Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss professional racing driver.
Jani achieved his greatest success winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche's LMP1 programme for the 2014 season driving in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Previously, Jani drove for A1 Team Switzerland in A1 Grand Prix, helping them win the 2007–2008 title and finishing runner-up in 2005–06 and 2008–09. He raced for PKV Racing in the North American Champ Car series in 2007. He is also a GP2 Series race-winner and will be a Formula One test driver for Audi in 2026.
Jani joined Formula E's Faraday Future Dragon Racing squad for the 2017/2018 season but left the team after one weekend. For the 2019-20 Formula E season, he returned with his home brand Porsche with teammate André Lotterer.
Early career Born in Rorschach, Switzerland, to a Gujarati Indian father from Gujarat and a Swiss mother, Jani started his career in karting in 1998, where he stayed for two years before moving up to Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup in 2001. In the same year, he also raced some races in Italian Formula Renault. He stayed in both for 2002, again only racing part of the Italian Formula Renault season. In 2003, he moved to Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, driving for the Jenzer team. In that year, he finished second by only four points in the championship with Jenzer Motorsport. In 2004, he again raced in the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup but changed team, running with the French team DAMS, stating in the Swiss press, "This year, it is win or nothing." He finished fourth in the championship that year, while his old team, Jenzer Motorsport finished second with their rookie driver Ryan Sharp.
GP2
In 2005, Jani raced in the GP2 Series with Racing Engineering alongside Borja García who he generally outperformed. He won two races, at the Hungaroring and at Monza. He also managed to lead most of the Nürburgring race in a clearly slower car with some effective defensive driving.
In 2006, Jani replaced injured Nicolas Lapierre in the Silverstone and Magny-Cours races for English race team Arden. By doing this, he also secured his place in the record books, being the only person to ever drive in both GP2 and F1 on the same day.
A1 Grand Prix
Jani then raced in the new A1 Grand Prix series, representing his home nation with A1 Team Switzerland. In the inaugural season of A1GP, the team earned the silver medal for second place, with Jani consistently finishing on the podium, including a win at the Dubai Autodrome of the 2005-06 United Arab Emirates Sprint race.
After not attending the first two rounds of the 2006-07 season, and handing the reins to Sébastien Buemi, Jani took another win later in the season at the 2006–07 Malaysia Sprint race.
Jani drove all the races for Switzerland in the 2007-08 season, taking the championship with four wins and 168 points. The team finished second in the 2008-09 season, again with Jani ever-present.
Formula One
Jani was linked to a reserve F1 seat with the Sauber team. In 2004 however, he moved back to GP2 the following year. In December 2005, he was confirmed as Scuderia Toro Rosso's third driver, alongside race drivers Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi, a role he held throughout the 2006 season, before departing to pursue a Champ Car career. For the 2008 F1 season, Jani was linked with the test driving role at Red Bull Racing. As his father is from India, Jani was linked to the proposed Indian-backed buyout of BMW SauberNeel Jani part of consortium bidding for BMW Sauber but this did not succeed. In early 2010, he tested for Force India and was rumoured to be involved with the team that year. However, Force India signed Mercedes driver Paul di Resta as their test and reserve driver.
In June 2023, it was announced that Jani had signed with Audi as a simulator driver to help them develop their power unit in preparation for their entry into Formula 1 in 2026.
Champ Car
For 2007, Jani drove for the PKV Racing team in the Champ Car World Series.Neel Jani joins PKV Racing He ended the series in ninth place with a total of 231 points. After choosing to focus on the 2007-2008 A1GP season rather than stay in ChampCar for 2008,Jani Sees Better Future in A1GP , RACER Magazine & Autosport.com via SpeedTV.com, January 23, 2008 the series was absorbed by the IRL.
Sports car racing
In 2010, Jani became affiliated with Swiss privateer Rebellion Racing and teamed with Nicolas Prost to race a Lola-Judd LMP1 at the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing second at Algarve and fifth at Silverstone. He also raced the second half of the FIA GT1 season for Matech in a Ford GT, finishing seventh in a championship race and eighth in other two.
Jani took up full-time WEC racing in 2012 with Rebellion, teaming with Prost and Nick Heidfeld for two seasons, before joining the Porsche works team in 2014 and winning his first LMP1 race at São Paulo, Brazil, finishing third overall in the championship. The 2015 season saw Jani take another win at Bahrain in addition to five runner-up spots; again he finished third in the championship.
Jani kicked off the 2016 WEC season with a win at Silverstone and a second place at Spa before inheriting the win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in dramatic fashion when Kazuki Nakajima's Toyota broke down in the lead with only one lap to go in the race.
Return to single-seaters: Formula E On 24 August 2017, it was announced that Jani would make his debut in FIA Formula E Championship in its fourth season at Faraday Future Dragon Racing with Jérôme d'Ambrosio as his teammate. After two 18th-place finishes at the season opener in Hong Kong, Jani abruptly quit the team focusing instead on his WEC commitments with Rebellion Racing.
In December 2018, Porsche announced that Jani would return to the championship as part of their driver line-up for their maiden season. He raced for Porsche with teammate Andre Lotterer till the end of the 2019–20 season, finishing twentieth on the standings. For the 2020-21 Formula E Championship, he was replaced by Pascal Wehrlein.
Personal life Jani and his wife Lauren have a son.
