United Kingdom Virtuosi Racing
United Kingdom Invicta Racing
Founded2012
Founder(s)Paul Devlin
Andy Roche
Declan Lohan
BaseAttleborough, Norfolk, England
Team principal(s)Andy Roche
Current seriesFIA Formula 2 Championship
F4 British Championship
Former seriesGP2 Series
Auto GP
Current driversFIA Formula 2 Championship
Australia 14. Jack Doohan
Belgium 15. Amaury Cordeel
F4 British Championship
India 8. Kai Daryanani
South Africa 14. Aqil Alibhai
Belgium 28. Douwe Dedecker
Websitehttps://www.virtuosiracing.com/

Virtuosi Racing (previously known as Virtuosi UK) is a British racing team currently competing in FIA Formula 2 and the F4 British Championship. The team previously raced in the Auto GP series, in addition to running the Russian Time outfit in Formula 2 and its predecessor GP2 Series from 2015 to 2018. With the withdrawal of Russian Time, the team assumed its new name UNI-Virtuosi Racing for the 2019 Formula 2 season. A partnership with watch company Invicta resulted in a further name change from the 2023 season onwards.[1] The Formula 2 operation was again rebranded as Invicta Racing in 2024 after Invicta purchased an ownership stake.[2]

History

In 2012, Paul Devlin and Andy Roche approached businessman Declan Lohan for financial backing and Virtuosi UK team was founded at Carleton Rode, Norfolk in order to participate in the Auto GP.[3] The team signed GP2 Series driver Pål Varhaug.[4] His team-mates in the first rounds were European F3 Open driver Matteo Beretta and Formula Renault 3.5 Series driver Sten Pentus, before they was replaced by Auto GP veteran Francesco Dracone.[5][6] Varhaug won feature race at Sonoma and reverse-grid races at Monza and Hungaroring, finishing as runner-up in the drivers' standings and bringing fourth place in the teams' standings.[7][8]

For 2013, the team signed FIA European Formula 3 Championship graduate Andrea Roda.[9] He was partnered by Max Snegirev, who previously raced for Campos Racing. Also British team supported Comtec by Virtuosi entry.[10] Unlike the previous season Virtuosi drivers even failed to achieve podium finish and downgraded to seventh in the teams' standings.

The squad prolonged Andrea Roda for 2014 campaign.[11] Also the team expanded to three cars for two opening rounds, fielding Richard Gonda and Sam Dejonghe.[12] At Imola, second car was occupied by returnee Varhaug but he was replaced at Spielberg by Tamás Pál Kiss, who left Zele Racing.[13][14] Also at Spielberg Roda won a reverse-grid race, it was first win for Virtuosi since 2012.[15] Kiss collected another two wins for the team at Nürburgring and Estoril.[16][17] The team finished as runner-up in the teams' standings.

In 2015, the team signed German Formula Three driver Nikita Zlobin.[18] In addition the team replaced iSport International in the managing of the Russian Time team in the GP2 Series.[19]

On 4 December 2018, it was announced Virtuosi would replace the outgoing Russian Time outfit in the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2019 under the name UNI-Virtuosi.[20] The following day, the team confirmed Guanyu Zhou as its first driver.[21] The next day Luca Ghiotto filled the remained slot in the Virtuosi's line-up.[22] The team finished in second place in the Teams' Championship its first season as Virtuosi, with Ghiotto taking four wins.

For 2020 the team retained Zhou as its first driver, whilst replacing the outgoing Ghiotto with Callum Ilott.[23] The team repeated its runners-up finish in Teams' Championship from the previous year, again with four wins.

In 2021, Zhou was once again retained by the team, this time joined by Felipe Drugovich in the other car.[24] For the third year in a row the team finished in second place in the Teams' Championship, once again with four wins, all scored by Zhou. On 20 October, Virtuosi Racing announced its expansion to Formula 4 racing by entering the F4 British Championship from the 2022 season onwards.[25]

With Zhou graduating to Formula 1 in 2022 with Alfa Romeo, his seat was filled by Jack Doohan, with Marino Sato replacing Drugovich.[26] Despite Doohan taking three wins in his rookie season the team could only finish in seventh place in the Teams' Championship.

The 2023 season saw Doohan remain with the team, this time joined by Belgian Amaury Cordeel.[27]

Current series results

FIA Formula 2 Championship

Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers Races Wins Poles F. Laps Podiums D.C. Pts T.C. Pts
2019 Dallara
F2 2018		 Mecachrome
V634T V6 t		 P China Zhou Guanyu 22 0 1 2 5 7th 140 2nd 347
Italy Luca Ghiotto 22 4 2 2 9 3rd 207
2020 Dallara
F2 2018		 Mecachrome
V634T V6 t		 P China Zhou Guanyu 24 1 1 4 6 6th 151.5 2nd 352.5
United Kingdom Callum Ilott 24 3 5 0 6 2nd 201
2021 Dallara
F2 2018		 Mecachrome
V634T V6 t		 P China Zhou Guanyu 22 4 1 1 9 3rd 183 2nd 288
Brazil Felipe Drugovich 21 0 0 0 4 8th 105
2022 Dallara
F2 2018		 Mecachrome
V634T V6 t		 P Australia Jack Doohan 28 3 3 4 6 6th 128 7th 134
Japan Marino Sato 28 0 0 0 0 22nd 6
2023 Dallara
F2 2018		 Mecachrome
V634T V6 t		 P Australia Jack Doohan 25 3 2 3 5 3rd 168 5th 176
Belgium Amaury Cordeel 26 0 0 0 0 20th 8

