Federico Leo

Federico Leo
Nationality	Italian
Born	August 27, 1988 Varese (Italy)
FIA GT3 European Championship career
Debut season	2011
Current team	AF Corse
Car no.	50
Starts	11
Wins	1
Poles	3
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	1st in 2011
Previous series
2010 2010 2010 2009–10 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
2011	FIA GT3 European Championship

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

Career

Formula Junior

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

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

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

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

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

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 team–mates 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

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

Career summary

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 Championship		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

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

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

(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

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

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. 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). Retrieved 18 October 2011.
13. "Leo debutta ad Abu Dhabi con Trident". italiaracing.net (in Italian) (Inpagina). 8 November 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2011.

External links

• Official website
• Federico Leo career summary at DriverDB.com