Patric Niederhauser (born 8 October 1991) is a professional racing driver from Switzerland and a current Lamborghini factory driver.

Niederhauser was the champion of the Formula Abarth Italian Series in 2011 and competed in the GP3 Series before switching into GT racing, where a 2019 title in the ADAC GT Masters earned him a spot in the Audi factory lineup. After four years in the programme, Niederhauser switched to Porsche ahead of 2024, where he would secure the 2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup championship. He would then move to Lamborghini for the 2026 season and onwards.

Early career

Karting Niederhauser began karting in 2006 and raced primarily in his native Switzerland for the majority of his career, working his way up from the junior ranks to progress through to the KF2 category by 2009, when he finished as runner-up in Swiss Karting Championship.

Lower formulae In 2010, Niederhauser graduated to single–seaters, racing in the newly launched Formula Abarth series in Italy for Jenzer Motorsport. Race victory at Varano and another five podiums at the end of the season saw him finish as runner-up in the Italian series, Niederhauser remained in Formula Abarth for a second season in 2011, when the series split into the European and Italian series. He won the Italian Series title in clash with teammate (till Spa round) Sergey Sirotkin, taking six wins in fourteen races. In the European Series the Swiss driver finished as runner-up with five race victories, 37 points behind Sirotkin.

During 2010, Niederhauser also contested a single round of the Formula Renault 2.0 Middle European Championship at Dijon, finishing on the podium in both races.

GP3 Series In 2012, Niederhauser remained with Jenzer, moving into the GP3 Series. In his debut season, two wins helped the Swiss driver towards seventh in the standings. The following year, he returned to GP3 with Jenzer. The campaign proved to be less successful, as Niederhauser only scored two points finishes following a double podium at the opening round, thus ending up 13th in the standings.

In what would prove to be Niederhauser's final year in GP3, 2014 saw him switching over to Arden International. At the Hungaroring, Niederhauser broke his two-year long winless streak during the sprint race, and won again at Sochi to finish tenth overall.

Niederhauser did not attain a seat in 2015, only competing in one round of the GP2 Series for Daiko Team Lazarus.

Sportscar career In 2016, Niederhauser made his sportscar debut, driving for Attempto Racing in the opening three rounds of the ADAC GT Masters. He would also race for the team in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and GT Series Sprint Cup championships that year, collecting a best race finish of tenth in both series.

For the following season, Niederhauser returned to GT Masters, this time partnering youngster Dennis Marschall at Aust Motorsport. The pair scored regular points finishes in the second half of the season, though that would only be enough for 21st in the drivers' championship. Niederhauser split his attention between Europe and Asia in 2018, competing for GruppeM Racing Team in the Blancpain GT Series Asia, where his first three wins in GT3 competition helped him towards third place in the standings, and the Silver Cup class of the Blancpain Endurance Cup, where he scored a single class podium.

Niederhauser came back to GT Masters for the 2019 season, racing for HCB-Rutronik Racing alongside Audi factory driver Kelvin van der Linde. With three victories and four further podiums, the Swiss-South African duo managed to take the title in dominant fashion. As a result of his performances, Niederhauser was introduced to Audi's factory driver lineup in 2020. That year saw him and van der Linde drive for Rutronik once again in defence of his GT Masters title, though they lost out due to a retirement in the final race caused by a startline collision, finishing fourth overall with a single win.

For the 2021 GT Masters season, Niederhauser moved to Phoenix Racing to partner second-year GT3 driver Jusuf Owega. The pair struggled to take results and failed to finish on the podium, which resulted in 18th place at year's end. Niederhauser returned to Rutronik in 2022, once again being joined by an inexperienced GT driver in Luca Engstler. A 14th place in the standings was the result, with the pair scoring a lone podium from a Niederhauser pole at Oschersleben. During the same year, the Swiss driver drove for Saintéloc Racing in both the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance and Sprint Cups. In the former, he would score a surprise victory at the Hockenheimring, meanwhile two podiums in the latter would signify sixth overall for him and Aurélien Panis.

Niederhauser remained at Saintéloc for the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe season, joining fellow factory drivers Simon Gachet and Christopher Mies for a Pro entry in the Endurance Cup, and partnering GT3 rookie Erwan Bastard in the Sprint Cup. Despite not scoring a single podium in the former, Niederhauser and his teammates ended up sixth in the standings owing to three fourth-place finishes. Meanwhile, a lone podium in the Sprint Cup resulted in tenth overall for the Swiss driver in the Sprint Cup. During the same year, Niederhauser also competed in the DTM with Tresor Orange1 fielded by Attempto Racing, though the team's struggles to settle into the series due to a low number of test days resulted in 23rd place in the championship.

With the disbandment of Audi's works lineup, Niederhauser found a new home at Porsche for 2024. He would compete with the marque in both the Sprint and Endurance Cups, partnering Sven Müller in the former and being joined by Julien Andlauer in the latter on his second return to Rutronik. In the Endurance Cup, the trio would finish 17th overall, with two points finishes and a best result of 5th at the season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard. In the Sprint Cup, duo of Niederhauser and Müller would win the season finale in Barcelona, finishing fifth in the championship. Niederhauser would find victory at that year's edition of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in the SP 9 Pro-Am class with Lionspeed GP.

