Niko Kari
| Niko Kari | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 |
| Born |
6 October 1999 Hyvinkää, Finland |
| FIA Formula 2 Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2018 |
| Current team | MP Motorsport |
| Car no. | 10 |
| Starts | 2 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Previous series | |
| 2017-2018 2016 2015 |
GP3 Series FIA European Formula 3 SMP F4 Championship |
| Championship titles | |
| 2015 | SMP F4 Championship |
Niko Kari (born 6 October 1999) is a Finnish racing driver. He won his first single-seater championship in his debut year in SMP F4 Championship.[1] He is currently competing in F2 Series with MP Motorsport. He is a former member of the Red Bull Junior Team.
Career
Karting
Kari started karting in 2009 and took part in his first race in 2010. He raced in several national karting series in Finland from 2010 to 2013. In 2014, Kari moved to KF European where he finished fifth overall.[2]
Junior Formulae
Kari moved to single-seaters in 2015, starting in the new SMP F4 Championship. He won seven races and took the title with three races to spare. Kari moved to European Formula 3 Championship in 2016 with Motopark.[3] He took victory at the first race at Imola after a late lunge on Lance Stroll and finished fifth in the rookie standings and tenth overall.
GP3 Series
In August 2016, Kari was also announced to take part in the GP3 rounds at Spa-Francorchamps with Koiranen GP, in place of Ralph Boschung.[4] In November 2016, Helmut Marko confirmed Kari would move to the series full-time in 2017.[5] In January, Kari was signed to Arden International.[6] Kari finished the season with 63 points and a 10th place in drivers' championship. He was dropped from the Red Bull Junior Team after the season.[7]
Kari continued to race in GP3 switching to MP Motorsport for the 2018 campaign.[8] After 14 races into the season Kari was promoted to FIA Formula 2 Championship with MP Motorsport for the remainder of the 2018 season.[9] At the time Kari had collected 6 points and was holding 16th place in the drivers' championship.
Formula 2
Kari was promoted to FIA Formula 2 Championship with MP Motorsport for the last two weekends of the 2018 season replacing Ralph Boschung.[9]
Formula One
In December 2015, Kari, along with his Motopark teammate Sérgio Sette Câmara, became a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and thus becoming a test driver of Scuderia Toro Rosso. In November 2016, it was confirmed Kari would remain a part of the Junior team.[10] In August of the following year, Kari was dismissed from the program.[7]
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | SMP F4 Championship | Koiranen GP | 21 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 449 | 1st |
| 2016 | FIA Formula 3 European Championship | Motopark | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 129 | 10th |
| Masters of Formula 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd | ||
| GP3 Series | Koiranen GP | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26th | |
| 2017 | GP3 Series | Arden International | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 63 | 10th |
| 2018 | GP3 Series | MP Motorsport | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 17th* |
| FIA Formula 2 Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC* |
* Season still in progress.
Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Motopark | Volkswagen | LEC 1 8 |
LEC 2 16 |
LEC 3 15 |
HUN 1 2 |
HUN 2 Ret |
HUN 3 8 |
PAU 1 19 |
PAU 2 11 |
PAU 3 8 |
RBR 1 20 |
RBR 2 3 |
RBR 3 8 |
NOR 1 2 |
NOR 2 12 |
NOR 3 Ret |
ZAN 1 6 |
ZAN 2 11 |
ZAN 3 11 |
SPA 1 11 |
SPA 2 10 |
SPA 3 7 |
NÜR 1 8 |
NÜR 2 10 |
NÜR 3 3 |
IMO 1 1 |
IMO 2 9 |
IMO 3 Ret |
HOC 1 14 |
HOC 2 12 |
HOC 3 13 |
10th | 129 |
Complete GP3 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Koiranen GP | CAT FEA |
CAT SPR |
RBR FEA |
RBR SPR |
SIL FEA |
SIL SPR |
HUN FEA |
HUN SPR |
HOC FEA |
HOC SPR |
SPA FEA Ret |
SPA SPR 14 |
MNZ FEA |
MNZ SPR |
SEP FEA |
SEP SPR |
YMC FEA |
YMC SPR |
26th | 0 |
| 2017 | Arden International | CAT FEA 15 |
CAT SPR 14 |
RBR FEA Ret |
RBR SPR 18 |
SIL FEA 5 |
SIL SPR 3 |
HUN FEA 9 |
HUN SPR 6 |
SPA FEA 9 |
SPA SPR 9 |
MNZ FEA 15† |
MNZ SPR C |
JER FEA 6 |
JER SPR 19 |
YMC FEA 1 |
YMC SPR 13 |
10th | 63 | ||
| 2018 | MP Motorsport | CAT FEA Ret |
CAT SPR 6 |
LEC FEA DSQ |
LEC SPR Ret |
RBR FEA 11 |
RBR SPR 8 |
SIL FEA 11 |
SIL SPR Ret |
HUN FEA Ret |
HUN SPR Ret |
SPA FEA 14 |
SPA SPR 12 |
MNZ FEA 10 |
MNZ SPR 10 |
SOC FEA |
SOC SPR |
YMC FEA |
YMC SPR |
17th* | 6* |
Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | MP Motorsport | BHR FEA |
BHR SPR |
BAK FEA |
BAK SPR |
CAT FEA |
CAT SPR |
MON FEA |
MON SPR |
LEC FEA |
LEC SPR |
RBR FEA |
RBR SPR |
SIL FEA |
SIL SPR |
HUN FEA |
HUN SPR |
SPA FEA |
SPA SPR |
MNZ FEA |
MNZ SPR |
SOC FEA Ret |
SOC SPR Ret |
YMC FEA |
YMC SPR |
NC* | 0* |
* Season still in progress.
References
- ↑ "NIKO KARI CLAIMS THE FIRST SMP F4 CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE". SMP F4 Championship. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ↑ "2014 CIK-FIA European KF Championship Standings". CIK-FIA. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ↑ "SMP F4 champion Niko Kari nearing European F3 graduation for 2016". Autosport. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ↑ "Red Bull junior Kari handed GP3 debut at Spa". August 25, 2016. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
- ↑ "Onko tässä Suomen seuraava F1-kuljettaja? (Is this the next Finnish F1 driver?)". November 26, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
Formula 3:n eurosarjassa Kari oli tällä kaudella vasta kymmenes voitettuaan 30 startista vain yhden, mutta ensi kaudella Kari saa paikan GP3-sarjasta. Asian vahvisti MTV Sportille Red Bullin moottoriurheilupomo Helmut Marko (Formula 3 Euro Series Kari was only tenth in this season after winning just one of 30 start-up, but the next season Kari gets a seat in the GP3 series. This interest was confirmed by MTV Intersport in Red Bull's motorsport boss Helmut Marko).
- ↑ "Red Bull Juniors confirmed". 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
- 1 2 "Red Bull drops young talent". August 28, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
- ↑ "Kari stays in GP3 with MP Motorsport". Retrieved 2018-09-25.
- 1 2 "Kari steps up to Formula 2 with MP". Retrieved 2018-09-25.
- ↑ "Niko Kari (17) ook volgend jaar in Red Bull Junior Team (Niko Kari (17) next year at Red Bull Junior Team)". November 26, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
External links
- Official website
- Niko Kari career summary at DriverDB.com
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Inaugural |
SMP F4 Championship Champion 2015 |
Succeeded by Richard Verschoor |