Luca Filippi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Luca Filippi
Filippi at the 2015 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1985-08-09) 9 August 1985 (age 39) Savigliano, Italy
IndyCar Series career
Debut season	2013
Racing licence	FIA Gold
Former teams	Barracuda Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, CFH Racing, Dale Coyne Racing
Starts	22
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	21st in 2015
Previous series
2008–2011 2008 2006 2005, 2007–08 2004–10 2003–04 2003–04 2003 2003	GP2 Asia Series International GT Open Renault Eurocup Formula One testing Euro/Italian F3000/Auto GP FR2000 Eurocup Formula Renault 2000 Italia
Championship titles
2005	Italian F3000

Luca Filippi (born August 9, 1985) is an Italian former race car driver. He was born in Savigliano, Italy. Luca competed in the GP2 Series from 2006 to 2012. He also raced in the IndyCar Series from 2013 to 2016. In 2008, he was an official test driver for the Honda Racing F1 team.

Luca Filippi's Racing Journey

Starting in Formula Renault

Luca Filippi began his racing career in 2003 after racing karts. He joined the Formula Renault 2.0 Italia series. In 2004, he finished third overall. Two famous drivers, Pastor Maldonado and Kohei Hirate, finished ahead of him that year.

Moving to Formula 3000

In 2005, Luca moved up to the Italian Formula 3000 series. He drove for the Fisichella Motorsport team, which was owned by Giancarlo Fisichella. That same year, Luca got his first chance to test a Formula One car. He tested for the Minardi team.

Racing in the GP2 Series

Luca Filippi driving for ART Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit in 2008.

In 2006, Luca joined the GP2 Series with the Coloni Motorsport team. This team worked with Fisichella's team. However, he later moved to the BCN Competición team during the season.

The 2007 season was a strong one for Luca. He continued in GP2 with Super Nova Racing. He became one of the top drivers and finished fourth in the championship.

In late 2007, Luca had more chances to test Formula One cars. He tested for Honda Racing F1 and Super Aguri F1. He even drove faster than regular race driver Takuma Sato during one test.

Luca Filippi racing for Arden International at the Valencia Street Circuit in 2008.

For the first GP2 Asia Series season in early 2008, Luca raced for Team Meritus. This was a Malaysian team. He scored only four points in ten races, finishing 17th.

Luca drove for the ART Grand Prix team in the first half of the 2008 GP2 Series. He later moved to the Arden International team. His results did not improve much, and he finished 19th in the championship.

He returned to BCN Competición for the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series. However, he was soon replaced after the first race.

Luca Filippi driving for Super Nova Racing at the Catalunya round in 2009.

In 2009, Luca went back to the Super Nova team. He won the final race of the season at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. This win helped him finish fifth overall in the championship.

Luca returned to Team Meritus for the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series. He finished second in the championship. He also earned Meritus' first win in the series in Bahrain.

Luca started the 2010 GP2 Series season without a team. But he rejoined Super Nova later to replace an injured driver. He scored five points in ten races. During this time, Luca became the GP2 driver with the most race entries ever.

Luca Filippi at Monza Circuit during his return to the GP2 Series.

In 2011, Luca joined the Scuderia Coloni team for part of the GP2 Asia Series. He then returned to Super Nova for the main GP2 Series. After five races, he switched back to Coloni. His performance quickly improved. He won his first race for the team at the Nürburgring. This was also his 100th race in the series. He also won races at Spa-Francorchamps and Monza. These wins helped him finish second in the drivers' championship, his best result ever.

After almost a year away, Luca was called back by Coloni for his home race in the 2012 GP2 Series at Monza. Even with his break, he won the main race. He also earned pole position for the next race in Singapore. However, he crashed badly in that race and could not finish. Despite only racing in four of the 24 races, he still finished 16th in the championship.

Auto GP Success

Luca competed in the 2010 Auto GP season. He finished fifth in the standings with two wins. He won the first race at Brno and the last race at Monza. He returned for the 2011 Auto GP season. He earned one pole position, three fastest laps, one win, and five more podium finishes. He finished second in the championship, just three points behind the winner.

IndyCar Racing

Luca Filippi racing at the 2015 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

In 2012, it was announced that Luca would join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the IndyCar Series. He was supposed to race with former Formula 1 driver Takuma Sato. However, Luca did not race in the Indy 500 or the races that followed. In 2013, he raced in four events for Bryan Herta Autosport. His best finish was 15th.

CFH Racing signed Luca for the 2015 IndyCar season. He competed in the road and street races.

For the 2016 season, Luca signed with Dale Coyne Racing. He was set to compete in the entire season, including oval tracks. His first oval race was in Phoenix, Arizona, where he finished 20th. However, before the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Coyne replaced Luca for both Indy events.

Formula E Experience

In 2017, Luca joined the Nio team in the all-electric FIA Formula E Championship. He raced alongside Oliver Turvey. He scored one point in his first race, finishing tenth in the 2017 Hong Kong ePrix. Despite this good start, Luca did not score any more points that season. He missed the 2018 Paris ePrix due to a contract agreement. He scored only one point compared to Turvey's 46 points. He was then dropped by NIO for the 2018/19 season.

Career Summary

^† As Filippi was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

See also

In Spanish: Luca Filippi para niños