Federico Leo (born August 27, 1988, in Varese) is an Italian racing driver.

Federico Leo
Federico driving for Lotus PB Racing at the Spa-Francorchamps in 2023
NationalityItaly Italian
Born (1988-08-27) August 27, 1988 (age 36)
Varese (Italy)
FIA GT3 European Championship career
Debut season2011
Current teamOmbra racing
Racing licence FIA Silver
Car number50
Starts11
Wins1
Poles3
Fastest laps0
Best finish1st in 2011
Previous series
2010
2010
2010
200910
2008
2008
2006–07
2005–06
GP2 Series
Le Mans Series
Auto GP
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
British Formula 3
German Formula Three
Italian Formula Renault 2.0
Italian Formula Junior 1600
Championship titles
2011FIA GT3 European Championship

Career

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Formula Junior

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Leo began his single–seater career in late 2005 in the Italian Formula Junior 1600 Winter series, scoring nine points to finish 13th in the standings. The following year he took part in a full season in the category, recording one podium finish to be classified in 12th place.

Formula Renault 2.0

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At the end of the 2006 season, Leo took part in the Italian Formula Renault 2.0 Winter series for RP Motorsport, finishing in 15th place. In 2007, he continued with the team into the main championship, although he failed to score a point in the fourteen races he contested.

Formula Three

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In 2008, Leo stepped up to the German Formula Three Championship with the Italian Ombra Racing team.[1] He finished ninth in the standings after taking a single podium place in the opening round at Hockenheim. He also made a one–off appearance in the British Formula 3 Championship round at Monza in May. After starting both races from the back of the grid, he finished 14th in race one before retiring from the second race.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

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Leo at the 2010 Brno World Series by Renault meeting

At the end of 2008, Leo took part in Formula Renault 3.5 Series collective testing at Paul Ricard and Valencia. After testing for both RC Motorsport and Pons Racing, Leo signed with the latter to contest the 2009 season, alongside Spaniard Marcos Martínez.[2] He scored eight points over the course of the 17–race season, with those points coming at the final round of the campaign at the new Motorland Aragón circuit with a pair of seventh-place finishes.

During the off–season Leo tested with several different teams, including Fortec Motorsport and Draco Racing, but remained with Pons Racing for a second season in 2010.[3] After scoring a fifth place in the opening round at Motorland Aragón, Leo took just three more points finishes and was classified in 17th place, tied on 16 points with both Walter Grubmüller and Jan Charouz.[4]

Auto GP

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In May 2010, Leo made his debut in the new Auto GP championship at Imola, replacing Adrian Zaugg at the Trident Racing team.[5] After finishing in ninth place in the feature race, Leo took fifth place in the sprint event after surviving a startline accident that eliminated six cars.[6] In October 2010, Leo rejoined the team for the final round of the season at Monza,[7] finishing the two races in fifth and seventh places respectively to be classified 16th in the final standings.[8]

Sportscars

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In April 2010, Leo tested a Lola B08/80 LMP2 car at Vallelunga for the Italian Racing Box team, and in August 2010 it was announced that he would join the team for the Le Mans Series round at the Hungaroring, the penultimate round of the season.[9] He stayed with the team for the final round of the year at Silverstone, where he and teammates Fabio Babini and Ferdinando Geri finished 13th overall and 5th in the LMP2 class. He was classified 17th in the final LMP2 standings.[10]

For 2011, Leo raced in the FIA GT3 European Championship with AF Corse, sharing a Ferrari 458 with fellow Italian driver Francesco Castellacci.[11] The duo won the drivers' title at the final round of the season in Zandvoort, finishing nine points clear of the Graff Racing entry of Mike Parisy.[12]

GP2 Series

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Leo made his GP2 Series début at the final round of the 2010 season in Abu Dhabi, replacing Edoardo Piscopo at the Trident Racing team.[13] He finished the feature race in 19th place, but retired from the sprint event.

