Gustav Malja (born 4 November 1995) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

racing driver.

Career

Karting

Born in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

, Sweden, Malja began his karting career in Formula Micro in 2006, winning the

Gunnar Nilsson Gunnar Axel Arvid Nilsson (20 November 1948 – 20 October 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Before entering Formula One, he won the 1975 British Formula 3 Championship. Nilsson entered 32 Formula One Grand Prix races, qualifying for all of t ...

Memorial trophy the following year. By 2009 he had progressed up to the

KF3 OK-Junior is a kart racing class for top drivers aged 11 to 15 (drivers must reach the age of 12 within the first semester of calendar year). This class used to be called Junior Intercontinental A (JICA or ICA-J) and has changed since January 200 ...

category, where he won the Swedish Championship and Gothenburg Grand Prix. In his final year of karting in 2010, Malja finished 22nd in the European KF3 Championship and fifth in the

Junior Monaco Kart Cup The Junior Monaco Kart Cup was a kart racing event ruled by the CIK-FIA and organized by the Automobile Club de Monaco, it took place each year in Monaco. The event see young drivers compete with KF3 OK-Junior is a kart racing class for top dri ...

ADAC Formel Masters

In 2011, Malja graduated to

single-seaters 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 thei ...

, racing in the

ADAC Formel Masters ADAC Formel Masters was an ADAC sanctioned open wheel racing series based in Germany, held annually from 2008 to 2014. It was replacement of the local Formula BMW championship. The first season was in 2008 and is the main feeder series to the ATS ...

championship in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, despite being just 15 years of age. Driving for Neuhauser Racing, he took a single podium position at

Assen Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...

to finish thirteenth in the standings. He continued with the team for a second season in 2012, taking three race wins and a further thirteen podium places to finish runner–up to champion

Marvin Kirchhöfer Marvin Kirchhöfer (born 19 March 1994) is a German racing driver. Career Karting Born in Leipzig, Saxony, Kirchhöfer began karting in 1999 and mainly raced in Germany, working his way up from the junior ranks (Bambini-B) to the KF2 category ...

Formula Renault 2.0

For 2013, Malja stepped up to Formula Renault, racing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 NEC championships with Josef Kaufmann Racing. In the NEC championship, he contested eight races, taking podium places at the Nürburgring and

Most Most or Möst or ''variation'', may refer to: Places * Most, Kardzhali Province, a village in Bulgaria * Most (city), a city in the Czech Republic ** Most District, a district surrounding the city ** Most Basin, a lowland named after the city ** A ...

to finish fifteenth in the standings. In the Eurocup he finished twentieth in the championship, taking a single points–position at

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and t ...

. Malja remained with Josef Kaufmann Racing in both championships for a second season in 2014. He finished fifth in the NEC championship, taking race victories at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...

and the Nürburgring and two further podium positions. In the Eurocup, he scored points on eight occasions to finish twelfth in the championship.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

Malja stepped up to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2015 and raced for

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, ...

team Strakka Racing.

Formula Three

In May 2015, Malja took part in the Pau round of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship, racing for

EuroInternational EuroInternational is a racing organization (which includes Italian division EuroInternational Srl and American division EuroInternational Inc.) owned by Antonio Ferrari, grandnephew of Enzo Ferrari, formerly known as Euromotorsport. History Origi ...

in the car originally intended for Marvin Kirchhöfer before he left the team prior to the start of the season. He retired from the opening race of the event before finishing 25th in the remaining two races.

GP2/Formula 2

Malja contested in the Spa round of the 2015 season with

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mari ...

and the final two rounds with

Rapax Rapax Team was an Italian motor racing team. The team's history can be traced back to when the GP Racing team was founded in 1997, and also to when Piquet Sports was created in 2000 by triple world champion Nelson Piquet. In 2007, Piquet Sports an ...

. In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, Malja joined the GP2 series campaign full-time for Rapax, finished on the podium twice and finished thirteenth overall. For the 2017 F2 season, Malja switched to

Racing Engineering Racing Engineering is a Spanish racing team founded in 1999 by Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. The team's headquarters are located in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, near Jerez, where all car prep ...

. He finished third in the Monaco sprint race.

Formula 1

Malja participated in the second 2017 Formula 1 in-season test at the Hungaroring during 1–2 August, following the Hungarian GP weekend. Malja drove a Sauber C36-Ferrari for the Sauber F1 Team during the first test day. He completed 108 laps. His best lap was 1.21.503, set during aerodynamic and mechanical development runs.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

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

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

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

Complete GP2 Series results

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

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete Porsche Supercup results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malja, Gustav 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Malmö Swedish racing drivers ADAC Formel Masters drivers Formula Renault BARC drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers GP2 Series drivers FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers Porsche Supercup drivers Neuhauser Racing drivers Josef Kaufmann Racing drivers Strakka Racing drivers EuroInternational drivers Trident Racing drivers Rapax Team drivers Racing Engineering drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers