René Binder (born 1 January 1992) is an Austrian

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 currently competes in the

2025 European Le Mans Series The 2025 European Le Mans Series is the twenty-second season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 6 April and will finish at Algarve International Circ ...

with

Proton Competition Proton Competition (also formerly racing as Dempsey-Proton Racing or Team Felbermayr-Proton) is a German auto racing team based in Ummendorf, Baden-Württemberg. It was founded by Gerold Ried, and is currently owned by his son Christian Ried. Th ...

. He is the nephew of former

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver

Hans Binder Hans Binder (born 12 June 1948) is an Austrian former Formula One driver who raced for the Ensign, Wolf, Surtees and ATS teams. He won the European Formula Ford Championship in 1972 and moved into Formula 2 in 1976. During this year he raced a ...

, and his father, Franz, was also a racing driver.

Early career

Binder was born in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. He began his racing career in

karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using 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 full-size motor ...

in 2002, remaining in the category until 2008. During this time, he finished third in the German Junior Kart Championship in 2007 and was runner-up in the German Challenger Kart Championship in 2008. In 2009, Binder began his

formula racing Formula racing, also known as open-wheel racing in North America, is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. A "formula", first devised by FIA for its post–World War II single-seater races, is a set of regulations for ...

career by competing in the

ADAC Formel Masters ADAC Formel Masters was an ADAC sanctioned open wheel racing series based in Germany, held annually from 2008 to 2014. It was replacement of the local Formula BMW championship. The first season was in 2008 and is the main feeder series to the ATS F ...

series for the

Abt Sportsline Abt Sportsline is an auto racing and auto tuning company based in Kempten im Allgäu, Germany. Abt mainly deals with Audi and the related primary Volkswagen Group brands—Volkswagen, Škoda, and SEAT—modifying them by using sports-type su ...

team. Whilst his teammate

Daniel Abt Daniel Johannes Abt (born 3 December 1992) is a German former racing driver. He is most notable for competing and winning races in Formula E with the Audi Sport ABT team. Previously, Abt raced in German Formula Three, GP3, and GP2, as well as ...

won the championship, the Austrian finished the season in seventh position with three podium finishes. Binder then moved up to the

German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship ...

: in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, he drove for

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 ...

and finished in twelfth place in the championship, with a best result of third position;

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

saw him move to the Jo Zeller Racing team, for whom he improved to eighth place despite missing a round of the championship; and for the 2012 season he is driving for the

Van Amersfoort Racing Van Amersfoort Racing (; VAR) is an auto racing team based in the Netherlands. The team competes in FIA Formula 2, FIA Formula 3, Formula Regional European, and Italian F4. Notable former drivers for the team include nine Formula One drivers ...

team. In 2011 he also competed in one round of the FIA Formula Two Championship, held at the Austrian

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 ...

ByKolles ENSO CLM P1-01 Binder Silverstone 2018

Binder made his

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

début in the tenth round of the 2012 season, held at the

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a Race track, motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa, Belgium, Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One ...

. He replaced

Giancarlo Serenelli Giancarlo "Gato" Serenelli Pellecchia (born 10 July 1981 in Caracas) is a Venezuelan racing driver. Career After karting, Serenelli raced in Formula Ford in his native Venezuela, winning his first title in 2000. After racing in the Italian For ...

in the

Lazarus Lazarus may refer to: People *Lazarus (name), a surname and a given name * Lazarus of Bethany, a Biblical figure described as being raised from the dead by Jesus * Lazarus, a Biblical figure from the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus * Lazar ...

team, where he partnered

Sergio Canamasas Sergio Canamasas Español (born 30 April 1986) is a former racing driver from Spain. Career Formula Three Canamasas made his Formula racing debut in 2007, racing in the Spanish Formula Three Championship for the Cetea Sport team. He took part i ...

. He did not score any championship points. The following year, Binder would remain at Lazarus for a full-time assault at GP2. Taking three points finishes, including a season-best sixth at

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

, the Austrian would end up 23rd in the standings. A switch to

Arden International Arden International, competing as Arden Motorsport, is a multiple formula racing team created and run by Christian Horner and Garry Horner. It currently competes in the GB4 Championship, and formerly ran in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Formula ...

was in order for the 2014 season, where Binder teamed up with Brazilian

André Negrão André Negrão (born ) is a Brazilian racing driver. He most recently drove for Alpine in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023, and spent a total of seven seasons with the team during his tenure. Negrão is a for ...

. However, whilst his teammate turned out to score points regularly during the second half of the year, Binder would regress, only amassing three points on his way to 25th in the championship. For the 2015 season, the Austrian partnered Ferrari Academy driver Raffaele Marciello at

Trident Racing Trident Motorsport (formerly known as Trident Racing) is a motor racing team that competes in Open-wheel car, single-seater formula racing. It was founded in 2006 in order to compete in the GP2 Series, GP2 championship, which was Europe's second h ...

. Following a scoreless opening half of the season and after missing the round at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

due to a streptococcus infection, Binder moved to

MP Motorsport MP Motorsport is a Dutch auto racing team currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, Eurocup-3, Spanish Formula 4 Championship and the newly established F1 Academy in 2023. The team has also participated in ...

. Despite taking a pair of points finishes during his first round with the team, Binder would finish the season 22nd overall. Binder made a change of career trajectory in 2016, moving to the Charouz Racing System-run Lotus team in the rebranded Formula V8 3.5 Series. Even though Binder was beaten in the standings by fellow Lotus driver

Roy Nissany Roy Nissany ( ; born 30 November 1994) is an Israeli racing driver who currently competes in the 2025 European Le Mans Series with Duqueine Team. He previously competed in the 2023 Formula 2 Championship with PHM Racing by Charouz. He is the ...

, his results progressed, as five podiums throughout the campaign earned him seventh place in the drivers' standings. Remaining with Lotus in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, he secured his first podium at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, ho ...

and subsequently won both races at

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 ...

, taking his first victories since 2012. Thus, Binder temporarily took the championship lead, although he would soon fall down to sixth overall following the middle portion of the season. He made up ground in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, winning his third race after taking pole position. He won the very last race of the year in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and finished fourth in the championship, level on points with Nissany but ahead of him in terms of wins. However, Binder would once again be beaten by his Lotus teammate, this time via eventual champion

Pietro Fittipaldi Pietro Fittipaldi da Cruz (born 25 June 1996) is a Brazilian and American racing driver, who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Pratt Miller Motorsports, and in the 2025 European Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series for Vector S ...

. At the end of 2017, Binder took part in a private test with the Renault Sport F1 Team, driving a rebadged Lotus E20 at the

Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has ...

IndyCar and endurance racing

2018

In 2018, he signed a contract with

Juncos Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing (, ), formerly Juncos Racing, is an Argentine-American racing team competing in the IndyCar Series. Owned by Ricardo Juncos, who formed the team in 1997, the team was initially based in Argentina before limited racing opp ...

to run the no. 32 car in six races of the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

. With two top-twenty race finishes, Binder ended up 28th in the standings. During the same year, he would take his first step into endurance racing, driving an LMP1 car for

ByKolles Racing ByKolles Racing, formerly known as Kodewa, is an Austrian-German auto racing team based in Greding, Germany. The team most recently fielded the No. 4 Vanwall Vandervell 680 in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023. It was founded in 2000 b ...

at the

6 Hours of Silverstone The 4 Hours of Silverstone (formerly the 1000 km of Silverstone and 6 Hours of Silverstone) is an endurance sports car race held at Silverstone Circuit near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. First run in 1976 as ...

. However, the Austrian failed to see the checkered flag, as he spun out during full-course yellow conditions.

2019

2019 saw Binder undertake a fully-fledged assault at the sportscar scene, as he partnered

Will Stevens William Jonathan Richard Stevens (born 28 June 1991) is a British racing driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota Sport, Jota. Stevens competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance ...

and Julien Canal at Panis Barthez Competition in the LMP2 class of the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

. In addition, he would join Juncos Racing's new project in the DPi category for the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds of the

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

calendar.

2020

For the following year, Binder switched to

Inter Europol Competition Inter Europol Competition is a Polish auto racing team that competes in Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing. The team contests the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship, IMSA SportsCar Champi ...

for another season in the

ELMS The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

, teaming up with Matevos Isaakyan and

Jakub Śmiechowski Jakub Jerzy "Kuba" Śmiechowski (born 11 October 1991) is a racing driver from Poland and the two-time LMP2 class winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He is competing in the 2025 European Le Mans Series and 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans with Inter Euro ...

. With a pair of top ten results, the outfit finished twelfth in the teams' standings.

2021

At the start of 2021, Binder partook in the

Asian Le Mans Series The Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and based in Asia. It is the successor to the defunct Japan Le Mans Challenge which folded in 2007 after its second s ...

alongside Yifei Ye and Ferdinand Habsburg with Algarve Pro-run

G-Drive Racing G-Drive Racing is a Russian sports car racing team. It is named after the commercial fuel distributed by Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of oil giant Gazprom. They made their debut in the LMP2 class of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship in a p ...

. The campaign began strongly, as a fortunately timed pit stop under full-course yellow conditions granted the team victory at the season opener in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. Another win followed the next day, as Binder took the lead during his opening stint before handing the car to his teammates. Despite a clean sweep by title rivals

Jota Jota may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Iota (Ι, ι), the name of the 9th letter in the Greek alphabet; * (figuratively) ''Something very small'', based on the fact that the letter Iota (lat. i) is the smallest character in the alphabet; * The name of the ...

at Yas Marina, second and fourth-placed finishes were enough for Binder, Ye and Habsburg to claim the title. In the

, the Austrian moved teams once again, this time entering as part of the

Duqueine Team Duqueine Team, formerly known as Duqueine Engineering, is a French sports car racing team founded in 2014. The team currently competes in the European Le Mans Series in LMP2. They previously operated Isotta Fraschini's Hypercar entry in the FIA ...

