Nicolás Baptiste Velasco (born 31 October 2005) is a Colombian

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

who last competed in the

2024 USF Pro 2000 Championship The 2024 USF Pro 2000 Championship presented by Continental Tire was the 26th season in series history and the second under the USF Pro 2000 moniker after the three championships below the Indy NXT series were rebranded in 2023 following the a ...

for BN Racing. He previously competed in the

2022 Formula Regional European Championship The 2022 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held across Europe. The championship featured a mix of professional and amateur drivers, competin ...

for FA Racing.

Career

Karting

Baptiste debuted in karting at the age of nine and started karting competitively two years later in 2016. His highest ranking in a karting competition would be eighth in the Colombia Rotax Max Challenge. He took part in the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in 2020, ending up 60th in the standings.

Formula 4

2020

Baptiste made his single-seater debut during the penultimate round of the

2020 F4 Spanish Championship The 2020 F4 Spanish Championship was the fifth season of the F4 Spanish Championship, Spanish F4 Championship. It was a multi-event Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing championship for Open-wheel car, open wheel, Formula racing, formula racing ...

, a week after his 15th birthday. He took part in one weekend, the

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jaram ...

round, and finished 14th and two twelfth places in the races. Two weeks later, Baptiste made his debut in the

2020 Italian F4 Championship The 2020 Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth was the seventh season of the Italian F4 Championship. Gabriele Minì won the drivers' championship in his rookie season while his team Prema Powerteam won the teams' championship for the fifth t ...

with

Cram Motorsport Cram Motorsport (formerly known as Cram Competition) is an auto racing team based in Italy. Cram started in 1994 out of the Tatuus racing department. It has participated in Formula Alfa Boxer, Formula Renault 2000, Formula 3 Germany, Formula Maste ...

for the final two rounds. He took a best finish of 15th and finished 27th in the championship.

2021

Baptiste contested the full

2021 Italian F4 Championship The 2021 Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth was the eighth season of the Italian F4 Championship. Teams and drivers Race calendar and results The calendar was revealed on 10 December 2020. Later on, the third round was postponed by ...

as his main campaign, again with

. He scored his first points in eighth place during the second Misano race, and he was also the second best rookie. His next points finish came at the last race in the

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

scoring a fifth place and placing the best of the rookies. Baptiste would not go on to score any more points and he finished 24th in the championship with 14 points, and ninth in the rookies'.

Formula Regional European Championship

2022

Baptiste stepped up to the

. He joined two-time

Formula One World Champion A Formula One World Champion is a racing driver or automobile constructor which has been designated such a title by the governing body of Formula One - the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Every Formula One World Champion since th ...

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

's team, FA Racing, alongside Victor Bernier and

Esteban Masson Esteban Masson (born 18 September 2004) is a Canadian-French racing driver who is currently competes in the Super Formula Lights with TOM'S, as well as in the European Le Mans Series with VDS Panis Racing. He is the 2021 French F4 and the 20 ...

. During his debut weekend in

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

, he finished 16th and 29th. Baptiste ended very strongly during the final weekend in Mugello, he qualified a season high of seventh during the first race, although he would drop to 15th which was his season best result. The Colombian would finish 29th in the standings, the only one in his team not to score points during the season.

2023

Baptiste was expected to remain in

Formula Regional Formula Regional (FR) is an FIA-approved moniker for certified regional one-make Formula Three championships with the concept being approved during the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in December 2017. The first series under new regulations w ...

for 2023, switching over to

Saintéloc Racing Saintéloc Racing is a French motorsport team. It mainly operates in rallying and sports car racing series. Current series include the European Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. The ...

. However for unknown reasons, he did not compete in any race.

USF Pro 2000 Championship

After a year on the sidelines, Baptiste returned to racing in 2024 with a full-time drive in the

USF Pro 2000 Championship The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an Open-wheel car, open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the ...

with BN Racing. He had a highest finish that year of fifth during the second race in

NOLA Motorsports Park NOLA Motorsports Park is a full service motorsports facility in Avondale, Louisiana approximately twenty minutes from downtown New Orleans. NOLA Motorsports Park includes an FIA Grade 2 road course, one of the largest (fully-lit) outdoor kart ...

. He ended his season early with two rounds to go and finished 15th in the championship with 143 points.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

^† As Baptiste was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

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

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† As Baptiste was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

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

American open-wheel racing results

USF Pro 2000 Championship

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baptiste, Nicolás Colombian racing drivers Spanish F4 Championship drivers Italian F4 Championship drivers Formula Regional European Championship drivers Living people 2005 births Racing drivers from Bogotá Cram Competition drivers Drivex drivers FA Racing drivers MP Motorsport drivers Karting World Championship drivers 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers