Muhammad Fairuz bin Mohd Fauzy (born 24 October 1982 in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

) is a

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

professional race car driver.

Early career

Fairuz started competing in karting events in 1994 before making the move to

British Formula Ford The British Formula Ford Championship was an entry level single seater motor racing category, designed to give racing drivers their first step into car racing after karting. Drivers from around the world were attracted to the United Kingdom to ...

at the start of 1999. He moved to British Formula Renault in 2000, developing his skills there before moving up to British Formula 3 in 2002, albeit in the B-Class. He moved up to the main class in 2003, driving for both the SYR and Promatecme teams, before driving for both the Menu and P1 teams in 2004. He moved to the

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 Eccles ...

for 2005, becoming one of a number of Asian drivers in the championship. Despite being the only driver to start every race and not score a point, he continued in the series for 2006, again scoring no points. During this time he was also one of

A1 Team Malaysia A1 Team Malaysia is the Malaysian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. Management A1 Team Malaysia is operated by A1 Team (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. The team was founded by Jack Cunningham, a Briton, and former Malaysian F1 driver ...

's drivers (along with Alex Yoong) in the

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most for ...

series. Fairuz raced in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for the Cram Competition team. He returned to GP2 for

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, driving for the

Super Nova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a mass ...

team in the

GP2 Asia Series The GP2 Asia Series was a form of open wheel motor racing as a result of a spin-off from the GP2 series. The series was officially announced during the weekend of the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix. GP2 series organiser Bruno Michel commented that "It ...

. In 2009, he competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for

Mofaz Racing Mofaz Racing are an auto racing team from Malaysia, currently competing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. Background The Mofaz Group is a Malaysian conglomerate, established in 1977, which operates in a wide range of business sectors, includin ...

. After entering the final race in sixth place, Fairuz finished second in the race at the

Ciudad del Motor de Aragón Ciudad () is the Spanish word for City Ciudad may also refer to: * La Ciudad (archaeological site), Hohokam ruins in Phoenix, Arizona *La Ciudad, district of Durango City, Mexico *''La ciudad'', novel by Mario Levrero 1970 *La Ciudad ''The Cit ...

and leapfrogged the four drivers above him, to finish as runner-up to

Bertrand Baguette Bertrand Baguette (born 23 February 1986) is a Belgian professional racing driver. In 2013, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class and the FIA WEC LMP2 class title. In 2017, he won the final running of the Suzuka 1000km in Super GT. ...

in the championship standings.

Formula One

Fairuz was confirmed as one of

Spyker F1 The Spyker F1 Team, known as the Etihad Aldar Spyker F1 Team for sponsorship reasons, was a Formula One team that competed in the 2007 Formula One season, 2007 Formula One World Championship with a List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationa ...

's test and reserve drivers for , Fairuz was tipped for a Lotus Racing reserve seat for 2010. On 9 November 2009 Lotus Racing chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne confirmed Fairuz would be the test driver for the team but cooled down talks he was going to get a race seat. Fairuz was announced as the third driver for Lotus on 13 December 2009. Fairuz Fauzy 2010 Malaysia 1st Free Practice

Fairuz Fauzy 2010 Malaysia 1st Free Practice

Fairuz replaced

Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO. He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham and ...

in the first free practice session at the

2010 Malaysian Grand Prix The 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix (formally the 2010 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix) was the third round in the 2010 Formula One season. It was held in Sepang, Malaysia on 4 April 2010. The race was won by Sebastian Vettel leading a one-two ...

, as

Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian racing driver. He regularly competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Lotus Racing and Team Lotus. His best result in the World Drivers' Cham ...

won a coin toss against Kovalainen. He drove a total of nineteen laps during the session, setting the 22nd fastest time, beating the

Hispania Racing HRT Formula 1 Team, formerly known as Campos Meta 1 and Hispania Racing, was a Spanish Formula One team founded by former driver Adrián Campos. It was sold to José Ramón Carabante before its debut in 2010, and then to investment group ...

cars of

Karun Chandhok Karun Chandhok (born 19 January 1984) is an Indian racing driver and television presenter who last competed in Formula E for Mahindra Racing. Previously, Chandhok has competed for Hispania Racing in Formula One in . Before this, he drove in t ...

and

Bruno Senna Bruno Senna Lalli (, born 15 October 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He is the nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, three-time Formula One world champion. He is also the first man to win a race in every WEC class, and was the 2017 W ...

. He also took part in the first practice session at the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...

, replacing

, where he set the 23rd fastest time (1:39.510) ahead of the

car of

Sakon Yamamoto is a Japanese racing driver turned politician. He competed in 21 Formula One Grands Prix during the , 2007 and 2010 seasons. Before Formula One Yamamoto was born in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture. He began his racing career in 1994 at the Suzuka ...

. He replaced

for the first free practice session of the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in Rh ...

and the

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ( ar, سباق جائزة أبوظبي الكبرى) is a Formula One motor racing event. It was announced in early 2007 at the Abu Dhabi F1 Festival in the United Arab Emirates. The first race took place on 1 November ...

. At the end of the 2010 season, Fairuz parted company with Lotus Racing after one year of his five-year contract. The relationship between Lotus Racing and Group Lotus soured during 2010, resulting in GL deciding to withdraw its backing from the team and instead sponsoring

Renault F1 The French automotive manufacturer Renault has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...

for the season onwards. As part of the deal, Fairuz became one of Renault's test and reserve drivers, alongside

Romain Grosjean Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a Swiss-French professional Auto racing, racing driver, competing under the French flag in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Grosjean had previously ...

and

Ho-Pin Tung Ho-Pin Tung (; born December 4, 1982) is a Chinese people in the Netherlands, Chinese-Dutch racing driver who races with a Chinese license. Career Born in Velp, Gelderland, Netherlands, Tung started kart racing in the Netherlands in 1997 befo ...

Post-Formula One

After stating his desire to return to full-time racing for 2011, Fairuz re-signed for

Super Nova Racing Super Nova Racing was a British racing team that has competed in International Formula 3000, Formula 3000/GP2 Series, GP2 and the A1 Grand Prix series. Super Nova first entered racing in 1991. Super Nova was a new incarnation of the pre-existing ...

to drive in the

2011 GP2 Series The 2011 GP2 Series season was the forty-fifth season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also seventh season under the GP2 Series moniker, the pan-European motor racing series for single specification open wheel GP2 cars ...

and

2011 GP2 Asia Series The 2011 GP2 Asia Series was the fourth and final season of the GP2 Asia Series, and the second to be held entirely in a single calendar year. Season summary Rather than starting at the end of 2010 and running through the winter as with the p ...

, alongside

Luca Filippi Luca Filippi (born 9 August 1985 in Savigliano, Italy) is an Italian auto racing driver. He competed in GP2 Series from 2006 to 2012, and the IndyCar Series from 2013 to 2016. In 2008 he was the official Honda Racing F1 test driver. Career Form ...

and

Johnny Cecotto Jr. Johnny Amadeus Cecotto, more commonly known as Johnny Cecotto Jr. (born 9 September 1989 in Augsburg, West Germany) is a racing driver. He races with a Venezuelan license but holds both German and Venezuelan nationality. He is the son of former ...

respectively. After finishing fourteenth in the Asia series, he scored his first main series points in the first round of the championship. He finished 18th in the main series championship.

Racing record