#formula 3.5 renault

[sebtember5]

Sebastian Vettel - Formula Renault 3.5 Series driver with Carlin 2007 🤍

[umseb]

formula renault 3.5 driver sebastian vettel in the paddock on race day, monaco - may 27, 2007 📷 gareth bumstead / motorsport images

[nnato]

Monaco 2014 | Formula Renault 3.5

[medium-sized-carlos]

Carlos, Roberto and Pierre in 2014 when they were competing in Formula Renault 3.5 (x)

This is so precious, they were just babies!

[artemispt]

sorry this may seem really silly but im a fairly new fan and was just wondering who roberto merhi is. i understand he is also a driver but how did he meet carlos / why are they so close? have they always been friends? why is roberto everywhere with carlos? i know they are both spanish drivers but are they childhood friends or is roberto part of carlos’ training group ? sorry so many questions !

Hi! I'm finally answering your ask, sorry for the delay 🙈, Roberto is slightly older than Carlos (he was born in 1991 and Carlos in 1994) and they're from different cities (Roberto is from Valencia and Carlos from Madrid), so I don't think they're childhood friends (or like @lariaz said, if they're childhood friends, they probably hadn't much contact), but I could be wrong. I compared their Wikipedia pages and it seems that the first time they raced together was in 2011 in Formula 3 Euro Series (3 races, it appears 😅):

(the first screenshot is from Roberto's Wikipedia and the second one is from Carlos') According to this tweet, Carlos starting appearing in Roberto's IG in 2013. In 2014, they competed against each other in Formula Renault 3.5. Carlos won the championship and Roberto finished 3rd. Carlos' documentary "Road to 55" is about this championship. (Pierre Gasly also raced with them and finished 2nd. I didn't have a clue 🤯)

In 2015, they started in F1, Carlos in Toro Rosso and Roberto in Marussia.

Roberto left F1, because of money, I think, and started racing in other series. Since then, according to @carlosplaining (btw, she probably knows a lot more about their friendship. @forza-carlos-sempre also knows a lot), started to training with Carlos. He sometimes also comes to F1 races to support Carlos. Some interviews where Roberto talks about Carlos:

Ok, to sum up, don't know exactly when their friendship started, but they are very good friends 😊 Roberto is always supporting Carlos and it's so heartwarming to see. In the tweet I mentioned before you can see how much he's present in Carlos' life. Hope I somehow asked your questions 🙏 If anyone wants to add some info, or correct something I said, please be free!

Thanks @5ainz @lariaz @forza-carlos-sempre @carlosplaining for the help ❤️

[screwderia]

Carlos’ and Pierre’s friendship goes a while back. They were rivals in the Formula Renault 3.5 in 2014 were Carlos won and Pierre was second! Fun fact they were also teammates in Formula 1 for like two races in 2017 which idk why but its super funny to me.

[wi55iams]

All Carlos got when he won the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship was this shirt

[formulahs]

red bull made a dangerous gamble back then, to put toro rosso 2015 rookie lineup into perspective, you got:

verstappen- f3 and florida winter series (non-championship series)

sainz- formula renault 3.5 series (won the championship title), gp3 series, f3, british formula 3, formula renault 2.0 nec (won the championship title), european formula renault 2.0, formula bmw europe, formula bmw pacific

undeniable gamble, but that was what marko had been doing for a while! they did the same to kvyat a year before promoting him from gp3 to f1 at 19 years old with a feeder series career somewhat similar to carlos' and it turned out okay. still, their logical jump from that being 'hummm why not promote this 17yo f3 rookie directly to f1 and pair him with our 20yo formula renault champion for good measure'.

can't deny rbr's good eye for twink harvesting tho cuz not only is the riskier party of their 2015 str lineup the reigning wdc but like half the current grid was theirs at some point, and we're talking an almost 15 year time span here

[sebtember5]

Sebastian Vettel- Formula Renault 3.5 series- Carlin Motorsport

[umseb]

formula renault driver sebastian vettel in the f1 paddock after slicing off part of his finger in a crash, hockenheim, germany - july 30, 2006 📷 sutton images / motorsport images

[formulatrash]

I feel like you might be the perfect person to answer this question because I really love reading your pieces about all the different aspects in motorsport so I apologize if you do find answering these things tedious but other than Beitske Visser, has Redbull ever signed any other women to their driver academy?

