Matias Laine (born 25 April 1990 in

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. Th ...

) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

racing driver.

Career

Karting

Laine began his

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

career in

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 2003, finishing as runner-up in the Finnish Raket Cup Championship. In 2005 he won the Finnish Championship for the ICA Junior class.

Formula Renault

Laine began his formula racing career in the 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Cup season with

CR Scuderia CRS Racing is a British auto racing team founded by British driver Andrew Kirkaldy (racing 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 Kirka ...

. He finished ninth in the championship with 50 points. He also completed two races of 2008 Portugal Winter Series FR2.0 at

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 ...

. Laine finished third and thirteenth in those races. The following season, Laine competed in both the

Formula Renault 2.0 UK British Formula Renault Championship referred to one of two Formula Renault championships that were held in the United Kingdom. The main series was Renault Sport UK's Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship which was held from 1989 to 2011 and was g ...

and

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 ...

championships for

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 ...

and

Motopark Academy Motopark Academy (raced under Lotus moniker from 2012 to 2014) is an auto racing team based in Oschersleben, Germany, next to the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben race track. In 2013, the team competed in the GP2 Series under the name Russian Time ...

respectively. He finished fourteenth in the UK standings, scoring points in each of the twelve races, before injury curtailed his season at

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population o ...

. In the Eurocup, he took 22nd place in the championship with six points that were earned in the second race at

Silverstone Circuit Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Towcester, Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 ...

Formula Three

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

will see Laine move to the

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

, competing for

. He joined fellow Formula Renault graduates

António Félix da Costa António Maria de Mello Breyner Félix da Costa (born 31 August 1991) is a Portuguese professional racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team and the 2019–20 Formula E Drivers' Champion. He won the Macau Grand Prix invitational Formula Thre ...

and

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Adrian Rodney Quaife-Hobbs (born 3 February 1991) is a British racing driver, notable for being the youngest driver to win the T Cars championship and the youngest ever winner of a MSA-sanctioned car racing series. He currently resides in Tonbri ...

at the team. He earned his first point finishing ninth 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 ...

round because

Esteban Gutiérrez Esteban Manuel Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (; born 5 August 1991) is a Mexican racing driver currently representing Mercedes in Formula One, Formula E and esports and Inter Europol Competition in World Endurance Championship. Previously from 2013 t ...

who finished sixth was guest driver and was ineligible to scoring points.

GP3

Laine contested for the

Marussia Manor Racing 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 ...

team in 2011 and eventually finished 31st. He was signed to MW Arden for the 2012 season where he scored his first points and then his first podium finish in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

round. He won his first GP3 race 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 held ...

, along with a final podium 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 ended the season fifth and earned a drive for the

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 fact ...

Formula Renault 3.5 season with

P1 Motorsport P1 Motorsport is a British racing team based in Norfolk, England. They currently compete in the World Series by Renault. For 2013 the team was purchased by Strakka Racing owner-driver Nick Leventis and was renamed P1 by Strakka Racing. British ...

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Formula 3 Euro 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 ...

)

Complete GP3 Series results

(

) (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)

References

External links

Official websiteLaine career statistics
at Driver Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Laine, Matias Finnish racing drivers 1990 births People from Joensuu Living people British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula Renault Eurocup drivers Portuguese Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Finnish GP3 Series drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers Manor Motorsport drivers Arden International drivers Sportspeople from North Karelia CRS Racing drivers P1 Motorsport drivers Motopark Academy drivers Strakka Racing drivers