Kazuki Nakajima facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kazuki Nakajima
中嶋 一貴
Nakajima at the 2012 6 Hours of Fuji
Born	(1985-01-11) 11 January 1985 (age 40) Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
Employer	FIA WEC Toyota (2022–present)
Title	Vice-Chairman
Parent(s)	Satoru Nakajima (father)
Relatives	Daisuke Nakajima (brother)
FIA World Endurance Championship career
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Years active	2012–2021
Teams	Toyota
Starts	59
Championships	1 (2018–19)
Wins	17
Podiums	36
Poles	10
Fastest laps	2
Best finish	1st in 2018–19 (LMP1)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Japanese
Active years	2007–2009
Teams	Williams
Entries	36 (36 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	9
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	2007 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last entry	2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Super Formula career
Years active	2011–2021
Teams	TOM'S
Starts	73
Championships	2 (2012, 2014)
Wins	9
Podiums	31
Poles	5
Fastest laps	5
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2012–2021
Teams	Toyota
Best finish	1st (2018, 2019, 2020)
Class wins	3 (2018, 2019, 2020)
Previous series
2005–2019 2007 2006 2004–2005 2003	Super GT GP2 Series F3 Euro Series Japanese F3 Formula Toyota
Championship titles
2003	Formula Toyota

Kazuki Nakajima (born on January 11, 1985) is a Japanese former racing driver. He also works as a leader in motorsport. He raced in Formula One from 2007 to 2009.

In Japan, Nakajima won the Super Formula Championship twice, in 2012 and 2014, with the TOM'S team. He is also famous for his success in endurance racing. He won the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship. He also won the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race three times in a row, from 2018 to 2020, all with Toyota.

Since 2022, Nakajima has been a vice-chairman for Toyota in the World Endurance Championship (WEC). He has helped Toyota win three World Manufacturers' Championship titles in a row from 2022 to 2024.

Racing Career Highlights

Starting in Racing

Kazuki Nakajima was born in Okazaki, Aichi, Japan. His father, Satoru Nakajima, was also a famous Formula One driver. His younger brother, Daisuke Nakajima, is also a racing driver.

Kazuki started his racing journey in 1996 with karting. Just three years later, he became the Suzuka Formula ICA karting champion. His strong skills caught the eye of the Japanese car company Toyota. They invited him to join their Young Drivers Program. This program helps young talented drivers get started in racing.

In 2002, Nakajima won a scholarship in Formula Toyota. He became the champion in that series the very next year. After that, he moved up to Japanese Formula Three in 2004. He won two races and finished fifth overall. He continued in Japanese Formula Three in 2005, finishing second. He also raced in the Japanese GT300 sports car series.

In 2006, Nakajima raced in the Formula Three Euroseries. He competed against future Formula One stars like Sebastian Vettel. He started strong with a second-place finish and a win early in the season. He ended the year in seventh place.

Nakajima driving the Williams FW29 at the 2007 Goodwood Festival of Speed.

In November 2006, Nakajima became a test driver for the Williams Formula One team. He hoped to get a full-time racing spot in 2008. His first time driving a Formula One car was at Fuji Speedway in Japan.

In 2007, he also raced in the GP2 series for the DAMS team. Even though he didn't win any races, he finished on the podium five times in a row. He ended the year as the best rookie driver in fifth place.

Formula One Racing

Nakajima driving in the rainy first practice session during the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix. His father, Satoru, also made his Formula One debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 1987.

On October 9, 2007, it was announced that Nakajima would race for Williams in the last race of the season in Brazil. He finished tenth in the race. He also set the fifth fastest lap, which was quicker than his teammate.

During his first pit stop, Nakajima drove a little too far. He accidentally hit two of his mechanics. They were taken to the hospital for safety checks. Nakajima quickly apologized for his mistake.

Patrick Head, a leader at Williams, said that Kazuki drove well for his first race. He added that Nakajima's lap times were impressive.

On November 7, Williams confirmed that Nakajima would be a full-time driver for the 2008 season. He had a good start to 2008 at the Australian Grand Prix. He finished seventh, which was later changed to sixth place. He also finished seventh in the Spanish Grand Prix. Nakajima scored two points at Monaco. No Japanese Formula One driver had ever scored points there before. He scored another point at the 2008 British Grand Prix. In Singapore, he qualified tenth and finished eighth, earning another point.

Nakajima driving for Williams at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.

