Mirko Bortolotti (born 10 January 1990) is an Italian racing driver, best known for his sports car racing success with Lamborghini. He currently competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup for TGI Team by GRT.
A Red Bull and Ferrari protégé in his junior career, Bortolotti won Italian Formula 3 in 2008, FIA Formula 2 in 2011 and the Eurocup Mégane Trophy in 2013. He was a Formula One test driver for Ferrari, Toro Rosso and Williams before establishing himself in sports car racing. Bortolotti has been a Lamborghini factory driver since 2015, with a brief spell at Audi in 2020.
Considered one of the greatest ever Lamborghini drivers, Bortolotti won the Blancpain GT Series Overall and Endurance Cup titles in 2017, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2024 and the Spa 24 Hours in 2025. He is a class winner at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. In 2024, Bortolotti spearheaded Lamborghini's entry into the FIA World Endurance Championship with the Lamborghini SC63 LMDh.
Career
Italian series After karting for several years, Bortolotti began his formula racing career in 2005 by competing in the Italian Formula Renault Winter Series and Formula Gloria. He competed in the Winter Series for a further two years, with a best finish of fourth in 2006. He also drove in the Italian Formula Junior 1600 championship for this year, in addition to the Formula Azzurra championship. In the latter series, he finished as runner-up in the drivers' championship, behind winner Giuseppe Termine.
In 2007, Bortolotti moved up to Italian Formula Three, finishing fourth in the championship at his first attempt. He remained in the series for 2008, driving for the Lucidi Motors team, and won the championship with nine wins and six pole positions from the sixteen races.
FIA Formula Two Championship Bortolotti obtained backing from Red Bull following his championship win; the company opted to place him in the relaunched FIA Formula Two Championship in 2009. He drove car number 14 in the series, and finished fourth. During the break between the final two rounds of the season, Bortolotti returned to Formula Three to compete for Carlin Motorsport in the Formula 3 Euro Series season finale at Hockenheim, finishing on the podium in the second race.
GP3 Series Bortolotti's next move was to the newly created GP3 Series. He drove in the 2010 season for Addax Team alongside teammates Felipe Guimarães and Pablo Sánchez López and managed some good results, finishing 11th and getting a podium in his final race.
Return to FIA Formula Two Championship Bortolotti decided to return to FIA Formula Two Championship for 2011. His season began well as he took the lead in the championship after the first round. He lost it to Christopher Zanella, later regaining the lead at the third round. He dominated the fourth round of the season at the Nürburgring, taking pole position, victory and the fastest lap in both races. He led the rest of the season and eventually won the championship by 100 points over Zanella.
Formula One As a reward for their performances in the 2008 Italian F3 championship, Bortolotti, Edoardo Piscopo and Salvatore Cicatelli were all given a test of the Ferrari team's F2008 chassis at the Fiorano Circuit in November 2008. Bortolotti impressed by setting a time of 59.111 seconds, quicker than the previous fastest lap set by the F2008 at the circuit by any driver.
In , among several other drivers, Bortolotti was linked to a drive with Ferrari as a replacement for injured Felipe Massa, after poor performances by Luca Badoer.
In , Bortolotti was selected by Williams to appear in their car at the 2011 young drivers test in Abu Dhabi.
GT Racing
After his single-seater career, Bortolotti transitioned to GT racing and became a Lamborghini factory driver in 2015. He achieved notable success in GT3 competition, winning races in major endurance and sprint series, including the Blancpain GT Series and the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Bortolotti has stated that adapting to GT racing required a change in driving approach, particularly in tyre management and race strategy. His experience in GT racing later contributed to his success in touring car competition, culminating in winning the 2024 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) championship, the first drivers' title for Lamborghini in the series.
In 2017, Bortolotti won the Endurance Cup of the Blancpain GT Series with GRT Grasser Racing Team and won the overall driver championship with his teammate Christian Engelhart.
In 2020, Bortolotti moved from Lamborghini to Audi. Now, he is racing R8 LMS GT3 EVO in the GT World Challenge Europe Series (formerly Blancpain GT Series) Endurance Cup and ADAC GT Masters with WRT (Belgian Club W Racing Team). In the GT World Challenge Europe Series, he shared the car with Kelvin van der Linde and Rolf Ineichen in Car No. 31, and car No. 30 with Rolf Ineichen in the ADAC GT Masters, respectively.
2023 saw Bortolotti join Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper in Iron Lynx's Pro class effort in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters In September 2021, Bortolotti made his debut in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters as a guest driver for T3 Motorsport as the German team fielded a third Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo car in the sixth round of the 2021 DTM season at Assen. There, he finished second in the first race on Saturday and seventh in the second race on Sunday. In February 2022, Bortolotti earned a full-time seat for the 2022 DTM season with GRT Grasser Racing Team as the Austrian team joined the series by fielding four Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo cars with factory-backing from the Italian manufacturer.
In the first round of the 2022 DTM season at Portimão, Bortolotti finished third in both races. He qualified on pole position for the first race of the weekend and led 19 laps, but his car suffered a sudden loss of power after a safety-car period and he fell to sixth position with ten laps to go, before recovering to fourth and eventually overtaking the Mercedes of Maro Engel on the final lap for third, with Mercedes drivers Lucas Auer and Luca Stolz finishing in front of him. In the first race of the third round at Imola, Bortolotti scored his third podium finish of the season, recovering to third after starting from 16th due to a ten-place grid penalty for using a wrong set of tyres. After experiencing his first retirement of the season in the first race of the fourth round at the Norisring, he finished second in the second race of the weekend and moved to the top of the drivers' standings with half the season completed.
