Lewis Williamson (born 11 November 1989) is a British racing driver.

Career

Karting

Born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Williamson began karting at the age of eight, and spent a successful decade racing in the various classes around the United Kingdom. By the time Williamson moved into the junior formulae in 2008, he had claimed three Scottish karting championship titles at Cadet and MiniMax levels, before taking a clean sweep in 2008. The first driver to record such a feat, Williamson won the British Open, British Grand Prix Super Kart, the Scottish Open, as well as the 125 ICC Championship.

Formula Renault

After a guest drive in Formula Jedi 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 ...

in which he won one of the two races, Williamson moved up into Formula Renault, contesting the 2008 Formula Renault UK Winter Series after Highland Arena Ltd, an organisation set up by three family friends helping to promote sporting talent from the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

– where Williamson resides – leased a car from CR Scuderia. In his second race in the category at

Croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

, Williamson finished on the podium, taking a third-place finish behind

James Calado James John Calado (born 13 June 1989) is a British professional racing driver from England, currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and other selected GT races for AF Corse. He won the LMGTE Pro class of the 2017 FIA World ...

and

Henry Surtees Henry John Surtees (18 February 1991 – 19 July 2009) was a British racing driver and the son of John Surtees. He died during a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch when he was struck by a wheel which came off another car which had spun into a wal ...

. He added another third place in the final race at

Rockingham Motor Speedway Rockingham Motor Speedway is a former racing motorsport venue in Rockingham, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom, near the town of Corby. It hosted professional and club races, as well as testing, track days, driver training, exhibition ...

, finishing behind Surtees and

Dean Stoneman Dean Colin Stoneman (born July 24, 1990) is a British racing driver. Stoneman was the 2010 Formula Two champion. Career Like many drivers, Stoneman began his career in karting. He made his first steps in single-seaters in 2006 when he compete ...

, to end up in sixth place in the championship standings, a point behind fifth-placed William Buller. He also contested the

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

round of the Portuguese Formula Renault 2.0 Winter Series, taking second and fifth-place finishes for CR Scuderia. CR Scuderia, under their new name of

CRS Racing CRS Racing is a British auto racing team founded by British driver Andrew Kirkaldy and Canadian-Greek driver and entrepreneur Chris Niarchos. The team was founded in 2007, but is based on the former team of Kirkaldy known as Team AKA which comp ...

, signed Williamson for the 2009 season as part of a four-car team alongside

Harry Tincknell Harry Tincknell (born 29 October 1991 in Exeter, Devon) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest. He won the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hour race debut i ...

, Matias Laine and Joshua Scott. Williamson's Winter Series campaign ruled him ineligible for the Graduates Cup for drivers aged nineteen or under. During the season, Williamson finished 17 of the 20 races, taking a third place at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

and a second place at

en route to a tenth place championship finish. Williamson moved to defending champions

Manor Competition Manor Motorsport Ltd, currently trading as Manor Endurance Racing Ltd is a British motor racing company that was formed in 1990 by former single-seater champion John Booth. Manor has participated as a team in many motorsport disciplines since ...

for the 2010 season, again as part of a four-car team with

Will Stevens William Stevens (born 28 June 1991) is a British racing driver, who formerly competed in Formula One, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Toyota Racing Series and the British Formula Renault Championships. In Formula One, he made his debut at the 2 ...

, Thomas Hylkema and Josh Mulholland, with Ollie Millroy replacing Mulholland during the season. In the first round of the season at Thruxton, Williamson claimed the first pole position, and thus became the first driver to take pole in the Barazi-Epsilon-designed car introduced for the 2010 season. Several races later at

, Williamson threw away a chance at his first victory, spinning out of the lead and eventually finishing seventh. The first victory came a month later at

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 a ...

