Simona de Silvestro (born 1 September 1988) 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 ...

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racing driver, who is currently employed by Porsche as a factory driver. She has previously driven for Amlin Andretti in the 2015/16 season of the

FIA Formula E Championship Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...

as well as several years competing in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

. Her nicknames are the "Iron Maiden" and "Swiss Miss".

Racing career

Junior formulae

She raced for

Newman Wachs Racing Newman Wachs Racing (also referred to as NWR) is an auto racing team owned by Eddie Wachs and, until his death, Paul Newman. NWR was based outside of Chicago in Mundelein, Illinois. Newman and Wachs met when they both competed in Can-Am series in t ...

's Nuclear Clean Air Energy-Entergy team in the

Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...

in 2008 and for Team Stargate Worlds in 2009. She won the Atlantic race at the 2008

Grand Prix of Long Beach The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...

, making her the second woman to win in that series – after

Katherine Legge Katherine Anne Legge ( ; born 12 July 1980) is a British professional auto racing driver, competing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. She is also featured in ''Richard Hammond's Crash Course''. Racing career Early racing and Atlantics ...

– and providing NWR with its first win. She won four times during the 2009 season and led in points for most of the season, but ultimately finished third in the standings after retiring on the first lap during the season finale at

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and M ...

. De Silvestro participated in an

test over 8–9 December 2009 at

Sebring International Raceway Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida. Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S., its first race being run i ...

, a joint effort between

HVM Racing HVM Racing was an auto racing team owned by Keith Wiggins that competed in the IndyCar Series. It competed in the Champ Car World Series in 2007 as Minardi Team USA when it was co-owned by Paul Stoddart. It has a long history of changes of ownersh ...

and Team Stargate Worlds.

IndyCar

Simona de Silvestro - 2015 500 Festival - Stierch

De Silvestro competed full-time in the IndyCar Series for HVM Racing for the 2010 season. On 22 May 2010, she qualified in the 22nd position for the

2010 Indianapolis 500 The 94th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 2010. It was the 15th Indy 500 sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and was the premier event of the 2010 IndyCar Series season, 2010 IZ ...

. She finished the race in 14th position, and earned

Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year The Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year is an annual award "presented to the driver who has performed with the most distinction among first-year drivers in the Indianapolis 500." Criteria includes "on-track performance in practice, qualifying an ...

honors. She suffered a burned right hand after a fiery crash at the

Firestone 550 The race last ran as XPEL 375 is an NTT IndyCar Series event held at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth, Texas since 1997. The races have had a variety of different entitlement sponsors and distances over the years and therefore has had many di ...

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...

on 5 June 2010. Her team strongly criticized IndyCar Series safety officials for their response to that accident. For the season, de Silvestro started 17 races, finished ten, and recorded two top-10 finishes, with a best finish of eighth at

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...

. She finished 19th overall in the series standings and was runner-up to

Alex Lloyd Alex Lloyd (born 19 November 1974) is an Australian singer-songwriter. Four of his albums, ''Black the Sun'', '' Watching Angels Mend'', '' Distant Light'' and '' Alex Lloyd'', released between 1999 and 2005, made the top ten on the ARIA chart ...

for rookie of the year honors. The 2011 season began with fourth- and ninth-place finishes at St. Petersburg and Barber; however the next race, at Long Beach, was not as successful: she started 18th and finished 20th. At the next race, the

São Paulo Indy 300 The Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestlé was an event in the IRL IndyCar Series, contested in the 2010 through 2013 IndyCar Series seasons. The event was originally announced on November 25, 2009, as the first championship event f ...