Racing record Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2005 Italian Formula Renault 2.0 - Winter Series Auinger 4 0 0 ? 0 8 13th Formula Gloria Italy ? 2 0 0 0 ? 12 21st Italian Formula Junior 1600 AP Motorsport ? ? ? ? ? 20 14th 2006 Formula Azzurra Team Italia CSAI 14 1 5 0 5 60 2nd Italian Formula Renault 2.0 - Winter Series RP Motorsport 4 0 0 0 1 88 4th Italian Formula Junior 1600 ? 0 ? ? 0 40 13th 2007 Italian Formula 3 Championship Corbetta Competizioni 16 1 2 1 7 80 4th Italian Formula Renault 2.0 - Winter Series Tomcat Racing 4 0 0 0 0 34 12th 2008 Italian Formula 3 Championship Lucidi Motors 16 9 6 5 15 150 1st 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship MotorSport Vision 16 1 0 1 5 50 4th Formula 3 Euro Series Carlin Motorsport 2 0 0 0 1 0 NC† 2010 GP3 Series Addax Team 16 0 0 0 1 16 11th 2011 FIA Formula Two Championship MotorSport Vision 16 7 7 7 14 316 1st 2012 ADAC GT Masters Schubert Motorsport 4 0 0 0 1 15 29th 2013 Eurocup Mégane Trophy Oregon Team 14 8 13 7 11 275 1st 2014 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe - Pro-Am Bonaldi Motorsport 9 3 4 6 6 87 4th Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final N/A 2 1 0 0 1 N/A NC Italian GT Championship Imperiale Racing Srl 8 2 3 0 3 53 14th Formula Acceleration 1 Acceleration Team Italy 8 3 3 2 7 135 2nd 2015 Italian GT Championship Imperiale Racing 14 3 2 3 6 113 4th Blancpain Endurance Series GRT Grasser Racing Team 5 0 2 0 0 29 12th Blancpain Sprint Series 2 0 0 0 2 21 17th ADAC GT Masters 2 1 0 1 1 0 NC† 2016 Italian GT Championship Imperiale Racing 14 4 5 1 8 108 6th Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup GRT Grasser Racing Team 10 0 0 0 1 16 17th Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 5 1 1 0 2 49 7th ADAC GT Masters 4 0 0 0 0 16 34th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Paul Miller Racing 1 0 0 0 0 16 58th FIA GT World Cup FFF Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 9th 2017 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup GRT Grasser Racing Team 10 2 1 2 4 67 4th Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 5 2 0 1 3 86 1st ADAC GT Masters 12 1 2 1 2 55 18th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD 2 0 0 0 0 38 50th Intercontinental GT Challenge 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 24H Series - A6 FIA GT World Cup FFF Racing Team by ACM 0 0 0 0 0 N/A DNS 2018 ADAC GT Masters Orange1 by GRT Grasser 14 1 0 1 3 64 7th Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup GRT Grasser Racing Team 9 2 2 0 3 57.5 5th Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 5 0 0 0 0 13 31st IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD 1 1 0 0 1 35 45th 24H GT Series - A6 2019 ADAC GT Masters Orange1 by GRT Grasser 14 3 3 1 4 146 2nd Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe GRT Grasser Racing Team 10 0 1 0 6 75 4th Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 4 0 2 1 0 21 13th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD 2 2 0 1 2 70 35th 24H GT Series - A6 2020 ADAC GT Masters Team WRT 8 0 0 1 2 58 16th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 3 1 0 0 1 52 4th 24H GT Series - GT3 IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD WRT Speedstar Audi Sport 1 0 0 1 1 30 41st Intercontinental GT Challenge Audi Sport Team Valvoline 1 0 0 0 0 30 6th Audi Sport Team Hardpoint WRT10000 Audi Sport Team WRT10001 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 Audi Sport Team Car Collection10001N/A2nd 2021 ADAC GT Masters GRT Grasser Racing Team 14 1 2 1 4 145 5th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD 2 0 0 0 1 160 74th 24H GT Series - GT3 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Orange 1 FFF Racing Team 5 1 2 1 2 73 4th Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters T3 Motorsport 2 0 0 1 1 0 NC† Intercontinental GT Challenge Orange 1 FFF Racing Team10000239th K-PAX Racing10001 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 Hankook FFF Racing Team10000N/ADNF 2022 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters GRT 16 0 2 3 5 121 4th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Pro TR3 Racing 2 0 1 0 1 577 17th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Emil Frey Racing 5 0 0 1 1 32 15th Intercontinental GT Challenge100000NC 24H GT Series - GT3 Barwell Motorsport 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Team WRT 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 11th FIA Motorsport Games GT Sprint Team Italy10001N/A2nd 2023 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters SSR Performance 15 3 3 0 5 213 2nd FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 Prema Racing 5 0 1 0 1 56 11th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP210000N/ADNF IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Pro Iron Lynx 2 0 0 0 0 579 16th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup 5 0 0 0 1 15 14th 2024 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters SSR Performance 16 1 3 0 7 238 1st FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar Lamborghini Iron Lynx 8 0 0 0 0 2 31st IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Pro Iron Lynx 3 1 0 0 2 970 18th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup401012114th 2025 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Abt Sportsline 16 0 0 0 0 68 14th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP Automobili Lamborghini Squadra Corse 2 0 0 0 0 412 32nd Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 Red Bull Team ABT 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP910000N/ADNF GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup GRT - Grasser Racing Team51001445thInternational GT OpenOregon Team20000826th 2026 IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Pro Pfaff Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 271 35thDeutsche Tourenwagen MastersTGI Team by GRT 14 0 0 0 0 71 14th*GT World Challenge Europe Endurance CupNürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9Team ABT Sportsline24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9Red Bull Team Abt 1 0 1 0 0 N/A DSQ † As Bortolotti was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points * Season still in progress.