Louis Delétraz (born 22 April 1997) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

racing driver currently competing in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

and

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 ...

for Prema Orlen Team and in the

IMSA SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

for Tower Motorsport. He is the

2015 Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup The 2015 Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup was the tenth Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup season, an open-wheel motor racing series for emerging young racing drivers based in Europe. Drivers and teams Race calendar and results ...

champion and a two-time

champion. He is the son of former

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, ...

and

Le Mans 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

driver

Jean-Denis Delétraz Jean-Denis Delétraz (born 1 October 1963) is a Swiss racing driver. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 Australian Grand Prix. Before reaching Formula One, he scored two third places in the 1988 International Fo ...

Career

Karting

Delétraz began

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

in his native Switzerland 2008, winning the Vega Trofeo Super Mini class the following year. Third-place finishes followed in 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 ...

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...

Cup Switzerland and Vega Trofeo Junior categories in 2010 before winning the latter championship in 2011.

Formula BMW Talent Cup

Delétraz began his

single-seater 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 ...

career in September 2012, racing in the Grand Final of the Formula BMW Talent Cup season, held at

Motorsport Arena Oschersleben The Motorsport Arena Oschersleben is a long race track with a width of and elevation changes of . The circuit is located in Oschersleben, Börde where is approximately from Magdeburg), Germany. Its fairly flat contours create a smooth, fast ci ...

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 ...

. He started each of the three races from

Pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

, winning the second race of the event. In the final race of the weekend, Delétraz collided with fellow Swiss driver Ralph Boschung with both drivers retiring from the race. He was subsequently excluded from the event following an incident in the

pit lane In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...

after the race.

Formula Renault 2.0

2013

Delétraz graduated to

Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to hig ...

for 2013, racing in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC championship with Josef Kaufmann Racing. He finished the season in 19th place in the championship, with a best race result of fifth coming in the second race of the

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 ...

meeting.

2014

Delétraz continued with the team for a second FR2.0 NEC season in 2014. After winning the opening race of the season at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, he took a further four podium positions to finish runner-up in the championship, sixteen points behind

Fortec Motorsport Fortec Motorsport Ltd. is a motor-racing team that races in the GB3 Championship. The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton. Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, Gianmaria Bruni, Danny Watts, Jamie Green, Jame ...

Ben Barnicoat Ben Barnicoat (born 20 December 1996) is a British racing driver who currently serves as a McLaren factory racing driver, while also competing in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship for Project 1 Motorsport. He has previously raced in the ...

. During the year, Delétraz also made his debut in the

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits. It served as a support series to the Formula 3.5 V8, Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to ...

championship, taking part in the rounds 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 ...

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

and

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 ...

as a guest driver.

2015

In 2015, Delétraz stayed with Josef Kaufmann Racing for a third season, racing a dual campaign in both

and Formula Renault 2.0 NEC. He won the Formula Renault NEC while he finished in the top3 in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. In April 2015, Delétraz was announced as one of the four drivers selected to join the

BMW Motorsport BMW M Motorsport (formerly BMW Motorsport) is the division of BMW responsible for motorsport-related activities, including works-run competition programmes in touring car racing, sports car racing, motorcycle racing and Formula E. The current orga ...

Junior Programme for 2015. As part of the initiative, he is due to contest three races of the Veranstaltergemeinschaft Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring series (VLN) for the manufacturer.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series/Formula V8 3.5

Delétraz made his debut in the

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 ...

at the fifth round of the 2015 season at the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later sh ...

, driving for the returning

Comtec Racing Comtec Racing is a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It competes in three championships — Formula Renault, World Series by Renault and the Auto GP World Series. History The team started out in Formula Ford from the ashes of ...

team. He graduated to the series full time with Fortec 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 trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, finishing runner-up in the standings.

