Mahaveer Raghunathan

Mahaveer Raghunathan
Mahaveer Raghunathan driving for PS Racing in the BOSS GP series
Nationality	Indian
Born	(1998-11-17) 17 November 1998 (age 25) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India [1]
Italian GT Championship career
Debut season	2023
Current team	Lazarus Corse
Former teams	Imperiale Racing
Starts	3
Wins	0
Podiums	1
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Previous series
2019 2016–17 2016 2016 2015 2014–15 2014	FIA Formula 2 Championship BOSS GP GP3 Auto GP European Formula 3 Championship MRF Formula 2000 Italian Formula 4 Championship

Mahaveer Raghunathan (born 17 November 1998) is an Indian racing driver. He currently competes in the Italian GT Championship with Lazarus Corse and has previously competed in the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship with MP Motorsport. He is an AMR Junior Team driver. ^[2]

Early career

Junior series

Raghunathan started his racing career in karting in 2012, where he remained active until 2013. He also made his Formula racing debut in 2012, in four races of the JK Racing Asia Series for the Meco Racing team. ^[3]

In 2013, Raghunathan competed in the MRF Challenge Formula 1600, finishing sixth. ^[4] He also took part in the final race weekend of the Formula Masters China series at the Shanghai International Circuit for the Cebu Pacific Air by KCMG team ^[5]

In 2014, Raghunathan moved to the new Italian F4 Championship, debuting on the second race weekend for the F & M team. He finished 12th in the championship ^[6]

European F3 Championship & GP3 Series

At the beginning of 2015, Raghunathan took part in the final race weekend of the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 series at the Madras Motor Race Track. He then returned to Europe to take part in the European Formula 3 Championship for the Motopark team. ^[7] He failed to get any points, finishing 39th in the championship ^[8] Raghunathan took part in the official GP3 post season test with the Campos and Trident teams, in preparation for the 2016 GP3 Series, but he only raced in the first round of the championship for Koiranen GP. He also tested with the Coloni Motorsport team in Auto GP. ^[7]

Auto GP & BOSS GP Series

In 2016, Raghunathan raced in the Auto GP championship with Italian team PS Racing, finishing second in the championship. In the same year, he also raced in the BOSS GP series in the Formula Class and secured two podiums in his class. ^[1]

In 2017, Raghunathan continued racing in BOSS GP's Formula Class Championship with PS Racing. He made 13 podiums out of 14 races in his class, and ending the season as the champion of the Formula Class. He is the first and only Indian to win the BOSS GP Championship. ^[1]

Raghunathan took part in the FIA WEC rookie test at the end of the year, driving an Oreca 07 for G-Drive Racing. ^[9]

FIA Formula 2 Championship

Following a season where he made just one race appearance in the Le Mans Cup, Raghunathan progressed towards the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2019, racing alongside Jordan King for MP Motorsport. ^[10] He was subsequently suspended for the Austrian round after accumulating 12 penalty points on his license during the season. He returned to the seat for the Silverstone round, continuing to run around at the back of the field. Both Raghunathan and team-mate King were reprimanded for failing to slow for yellow flags in qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps. A reduced field at the following round in Italy led to his only point of the season, but he was once again penalised in Sochi for not following track-limit procedures. He finished the season 20th in the standings, scoring only a single point, and being the last placed driver among all drivers to have scored points. ^[11]

As a result of Raghunathan's tumultuous Formula 2 campaign, the Indian is considered to be one of the worst drivers to compete in modern single-seater racing. ^[12] Following his first F2 event ban, Johnny Herbert labelled Raghunathan as "someone who is not aware of what is going on around him". ^[13]

Formula One

In August 2021, nearly two years after Raghunathan's last appearance behind the wheel of a race car, the Indian tested the Alfa Romeo Racing C38 alongside Théo Pourchaire at the Hungaroring where he set a time 1.9 seconds slower than the Frenchman. ^{[14] [15]}

In July 2023, nearly two years after his last F1 test, Raghunathan tested a McLaren MCL35 at Portimão, completing a distance of 750 km. ^[16]

