Théophile Naël

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Théophile Naël
FREC 2024 Spielberg Nr. 44 Nael.jpg
Naël in 2024
Nationality Flag of France.svg French
Born (2007-06-27) 27 June 2007 (age 17)
Saint-Étienne, France
FRECA career
Debut season 2024
Current team Saintéloc Racing
Car number44
Starts20 (20 entries)
Wins1
Podiums1
Poles1
Fastest laps0
Best finish9th in 2024
Previous series
2024
2023
20222023
FR Middle East Championship
Formula 4 UAE Championship
F4 Spanish Championship
Championship titles
2023 F4 Spanish Championship

Théophile Naël (born 27 June 2007) is a French racing driver who is set to compete with Van Amersfoort Racing in 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship. He is also the 2023 F4 Spanish champion.

Contents

Career

Karting

Naël was a successful karter in his national category, taking the crown in the 2018 French Championship, National Series Karting and in the 2020 IAME Series. [1] [2] [3]

Formula 4

2022

Naël made his single-seater debut during the fourth round of the 2022 F4 Spanish Championship with Saintéloc Racing at Spa-Francorchamps, around a week after he had turned 15. [4] Having achieved four points finishes with a high of eighth place, Naël ended 19th in the standings with 11 points.

2023

During 2023 pre-season, Naël was announced to drive in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship with Saintéloc Racing. [5] With multiple points finishes across the season, Naël placed 11th in the standings. [6] [7]

Nael driving at Spa-Francorchamps during the 2023 F4 Spanish Championship. F4 Spain 2023 Spa Nr. 4 (1).jpg
Naël driving at Spa-Francorchamps during the 2023 F4 Spanish Championship.

His full-time campaign would lie in the 2023 F4 Spanish Championship, as he continued to drive for Saintéloc Racing. [8] His first podium came only in the second race in Spa-Francorchamps, before taking his maiden car racing win the next round in Aragón. [9] Naël then put on a dominant display over the next three rounds, winning the next six of nine races, propelling himself to the top of the standings. [10] Another win the next round in Circuit Ricardo Tormo put him at the brink of the title. [11] Despite a complete sweep by rival Christian Ho during the season finale in Barcelona, Naël's massive points lead allowed him to seal the title during the first race. [12] He described his title win as "unbelievable" as he won against long-standing rivals Campos Racing and MP Motorsport. [13] He achieved eight wins, five poles and fourteen podiums whilst harnessing 314 points, 23 ahead of rival Ho.

Formula Regional

Nael driving in the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship at the Hungaroring FREC 2024 Mogyorod Nr. 44 Nael.jpg
Naël driving in the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship at the Hungaroring

Naël stepped up to the Formula Regional European Championship for 2024, continuing his relationship with Saintéloc Racing. [14] Before that, he competed in the pre-season Formula Regional Middle East Championship with the team. [15] He took his first Formula Regional win during the second round at Yas Marina and a further podium. [16] Ending the season with a third place, Naël was 11th in the standings. [17]

In his main campaign, Naël had a sluggish first half of the season with only three points finishes. [18] However, his breakthrough came at the Red Bull Ring where he won the second race from third on the grid. [19] He ended the season strongly with two fourth places in Monza, in which he even took his first pole in the final race. [20] Naël ended his first FRECA campaign ninth in the standings with 81 points. [21] He also partook in the Macau Grand Prix with Saintéloc. [22] He finished 14th in the main race, but was later disqualified as his team crew had illegally started the car again when his car had stalled. [23]

FIA Formula 3 Championship

In October 2024, Naël participated in the first round of FIA Formula 3 post-season testing at Jerez, with Van Amersfoort Racing. [24]

On November 28, 2024 Naël was confirmed as part of Van Amersfoort Racing's lineup for the 2025 season. [25] [26]

Karting record

Karting career summary

SeasonSeriesTeamPosition
2017 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals — Micro MaxLaurent Nael34th
2018 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals — Mini MaxNuvolini Stephen21st
French Championship — Cadet1st
National Series Karting — Cadet1st
2019 CIK-FIA European ChampionshipOKJ
2020IAME Series France — X30 Junior2N Racing1st
IAME Euro Series — X30 Junior3rd
IAME International Games — X30 Junior2N Racing51st
2021IAME Warriors Final — X30 Junior3rd
Source: [27]

