Josef Král (born 15 June 1990 in Dvůr Králové nad Labem) is a professional racing driver from the Czech Republic and current Formula 1 commentator on Czech TV station Nova Sport 5.

Career

Karting & early career Král began his motorsport career in karting back in 1998, and during the following seven years he achieved notable success, winning the Czech Republic ICA Junior title in 2003 and the Czech ICA 100 Championship the following year, as well as numerous other titles.

In 2005, Král made his Formula Racing debut, finishing third in the Czech Formula 1400 series.

Formula BMW In 2006, Král made the step up to Formula BMW, competing in the German ADAC series. Driving for Micánek Motorsport, he scored forty points during the year to be classified in twelfth place. At the end of the year, Král switched to Josef Kaufmann Racing to contest the Formula BMW World Final, held in Valencia. He originally finished as runner-up to team-mate Christian Vietoris, but was subsequently disqualified from the race.

Král continued in Formula BMW for 2007, this time switching to the UK series with Räikkönen Robertson Racing. He scored a total of thirteen podium places in eighteen races, including six wins, to finish as runner-up to Swede Marcus Ericsson. He also took part in two Formula BMW ADAC races, taking a single podium position.

Král once again took part in the end-of-season Formula BMW World Final in Valencia, this time driving for Mücke Motorsport. Again, he finished second on the road behind team-mate Philipp Eng, but was disqualified for a technical infringement.

A1 Grand Prix In February 2008, Král made his debut for A1 Team Czech Republic in the South African round of the 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season. After qualifying towards the back of the grid for both races, he finished eighteenth in the sprint race before retiring from the feature event.

International Formula Master In 2008, Král joined Team JVA to contest the International Formula Master series. He finished the season in sixth place, taking three podium places, including a debut win at Oschersleben.

Král remained in the championship for 2009, this time switching to Italian team JD Motorsport. After taking podium places in Valencia, Brno and Brands Hatch, Král won his first race of the season at the Hungaroring, which acted as a support race for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. He added another win at Oschersleben en route to third in the championship.

GP2 Series In October 2009, Král made his debut in a GP2 car, testing for both Ocean Racing Technology and Piquet GP at Jerez in Spain. Later the same month, he signed with British team Super Nova Racing to contest the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series. This relationship continued into the main series in 2010, when Král teamed up with his former Formula BMW rival Ericsson. During the sprint race at Valencia, Král's car was launched into the air after he collided with Rodolfo González, before landing heavily and hitting the tyre barriers. Král sustained two fractured vertebrae as a result, and was replaced by Luca Filippi until he recovered. After missing ten races, Král returned to action at the final round of the championship, where he scored his first series points.

Král moved to the Arden International team for 2011, partnered by 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship runner-up Jolyon Palmer. He finished tenth in the Asia series. In the main series, he scored his first podium in the Monaco sprint race. Another podium finish at Spa-Francorchamps saw him improve to 15th place in the championship. He moved to reigning teams' champion, Addax, for the 2012 season, alongside Johnny Cecotto, but was replaced by Dani Clos after the first round of the championship. He then returned to the seat for the fourth round of the series. After a run of pointless weekends, he took his first series victory in the sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps, only to be dropped for the following round of the championship in favour of Jake Rosenzweig. He finished 17th in the championship.

Formula One Král tested a Formula One car for the first time at the season-ending "young drivers" test in Abu Dhabi, with Hispania Racing.

Král revealed in June 2013 that he had a contract in place to race in the 2013 Formula One season with HRT F1 before the team went into administration and eventually closed.

