Mahaveer Raghunathan (born 17 November 1998) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

racing driver who last competed in the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship with

MP Motorsport MP Motorsport (previously Marcel Peters Motorsport) is a Dutch auto racing team currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. The team has also participated in Auto GP, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern Europea ...

Career

Lower formula

Raghunathan started his racing career in karting in 2012, where he remained active until 2013. He also made his Formula racing debut in 2012, in four races of the

JK Racing Asia Series JK Racing Asia Series, formerly known as both Formula BMW Asia and Formula BMW Pacific, was a single-seater racing series based in Asia. Formula BMW Asia was created in 2003 as a replacement for Asian Formula 2000 and was under the management of ...

for the Meco Racing team. In 2013, Raghunathan competed in the

MRF Challenge MRF Challenge is an open-wheel motorsport formula based in India organized by Madras Motor Sports Club. This was India's first and only FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), ...

Formula 1600, finishing sixth. He also took part in the final race weekend of the

Formula Masters China Formula Masters China, FMCS () (previously known as Formula Pilota China), was a single-seater racing series based in Asia. The series was created in 2011 after the success of the Formula Abarth championship that was created a year before. Event ...

series at the

Shanghai International Circuit The Shanghai International Circuit () is a motorsport race track, situated in the Jiading District, Shanghai. The circuit is best known as the venue for the annual Chinese Grand Prix which was hosted from 2004 to 2019 and was scheduled again fr ...

for the Cebu Pacific Air by KCMG team In 2014, Raghunathan moved to the new

Italian F4 Championship Italian Formula 4 Championship is the first formula racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2014 Italian F4 Championship, effectively replacing the Formula Abarth. History Gerhard Berger and th ...

, debuting on the second race weekend for the F & M team. He finished 12th in the championship

European F3 Championship & GP3 Series

At the beginning of 2015, Raghunathan took part in the final race weekend of the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 series at the Madras Motor Race Track. He then returned to Europe to take part in the

European Formula 3 Championship The FIA Formula 3 European Championship was a European Formula Three(F3) auto racing competition, organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). After one season of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, the FIA revived th ...

for the Motopark team.He failed to get any points, finishing 39th in the championship Raghunathan took part in the official GP3 post season test with the Campos and

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 ...

teams, in preparation for the

2016 GP3 Series The 2016 GP3 Series was the seventh season of the third-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also seventh season under the moniker of GP3 Series, a motor racing feeder series that runs in support of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Champi ...

, but he only raced in the first round of the championship for

Koiranen GP Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport, formerly also known as Koiranen bros. Motorsport and Koiranen GP, is a Finnish auto racing team based in Lahti, Finland. The team currently fields a one car entry in the LMP3 class of Asian Le Mans Series and Prototype ...

. He also tested with the Coloni Motorsport team in Auto GP.

Auto GP & BOSS GP Series

In 2016, Raghunathan raced in the

Auto GP Auto GP, sometimes referred to as the Auto GP World Series and formerly known as both Euro Formula 3000 and the Euroseries 3000, was a European formula racing series. The series' roots can be traced back to 1999 and the Italian Formula 3000 serie ...

championship with Italian team PS Racing, being second in the championship. In the same year, he also raced in the

BOSS GP The BOSS GP Series is a motor racing series in Europe. The category originated in 1995 as the BOSS Formula series and evolved into the EuroBOSS Series. BOSS is an acronym that stands for ''Big Open Single Seaters''. History The BOSS series ...

series in the Formula Class and secured two podiums in his class. In 2017, Raghunathan continued racing in BOSS GP's Formula Class Championship with PS Racing. He made 13 podiums out of 14 races in his class, and ending the season as the champion of the Formula Class. He is the first and only Indian to win the BOSS GP Championship.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

In 2019, Raghunathan raced in the

FIA Formula 2 Championship The FIA Formula 2 Championship is a second-tier single-seater championship organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Held on racing circuits, the championship was introduced in 2017, following the rebranding of the l ...

alongside

Jordan King Jordan King (born 26 February 1994 in Warwick) is a British racing driver from Harbury, Warwickshire who last competed in the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship. He is currently a reserve and development driver for the Mahindra Formu ...

for

. He was subsequently suspended for the Austrian round based on the accumulation of 12 penalty points on his license during the season. He returned to the seat for the Silverstone round, continuing to run around at the back of the field. Both Raghunathan and team-mate King were reprimanded for failing to slow for yellow flags in qualifying 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 ...

. A reduced field at the following round in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

led to his only point of the season, but he was once again penalised in Sochi for not following track-limit procedures. He finished the season 20th in the standings, being the last placed driver to have scored a point.

Formula One test

In August 2021, nearly two years after Raghunathan's last appearance behind the wheel of a race car, the Indian tested the

Alfa Romeo Racing C38 The Alfa Romeo Racing C38 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by Alfa Romeo Racing to compete during the 2019 Formula One World Championship. It is the first Sauber-engineered car to be badged Alfa Romeo following a team renamin ...

alongside

Théo Pourchaire Théo Jérôme Julien Pourchaire (born 20 August 2003) is a French racing driver, who most recently competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for the ART Grand Prix team and the reigining Formula 2 vice-champion. He is currently a member of the ...

at the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone w ...

where he set a time 1.9 seconds slower than the Frenchman.

World Endurance Championship

The following year, Raghunathan took part in the FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test at the

Bahrain International Circuit The Bahrain International Circuit ( ar, حلبة البحرين الدولية, Ḥalba al-Baḥrayn ad-Dawliyya) is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrain ...

, driving for Algarve Pro Racing.

Racing record