Mihai Marinescu

Mihai Marinescu (born 25 January 1989 in Brașov, Romania) is a professional Romanian racing driver formerly competing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.

Mihai Marinescu
Marinescu in 2013.
NationalityRomanian
Born (1989-01-25) 25 January 1989
Brașov (Romania)
Formula Renault 3.5 Series career
Debut season2009
Current teamZeta Corse
Car number24
Former teamsRC Motorsport
Interwetten.com
Starts19
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish25th in 2013
Previous series
2010–12
2008
2006–07
2005, 2007
2006
2005
2005		FIA Formula Two Championship
Formula BMW Europe
Formula Renault 2.0 Italy
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Formula Junior 1600 Italy
Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium

He currently works as a race engineer for Prema Powerteam.

Career

Formula Junior & Formula Renault 1.6

After securing several Romanian national karting titles, Marinescu began his racing career in 2005, driving in the Italian Formula Junior 1600 and Belgian Formula Renault 1.6 series. He took six podium places to finish runner-up in the Italian championship, behind Pasquale Di Sabatino, and took three race wins to finish third in the Belgian standings.

Formula Renault

In 2005, Marinescu also took part in selected Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 races and the end-of-season Italian Formula Renault 2.0 winter series, in which he finished thirteenth.

In 2006, he drove a full season in the Italian Formula Renault 2.0 championship, finishing eleventh, and in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, where he finished sixth overall. He also drove in three French Formula Renault 2.0 races, failing to score a point.

In 2007, Marinescu dovetailed two championships once again, racing full seasons in both Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Italian Formula Renault 2.0. In the former, he secured a single podium finish at the Hungaroring to be classified in eleventh place, whilst in the latter he took three podium places to finish fifth in the championship.

British Formula 3

At the end of the 2007 season, Marinescu also contested two British Formula 3 Championship races for Räikkönen Robertson Racing at Rockingham Motor Speedway, taking a National Class podium during the weekend.

Formula BMW

For 2008, Marinescu joined Fisichella Motor Sport to race in the newly formed Formula BMW Europe championship, which supported the Formula One World Championship at each European race meeting. He finished eleventh in the championship. In November 2008, he took victory in the Formula BMW Pacific race that supported the annual Formula Three Macau Grand Prix.[1] He also took part in selected races in the Formula BMW Americas championship. At Montreal in June 2008 he was lucky to escape unhurt from a massive first lap crash involving Mikaël Grenier and Daniel Juncadella.[2]

International Formula Master

In October 2008, Marinescu competed in the final round of the International Formula Master season at Monza. Driving for Pro Motorsport, he finished third in the first race before retiring from the second event.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

In March 2009, Marinescu took part in Formula Renault 3.5 Series pre-season testing for the Austrian Interwetten.com team before signing with them a few days before the first round of the season in Barcelona.[3] However, he was replaced by Tobias Hegewald after the first championship event,[4] but this was only for Hegewald to gain experience of the circuit for his forthcoming F2 campaign, with Marinescu returning to the team for the following round in Monaco.

However, before the next round in Hungary, Marinescu left Interwetten.com and signed for the Italian RC Motorsport team to partner Pasquale Di Sabatino.[5] He returned to Interwetten at Le Mans, but failed to break into the points.

Formula Two

In 2010, Marinescu joined the FIA Formula Two Championship.[6] He consistently finished in the midfield, and signed up to race in the series again in 2011.[7] On 1 October 2011, Marinescu won his maiden race in Formula 2 at Monza.[8]

Hobbies

Marinescu is an avid bicycle rider and keeps fit during the winter break by cycling in the mountains around his home city Braşov. A video featuring the young race driver descending the famous Transfăgărășan highway in Romania on his Trek racing bike became an instant hit on YouTube.[9]

