Kevin Korjus (born 9 January 1993) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe, Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, sea across from Sweden, to ...

n racing driver.

Career

Karting

Kevin Korjus was born in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, the son of former

sidecarcross Sidecarcross racing, also known as sidecar motocross, is a branch of motocross. Regular motocross riders use solo machines, but a sidecarcross outfit has a different type of motorcycle chassis operated by a team of two people, a driver and a s ...

racer Aivar Korjus. He made his pan-European karting début in 2006, competing in the Rotax Max Euro Challenge for the AGS Racing team. He finished sixth overall in the championship standings, 25 points behind the champion

Jack Hawksworth Jack W. Hawksworth (born 28 February 1991) is a British professional racing driver from Bradford, West Yorkshire. , he competes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for AIM Vasser Sullivan. He has also raced in the Star Mazda Championship ...

. As well as that, he finished thirteenth in the Challenge finals, as well as being Estonian champion at Junior level. 2007 saw Korjus win the Estonian title once again, and he also picked up the Baltic Junior title and was the winner of the Rotax Max finals. He did however finish runner-up by two points to Mats van den Brand in the Euro Challenge. In 2008, Korjus competed in the Junior classes in the pan-European championship, but progressed to the Senior class in his local championships. In the Junior championships, he won the Euro Challenge and was second to Facundo Chapur in the Challenge Finals and Rotax Max Grand Finals at La Conca, Italy, 2008.

Formula Renault 2.0

While completing his career in karts, Korjus also spent 2008 adjusting to single-seaters, competing in the first Finnish Formula Renault championship. Racing for the T.T. Racing Team, Korjus finished all but one race on the podium, as he finished runner-up to

Jesse Krohn Jesse Kurki-Suonio (born 3 September 1990), more commonly known as Jesse Krohn, is a Finnish professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He is notable for winning the Finnish, Northern European Zone (NEZ) and Estonian Formula R ...

in the championship. Of those podiums, three were race victories that came in the final four races of the season, including a double at Ahvenisto. Korjus continued with the team into the 2009 season, but moved into the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. Korjus finished all bar one race as he finished fifth in the championship; his best result being a second-place finish at

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 ** ...

. Korjus stepped up to the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship for its 2010 season, and moved to the Koiranen Bros. Motorsport team. Despite qualifying on the third row for both races, Korjus won them both, becoming the first driver to win a race in the championship in the newly introduced cars designed by Barazi-Epsilon. He is also the youngest person to win a Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

With his results and potential in the Formula Renault series, Korjus joined the Renault Driver Development programme for the continuation of his career. He was signed to drive for

Formula Renault 3.5 Series The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

team Tech 1 Racing in late 2010. On April 17, 2011 he became the youngest driver to win a race in

– at 18 years 3 months and 8 days – with his victory in Monaco in

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; ...

. In 2011 season he placed sixth place overall and second in the Rookie of the Year standings, and finished the season with fastest lap, three wins and four podium finishes during the season. Korjus began the 2012 season with Tech 1, where he was partnered with series debutant

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 For ...

. Korjus endured a difficult season, with a string of early retirements and mechanical problems that affected his qualifying performances, though he recovered to finish on the podium in the second race at the

Moscow Raceway Moscow Raceway is an FIA-approved motor racing venue, which is situated in the Volokolamsky District of Moscow Oblast, near the villages of Sheludkovo and Fedyukovo, from Moscow, Russia. It opened on 13 July 2012 for its first event as the fifth ...

. However, with three rounds left in the season, Korjus left Tech-1 and joined the Lotus-backed

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 ...

team, and his place at Tech 1 was taken by

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 the ...

runner-up

Daniel Abt Daniel Johannes Abt (born 3 December 1992) is a German former racing driver. He has competed in such series as the German Formula Three Championship, the GP3 Series, the GP2 Series, and won the 2009 ADAC Formel Masters championship. He competed ...

GP3 Series

Korjus left the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at the end of the 2012 season, moving to the

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 the ...

for

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, racing for Koiranen GP. He finished the season seventh overall, recording four podium, he finished in the points in 11 of the season's 16 races.

Formula One

Korjus had his first outing in a

Formula One car A Formula One car (also known as an F1 car) is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel formula racing car with substantial front and rear wings, and an engine positioned behind the driver, intended to be used in competition at Formul ...

at the

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

young driver test on November 16, 2011, driving a Renault R31. Korjus served as

Lotus F1 Lotus F1 Team was a British Formula One racing team. The team competed under the Lotus name from until , following the renaming of the former Renault team based at Enstone in Oxfordshire. The Lotus F1 Team was majority owned by Genii Capital. ...

's testing and reserve driver at the 2012 Italian Grand Prix. With regular driver

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

serving a one-race ban for causing a serious accident at the

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French language, French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German language, German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula O ...

, the team promoted regular test driver

Jérôme d'Ambrosio Jérôme D’Ambrosio (born 27 December 1985) is a Belgian former professional racing driver, motorsport executive and former Team Principal of Venturi Racing in Formula E. He has previously driven for Marussia Virgin Racing and Lotus F1 in ...

to fill Grosjean's seat for the race, and Korjus was recruited to fill in the vacant reserve driver position.

European Le Mans Series

In 2014, he moved to sports car racing, driving an

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. Th ...

McLaren MP4-12C The McLaren MP4-12C, later known simply as the McLaren 12C, is a sports car that was designed and manufactured by McLaren Automotive. It was the first ever production car wholly designed and built by McLaren, and their first production road ...

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 ...

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 Auto GP Results

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

Complete GP3 Series results

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Korjus, Kevin 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Tallinn Estonian racing drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEZ drivers Finland Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers Auto GP drivers GP3 Series drivers FIA Formula 3 European Championship drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Koiranen GP drivers Tech 1 Racing drivers DAMS drivers ART Grand Prix drivers Charouz Racing System drivers Double R Racing drivers T-Sport drivers R-ace GP drivers