GP2 Series

On 18 November 2016, it was announced that Delétraz would make his debut in the final round of the 2016 season with Carlin. He finished twenty sixth in the overall standings with no points.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

2017

In December 2016, after partaking in post-season testing with them, Delétraz signed to race full-time with

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 prepar ...

in alongside

Gustav Malja Gustav Malja (born 4 November 1995) is a Swedish racing driver. Career Karting Born in Malmö, Sweden, Malja began his karting career in Formula Micro in 2006, winning the Gunnar Nilsson Memorial trophy the following year. By 2009 he had pro ...

2018

For 2018 Delétraz moved to

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 ...

alongside ex

Ferrari Driver Academy Ferrari Driver Academy is an initiative from Formula One team Scuderia Ferrari to promote young talent inside its own organisation, with several drivers being selected and funded by the team, being under long-term contracts. Some notable former ...

driver

Antonio Fuoco Antonio Fuoco (born 20 May 1996) is an Italian racing driver who currently serves as a development driver for the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team and is a junior driver for the Competizione GT. He previously competed in Formula 2 for Charouz ...

2019

In 2019 Delétraz moved to reigning teams champion Carlin with

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

junior driver

Nobuharu Matsushita is a Japanese racing driver currently competing in Super GT and Super Formula. He formerly competed in the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship for MP Motorsport before being replaced by current Super Formula driver Giuliano Alesi. Early career Kart ...

. He finished the season 8th in the standings with a best result of 2nd in both the

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

and

sprint races.

2020

For 2020, Delétraz returned to Charouz alongside

Pedro Piquet Pedro Estácio Leão Piquet Souto Maior (born 3 July 1998) is a Brazilian former racing driver. He is the son of three-time Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet and younger half brother of Formula E champion Nelson Piquet Jr. He is known for ...

Formula One

In February 2016, Delétraz was confirmed as a member of Renault's young driver program. In November 2018 it was announced that Delétraz would make his Formula One test debut with

Haas F1 Team Haas Formula LLC, competing as Haas F1 Team, is an American-licensed Formula One racing team established by NASCAR Cup Series team co-owner Gene Haas in April 2014. The team originally intended to make its debut at the start of the season b ...

at the end-of-year Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi. He completed 117 laps in the second day of the 2 day test. In May 2019 it was announced that Delétraz would join

as simulator driver for the remainder of the 2019 season. Delétraz continued as reserve and development driver for 2020. However, following

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 ...

's crash at the

2020 Bahrain Grand Prix The 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2020) was a Formula One motor race that took place over 57 laps on 29 November 2020 on the 'Grand Prix Circuit' configuration at the Bahrain Internationa ...

, the team preferred to bring in its other development driver,

Pietro Fittipaldi Pietro Fittipaldi da Cruz (born 25 June 1996) is a Brazilian-American racing driver, the grandson of two-time Formula One world champion Emerson Fittipaldi and brother of racing driver Enzo Fittipaldi. Fittipaldi is racing in European Le Mans ...

. The Swiss driver criticized this decision on social media. Haas team principal

Guenther Steiner Guenther Steiner (born 7 April 1965) is a motorsport engineer and team manager who holds dual Italian and American citizenship. He is the current team principal of the Haas Formula One Team (since 2014), and the previous managing director of Ja ...

brushed off these criticisms, saying Fittipaldi deserved the seat, as he had more Formula One mileage than Delétraz. Louis Delétraz did not continue as a development driver with Haas for 2021.

Endurance Racing

2020

Delétraz competed in the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual and won it with

Rebellion Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

Williams eSports, driving the

Oreca 07 The Oreca 07 is a Le Mans Prototype built by French manufacturer Oreca to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO LMP2 regulations. It made its official race debut in the opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Dayto ...

in the LMP category alongside

Raffaele Marciello Raffaele "Lello" Marciello (; born 17 December 1994) is a Swiss-born Italian professional racing driver. A former member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, he was the 2013 European Formula Three Champion, a reserve and test driver for the Sauber F ...

, Nikodem Wisniewski and Jakub Brzezinski. In the same year, Deletraz also competed in the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

with the Swiss outift,

Rebellion Racing Rebellion Racing is a Swiss racing team that competes in endurance racing. The team competed in the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season and won the LMP1 teams' title in the 2011 Le Mans Series season. The team started as an association ...