Racing record

Racing career summary

SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition
2022 F4 Spanish Championship Saintéloc Racing 1200001119th
2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship Saintéloc Racing 1500104911th
F4 Spanish Championship 21855143141st
2024 Formula Regional Middle East Championship Saintéloc Racing 1510037511th
Formula Regional European Championship 201101819th
Macau Grand Prix 10000N/ADSQ
2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 000000TBD

* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results

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

YearTeam123456789101112131415161718192021DCPoints
2022 Saintéloc Racing ALG
1

ALG
2

ALG
3

JER
1

JER
2

JER
3

CRT
1

CRT
2

CRT
3

SPA
1

24
SPA
2

12
SPA
3

Ret
ARA
1

8
ARA
2

23
ARA
3

21†
NAV
1

11
NAV
2

10
NAV
3

8
CAT
1

15
CAT
2

11
CAT
3

9
19th11
2023 Saintéloc Racing SPA
1

7
SPA
2

3
SPA
3

6
ARA
1

5
ARA
2

3
ARA
3

1
NAV
1

1
NAV
2

1
NAV
3

3
JER
1

1
JER
2

4
JER
3

1
EST
1

1
EST
2

1
EST
3

Ret
CRT
1

2
CRT
2

1
CRT
3

19
CAT
1

3
CAT
2

18
CAT
3

2
1st314

Complete F4 UAE Championship results

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

YearTeam123456789101112131415DCPoints
2023 Saintéloc Racing DUB1
1

7
DUB1
2

Ret
DUB1
3

7
KMT1
1

4
KMT1
2

15
KMT1
3

8
KMT2
1

10
KMT2
2

9
KMT2
3

32
DUB2
1

26
DUB2
2

28
DUB2
3

6
YMC
1

28†
YMC
2

9
YMC
3

6
11th49

Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results

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

YearEntrant123456789101112131415DCPoints
2024 Saintéloc Racing YMC1
1

13
YMC1
2

10
YMC1
3

6
YMC2
1

8
YMC2
2

1
YMC2
3

2
DUB1
1

10
DUB1
2

Ret
DUB1
3

10
YMC3
1

Ret
YMC3
2

Ret
YMC3
3

12
DUB2
1

Ret
DUB2
2

9
DUB2
3

3
11th75

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

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

YearTeam1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2024 Saintéloc Racing HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

7
SPA
1

11
SPA
2

7
ZAN
1

17
ZAN
2

13
HUN
1

DSQ
HUN
2

9
MUG
1

23
MUG
2

14
LEC
1

11
LEC
2

14
IMO
1

7
IMO
2

8
RBR
1

13
RBR
2

1
CAT
1

6
CAT
2

11
MNZ
1

4
MNZ
2

4
9th81

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

YearTeamCarQualifyingQuali RaceMain race
2024 Flag of France.svg Saintéloc Racing Tatuus F3 T-318 8th11thDSQ

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

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

YearEntrant1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2025 Van Amersfoort Racing BHR
SPR

BHR
FEA

MEL
SPR

MEL
FEA

IMO
SPR

IMO
FEA

MON
SPR

MON
FEA

CAT
SPR

CAT
FEA

RBR
SPR

RBR
FEA

SIL
SPR

SIL
FEA

SPA
SPR

SPA
FEA

HUN
SPR

HUN
FEA

MNZ
SPR

MNZ
FEA

TBDTBD

* Season still in progress.

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References

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  2. "National Series Karting - Cadet". DriverDB. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  3. "IAME Series France - X30 Junior". DriverDB. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  4. Wood, Ida (5 July 2022). "Sainteloc Racing and Brazilian F4 duo to debut in Spanish F4 at Spa". Formula Scout. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  5. Wood, Ida (14 December 2023). "Cram Motorsport and Sainteloc Racing reveal F4 UAE line-ups". Formula Scout. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  6. "F4 United Arab Emirates Championship 2023". DriverDB. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  7. Tassel, Pierre (22 February 2023). "Deux Top 10 pour conclure la saison F4 UAE". Saintéloc Racing (in French).
  8. Wood, Ida (3 May 2023). "Sainteloc Racing reveals Spanish F4 line-up and Cram adds Silvaggi". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
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  10. "Spanish F4 leader Théophile Naël: 'I knew there was an opportunity to do something in this championship'". Feeder Series. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  11. "Théophile Naël one step away from the F4 Spain title". Saintéloc Racing . 2 October 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
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  13. Alonso Lopez, Alejandro (14 November 2023). "Theophile Nael: "To win versus Campos and MP is just unbelievable"". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by F4 Spanish Championship
Champion

2023
Succeeded by