Career results Racing career summary
SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesFLapsPodiumsPointsPosition2000Formula Lista Junior 1.6Steiner Motorsport12812197 1stFormula Renault 2000 FranceDG Racing30000425th2001Formula Renault 2000 EurocupDG Racing100000824thFormula Renault 2000 France30000724thFormula Renault 2000 ItalyRC Motorsport200001619th2002Formula Renault 2000 EurocupJenzer Motorsport93325178 2ndFormula Renault 2000 Italy100001617thAustria Formula 3 Cup KMS Motorsport21012325th2003Formula Renault V6 EurocupJenzer Motorsport1843312350 2nd2004Formula Renault V6 EurocupDAMS1947482394thFIA GT Championship100000NCFormula OneSauber PetronasTest driver2005GP2 SeriesRacing Engineering232102487thFormula OneRed Bull RacingTest driver2005–06A1 Grand PrixA1 Team Switzerland1812111121‡ 2nd‡2006GP2 SeriesArden International40000025thFormula OneScuderia Toro RossoReserve driver2006–07A1 Grand PrixA1 Team Switzerland8110150‡8th‡2007Champ Car World SeriesPKV Racing1400032319th2007–08A1 Grand PrixA1 Team Switzerland2046511168 1st2008Porsche SupercupPorsche AG100000NC2008–09A1 Grand PrixA1 Team Switzerland14412795 2nd200924 Hours of Le MansSpeedy Racing Team Sebah10000N/A12th2010Le Mans Series - LMP1Rebellion Racing50002525th24 Hours of Le Mans10000N/ANCFIA GT1 World ChampionshipMatech Competition1200001433rdSuperleague FormulaOlympiacos CFP21001653‡4th‡2011Le Mans Series - LMP1Rebellion Racing5020137 3rdIntercontinental Le Mans Cup5000050‡ 3rd‡24 Hours of Le Mans10000N/A6thAmerican Le Mans Series - LMP120000N/ANCSuperleague FormulaBelgium–R.S.C. Anderlecht600021255th2012FIA World Endurance ChampionshipRebellion Racing8000086.54th24 Hours of Le Mans10000N/A4thAmerican Le Mans Series - LMP111111N/ANC2013FIA World Endurance ChampionshipRebellion Racing300002116th24 Hours of Le Mans10000N/A7thAmerican Le Mans Series - LMP14131482 2nd2014FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP1-HPorsche Team81303117 3rd24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP1-H10000N/A4th2015FIA World Endurance ChampionshipPorsche Team81226138.5 3rd24 Hours of Le Mans10100N/A5th2016FIA World Endurance ChampionshipPorsche Team921131601st24 Hours of Le Mans11101N/A1st2017FIA World Endurance ChampionshipPorsche LMP Team903271294th24 Hours of Le Mans10000N/ANCIMSA SportsCar Championship - PrototypeRebellion Racing201004526th2017–18Formula EDragon Racing20000025th201824 Hours of Le MansRebellion Racing10000N/A4th2018–19FIA World Endurance ChampionshipRebellion Racing80002915th201924 Hours of Le MansRebellion Racing10000N/A4th2019–20Formula ETAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team110000820th2020IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTLMPorsche GT Team100013214th 2020–21 Formula E TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E TeamReserve driver2021FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTEPorsche GT Team63006166 2nd 2021–22 Formula E TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E TeamReserve driver2022IMSA SportsCar Championship - DPiCadillac Racing1100137819thIndian Racing LeagueHyderabad Blackbirds53233137 2nd2023 FIA World Endurance Championship - HypercarProton Competition30000420thIMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP1000132120thEuropean Le Mans Series - LMP2Duqueine Team61011794th24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP210001N/A 3rdAsian Le Mans Series - LMP299 Racing40202494thIndian Racing LeagueHyderabad Blackbirds2000156‡6th‡ 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar Proton Competition 8 0 0 0 0 13 24th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP Proton Competition Mustang Sampling 1 0 0 0 0 281 30th Indian Racing League Hyderabad Blackbirds 3 0 1 1 2 73‡ 8th‡ 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship - HypercarProton Competition 8 0 0 0 0 1 27th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP Proton Competition 3 0 0 0 0 914 18th JDC–Miller MotorSports 1 0 0 0 0Indian Racing LeagueKichcha's Kings BengaluruEuropean Le Mans Series - LMP2DKR Engineering 1 0 0 0 0 10 13th2026European Endurance Prototype CupCogemo Racing Team Formula One Audi Revolut F1 TeamDevelopment driver * Season still in progress. ‡Team standings.
Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup 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 DC Points 2001 DG Racing MNZ BRN MAG SIL ZOL HUN A1R NÜR JAR EST 24th 8 2002 Jenzer Motorsport MAG SIL JAR AND OSC SPA IMO DON EST 2nd 178
Complete Formula Renault V6 Eurocup 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 DC Points 2003 Jenzer MotorsportCAT1CAT2MAG1MAG2MONDON1DON2SPA1SPA21SPA22AND1AND2OSC1OSC2EST1EST2MNZ1MNZ2 2nd 350 2004 DAMSMNZ1MNZ2VAL1VAL2MAG1MAG2MONBRN1BRN2DON1DON2SPA1SPA2IMO1IMO2OSC1OSC2DUB1DUB2 4th 239
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 DC Points 2005 Racing Engineering IMOFEA IMOSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA NÜRFEA NÜRSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SPAFEA SPASPR BHRFEA BHRSPR 7th 48 2006 Arden International Ltd VALFEA VALSPR IMOFEA IMOSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA SILFEA SILSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 25th 0Source:
Complete A1 Grand Prix results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)