Ayrton Simmons (born 29 April 2001) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

racing driver, who last competed in the 2022 Euroformula Open Championship. He previously competed in the

2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship The 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship is a motor racing championship for Formula 3 cars that is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship is the thirteenth season of Formula 3 racing and the fourth season ...

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&nbs ...

. He is the vice-champion of the 2018 F4 British and the 2021 GB3 Championship.

Career

Karting

Simmons started his international karting career at the age of 5 in small Spanish championships and won the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in the Micro Max category in 2012. He then competed in various national championships, such as the Super 1 Championships and Kartmasters British Grand Prix. He raced in karts until 2015.

F4 British Championship

2016

Simmons made his car racing debut in the third round of the 2016 F4 British Championship with the TRS Arden Junior Racing Team at the age of 15. His form improved from round to round, culminating with his first podium at the final race of the season. This led to him finishing eleventh in the overall standings and second in the rookie cup.

2017

He continued to race in the

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

in 2017 with the same team, this time for the whole season. Simmons started his season off strongly with a victory at

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 host ...

, Simmons scored five more podiums and ended up seventh in the championship, three and five positions behind teammates Alex Quinn and

Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri (born 6 April 2001) is an Australian racing driver who previously served as the reserve driver for Alpine F1 Team, having previously been in the team's driver academy. He won the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup with R-ace GP, and wo ...

, respectively.

2018

Simmons stayed on for a third season in British F4, this time competing with

JHR Developments JHR Developments is a motor racing team based in Dronfield, Derbyshire, in the United Kingdom. The team was founded in 1995, to enter Jamie Hunter in the UK and European Formula Renault series. It currently participates in the F4 British Cha ...

. Simmons again started strongly and had his best season, taking two wins in the first round at

. Simmons would win again at the fourth round in

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection al ...

before claiming his last win during the eighth round at the

Knockhill Racing Circuit Knockhill Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. It opened in September 1974 and is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the countryside about north of Dunfermline. It is the only FIA approved ...

. Overall, he scored four wins and eight further podiums on his way to second in the standings, 71 points behind champion Kiern Jewiss.

BRDC Formula 3 Championship

2018

In 2018, Simmons made his debut in the

BRDC British Formula 3 Championship The GB3 Championship is a single seater motorsport series based in the United Kingdom. The championship is the UK's premier single-seater category, and is aimed at young racing drivers moving up from FIA Formula 4 championships or Karting. Ha ...

with Chris Dittmann Racing, scoring 88 points and finishing 19th in the standings.

2019

For the 2019 season, the Brit made a deal to race in the championship on a full-time basis. He scored his first podiums in the opening round at

and achieved his first win at Silverstone in the third race. His next race win came 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 he ...

, however, by then he had already lost ground to his championship rivals Clément Novalak and Johnathan Hoggard. Simmons won another race at the second Silverstone round and finished third in the overall standings, just 55 points behind champion Novalak. At the end of the year, he was selected in the final four for the 2019 Aston Martin BRDC Award, but it was eventually won by British F3 rival Johnathan Hoggard. Midway through the season in May, Simmons joined the 2019 F3 Asian Championship. He partook in two rounds and ended tenth in the standings.

2020

In 2020, Simmons made two appearances in

British F3 The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seat ...

, one with Chris Dittmann Racing and one with

, respectively. He scored two podiums in each of the rounds and amassed two victories at

. Despite those two rounds, Simmons still ranked 17th in the standings.

2021

The 2021 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship was the fourth season Simmons competed at that level. Returning to Chris Dittmann Racing, Simmons won the first race of the season at a weekend where he secured both pole positions. His next win would come at the next round in Silverstone during the last race. In the second Silverstone round, he took two victories, which were his last of the year. However, the championship was largely dominated by the eventual champion

Zak O'Sullivan Zak O'Sullivan (born 6 February 2005) is a British racing driver of Irish descent who is set to compete in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship for Prema Racing. He most recently competed in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship for Carlin. He is ...

. Simmons settled for vice-champion with four wins and one more podium.

Euroformula Open Championship

2020

Simmons progressed to the

Euroformula Open Championship The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europ ...

in 2020 with

Double R Racing Double R Racing is a motor racing team, which races in Formula Three and other junior levels of formula racing including the MSA Formula Championship for the 2016 season. The team was formed in November 2004 as Räikkönen Robertson Racing by th ...

. However, after just three rounds, the Brit unexpectedly stopped his campaign due to budget issues. He was left to end the standings 11th with 62 points.

2022

After losing his Formula 3 seat, Simmons returned to the

Euroformula Open The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

with Drivex School. On his return, he achieved a third-place podium in his second race 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 w ...

. Simmons remained with Drivex for

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla 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 ...

, but the team did not turn up for that weekend. Despite that, Simmons would return with the team for the next round at the Red Bull Ring. Once again, for the next round, Drivex was absent for the Monza round. Simmons did return for the last round at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and scored a second place in the second race. He ended the year 10th in the standings, with 85 points.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

2021

On 20 September 2021 it was announced Simmons would step up to the

FIA Formula 3 Championship The FIA Formula 3 Championship is a third-tier international single-seater racing championship and organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship launched in 2019 as a feeder series for the FIA Formula 1 W ...

for the final round of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

Sochi Autodrom The Sochi Autodrom (russian: Сочи Автодром, Sochi Avtodrom), previously known as the Sochi International Street Circuit and the Sochi Olympic Park Circuit, is a permanent race track in the settlement of Sirius next to the Black Sea r ...

, replacing

Hunter Yeany Hunter Yeany (born 11 May 2005) is an American racing driver who is currently competing in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship for Rodin Carlin. He previously raced in the Indy Pro 2000 and Formula Regional Americas championships, both with Vel ...

. He finished both of his races in 24th and 21st place, respectively.

2022

Simmons remained with the team for the full 2022 season. Starting 29th 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 ...

, he made good progress in the races, taking 18th and 19th place. However, budget issues forced Simmons out of the championship, and he was replaced by former Charouz driver David Schumacher. Simmons ended the championship 35th in the standings.

Personal life

Simmons was born in Harlow, Essex to an English father and a Spanish mother, and lived in the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

neighbourhood of

Vallecas Vallecas was a municipality of Spain that disappeared as such in 1950, when its annexation to the Municipality of Madrid was effectuated. Nowadays it is a large neighborhood of Madrid composed of two districts: Puente de Vallecas (population ...

from the age of 4 to 14 before moving back to

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

. He was named after the late three-time

Formula One World Champion A Formula One World Champion is a racing driver or automobile constructor which has been designated such a title by the governing body of Formula One - the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Every Formula One World Champion since th ...

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 British Championship results

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

Complete BRDC British Formula 3 Championship results

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

Complete F3 Asian Championship results

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

Complete Euroformula Open Championship results

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

Complete FIA Formula 3 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:Simmons, Ayrton 2001 births Living people British racing drivers F3 Asian Championship drivers Euroformula Open Championship drivers BRDC British Formula 3 Championship drivers Arden International drivers JHR Developments drivers Chris Dittmann Racing drivers Pinnacle Motorsport drivers Double R Racing drivers Charouz Racing System drivers British F4 Championship drivers FIA Formula 3 Championship drivers Drivex drivers