Because I tried to google this and Beitske was signed in 2013 (or at least the announcement was in 2013, from what I read) and this is an academy that has brought so many drivers to F1 and people make fun of for having so many juniors in F2 this year that you can’t tell who’s who because it’s just all Redbull liveries, I find it strange that I couldn’t find anyone other than her in ten years.

It almost feels like if any junior academy could support a young female driver, it would be them because they have such a large history of juniors that have gone through various of the junior categories.

I was just thinking of Redbull in particular because Ferrari and Mercedes do have women in their driver academies at the moment.

If you do answer this, thank you, I appreciate you!

p.s. sorry if the writing is busted, english isn’t my first language

Hello anon,

Thank you for asking and you're right; Beitske was the only woman ever signed to the Red Bull Junior Team. At the time I think she was the only woman ever signed to an F1 junior academy, although Simona de Silvestro was in a programme to get a Sauber seat.

Beitske got a single season in German F4 with the academy before she was dropped. It helped her raise enough of her profile and sponsorship to be able to do Formula Renault 3.5 and a tiny bit of GP3 but she was always desperately short of cash, which in Formula Renault (where testing was basically unlimited) means you're at a huge disadvantage.

When it comes to the Red Bull programme it's more surprising that Beitske was ever signed than that no other woman has been. At the helm of the programme is Helmut Marko, a doctor of law who certainly makes some wild fuckin claims. In 2019 he came out with this BS which, honestly-

"Wheel-to-wheel fighting at 300 kph (186 mph) means you must have some brutality," Marko told the Kleine Zeitung newspaper. "I don't know if that is in the female nature." "These are huge physical demands," Marko added. "And that is maybe too difficult and too strenuous for women."

[x]

Says a fella who was racing when half the drivers had a few whiskeys before getting in the cars.

It's not the first time Marko's come out with crap like that and he says it often enough and brazenly enough that all the Big Men of the paddock can nod their heads and say "at last, someone brave enough to stand up to the woke contention grown women would be capable of something noodly-armed teenage boys who are 80lbs sopping wet and terrified of spiders can do. "

So, yes: sadly, it's very unlikely we'll see Red Bull's Junior Team backing any more women in the near future. And I'm not sure where Beitske's career's really ended up - I was really hoping she'd get a GT drive but nothing quite seems to be coming together. She was BMW's reserve in Formula E for years but then BMW pulled their classic move of deciding they weren't doing motorsport anymore (only to come back six months later) so that didn't work out.

[chibrary]

A friendly character who is smiling, calm and posed in life, the Norman Pierre Gasly is quite different as soon as the visor of his helmet is lowered. A tireless fighter, he never lets anything in achieving his goal. Pierre always remained faithful to Sodi since his debut in karting at nine years of age. Joining the Sodi Racing Team in 2009 marked a major turning point in his career. Thanks to the perfect harmony in the team, he fully exploited the potential of his Sodi chassis to shine at the highest level.

Pierre won the French KF3 Championship in 2009 before finishing 2nd in the European Championship, 3rd in the Monaco Kart Cup and 4th in the World Cup the following year, still in KF3 (Junior). Moving to cars very young, he finished 3rd in the French F4 Championship in 2011 and won the FR 2.0 Eurocup in 2013 for his second season in Formula Renault. He took 2nd place in FR 3.5 V8 in 2014. A development driver for Toro Rosso F1 in 2016, he won a major title in GP2 where he was racing for the second year.

A pure Monegasque, Charles Leclerc is a naturally very fast driver equipped with a racing intelligence that makes him outstanding. He rarely makes mistakes and knows how to seize the opportunities to go beyond. Very determined, only victory interests him. Winner in the final round and French vice-champion in Minime with Sodi in 2008, he won the French Cadet Championship and the Bridgestone Cup the following year. Racing with the Sodi Racing Team in 2010, he won the Monaco Kart Cup in KF3 and finished 2nd in the French Championship behind Pierre.

It was with regret, fairly, that Sodikart agreed to release him contractually so that he could join Nicolas Todt in order to climb the ranks of motorsport and reach the heights. He also won a great victory at the wheel of a Sodi by winning at Bercy in the ERDF Masters Kart in Junior in 2011. A member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, he has driven his first laps in free practice at three Grands Prix this year with Haas F1. His title in the GP3 Series confirms the expectations that Sodi had of him since his beginnings.

