ...

before taking this penalty. In his third GP2 race, at the

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

, Coletti crashed heavily with two laps remaining causing the race to finish under safety car conditions. He escaped with compressed vertebrae and minor bruising, missing the following day's sprint race as his car's

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

was written off by the impact. He also missed the

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hos ...

rounds of the F3 Euroseries due to his injury. He was due to return to GP2 at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of M ...

having originally been passed fit, but pulled out due to recurring pain during Thursday scrutineering. Coletti returned to GP2 in 2011, driving for

Trident Racing Trident Racing is a motor racing team that competes in single-seater formula racing. It was founded in 2006 in order to compete in the GP2 championship, which was Europe's second highest-ranking single-seater formula below Formula One. Trident is ...

alongside Rodolfo González. In the Asia series, he scored a victory in the sprint race at

Yas Marina Yas Island ( ar, جزيرة ياس) is an island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It occupies a total land area of . It is a popular leisure island and one of the top tourism projects in Abu Dhabi. Yas Island holds the Yas Marina Circuit, w ...

on his way to fourth place in the drivers' standings. He also began the main series strongly, winning the sprint race of the first round of the championship, held at

Istanbul Park Intercity Istanbul Park ( tr, İstanbul Park), also known as the Istanbul Racing Circuit or initially as the Istanbul Otodrom, is a motor sports race track in the Tuzla district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was designed by the well-known racetrack ...

. After winning the sprint race in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

, he crashed heavily during the feature race at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has hel ...

and sustained two vertebral compression fractures, two years after sustaining a similar, but more minor injury. He missed the rest of the season as a result. His seat was taken by compatriot

Stéphane Richelmi Stéphane Richelmi (born 17 March 1990 in Monte Carlo) is a professional racing driver from Monaco. He is the son of former World Rally Championship driver Jean-Pierre Richelmi. Career Formula Renault 1.6 & 2.0 Richelmi began his Formula racing ...

Stefano Coletti - 2015 500 Festival Parade - Stierch

His injury healed, Coletti returned to GP2 for the 2012 season with

Scuderia Coloni Coloni Motorsport, also known as Scuderia Coloni, was an auto racing team from Italy. Formed by Enzo Coloni in 1983, the team participated in Formula Three between 1983 and 1986, before racing in Formula One as Enzo Coloni Racing Car Systems be ...

, alongside Fabio Onidi, but after ten rounds of the championship, lying only 14th in the championship with one podium finish, he left the team by mutual consent. He promptly joined the Rapax team for the final rounds of the championship, replacing Daniël de Jong. He finished in the points in three of the remaining four races, moving him above Rio Haryanto into a final championship position of 13th.

Racing record