, an accident between her and

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...

put her nine laps down, after the race was postponed to the next morning due to severe rain conditions. She started 13th and finished 20th, nine laps down, but recorded the fastest lap of the race. She received second degree burns on her right hand and superficial burns on her left hand in a crash during practice for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 on 19 May. The crash, which sent her car sailing into the catch fence before flipping and landing on its left tires, was caused by a mechanical failure in the left rear of her No. 78 Dallara-Honda. On 21 May, using her backup car, she qualified 24th for the race with a four-lap average of 224.392 mph. After a crash at the Milwaukee Mile during qualifying, de Silvestro was cleared to drive in the race, but withdrew after experiencing dizziness and impaired vision. At the next race, in Iowa, she was not cleared to compete, due to continuing dizziness. De Silvestro missed round 13 of the season at Sonoma, after being refused entry to the United States. De Silvestro said she did not know why she was turned away. She finished 20th overall in the 2011 series standings. De Silvestro returned to HVM Racing for the 2012 IndyCar Series season, piloting the No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy sponsored Dallara-Lotus. The entry was one of five cars to start the season powered by the new Lotus engine. The Lotus proved to be significantly underpowered compared to the Chevrolet and Honda engines used by the rest of the field. By the end of May, all entrants other than de Silvestro's No. 78 had abandoned the Lotus powerplant and switched to either Chevy or Honda. De Silvestro was saddled for the entire season with the inferior Lotus. The underpowered engine made it impossible for de Silvestro to be competitive, resulting in consistently poor qualifying and race results. On several occasions the car was black flagged for failing to maintain the minimum safe speed, including the 2012 Indianapolis 500. For the season, de Silvestro qualified for all 15 races on the schedule, started 14, and finished 6. Her best finish was 14th at Detroit and Iowa. She finished 24th overall in the series standings. On 30 October 2012, de Silvestro signed on with

KV Racing Technology KV Racing Technology was an auto racing team that last competed in the IndyCar Series. The team was originally formed as PK Racing before the 2003 season by Australian businessman Kevin Kalkhoven and former Formula One team manager Craig Poll ...

for the

2013 IndyCar Series season The 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 18th season of the IndyCar Series and the 102nd season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 97th Indianapolis 500 held on Sunday, May 26. The 2013 season was the second to feature the D ...

, driving the No. 78

Dallara Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

with sponsorship from Nuclear Clean Air Energy. De Silvestro joined veteran driver

Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed TK, is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani a ...

to make KV Racing Technology a two-car team for the 2013 season. On 5 October 2013 at the

Grand Prix of Houston The Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers was an annual auto race on the IndyCar Series circuit. It was held in a street circuit located in downtown Houston for four years, then returned after a f ...

, de Silvestro finished second in the first race for her first podium finish, joining

Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman ...

and

Sarah Fisher Sarah Marie Fisher (born October 4, 1980) is an American retired professional race car driver who competed in the IndyCar Series, Indy Racing League (IRL, now IndyCar Series) and the Indianapolis 500 intermittently from 1999 to 2010. She also ...

as the only women in IndyCar history to record a podium finish. On 2 April 2015, de Silvestro announced she would drive the Andretti Autosport No. 29 Honda in the

2015 IndyCar Series season The 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series was the 20th season of the IndyCar Series and the 104th season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 99th Indianapolis 500, which was held on May 24. Will Power returned as the reigning cham ...

in an attempt to make the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

. De Silvestro finished fourth in the second race of the season, the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana. On 19 January 2021,

Paretta Autosport Paretta Autosport is an automotive racing organization owned by Beth Paretta, the former director of Street & Racing Technology, SRT Motorsports. Paretta Autosport is scheduled to compete in the 2021 Indianapolis 500 IndyCar Series, IndyCar race ...

announced they would make their Indycar debut at the

2021 Indianapolis 500 The 2021 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was a 500-mile (800 km, 200 lap) race in the 2021 IndyCar Series, held on May 30, 2021, at the Indianapolis ...

with de Silvestro as the driver in the no. 16 Rocket Pro

Formula One

In February 2014,

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, ...

team

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...

announced that de Silvestro would join the team as an "affiliated driver" and would undergo a year-long training programme with the team, with the ultimate objective of racing in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. De Silvestro began testing with the team at the end of April 2014 at

Fiorano Circuit The Fiorano Circuit () is a private racetrack owned by Ferrari for development and testing purposes. It is located in Fiorano Modenese, near the Italian town of Maranello. The circuit has FIA Grade 1 license. Work begun in 1971 and officially ...