Nakajima stayed with Williams for the 2009 season. He had some tough races, including crashes in Australia and Monaco. He came close to scoring points in several races. At the 2009 British Grand Prix, he qualified in an impressive fifth place. However, his race strategy didn't work out, and he finished outside the points. He finished ninth in Hungary and Singapore. Nakajima finished the 2009 season without scoring any points.

For 2010, Williams signed new drivers, leaving Nakajima without a seat. He was later linked to a new team called Stefan GP. However, this team was not allowed to join the 2010 Formula One season. This meant Nakajima did not have a drive in Formula One for that year.

Racing in Japan: Super Formula and Super GT

Nakajima driving the Dallara SF14 for TOM'S in 2014.

After his time in Formula One, Nakajima returned to racing in Japan. In 2011, he competed in Formula Nippon, which is now called Super Formula. He drove for the TOM'S team. He won his first race at Autopolis and finished second overall that year.

He continued in the series in 2012 and won the championship title! In 2013, he finished fourth. But in 2014, he won the Super Formula title again with his Petronas Team TOM'S. He finished second overall in 2015. His younger brother, Daisuke, also raced in this series until 2017.

Nakajima racing for Petronas Team TOM'S in 2011.

Nakajima also raced in the Japanese Super GT series. He first competed in 2005 in the GT300 class. He returned in 2011, driving a Lexus SC430 in the faster GT500 class. In 2013, he won two races and finished third in the standings. He won two more races in 2014. He returned to Super GT in 2017 with a Lexus LC 500.

FIA World Endurance Championship Success

Nakajima driving in the 2018 6 Hours of Silverstone.

In 2012, Toyota chose Nakajima to be one of their drivers for the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). He drove the Toyota TS030 Hybrid prototype car. At Le Mans, his car had an accident and couldn't finish the race. However, he finished second at the 2012 6 Hours of Silverstone. At the 2012 6 Hours of Fuji, Nakajima earned pole position (starting first). He then helped Toyota win the race, which was his first win with the team.

Nakajima continued to race part-time for Toyota in WEC for the next two seasons. He won the 2013 6 Hours of Fuji. In 2014, he finished second in three races.

He became a full-time Toyota driver in WEC for the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship. His best result that year was a third-place finish at Silverstone. In 2016, he also finished third at Shanghai.

Nakajima started the 2017 season with two wins at Silverstone and Spa.

A major highlight of his career came in 2018. Nakajima won the famous 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans race. He shared the #8 Toyota car with teammates Fernando Alonso and Sébastian Buemi.

Nakajima, Buemi, and Alonso won the Le Mans race again in 2019. At the same time, they also won the 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship. This made Nakajima the second Japanese driver to become an FIA world champion. He then won Le Mans for a third time in 2020, with Brendon Hartley and Sébastian Buemi as his teammates.

Nakajima stopped racing after the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship. He took on a new role as vice-chairman at Toyota Gazuki Racing Europe. Another driver, Ryō Hirakawa, took his place in the team.

Racing Record

Career Summary

‡ Team standings

24 Hours of Le Mans Results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2012	Toyota Racing	Nicolas Lapierre Alexander Wurz	Toyota TS030 Hybrid	LMP1	134	DNF	DNF
2013	Toyota Racing	Nicolas Lapierre Alexander Wurz	Toyota TS030 Hybrid	LMP1	341	4th	4th
2014	Toyota Racing	Stéphane Sarrazin Alexander Wurz	Toyota TS040 Hybrid	LMP1-H	219	DNF	DNF
2015	Toyota Racing	Sébastien Buemi Anthony Davidson	Toyota TS040 Hybrid	LMP1	386	8th	8th
2016	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Sébastien Buemi Anthony Davidson	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	LMP1	384	NC	NC
2017	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Sébastien Buemi Anthony Davidson	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	LMP1	358	8th	2nd
2018	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Fernando Alonso Sébastien Buemi	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	LMP1	388	1st	1st
2019	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Fernando Alonso Sébastien Buemi	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	LMP1	385	1st	1st
2020	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Brendon Hartley Sébastien Buemi	Toyota TS050 Hybrid	LMP1	387	1st	1st
2021	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Brendon Hartley Sébastien Buemi	Toyota GR010 Hybrid	Hypercar	369	2nd	2nd

FIA World Endurance Championship Results

Images for kids

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  Nakajima driving the Dallara SF14 for TOM'S in 2014.

• 

  Nakajima racing for Petronas Team TOM'S in 2011.

• 

  Nakajima driving in the 2018 6 Hours of Silverstone.

See also

In Spanish: Kazuki Nakajima para niños