, overtaking

Tom Blomqvist Tom Leonard Blomqvist (born 30 November 1993) is a New Zealand-based, Britain-born Swedish professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver, currently racing in the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship with Meyer Shank Racing. Blomqvist ...

at the start of the first race and was never headed. Williamson took further wins at

and

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

– a rescheduled race from Brands Hatch which Williamson had qualified on pole for – as he and Blomqvist commenced their battle for the championship along with Tamás Pál Kiss and

. Williamson trailed Pál Kiss by 27 points and Blomqvist by 15 before the

World Series by Renault The Renault Sport Series (formerly known as World Series by Renault) is a motor racing series. The series latterly consisted of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and used to contain the Renault Sport Trophy and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. T ...

meeting at Silverstone. Williamson won both races from pole position, to trail Blomqvist by one point on dropped scores heading into the final round at Brands Hatch. In the first race, Williamson finished second, ahead of Blomqvist in third, but Blomqvist claimed fastest lap to draw level with Williamson before the final race. In the final race, Blomqvist made a better start and with team-mate Alex Lynn acting as rear gunner, Blomqvist won the championship with his second place. Despite this, Williamson was nominated for the

McLaren Autosport BRDC Award The Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award is an award set up in 1989 to reward and recognise young racing drivers from the UK. As its names suggest, the award is backed by Aston Martin, motorsport magazine Autosport, and the British Racing Drivers' Cl ...

due to his performances in the series. On 5 December 2010, after the evaluation tests held at Silverstone, Williamson was named as the winner of the award, taking the £100,000 cash prize and a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

test with

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

GP3 Series

After the end of his Formula Renault campaign, Williamson took part in the post-season

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 ...

test in

, Portugal. Driving for Atech CRS GP, Williamson set the fastest time in the afternoon session on the second and third days, having arrived at the circuit the day before after a chance conversation with team boss David Hayle. Williamson was eventually signed by MW

Arden Arden may refer to: Places ;Australia *Arden, an area in North Melbourne, Victoria near the Arden Street Oval ;Canada * Arden, Ontario ;Denmark * Arden, Denmark, a town **Arden Municipality, a former municipality, including the town of Arden ; ...

to graduate into GP3 in February 2011.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

After testing for

ISR Racing ISR Racing (also known as Coca-Cola Racing Team in FIA GT) is a racing team from Czech Republic, created in 1993 by Igor Salaquarda. The team is currently competing in ADAC GT Masters. History The company was created to develop the Peugeot 30 ...

during the final test session of 2010, Williamson took part in the opening round of the 2011 season for the team at

Motorland Aragón MotorLand Aragón (alternative Spanish name: Circuito de Alcañiz) is a race track used for motorsports located in Alcañiz, Spain. The circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke in conjunction with the British architectural bus ...

, deputising for regular driver

Daniel Ricciardo Daniel Joseph Ricciardo ( "Ricardo", ; born 1 July 1989) is an Italian-Australian racing driver who last raced in Formula One driving for McLaren, under the Australian flag. He made his debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with the HRT ...

who was on

third driver In motorsport it is common to have one or more test drivers who work with the mechanics to help develop the vehicle by testing new systems on the track. In specific motorsports Formula One In Formula One, the term third driver is used to designa ...

duties for

Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso (; literal translation of "Red Bull Racing Team"), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One racing team. It was one of two Formula One teams owned by Austrian beverage company Red ...

at the .

Personal life

Despite his recent success in formulae cars, Williamson combines his racing with an apprenticeship at Ross-Shire Engineering, working as a fabrication engineer in

Muir of Ord Muir of Ord ( gd, Am Blàr Dubh) is a village in Easter Ross, in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is situated near the western end of the Black Isle, about west of the city of Inverness and south of Dingwall. The village has a populatio ...

, a 100-mile round trip from his home in

Golspie Golspie ( , gd, Goillspidh) is a village and parish in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, which lies on the North Sea coast in the shadow of Ben Bhraggie. It has a population of around 1,350. History The name derives from the Norse for "gull ...

Racing record

Career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete GP3 Series results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(

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

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup results

Complete British GT Championship results

(

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

References

External links

Official website

Career statistics from Driver Database

British Racing Drivers' Club profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Lewis 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Dundee Scottish racing drivers British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Portuguese Formula Renault 2.0 drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers GP3 Series drivers People educated at Golspie High School FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy drivers Manor Motorsport drivers Arden International drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers British GT Championship drivers CRS Racing drivers ISR Racing drivers Status Grand Prix drivers Strakka Racing drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers McLaren Racing drivers