Francesco Simonazzi (born 8 March 2004) is an Italian racing driver who competes in the 2025 European Le Mans Series for Duqueine Team. He previously competed in the Euroformula Open Championship with BVM Racing from 2021 to 2024, finishing runner-up in the latter season.
Junior racing career
Lower formulae 2019 In 2019, Simonazzi made his car racing debut, competing in the Italian F4 Championship with Cram Motorsport. He experienced a challenging rookie year, scoring points on just one occasion, with an eighth place coming at Imola. Simonazzi missed the final two rounds of the season, which meant that he ended up 22nd in the standings.
2020 Simonazzi returned to Italian F4 for 2020, contesting the first round for DRZ Benelli. Having scored two points in a pair of appearances for Jenzer Motorsport, which also included a one-off start in Spanish F4, where he took the first podium of his career, Simonazzi drove for BVM Racing in the remaining half of the Italian F4 campaign. More points finishes followed, as the Italian finished 18th in the championship with a best result of sixth at the season finale at Vallelunga.
2021
The following year, Simonazzi once again raced in the Italian F4 Championship. He remained with BVM and scored 28 points, having competed in merely four of the seven rounds, which left him 14th at season's end.
Simonazzi also made an appearance in the F2000 Italian Formula Trophy during 2021, scoring his first two victories in car racing.
Euroformula Open 2021 In 2021, Simonazzi spearheaded BVM's return to the Euroformula Open Championship, racing in the final two rounds at Monza and Barcelona. With the former event yielding a triple of points finishes, Simonazzi was classified 18th in the standings.
2022
Simonazzi returned to the series for the 2022 season, being the sole driver for BVM Racing once more. Despite low grid numbers, he struggled in the opening rounds, having to wait until the middle of the season for his first podium, which he scored at the Hungaroring. The biggest success of his season would follow just two rounds later, as, after finishing second in Race 2, Simonazzi scored his first win in the category at the Red Bull Ring, inheriting victory after original race winner Vladislav Lomko was awarded a five-second penalty for colliding with Frederick Lubin. A less successful weekend in Monza followed, which included Simonazzi causing a collision with Christian Mansell, which sent the latters car flipping upside down, before Simonazzi capped off his season by taking second place in Race 1 at Barcelona. This result meant that Simonazzi finished sixth in the standings, being the second-lowest full-time competitor in the standings, only ahead of Alex García.
2023 Simonazzi returned to the Euroformula Open in 2023, remaining with BVM Racing once more.
2024
Simonazzi was retained by BVM Racing for a third season of Euroformula Open in 2024.
2025 Simonazzi opted not to continue in Euroformula Open in 2025, but remained in a developmental role for BVM Racing.
FIA Formula 3 Championship Simonazzi was announced to race in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Rodin Carlin for the final two rounds, replacing Max Esterson who returned to the GB3 Championship.
Endurance racing career 2025: ELMS debut Simonazzi switched to the European Le Mans Series for 2025, joining French outfit Duqueine Team.
Karting record
Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition2015WSK Final Cup — 60 MiniEvokart SrlNC2018Andrea Margutti Trophy — X30 Senior14th2019Italian Karting Championship — KZN Under32ndSource:
Racing record
Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2019 Italian F4 Championship Cram Motorsport 12 0 0 0 0 4 22nd 2020 Italian F4 Championship DRZ Benelli 3 0 0 0 0 18 18th Jenzer Motorsport 6 0 0 0 0 BVM Racing 11 0 0 0 0 F4 Spanish Championship Jenzer Motorsport 3 0 0 0 1 23 14th 2021 Italian F4 Championship BVM Racing 12 0 0 0 0 28 14th Euroformula Open Championship 6 0 0 0 0 15 18th F2000 Italian Formula Trophy - FX2 2 2 2 2 2 0 NC† FIA Central European Zone Formula 4 2 0 ? ? 2 30 4th 2022 Euroformula Open Championship BVM Racing 26 1 0 1 4 197 6th2023 Euroformula Open Championship BVM Racing 23 2 0 2 8 2893rd F2000 Italian Formula Trophy 2 2 2 2 2 0 NC† FIA Formula 3 Championship Rodin Carlin 4 0 0 0 0 0 27th2024 Euroformula Open Championship BVM Racing 23 5 2 6 12 3452nd Ultimate Cup Series - Proto P3 TS Corse 2 0 0 0 1 21 17th 2025 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 Duqueine Team 3 0 1 0 0 9 16thInternational GT OpenOregon Team 3 0 0 0 0 7 27th2026GT World Challenge Europe Endurance CupDinamic GT 4 0 0 0 0 20* 19th* † As Simonazzi was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. * Season still in progress.
Complete Italian F4 Championship 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 19 20 21 22 Pos Points 2019 Cram Motorsport VLL1 VLL2 VLL3 MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 IMO4 MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 22nd 4 2020 DRZ Benelli MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 18th 18 Jenzer Motorsport IMO11 IMO12 IMO13 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3BVM Racing MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 IMO21 IMO22 IMO23 VLL1 VLL2 VLL32021BVM Racing LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 VLL1 VLL2 VLL3 IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ314th28
Complete F4 Spanish Championship 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 19 20 21 Pos Points 2020 Jenzer MotorsportNAV1NAV2NAV3 LEC1 LEC2 LEC3JER1JER2JER3CRT1CRT2CRT3ARA1ARA2ARA3JAR1JAR2JAR3CAT1CAT2CAT3 14th 23
Complete Euroformula Open Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) 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 25 26 DC Points 2021 BVM Racing POR1 POR2 POR3 LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 18th 152022BVM RacingEST1EST2EST3PAU1PAU2LEC1LEC2LEC3SPA1SPA2SPA3HUN1HUN2HUN3IMO1IMO2IMO3RBR1RBR2RBR3MNZ1MNZ2MNZ3CAT1CAT2CAT3 6th 2023BVM RacingPRT1PRT2PRT3SPA1SPA2SPA3HUN1HUN2HUN3LEC1LEC2LEC3RBR1RBR2RBR3MNZ1MNZ2MNZ3MUG1MUG2CAT1CAT2CAT3 3rd 289 2024 BVM RacingPRT1PRT2PRT3HOC1HOC2HOC3SPA1SPA2SPA3HUN1HUN2HUN3LEC1LEC2LEC3RBR1RBR2RBR3CAT1CAT2CAT3MNZ1MNZ2MNZ3 2nd 345
Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship 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 2023 Rodin Carlin BHRSPR BHRFEA MELSPR MELFEA MONSPR MONFEA CATSPR CATFEA RBRSPR RBRFEA SILSPR SILFEA HUNSPR HUNFEA SPASPR SPAFEA MNZSPR MNZFEA 26th 0
Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points 2025 Duqueine Team LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC IMO SPA SIL ALG 16th 9
Complete GT World Challenge Europe results GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pos. Points 2026 Dinamic GT Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) Silver LEC MNZ SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR ALG 19th* 20*
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