World Endurance Championship

In November 2022, Raghunathan returned to the WEC, driving for Algarve Pro Racing at the rookie test in Bahrain. ^[17]

Italian GT

The Indian competed in the Italian GT Endurance Championship in 2023, driving a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 for Imperiale Racing in the Pro-Am class alongside teammates Jack Bartholomew and Miguel Garcia. ^[18] Raghunathan achieved his first professional career podium by coming in third at Round 3. ^[19]

He returned to the series in 2024, having been inducted into Aston Martin's AMR Driver Academy. ^[2] He would be signed by Lazarus Corse to compete in the endurance rounds of the championship alongside William Alatalo and three-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo. ^[20]

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2012	JK Racing Asia Series	Meco Racing	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2013	MRF Challenge Formula 1600 Championship	MRF Racing	?	?	?	?	?	?	6th
	Formula Masters China	Cebu Pacific Air by KCMG	3	0	0	0	0	0	21st
2014	Italian F4 Championship	F & M	18	0	0	0	0	45	12th
2014–15	MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship	MRF Racing	3	0	0	0	0	5	21st
2015	FIA Formula 3 European Championship	Motopark	26	0	0	0	0	0	39th
	Masters of Formula 3		1	0	0	0	0	0	17th
	Euroformula Open Championship	Motul Team West-Tec F3	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
	Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series	Cram Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2016	Auto GP Formula Open Championship	PS Racing	10	0	0	0	2	151	2nd
	BOSS GP Series - Formula Class		8	0	0	0	2	118	5th
	GP3 Series	Koiranen GP	2	0	0	0	0	0	27th
2017	BOSS GP Series - Formula Class	PS Racing	14	3	4	1	13	263	1st
2018	Le Mans Cup - LMP3	United Autosports	1	0	0	0	0	0.5	46th
2019	FIA Formula 2 Championship	MP Motorsport	20	0	0	0	0	1	20th
2023	Italian GT Endurance Championship - GT3 Pro-Am	Imperiale Racing	3	0	0	0	1	32	6th
2024	Italian GT Endurance Championship - GT3 Pro	Lazarus Corse						*	*

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	DC	Points
2014	F & M	ADR 1	ADR 2	ADR 3	IMO1 1 14	IMO1 2 17	IMO1 3 8	MUG 1 19	MUG 2 13	MUG 3 8	MAG 1 20	MAG 2 18	MAG 3 19	VLL 1 14	VLL 2 12	VLL 3 15	MNZ 1 11	MNZ 2 6	MNZ 3 12	IMO2 1 6	IMO2 2 6	IMO2 3 6	12th	45

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Engine	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	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	DC	Points
2015	Motopark	Volkswagen	SIL 1 26	SIL 2 25	SIL 3 29	HOC 1 24	HOC 2 31	HOC 3 30	PAU 1 DNQ	PAU 2 DNQ	PAU 3 DNQ	MNZ 1 Ret	MNZ 2 24	MNZ 3 25	SPA 1 29	SPA 2 27	SPA 3 24	NOR 1 25	NOR 2 20	NOR 3 25	ZAN 1 27	ZAN 2 30	ZAN 3 28	RBR 1 31	RBR 2 25	RBR 3 29	ALG 1 30	ALG 2 23	ALG 3 DNS	NÜR 1 30	NÜR 2 26	NÜR 3 22	HOC 1	HOC 2	HOC 3	39th	0

Complete Masters of Formula 3 results

Year	Team	Car	Qualifying	Quali Race	Main race
2015	Motopark	Dallara F315	17th	17th	17th

Complete Auto GP Formula Open 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	Pos	Pts
2016	PS Racing	ADR 1 2	ADR 2 3	MNZ 1 15	MNZ 2 6	ASS 1 7	ASS 2 5	BRN 1 8	BRN 2 4	IMO 1 4	IMO 2 Ret	2nd	151

Complete GP3 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	Pos	Pts
2016	Koiranen GP	CAT FEA 23	CAT SPR 24	RBR FEA	RBR SPR	SIL FEA	SIL SPR	HUN FEA	HUN SPR	HOC FEA	HOC SPR	SPA FEA	SPA SPR	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR	SEP FEA	SEP SPR	YMC FEA	YMC SPR	27th	0