. She had her first drive in the 2012 Sauber on 26 April, and completed 112 laps during the test. However, in October 2014, Sauber team principal

Monisha Kaltenborn Monisha Kaltenborn ( Narang; born 10 May 1971) is the former team principal of the Sauber Formula One team and held a 33.3% stake in the outfit until it was taken over by Longbow Finance S.A. in July 2016. She was the team's chief executive office ...

stated that the team had suspended de Silvestro's driving chances due to contractual troubles.

Formula E

On 15 June 2015, it was announced de Silvestro would drive for Andretti's

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...

team at the championship's double-header finale in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She was confirmed with the team full-time for the 2015-16 season opposite Formula Renault 3.5 champion

Robin Frijns Robin Frijns (born 7 August 1991) is a Dutch motor racing driver. He is the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion, and the first driver to have won the series in his debut season since Robert Kubica in 2005. Frijns is currently competing in Fo ...

. In 2016, de Silvestro became the first female driver to score points in Formula E with a 9th place in the 2016 Long Beach ePrix. She finished the championship in 18th place with 4 points.

V8 Supercars

It was announced on 19 August 2015 that she would partner

Renee Gracie Renee Gracie (born 5 January 1995) is an Australian adult film actress and former racing driver. Racing career 2013–2014 After a successful stint in kart racing, Gracie contested the 2014 and 2015 seasons of the Porsche Carrera Cup Austral ...

at Prodrive Racing Australia in the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recen ...

for

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

. Following an impact with the wall at Forrest's Elbow on lap 15 for Gracie, the car underwent extensive repairs before being sent back out to finish 21st and 40 laps down – one more lap lost and the car would not have been classified. On 5 September 2016 it was announced that she had signed a three-year contract as a full-time driver for

Nissan Motorsport , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departme ...

in the Australian

Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

, beginning from the 2017 Series. This followed another appearance at Bathurst alongside Gracie, this time with the Nissan squad, where the pair managed to stay out of trouble amid the chaotic final laps and finish in 14th place and two laps down.

GT3

In 2020, De Silvestro returned to Europe as a factory

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

GT driver; contesting the 2020 ADAC GT Masters for

Timo Bernhard Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. On 29 June 20 ...

's Team75 with

Klaus Bachler Klaus Bachler (born 27 July 1991, in Unzmarkt) is an Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine ...

. She finished 23rd in the championship with 41 points. The duo switched to Herberth Motorsport for the 2021 ADAC GT Masters.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As de Silvestro was a guest driver, she was ineligible to score points.

American open-wheel racing 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)

Atlantic Championship/Champ Car Atlantic

: * Podium (non-win) indicates second and third place finishes : ** Top 10s (non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes

IndyCar Series

: ''¹ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series season, 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indiana ...

died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

Indianapolis 500

Complete Formula E results

(

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

Complete Supercars Championship results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

(

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

Notes

References

External links

*
Simona de Silvestro career statistics
at Driver Database
Profile on Racing Reference

IndyCar Driver Page

IndyCar 11 in '11 video
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Silvestro, Simona 1988 births Living people People from Thun Atlantic Championship drivers IndyCar Series drivers Female IndyCar Series drivers Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Indianapolis 500 drivers Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Formula BMW USA drivers Formula E drivers Supercars Championship drivers Swiss female racing drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Cram Competition drivers EuroInternational drivers Walker Racing drivers Newman Wachs Racing drivers US RaceTronics drivers HVM Racing drivers KV Racing Technology drivers Andretti Autosport drivers Kelly Racing drivers Meyer Shank Racing drivers Sportspeople from the canton of Bern Champ Car drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers ADAC GT Masters drivers Rowe Racing drivers Nismo drivers