Gildas Merian: "Today we are very proud to have contributed to the success of Pierre and Charles and hope to see them take the final steps to reach the ultimate dream of F1. We are very confident in their ability to achieve this as they are both real talents who possess a little additional "trick" that makes the difference."

source: sodikart press release on the 2016 gp2 & gp3 championships series: 2016, gp3

[prema2018core]

Don't worry SeanNyck shippers, I'll be releasing a fanfic around a week from now, maybe even faster if my writers block go away

It has implied Stoffel Vandoorne x Rio Haryanto as well

Sean and Nyck were in the Formula Renault 3.5, while Stoffel and Rio were in the GP2 Series. The fanfiction will take place in the year 2015

[avida-heidia-5]

Sebtember Challenge #4: The Origin of the Victory Finger

According to Sebastian during an interview conducted by WTF1 in 2017, his habit for showing off his right finger every time he’d win a race came about when he finished in 1st place in Monza at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. This statistic meant the world to him and he was so happy he lifted his finger up proudly.

The finger represented him winning 1st place in the race. It had nothing to do with the fact Seb injured his finger when he was racing in Formula Renault 3.5. Just in case you were wondering! 🙂

And as we all know, this little gesture has since become one of Seb’s best known trademarks in the sport. 👆🏻

[burntoutclutch]

The silly-van: Renault Espace F1

The Renault Espace F1 mini van is a groundbreaking concept that defies expectations and redefines what a family vehicle can be. Introduced in 1994, this remarkable creation combined the practicality and spaciousness of a minivan with the exhilarating performance of a Formula One race car. The Espace F1 showcased Renault's innovative engineering and design capabilities, pushing the boundaries of automotive technology.

At first glance, the Espace F1 appears like any other minivan, but beneath its unassuming exterior lies a powerful secret. The engineers at Renault took inspiration from their Formula One team and outfitted this family vehicle with a monstrous powertrain. The mid-mounted 3.5-liter V10 engine, directly sourced from the Formula One team, roared to life with an astonishing 800 horsepower. With this incredible power, the Espace F1 could sprint from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a mind-boggling 2.8 seconds, putting many high-performance sports cars to shame.

While the Renault Espace F1 may seem like an unlikely candidate for video game stardom, it left its mark in the virtual world as well. One of its most notable appearances was in the iconic racing game "Gran Turismo 2," released in 1999. Players had the opportunity to experience the sheer thrill of piloting this minivan-turned-monster virtually. The inclusion of the Espace F1 in the game showcased its unique blend of practicality and raw speed, captivating gamers worldwide and further solidifying its status as an unforgettable automotive icon.

[formulamelia]

Get To Know Our 2023 Rookies

Hello again, everyone. This time I'm here not with a race report but an article about some of our drivers. Drivers are certainly some of the crucial people in our sport. But I have three drivers that I particularly want to talk about: rookies of the season; Logan Sargeant, Nyck De Vries, and Oscar Piastri. I specifically want to talk about the rookies because people often ignore them as they are new to the circle. In my opinion, we shouldn't ignore them. Instead, we should watch them even more closely. Many people, unfortunately, consider rookies as temporary drivers. The number of people who believe they could be permanent is very few. But they are not temporary; instead, they are the drivers we should watch closely and give many chances to. So, who are our 2023 rookies? Let's get to know them a little.

Logan Sargeant:

No lie! Logan is a driver that I am particularly interested in because he is my compatriot and the first American on the grid in such a long time. His full name is Logan Hunter Sargeant, and he was born on the 31st of December in 2000 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA). The young driver started his career with karting in 2008. in 2015 he became the World Champion in the World Junior Karting Championship (CIK - FIA KFJ), and he etched his name into the history of motorsports at such a young age as the first American ever to claim the world title in this series. He stepped into the Formula world with the UAE Formula 4 in 2016, then the British F4 in 2017, and here he became teammates with one of our other rookies, Oscar Piastri. Logan went into Formula Renault Eurocup in 2018 and finished the championship in 4th place with 2018 points. The road to F1 has opened to the young driver as he stepped into FIA Formula 3 in 2019 with Team Carlin, becoming teammates with Felipe Drugovich. In 2020, Logan transferred to the Prema team as Frederik Vesti's teammate and scored his first win in Silverstone Feature Race. The young driver announced that he could not move onto F2 in 2021, citing financial reasons, and continued to race in F3 for another season. Later on, Williams Racing sponsored and signed him into their junior program, which allowed Sargeant to find a place in F2 with Team Carlin. The young driver etched his name into the sport's history again as the first American to win an F2 race and finished the championship in 3rd place after a successful season. As Williams Racing has announced that they would sign the driver in if he manages to earn enough SuperLicense points, they kept their promise and signed Sargeant for their 2023 lineup. Now, about his personality: Logan seems calm, quiet, and reserved. He is pretty shy on and off the race track and will need to break his shyness (at least on the tarmac). I can still say that during the 2nd race of the season (Saudi Arabian Grand Prix), his close attacks (even though he backed down at the last moment) were a preview of his potential if he can manage to break his shyness. I continue watching closely and congratulate him.

