Valerio Rinicella (born 18 January 2007) is an Italian racing driver. He is currently racing for MP Motorsport in the

2024 Formula Regional European Championship The 2024 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine is a planned multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship to be held across Europe. The championship will feature a mix of professional and amateur dr ...

. He is a protégé of Formula One race winner

Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian professional racing driver, also captain of the official ''Nazionale Piloti'' association football team (composed of the racing drivers). He has d ...

and GT racer .

Career

Formula 4

2022

Rinicella made his single-seater debut during the

2022 Formula 4 UAE Championship The 2022 Formula 4 UAE Championship was the sixth season of the Formula 4 UAE Championship, a motor racing series for the United Arab Emirates regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations, and organised and promoted by the Emirates Motorspo ...

. He failed to score any points and finished 26th in the standings. For his main campaign, Rinicella signed with MP Motorsport to compete in the

F4 Spanish Championship The F4 Spanish Championship ( es, Campeonato de España de Fórmula 4) is an FIA Formula 4 racing series. The championship was planned to launch in 2015, though the inaugural season was cancelled and delayed until 2016. Koiranen GP was the promot ...

. His first podium came not too far away during the third race in

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...

. Rinicella had another third place in

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 ...

, those two being the only times he stood on the rostrum. His consistent points scoring secured him sixth in the championship. Rinicella also competed in the

2022 Italian F4 Championship The 2022 Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth is the ninth season of the Italian F4 Championship. The series moved onto new generation of the Formula 4 cars, continuing its collaboration with Tatuus and Abarth. Teams and drivers Race c ...

with AKM Motorsport from Spa-Francorchamps onwards. He failed to score points, finishing 33rd overall with a best finish of 12th.

2023

During his pre-season, Rinicella partook in the

2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship The 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship was the seventh season of the Formula 4 UAE Championship, a motor racing series for the United Arab Emirates regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations, and organised and promoted by the Emirates Motorsp ...

with MP Motorsport. Rinicella took a number of podiums, including a pole position. This was enough for fourth place in the championship. His main campaign would again lie in the

, where he remained with MP Motorsport. He started strong with a second place during the opening

round, initially winning before being demoted due to a track limits penalty. It would not be long before he took his first win in the series in Navarra, where he also stood on the podium in all three races. He would win again at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, by then he was an outside chance for the title. A triple podium during the Barcelona finale meant Rinicella finished third in the standings with a total of two wins and 12 podiums.

Formula Regional

Rinicella raced in the first two rounds of the pre-season

Formula Regional Middle East Championship The Formula Regional Middle East Championship is an FIA-certified Formula Regional racing series, which will start in 2023. This championship will race in the Emirati venues from the 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship and Kuwait Motor Town. ...

. He scored points in his last two races with seventh and sixth place, placing him 17th in the overall classification. Rinicella graduated to the Formula Regional European Championship for 2024, sticking with MP Motorsport.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 UAE Championship 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 F4 Spanish Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

(

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

Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) *Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

(

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rinicella, Valerio 2007 births Living people Italian racing drivers Spanish F4 Championship drivers Italian F4 Championship drivers MP Motorsport drivers UAE F4 Championship drivers Formula Regional European Championship drivers Racing drivers from Rome Formula Regional Middle East Championship drivers