In detail

(key)

Year Drivers 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 T.C. Points
2019 BHR
FEA		 BHR
SPR		 BAK
FEA		 BAK
SPR		 CAT
FEA		 CAT
SPR		 MCO
FEA		 MCO
SPR		 LEC
FEA		 LEC
SPR		 RBR
FEA		 RBR
SPR		 SIL
FEA		 SIL
SPR		 HUN
FEA		 HUN
SPR		 SPA
FEA		 SPA
SPR		 MNZ
FEA		 MNZ
SPR		 SOC
FEA		 SOC
SPR		 YMC
FEA		 YMC
SPR		 2nd 347
China Zhou Guanyu 10F 4 Ret 10 3 4 5 3 4 3 6 8 3P 8 9 9 C C Ret 4 10 5 3F 8
Italy Luca Ghiotto 2P 1 9 RetF 4P 2 DSQ Ret Ret 12 2 2 1 15 4 8 C C 2 15 4F 1 6 1
2020 RBR
FEA		 RBR
SPR		 RBR
FEA		 RBR
SPR		 HUN
FEA		 HUN
SPR		 SIL
FEA		 SIL
SPR		 SIL
FEA		 SIL
SPR		 CAT
FEA		 CAT
SPR		 SPA
FEA		 SPA
SPR		 MNZ
FEA		 MNZ
SPR		 MUG
FEA		 MUG
SPR		 SOC
FEA		 SOC
SPR		 BHR
FEA		 BHR
SPR		 BHR
FEA		 BHR
SPR		 2nd 352.5
China Zhou Guanyu 17P F 14 3 4 10 8F 2F 9 9 7 3 14 7 3 5 NC RetF 5 8 1 14 5 2 4
United Kingdom Callum Ilott 1 9 5 5 8P 2 5 Ret 1P 6 5P 8 10 Ret 6P 1 12 6 3 7 2P 16 5 10
2021 BHR
SP1		 BHR
SP2		 BHR
FEA		 MCO
SP1		 MCO
SP2		 MCO
FEA		 BAK
SP1		 BAK
SP2		 BAK
FEA		 SIL
SP1		 SIL
SP2		 SIL
FEA		 MNZ
SP1		 MNZ
SP2		 MNZ
FEA		 SOC
SP1		 SOC
SP2		 SOC
FEA		 JED
SP1		 JED
SP2		 JED
FEA		 YMC
SP1		 YMC
SP2		 YMC
FEA		 2nd 288
China Zhou Guanyu 7 3 1P 1 15 5F 3 Ret 13 Ret 11 1 2 8 2 DNS C 6 17 8 4 8 1 2
Brazil Felipe Drugovich 16 14 9 2 14 3 14 10 4 4 7 6 Ret 17 13 DNS C DNS 4 10 5 2 5 3
2022 BHR
SPR		 BHR
FEA		 JED
SPR		 JED
FEA		 IMO
SPR		 IMO
FEA		 CAT
SPR		 CAT
FEA		 MCO
SPR		 MCO
FEA		 BAK
SPR		 BAK
FEA		 SIL
SPR		 SIL
FEA		 RBR
SPR		 RBR
FEA		 LEC
SPR		 LEC
FEA		 HUN
SPR		 HUN
FEA		 SPA
SPR		 SPA
FEA		 ZAN
SPR		 ZAN
FEA		 MNZ
SPR		 MNZ
FEA		 YMC
SPR		 YMC
FEA		 7th 134
Australia Jack Doohan 10 10P Ret 9F 11 Ret 6 2P F 7F 4 11 13 1 9 3 19F 4 5 1 Ret 2 1 9 Ret 6 RetP 7 Ret
Japan Marino Sato 16 11 8 17 16 11 17 19 15 10 17† 8 Ret 15 Ret 16 9 Ret 15 15 12 15 19 Ret 11 11 19 15
2023 BHR
SPR		 BHR
FEA		 JED
SPR		 JED
FEA		 ALB
SPR		 ALB
FEA		 BAK
SPR		 BAK
FEA		 MCO
SPR		 MCO
FEA		 CAT
SPR		 CAT
FEA		 RBR
SPR		 RBR
FEA		 SIL
SPR		 SIL
FEA		 HUN
SPR		 HUN
FEA		 SPA
SPR		 SPA
FEA		 ZAN
SPR		 ZAN
FEA		 MNZ
SPR		 MNZ
FEA		 YMC
SPR		 YMC
FEA		 5th 176
Australia Jack Doohan 11 16 7 2 Ret 8 17† 15 6F Ret 5 6 7 4 3 4 10 1P F 5 1F 6 DNS 9 6 6 1P
Belgium Amaury Cordeel 21 15 19 20 12 13 9 19 Ret NC 17 19 15 17 16 Ret 19 21 Ret 15 16 8 Ret 8 17 16

* Season still in progress.