. He,

Tristan Gommendy Tristan Emmanuel Benoît Gommendy (born 4 January 1979) is a French professional racing driver who last competed in the European Le Mans Series with Duqueine Team. Racing career Early career Born in Le Chesnay, Yvelines, Gommendy began his prof ...

, and

Memo Rojas Guillermo "Memo" Rojas Jr. (born August 18, 1981) is a Mexican former race car driver. Successful in American sports car racing, Rojas is a four-time series champion in the Rolex Sports Car Series, a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, ...

ran in the upper midfield for the majority of the season, with a highlight coming at

, where the team finished second. Fifth place overall would end up being Duqueine's final result.

2022

Originally slated to join G-Drive alongside

Daniil Kvyat Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat ( rus, Даниил Вячесла́вович Квят, p=dənʲɪˈil vʲɪtɕɪˈslavəvʲɪtɕ ˈkvʲat; born 26 April 1994) is a Russian racing driver who competes under a neutral flag in the IMSA SportsCar C ...

and James Allen in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

for the 2022 season, the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and subsequent withdrawal of the team forced Binder and Allen to enter the series under the

Algarve Pro Racing Algarve Pro Racing (APR) is a Portuguese sports car racing team founded in 2010 by husband and wife Stewart and Samantha Cox. The team focuses on prototype racing, fielding LMP2 entries in the European Le Mans Series, as well as partnering wit ...

banner, driving alongside bronze-rated Steven Thomas in the LMP2 Pro-Am category. The year turned out to yield success, as the trio took a class victory at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

along with another class win during the subsequent round at

. Algarve Pro ended up second in the Pro-Am classification, 23 points behind

AF Corse AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Chal ...

2023

Following a driver ranking upgrade from silver to gold in 2023, Binder returned to the

with Duqueine, this time teamed up with

Neel Jani Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss people, Swiss professional racing driver. He achieved his greatest success winning the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche 919 Hybrid, Porsche's Le Mans Pro ...

and Nico Pino. The team began the season with a class win at

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, missing out on overall victory to the Pro-Am Racing Team Turkey entry of

Louis Delétraz Louis Charles Hubert Delétraz (born 22 April 1997) is a Swiss people, Swiss racing driver currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Wayne Taylor Racing, Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing and in the European Le Mans Series for AO Racin ...

. A second place overall in Le Castellet followed, however this would be Duqueine's final podium of the year, with them missing out on a spot in the championship's top three by season's end. The closest they came was at the

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

season finale, where Binder charged from sixth to second during a weather-affected middle stint, before teammate Jani was involved in an incident later on. In July of the same year, Binder, Jani, and Pino entered into the

under the Duqueine banner, taking third overall despite suffering a broken suspension on the final corner of the final lap. Binder took part in the WEC rookie test at the end of the season, driving a

Porsche 963 The Porsche 963 (Type 9R0) is an LMDh sports prototype racing car designed by Porsche and built by Multimatic, to compete in the Hypercar and GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) classes in the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Champi ...

with

. He returned to the team in December, as he partnered GT star

Julien Andlauer Julien Andlauer (born 5 July 1999 in Lyon) is a racing driver from France. He is a Porsche factory driver who competes in a range of championships having won both Porsche Carrera Cup France, French and Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, German Carrera ...

and bronze driver Giorgio Roda in the

. The trio scored three podiums in a campaign which went into early 2024, leaving Proton second in the standings.

2024

Binder remained at Proton for the 2024

season, being part of the team's Pro-Am lineup alongside Bent Viscaal and Giorgio Roda. After a fifth place in class at

, the trio managed to score a second place at Le Castellet.

Personal life

Binder married a woman named Melanie in November 2017. His family runs the company Binderholz, a manufacturer of solid wood products, whose 2018 revenue reached up to 1.3 Billion Euros.Jahrbuch der Wirtschaft
top.tirol Jahrbuch 2019
Seite 44 (retrieved 26 November 2019).

Racing record

Racing career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete ADAC Formel Masters results

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

Complete German Formula Three Championship results

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

Complete FIA Formula Two Championship results

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

Complete GP2 Series/FIA Formula 2 Championship results

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

Complete World Series Formula V8 3.5 results

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

American open-wheel racing results

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

IndyCar Series

( key)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

Complete European Le Mans Series results

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

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

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

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Binder, Rene 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Innsbruck Austrian racing drivers ADAC Formel Masters drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers FIA Formula Two Championship drivers GP2 Series drivers World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers FIA Formula 2 Championship drivers IndyCar Series drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers European Le Mans Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Motopark Academy drivers Van Amersfoort Racing drivers Team Lazarus drivers Arden International drivers Trident Racing drivers MP Motorsport drivers Charouz Racing System drivers Carlin racing drivers ART Grand Prix drivers Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers Kolles Racing drivers Rapax Team drivers G-Drive Racing drivers Jo Zeller Racing drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers Duqueine Team drivers Pons Racing drivers Proton Competition drivers Algarve Pro Racing drivers