Racing record

Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition 2005 Czech Formula 1400 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 3rd 2006 Formula BMW ADAC Micánek Motorsport 18 0 0 0 0 40 12th 2007 Formula BMW UK Räikkönen Robertson Racing 18 6 1 6 13 636 2nd Formula BMW ADAC ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg 2 0 0 0 1 56 25th 2007–08 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team Czech Republic 2 0 0 0 0 10 19th 2008 International Formula Master Team JVA 16 1 0 0 3 29 6th 2009 International Formula Master JD Motorsport 16 2 1 3 6 62 3rd 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series Super Nova Racing 8 0 0 0 1 8 11th 2010 GP2 Series Super Nova Racing 10 0 0 0 0 3 24th Formula One HRT F1 TeamTest driver 2011 GP2 Series Arden International 18 0 0 0 2 15 15th GP2 Asia Series 4 0 0 0 1 8 10th GP2 Final 2 0 0 0 0 0 16th 2012 GP2 Series Barwa Addax Team 16 1 0 0 1 27 17th 2013 Auto GP Zele Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 23rd 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Scuderia Praha 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Pro-Am 1 0 0 0 0 13 30th 24H Series - A62017 24H Series - A6 Scuderia Praha2018 24H GT Series - A6 Bohemia Energy Racing with Scuderia Praha 2019 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Bohemia Energy Racing with Scuderia Praha 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Pro-Am 1 0 0 0 0 7 23rd 24H GT Series - A62021 24H GT Series - GT3 MiddleCap racing with Scuderia Praha2022Ferrari Challenge Europe - Trofeo PirelliScuderia Praha20001198th2023 Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali - Trofeo Pirelli (Pro) Scuderia Praha20001159th2025 Middle East Trophy - GT3 Pro-Am Scuderia Praha20000218th 24H Series - GT3 Scuderia Praha50001986th2025–2624H Series Middle East - GT3 Pro-AmScuderia Praha200000NC2026Italian GT Championship Sprint Cup - GT CupScuderia Praha

Complete Formula BMW ADAC 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 DC Points 2006 Micánek Motorsport HOC1 HOC2 LAU1 LAU2 NÜR1 NÜR2 OSC1 OSC2 OSC1 OSC2 NOR1 NOR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 HOC1 HOC2 12th 40 2007 ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg OSC11 OSC12 LAU1 LAU2 NOR1 NOR2 NÜR11 NÜR12 ZAN1 ZAN2 OSC21 OSC22 NÜR21 NÜR22 CAT1 CAT2HOC1HOC2 25th 56

Complete Formula BMW UK 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 18 DC Pts 2007 Räikkönen Robertson Racing BRH1 BRH2 ROC1 ROC2 THR1 THR2 CRO1 CRO2 OUL1 OUL2 DON1 DON2 SNE1 SNE2 BRH1 BRH2 KNO1 KNO2 2nd 636

Complete A1 Grand Prix 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 DC Points 2007–08 Czech Republic NEDSPR NEDFEA CZESPR CZEFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA ZHUSPR ZHUFEA NZLSPR NZLFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA RSASPR RSAFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA SHASPR SHAFEA GBRSPR GBRSPR 19th 10

Complete International Formula Master 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 DC Points 2008 Team JVA VAL1 VAL2 PAU1 PAU2 BRN1 BRN2 EST1 EST2 BRH1 BRH2 OSC1 OSC2 IMO1 IMO2 MNZ1 MNZ2 6th 29 2009 JD Motorsport PAU1 PAU2 VAL1 VAL2 BRN1 BRN2 BRH1 BRH2 HUN1 HUN2 SPA1 SPA2 OSC1 OSC2 IMO1 IMO2 3rd62

Complete GP2 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 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points 2010 Super Nova Racing CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR VALFEA VALSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 24th 3 2011 Arden International ISTFEA ISTSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR VALFEA VALSPR SILFEA SILSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 15th 15 2012 Barwa Addax Team SEPFEA SEPSPR BHR1FEA BHR1SPR BHR2FEA BHR2SPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR VALFEA VALSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR MRNFEA MRNSPR 17th 27

Complete GP2 Asia 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 DC Points 2009–10 Super Nova Racing YMC1FEA YMC1SPR YMC2FEA YMC2SPR BHR1FEA BHR1SPR BHR2FEA BHR2SPR 11th 8 2011 Arden International YMCFEA YMCSPR IMOFEA IMOSPR 10th 8

Complete GP2 Final results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 DC Points 2011 Arden International YMCFEA YMCSPR 16th 0

References

External links