, in the LMP1 category alongside

Nathanaël Berthon Nathanaël Berthon (born 1 July 1989 in Romagnat) is a professional racing driver from France. Career Karting Berthon began his international karting career in 2006, with the highlights being a third-place finish in the Copa Campeones Trophy I ...

and

Romain Dumas Romain Dumas (born 14 December 1977) is a French racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest r ...

. The team finished the race in P4.

2021

In 2021, it was announced that Delétraz would be competing with

Team WRT W Racing Team (WRT) is a Belgian auto racing team founded in 2009 by engineer and former head of Volkswagen Motorsport René Verbist, racing driver Vincent Vosse, and entrepreneur Yves Weerts. Since 2010 the team campaigns Audi R8 LMSs in severa ...

in the

in the LMP2 category alongside

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Poles, Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW in ...

and

Ye Yifei Ye Yifei (; born 16 June 2000) is a Chinese racing driver, 2016 French F4 champion, 2020 Euroformula Open champion, 2021 Asian Le Mans Series champion, 2021 European Le Mans Series champion, and former member of the Renault Sport Academy. In ...

. With three wins and a P2 finish, they clinched the

2021 European Le Mans Series The 2021 European Le Mans Series was the eighteenth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 18th April and finished at Algarve International Circuit ...

championship in the LMP2 category. Alongside this, Delétraz competed in the 2021 8 Hours of Portimão in the

, finishing in P6. Additionally, Delétraz competed in the

2021 24 Hours of Le Mans The 89th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''89e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) cars held between 21 and 22 August 2021, at the ...

with his European Le Mans series teammates. After leading the race with one lap to go, the car, with

behind the wheel, stopped down the hill past the Dunlop Bridge because of a broken throttle sensor creating an electrical short circuit that temporarily turned the engine's

electronic control unit An electronic control unit (ECU), also known as an electronic control module (ECM), is an embedded system in automotive electronics that controls one or more of the electrical systems or subsystems in a car or other motor vehicle. Modern vehic ...

off. Because of this, the team had to retire the car. Finally, Delétraz competed in the 2021 8 Hours of Portimão in the

, finishing in P6.

2022

In 2022, it was announced that Delétraz would be competing with the Prema Orlen Team in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship and

Prema Racing Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...

in the

2022 European Le Mans Series The 2022 European Le Mans Series was the nineteenth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit Paul Ricard on 17 April and finished at Algarve International Circuit on 16 Octob ...

both on a full season basis. In the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship, Delétraz finished in P5 in the LMP2 championship with a P2 finish in the

2022 24 Hours of Le Mans The 90th 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 90e 24 Heures du Mans) was a 24-hour endurance racing (motorsport), automobile endurance event for Le Mans Hypercar (Hypercar), Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and LM GTE, Le Mans Grand Touring Enduranc ...

. In the

however, Delétraz and his teammate, Ferdinand Habsburg clinched the LMP2 Driver's championship with 4 wins and a P3 finish in Spa. Alongside this, he also competed in the

2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship The 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) is a championship of racing, the 52nd racing season sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), which ...

with Tower Motorsport in the LMP2 class. With two wins in Laguna Seca and Petit Le Mans and three podium finishes, Delétraz finished the season in 7th place with points counting towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, not the overall LMP2 championship.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

† As Delétraz was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup 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 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† As Delétraz was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula V8 3.5 Series results

(

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

Complete 24 Hours of Zolder results

Complete GP2 Series results

(

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

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(

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

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(

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

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

^* Season still in progress.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deletraz, Louis 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Geneva Swiss racing drivers Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Formula BMW drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers GP2 Series drivers FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers 24H Series drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Carlin racing drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Josef Kaufmann Racing drivers Fortec Motorsport drivers Comtec Racing drivers Charouz Racing System drivers Rapax Team drivers Racing Engineering drivers Prema Powerteam drivers W Racing Team drivers Rebellion Racing drivers Starworks Motorsport drivers AV Formula drivers