Nyck De Vries:

When we consider his success and experience in other series, it's unfair to call Nyck, the 2nd Dutchman of our grid, a ''rookie''. However, we accept him as a rookie since this is his 1st season in F1. We can say that the 2019 F2 and 2021 Formula E champion De Vries' career is full of success. His full name is Hendrik Johannes Nicasius De Vries, and he was born on the 6th of February in 1995 in Uitwellingerga, Netherlands. Nyck, whose father is also a racing driver, became the WSK World Champion in KFJ3 (Junior Karting) category in 2008. The successful driver continued his career in Formula Renault Eurocup between 2012 and 2014. Later, De Vries moved up into Formula Renault 3.5 in 2015 and completed the season in 3rd place with 160 points. Nyck moved up into GP3 (Formula 3 today) in 2016 and F2 in 2017. The young driver raced in Formula 2 between 2017 and 2019 and finally became the F2 champion in 2019. Nyck later won the ''6 Hours of Fuji'' race (in his category) in the World Endurance Championship, racing for the Racing Team Netherlands. Then, the successful driver switched to Formula E with Mercedes. De Vries continued his career in this series between 2019 - 2021 as Stoffell Vandoorne's teammate and became the Formula E World Champion in 2021. In 2022, he participated in F1 Free Practice sessions with various teams. Finally, his luck turned for the Italian Grand Prix (ran in Monza) as the Williams driver, Alexander Albon, ended up hospitalized, and he came in to replace him for the weekend on loan from Mercedes. After proving himself in both the Qualifying session and the race, also with the support of his compatriot Max Verstappen, De Vries finally found himself a race seat for the 2023 season with a full-time contract from Alpha Tauri. Red Bull is also an open option for Nyck's future, as it seems. It's very likely, especially when he has his compatriot Max Verstappen's full support. Now, about his personality and looks: De Vries has a tiny figure and a warm smile. He is often very friendly and kind. I wish him the best of luck for his first season in F1 and hope he scores his first points very soon.

Oscar Piastri:

And at last, it's our clean-faced boy Oscar Piastri's turn. He is the youngest diver on our grid. His full name is Oscar Jack Piastri, and he was born on the 6th of April in 2001 in Melbourne, Australia. Piastri is technically the first F1 driver born in the 21st century, as he was born in 2001. Although he originally started his racing career with national leagues for remote-controlled cars in Australia, the young driver started kart racing in 2011 when he was 10. In 2016, Piastri found a racing seat in the UAE Formula 4 and completed the championship in 6th place with two podiums. A company that his father founded became his first sponsor. In 2017, Oscar found himself in British Formula 4, finishing the season in 2nd place with six wins & six pole positions. Piastri, who participated in GP3 (Formula 3 today) testing sessions in 2018, found his home in Formula Renault Eurocup. He completed this championship in 9th place with three podiums. Oscar continued his run in Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019 with a different team and became the year's champion. After the FR Eurocup Championship, Piastri found his home in FIA Formula 3 and became Frederik Vesti & Logan Sargeant's teammate. He completed the 2020 season ahead of his teammates and his main rival Theo Pourchaire and claimed the F3 title. That way, he moved up to Formula 2 in 2021. The young driver who finished the season as the champion also became one of the few drivers who claimed the F2 title in their rookie season, along with Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg, Charles Leclerc, and George Russell. As he couldn't find himself a racing seat for 2022, Piastri became Alpine's reserve driver. After ending his reserve contract with Alpine eventfully during the 2022 summer break, the young driver signed into McLaren for the 2023 season. Now, about his personality: he is generally quiet, calm, and reserved. But his cute smile, indeed, pulls some attention. We wish the young Australian the best of luck and congratulate his first points scored in his home race.