F4 British Championship

Year Car Drivers Races Wins Poles F/Laps Points D.C. T.C.
2022 Tatuus F4-T421 South Korea Michael Shin 30 1 0 1 87 11th 5th
United Kingdom Edward Pearson 30 0 0 0 81 12th
2023 Tatuus F4-T421 South Africa Aqil Alibhai 30 1 0 0 169 8th 6th
Belgium Douwe Dedecker 30 0 0 0 26 21st
India Kai Daryanani 29 0 0 0 8 24th

Timeline

Current series
FIA Formula 2 Championship 2017–present
F4 British Championship 2022–present
Former series
Auto GP 2012–2015
GP2 Series 2015–2016

References

  1. ↑ Racing, Invicta Virtuosi (25 February 2023). "Invicta Watch Group & Virtuosi Racing join forces in FIA Formula 2 from 2023 onwards". Virtuosi Racing. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  2. ↑ White, Megan (20 December 2023). "Invicta Watch Group buys ownership stake in Virtuosi Racing". Autosport. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Team". Virtuosi Racing. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  4. ↑ Rubino, Jacopo (5 March 2012). "Pal Varhaug nel primo round di Monza con il team Virtuosi UK" [Pal Varhaug in first round at Monza for team Virtuosi UK]. stopandgo.tv (in Italian). Stop&Go. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. ↑ "Pentus joins the Series with Virtuosi UK". Auto GP World Series. Auto GP Organization. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  6. ↑ Mills, Peter (13 April 2012). "Sergio Campana leads Marrakech Auto GP practice". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 13 April 2012. Norwegian Varhaug has a new team-mate at Virtuosi UK this weekend. Former Euro Series 3000 veteran and IndyCar starter Franceso Dracone replaces Formula Renault 3.5 race winner Sten Pentus.
  7. ↑ "Varhaug clinches Race 2 win in Monza". Auto GP World Series. Auto GP Organisation. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  8. ↑ Mills, Peter (6 May 2012). "Paul Varhaug beats Adrian Quaife-Hobbs to win second Hungaroring Auto GP race". Autosport. Haymarket. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "Virtuosi signs Andrea Roda for Auto GP". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  10. ↑ Mills, Peter (5 August 2013). "Virtuosi to support new Comtec entry in Auto GP". Autosport. Haymarket. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (27 January 2014). "Roda stays with Virtuosi for 2014 Auto GP campaign". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Auto GP set for opener at Marrakech". Auto GP. Auto GP Organisation. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "@varhaug: 26 June". Twitter. Twitter Inc. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  14. ↑ "@VirtuosiRacing: 16 July". Twitter. Twitter Inc. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  15. ↑ Watkins, Gary (20 July 2014). "Red Bull Ring Auto GP: Roda takes first win in Virtuosi one-two". Autosport. Haymarket. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  16. ↑ David, Gruz (17 August 2014). "Kiss wins as Sato is crowned Auto GP champion". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  17. ↑ Allen, Peter (19 October 2014). "Kiss wins first Estoril Auto GP race to secure runner-up spot". Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  18. ↑ Hensby, Paul (27 February 2015). "Virtuosi sign Nikita Zlobin for 2015 Auto GP season". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  19. ↑ Mills, Peter (18 March 2015). "Virtuosi to run Russian Time GP2 team". uk.eurosport.yahoo.com. Eurosport. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "UNI-VIRTUOSI RACING REPLACE RUSSIAN TIME". 4 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  21. ↑ Allen, Peter (5 December 2018). "Guan Yu Zhou steps up to F2 with UNI-Virtuosi". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  22. ↑ Horton, Phillip (6 December 2018). "Luca Ghiotto completes UNI-Virtuosi's F2 driver line-up". motorsportweek.com. Motorsport Media Services. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  23. ↑ Racing, Virtuosi (28 November 2019). "Impressive Formula 2 rookie Callum Ilott will join the UNI-Virtuosi Racing team for the 2020 season". Virtuosi Racing. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  24. ↑ Racing, Virtuosi (7 December 2020). "Felipe Drugovich joins UNI-Virtuosi Racing for 2021 F2 season". Virtuosi Racing. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  25. ↑ "Virtuosi Racing to enter FIA British F4 in 2022". Virtuosi Racing. 20 October 2021. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  26. ↑ "Virtuosi Racing announce their 2022 F2 line-up". www.virtuosiracing.com. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  27. ↑ "Virtuosi Racing confirms Doohan and Cordeel for 2023 F2 season". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
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