Complete BOSS GP Series 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	Pos	Pts
2016	PS Racing	HOC 1	HOC 2	RBR 1	RBR 2	MNZ 1 15	MNZ 2 6	ASS 1 7	ASS 2 5	BRN 1 8	BRN 2 4	IMO 1 4	IMO 2 Ret			5th	118
2017	PS Racing	HOC 1 5	HOC 2 6	ZAN 1 3	ZAN 2 2	LEC 1 5	LEC 2 6	ZOL 1 1	ZOL 2 3	ASS 1 2	ASS 2 4	BRN 1 5	BRN 2 11	IMO 1 3	IMO 2 2	1st	263

Complete FIA Formula 2 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	DC	Points
2019	MP Motorsport	BHR FEA 18	BHR SPR 19	BAK FEA 11	BAK SPR 13	CAT FEA 16	CAT SPR 19	MON FEA 15	MON SPR Ret	LEC FEA 12	LEC SPR 18	RBR FEA EX	RBR SPR EX	SIL FEA 15	SIL SPR 18	HUN FEA 17	HUN SPR 19	SPA FEA C	SPA SPR C	MNZ FEA 10	MNZ SPR 13	SOC FEA 17	SOC SPR 17	YMC FEA Ret	YMC SPR 15	20th	1

Complete Italian GT Championship results

Italian GT Endurance Championship

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	DC	Points
2023	Imperiale Racing	Jack Bartholemew Miguel Garcia Giuseppe Fascicolo	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo	Pro-Am	PER 6	MUG	MNZ 4	VLL 6	6th	32
2024	Lazarus Corse	William Alatalo Jorge Lorenzo	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	Pro	VAL 14	MUG	IMO	MON	NC*	0*

^* Season still in progress.

References

1. "How Raghunathan is carving his own path in motorsport". Red Bull. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
2. "Record entry for 2024 AMR Driver Academy as the search begins again to uncover GT racing's most promising new talent | Aston Martin". www.astonmartin.com. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
3. "JK Racing Asia Series 2012 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
4. "MRF Challenge - Formula 1600 2013 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
5. "Formula Masters China Series 2013 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
6. "Italian Formula 4 Championship 2014 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
7. "Mahaveer Raghunathan joins Koiranen GP's GP3 line-up". The Checkered Flag. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
8. "FIA Formula 3 European Championship 2015 standings | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
9. "6H Bahrain: Rookie Test Paddock Notes". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
10. Gillard, Aaron (22 March 2019). "Jordan King And Mahaveer Raghunathan Completes MP Motorsport F2 Roster". The Checkered Flag. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
11. "Driver Standings for the FIA Formula 2 2019 Championship". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
12. "The Tumultuous Tale of Mahaveer Raghunathan". Josh Revell on YouTube. 31 January 2020.
13. "Formula-2 2019 - Round5 - Paul Richard Race2 ENG". Adam99 Motorsport Videos on VK Video. 24 June 2019.
14. "Photo: Raghunathan & Pourchaire complete first F1 test with Alfa Romeo". FormulaRapida.net. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
15. Coates, Freddie (5 August 2021). "Mahaveer Raghunathan Has Been Given The Opportunity To Test An F1 Car". WTF1. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
16. @feeder_series (7 July 2023). "Mahaveer Raghunathan tested a McLaren F1 car at Portimao" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 July 2023– via Twitter.
17. "Bahrain Rookie Test Line-up Announced". www.fiawec.com. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
18. "Mahaveer Raghunathan completes Imperiale Racing's lineup for the Italian Endurance Championship". imperialeracing.it. 12 May 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
19. "A PRO-AM podium for Imperiale Racing in Monza's round of the Italian GT Endurance Championship". Imperiale Racing. 20 September 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
20. "Vallelunga, pronto a scendere in pista nel GT Endurance anche l'ex campione della MotoGP Jorge Lorenzo con la Aston Martin Vantage GT3". Automobile Club d'Italia (in Italian). 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.

External links

• Profile at Driver Database