Racing record

Career Summary
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2005 Italian Formula Junior 1600 AP Motorsport 12 2 0 0 6 200 2nd
Italian Formula Renault 2.0 Winter Series 4 0 0 ? 0 9 13th
Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium District Racing 10 3 1 ? 7 142 3rd
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Prema Powerteam 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2006 Italian Formula Renault 2.0 AP Motorsport 14 0 0 0 1 50 11th
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Petrom District Racing 14 0 1 0 3 175 6th
French Formula Renault 2.0 3 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2007 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Petrom District Racing AP 14 0 0 0 1 37 11th
Italian Formula Renault 2.0 13 0 1 0 3 206 5th
British F3 National Class Räikkönen Robertson Racing 2 0 0 0 1 22 13th
2008 Formula BMW Europe FMS International 16 0 0 0 0 118 11th
Formula BMW Americas Integra Motorsports 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
International Formula Master Pro Motorsport 2 0 0 0 1 6 22nd
Formula BMW Pacific Motaworld Racing 1 1 1 0 1 N/A N/A
2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Interwetten.com 11 0 0 0 0 0 30th
RC Motorsport
2010 FIA Formula Two Championship MotorSport Vision 18 0 0 1 0 68 11th
2011 FIA Formula Two Championship MotorSport Vision 16 1 1 2 4 138 5th
2012 FIA Formula Two Championship MotorSport Vision 16 2 3 3 4 161 5th
2013 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Zeta Corse 8 0 0 0 0 5 25th
Eurocup Mégane Trophy Oregon Team 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†

† As Marinescu was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points

Complete FIA Formula Two Championship results

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

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points
2010 SIL
1
7		 SIL
2
8		 MAR
1
Ret		 MAR
2
14		 MNZ
1
5		 MNZ
2
16		 ZOL
1
8		 ZOL
2
6		 ALG
1
12		 ALG
2
4		 BRH
1
12		 BRH
2
6		 BRN
1
16		 BRN
2
11		 OSC
1
13		 OSC
2
6		 VAL
1
13		 VAL
2
6		 11th 68
2011 SIL
1
4		 SIL
2
5		 MAG
1
Ret		 MAG
2
5		 SPA
1
8		 SPA
2
5		 NÜR
1
Ret		 NÜR
2
11		 BRH
1
Ret		 BRH
2
4		 RBR
1
3		 RBR
2
3		 MNZ
1
1		 MNZ
2
Ret		 CAT
1
5		 CAT
2
3		 5th 138
2012 SIL
1
4		 SIL
2
2		 ALG
1
10		 ALG
2
Ret		 NÜR
1
1		 NÜR
2
2		 SPA
1
4		 SPA
2
11		 BRH
1
4		 BRH
2
1		 LEC
1
7		 LEC
2
7		 HUN
1
Ret		 HUN
2
7		 MNZ
1
6		 MNZ
2
4		 5th 161

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 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 15 16 17 Pos Points
2009 Interwetten.com Racing CAT
1
Ret		 CAT
2
13		 SPA
1		 SPA
2		 MON
1
Ret		 BUG
1
16		 BUG
2
14		 ALG
1		 ALG
2		 NÜR
1
15		 NÜR
2
15		 ALC
1
20		 ALC
2
17		 30th 0
RC Motorsport HUN
1
Ret		 HUN
2
11		 SIL
1		 SIL
2
2013 Zeta Corse MNZ
1
8		 MNZ
2
10		 ALC
1
Ret		 ALC
2
Ret		 MON
1		 SPA
1
21		 SPA
2
14		 MSC
1
20		 MSC
2
18		 RBR
1		 RBR
2		 HUN
1		 HUN
2		 LEC
1		 LEC
2		 CAT
1		 CAT
2		 25th 5

References
  1. "Teams hail brilliant Formula BMW Pacific season". bmw-motorsport.com. 2008-12-18. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  2. Dumitru, Mihai (2012-04-20). "Crash Story: Beu Marinescu". Rally Racing. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  3. "Zaugg, Marinescu in for Interwetten". crash.net. 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  4. Mills, Peter (2009-04-24). "Hegewald joins Interwetten for Spa". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
  5. "Mihai Marinescu with RC Motorsport in Budapest". rcmotorsport.it. 2009-06-11. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  6. "Silverstone testing gets underway". FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 2010-04-12. Archived from the original on 2010-04-14. Retrieved 2010-04-15. Romanian Mihai Marinescu and Briton Tom Gladdis again join the test, as both drivers finalise arrangements to be on the grid for the 2010 season.
  7. "Mihai Marinescu commits to F2 for 2011". FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 12 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-04-17. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  8. http://www.automarket.ro/stiri/victorie-romaneasca-in-formula-2-marinescu-a-castigat-la-monza-40876.html
  9. Dumitru, Mihai (2010-02-12). "Mihai Marinescu în forjă pe Transfăgărăşan". Rally Racing. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
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