2025 would see Niederhauser remain at Rutronik for both the Sprint Cup and Endurance Cup alongside Sven Müller, with Alessio Picariello joining for endurance rounds. Niederhauser would win the Endurance Cup championship with the aforementioned despite not scoring any wins across the season, and also secured the first drivers and teams title in the series for Porsche. He would also finish second overall at the 24 Hours of Spa with Müller and Picariello. Following a win at the first round in Zandvoort, Niederhauser would the finish the Sprint Cup championship in fifth overall.

Rutronik would move to Lamborghini before the start of the 2026 season, with Niederhauser being named a Lamborghini factory driver. He would remain with the team, who will attempt to defend their team and drivers' titles with Marco Mapelli and Luca Engstler.

Personal life Niederhauser is in a relationship with racing driver Marylin Niederhauser who competed in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship. The fact that the two have identical surnames is a coincidence.

Racing record

Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition 2010 Formula Abarth Jenzer Motorsport 14 1 1 1 6 106 2nd Formula Renault 2.0 MEC 2 0 0 0 2 N/A NC† 2011 Formula Abarth Italian Series Jenzer Motorsport 14 6 2 6 8 149 1st Formula Abarth European Series 14 5 1 6 9 138 2nd 2012 GP3 Series Jenzer Motorsport 16 2 0 1 4 101 7th Italian Formula 3 European Series BVM 9 1 0 1 2 48 11th Italian Formula 3 Italian Series 3 0 0 0 0 10 13th 2013 GP3 Series Jenzer Motorsport 16 0 0 0 2 33 13th European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Race Performance 4 0 0 0 1 40 9th 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 9th 2014 GP3 Series Arden International 18 2 0 2 2 62 10th European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Race Performance 1 0 0 0 0 12 20th 2015 GP2 Series Daiko Team Lazarus 2 0 0 0 0 0 34th 2016 ADAC GT Masters ADAC NSA / Attempto Racing 6 0 0 0 0 0 NC Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup Attempto Racing 7 0 0 0 0 1 31st Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 5 0 0 0 0 2 46th 2017 ADAC GT Masters Aust Motorsport 14 0 0 1 0 34 21st 2018 Blancpain GT Series Asia GruppeM Racing Team 12 3 2 1 4 123 3rd Blancpain GT Series Asia - Silver 12 3 2 1 6 142 4th Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Reiter Young Stars 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup - Silver 4 0 0 0 1 36 11th GT4 Central European Cup - Pro-Am K Racing – Reiter 2 1 1 1 2 50 11th 2019 ADAC GT Masters HCB-Rutronik Racing 14 3 3 1 7 205 1st GT4 European Series - Silver True Racing 12 1 0 2 4 121 5th Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia Solite Indigo Racing 2 0 0 0 0 8 35th Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia - Silver 2 0 0 0 0 18 17th FIA Motorsport Games GT Cup Team Switzerland 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 17th 2020 ADAC GT Masters Rutronik Racing 13 1 0 1 4 160 4th International GT Open Reiter Engineering 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC† GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Audi Sport Team Attempto Racing 1 0 0 0 1 23 14th Intercontinental GT Challenge Audi Sport Team Attempto Racing 1 0 0 0 1 28 8th Audi Sport Team Car Collection10000 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 Car Collection Motorsport10000N/A15th 2021 ADAC GT Masters Phoenix Racing 13 0 0 0 0 54 18th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Audi Sport Team Saintéloc Racing10000824th Intercontinental GT Challenge 3 1 0 0 2 502nd 24H GT Series - GT4 Lionspeed by Car Collection Motorsport100000NC 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP910000N/A20th 24H GT Series - P4 Car Collection Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2022 ADAC GT Masters Rutronik Racing 14 0 1 0 1 104 14th GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Saintéloc Racing 9 0 0 0 2 49.5 6th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup 5 1 0 0 1 33 13th Intercontinental GT Challenge Audi Sport Team Saintéloc200011515th 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 Audi Sport Team Car Collection10000N/A4th 2023 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Tresor Orange1 16 0 0 0 0 23 23rd GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Saintéloc Junior Team 10 0 0 0 1 13 10th GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup 5 0 0 0 0 41 6th 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 Audi Sport Team Land10000N/A6th2024 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Rutronik Racing501001317th GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup 10 1 1 0 3 41 5th Intercontinental GT Challenge10000288th Lionspeed GP10000 Herberth Motorsport10100 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 Lionspeed GP20002** 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 Pro-Am11101N/A1stGT World Challenge America - Pro-AmHerberth Motorsport101100NC†2025 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup Rutronik Racing 5 0 0 0 3 731st GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup 10 1 0 0 4 69.5 5th Intercontinental GT Challenge 1 1 0 0 1 33 10th Phantom Global Racing 1 0 0 0 0 Wright Motorsports 1 0 0 0 0 Scherer Sport PHX 0 0 0 0 0 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 4 2 0 2 2 0 NC†† 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 Pro00000N/AWD24H Series - 992Lionspeed GP2025-2624H Series Middle East - GT3Absolute Racing2026Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9Team ABT Sportsline24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9Red Bull Team Abt 1 0 1 0 0 N/A DSQGT World Challenge Europe Endurance CupRutronik RacingGT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup 10 0 0 0 2 22 14th † As Niederhauser was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points. †† No. 16 Scherer Sport PHX is ineligible for points. * Season still in progress.

Complete GP3 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)