Racing record

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Career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2005 Italian Formula Junior 1600 – Winter Series Tomcat Racing 4 0 0 0 0 9 13th
2006 Italian Formula Junior 1600 Emmegi Promotion 12 0 0 0 1 50 12th
Italian Formula Renault 2.0 – Winter Series RP Motorsport 4 0 0 0 0 14 15th
2007 Italian Formula Renault 2.0 14 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2008 German Formula Three Championship Ombra Racing 17 0 0 0 1 23 9th
British Formula 3 International Series 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Pons Racing 17 0 0 0 0 8 21st
2010 Formula Renault 3.5 Series 17 0 0 0 0 16 17th
Auto GP Trident Racing 4 0 0 0 0 6 16th
Le Mans Series - LMP2 Racing Box 2 0 0 0 0 13 17th
GP2 Series Trident Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 32nd
2011 FIA GT3 European Championship AF Corse 11 1 3 0 4 111 1st
2012 International GT Open - Super GT AF Corse 16 3 1 2 7 85 1st
International GT Open 16 3 1 2 7 195 1st
2013 European Le Mans Series - GTE AF Corse 5 0 0 0 2 63 5th
International GT Open - GTS 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
FIA GT Series - Gentlemens Trophy 2 2 1 2 2 0 NC
Spanish GT Championship - GTS 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2014 International GT Open - GTS AF Corse 8 0 1 0 2 12 20th
FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Pro Ram Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMGTE Pro 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2015 Renault Sport Trophy - Endurance V8 Racing 2 0 0 0 0 1 24th
Renault Sport Trophy - Elite 2 0 0 0 0 10 14th
2016 Italian GT Championship - GT3 Scuderia Baldini 27 Network 13 3 3 0 10 156 1st
2017 Italian GT Championship - Super GT3 Pro Petri Corse Motorsport 6 0 0 0 1 45 14th
2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Daiko Lazarus Racing 3 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2019 International GT Open Ombra Racing 12 0 0 0 0 3 30th
2020 Ligier European Series - JS P4 Monza Garage 2 0 1 1 2 30 6th
2021 International GT Open - Pro Vincenzo Sospiri Racing 2 0 0 0 0 6 15th
Italian GT Sprint Championship - GT3 Pro-Am 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2023 24H GT Series - GTX Lotus PB Racing 1 0 0 0 0 38 NC

† – As Leo was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

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

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Points
2009 Pons Racing CAT
1

19
CAT
2

18
SPA
1

17
SPA
2

17
MON
1

18
HUN
1

Ret
HUN
2

14
SIL
1

15
SIL
2

21
BUG
1

18
BUG
2

Ret
ALG
1

13
ALG
2

19
NÜR
1

18
NÜR
2

17
ALC
1

7
ALC
2

7
21st 8
2010 Pons Racing ALC
1

Ret
ALC
2

5
SPA
1

6
SPA
2

17
MON
1

Ret
BRN
1

Ret
BRN
2

18
MAG
1

Ret
MAG
2

Ret
HUN
1

Ret
HUN
2

17
HOC
1

16
HOC
2

10
SIL
1

11
SIL
2

18
CAT
1

7
CAT
2

15
17th 16

24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2014   Ram Racing   Matt Griffin
  Álvaro Parente
Ferrari 458 Italia GTC GTE
Pro
140 DNF DNF

References

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  1. ^ "F.3 - Ombra e Federico Leo insieme nella ATS F3 Cup 2008". ombraracing.com (in Italian). Ombra Racing. 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  2. ^ "Federico Leo con Pons è il primo italiano in WSR". italiaracing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. 2009-02-28. Archived from the original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  3. ^ Mills, Peter (2010-01-13). "Leo stays with Pons for 2010". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
  4. ^ "World Series by Renault 2010". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  5. ^ "Full grid for Auto GP in Imola". autogp.org. Auto GP. 2010-05-20. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
  6. ^ "Iaconelli and Durango win dramatic race 2". autogp.org. Auto GP. 2010-05-23. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
  7. ^ "Valsecchi, Leo and Cipriani to race in Monza". autogp.org. Auto GP. 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  8. ^ "Auto GP 2010". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  9. ^ "LMS – 2010 1000km of Hungaroring entry list". planetlemans.com. Planet Le Mans. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
  10. ^ "Le Mans Series – LMP2 2010". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  11. ^ Ten Caat, Marcel. "GT3 Europe and Blancpain Endurance Series Update". planetlemans.com. Planet Le Mans. Retrieved 27 April 2011. Amato Ferrari's team will enter two Ferrari 458's for Daniel Brown–Glynn Gleddie and Federico Leo–Francesco Castellaci in the 2011 FIA GT3 European Championship.
  12. ^ Weeks, James (17 October 2011). "Castellacci and Leo secure FIA GT3 crown at Zandvoort". motorstv.com. Motors TV. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  13. ^ "Leo debutta ad Abu Dhabi con Trident". italiaracing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. 8 November 2010. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by FIA GT3 European Champion
2011
with: Francesco Castellacci
Succeeded by
Dominik Baumann
Maximilian Buhk
Preceded by International GT Open champion
2012
with: Gianmaria Bruni
Succeeded by