| Mihai Marinescu | |
|---|---|
 Marinescu in 2013. | |
| Nationality | Romanian |
| Born | (1989-01-25)25 January 1989 (age 36) |
| Formula Renault 3.5 Series career | |
| Debut season | 2009 |
| Current team | Zeta Corse |
| Car number | 24 |
| Former teams | RC Motorsport Interwetten.com |
| Starts | 19 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 25th in2013 |
| 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 |
Mihai Marinescu (born 25 January 1989) is a professional Romanian racing driver formerly competing in theFormula Renault 3.5 Series.
He was born inBrașov,Romania and currently works as a race engineer forJenzer Motorsport.
After securing several Romanian national karting titles, Marinescu began his racing career in 2005, driving in theItalianFormula Junior 1600 andBelgianFormula Renault 1.6 series. He took six podium places to finish runner-up in the Italian championship, behindPasquale Di Sabatino, and took three race wins to finish third in the Belgian standings.
In 2005, Marinescu also took part in selectedEurocup Formula Renault 2.0 races and the end-of-seasonItalian 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 theFormula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, where he finished sixth overall. He also drove in threeFrench 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 theHungaroring to be classified in eleventh place, whilst in the latter he took three podium places to finish fifth in the championship.
At the end of the 2007 season, Marinescu also contested twoBritish Formula 3 Championship races forRäikkönen Robertson Racing atRockingham Motor Speedway, taking a National Class podium during the weekend.
For 2008, Marinescu joinedFisichella Motor Sport to race in the newly formedFormula BMW Europe championship, which supported theFormula 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 annualFormula ThreeMacau Grand Prix.[1] He also took part in selected races in theFormula BMW Americas championship. AtMontreal in June 2008 he was lucky to escape unhurt from a massive first lap crash involvingMikaël Grenier andDaniel Juncadella.[2]
In October 2008, Marinescu competed in the final round of theInternational Formula Master season atMonza. Driving for Pro Motorsport, he finished third in the first race before retiring from the second event.
In March 2009, Marinescu took part inFormula Renault 3.5 Series pre-season testing for theAustrianInterwetten.com team before signing with them a few days before the first round of the season inBarcelona.[3] However, he was replaced byTobias Hegewald after the first championship event,[4] but this was only for Hegewald to gain experience of the circuit for hisforthcoming F2 campaign, with Marinescu returning to the team for the following round inMonaco.
However, before the next round in Hungary, Marinescu left Interwetten.com and signed for theItalian RC Motorsport team to partner Pasquale Di Sabatino.[5] He returned to Interwetten at Le Mans, but failed to break into the points.
In2010, Marinescu joined theFIA Formula Two Championship.[6] He consistently finished in the midfield, and signed up to race in the series again in2011.[7] On 1 October 2011, Marinescu won his maiden race in Formula 2 at Monza.[8]
Marinescu is an avid bicycle rider and keeps fit during the winter break by cycling in the mountains around his home cityBraşov. A video featuring the young race driver descending the famousTransfăgărășan highway inRomania on hisTrek racing bike became an instant hit onYouTube.[9]
† As Marinescu was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Prema Powerteam | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | VAL 1 | VAL 2 | LMS 1 | LMS 2 | BIL 1 | BIL 2 | OSC 1 | OSC 2 | DON 1 | DON 2 | EST 1 31 | EST 2 21 | MNZ 1 Ret | MNZ 2 Ret | 47th | 0 |
| 2007 | Petrom District Racing AP | ZOL 1 16 | ZOL 2 NC | NÜR 1 5 | NÜR 2 Ret | HUN 1 3 | HUN 2 8 | DON 1 9 | DON 2 8 | MAG 1 31† | MAG 2 DSQ | EST 1 8 | EST 2 5 | CAT 1 9 | CAT 2 10 | 11th | 37 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Petrol District Racing | OSC 1 Ret | OSC 2 6 | SPA 1 12 | SPA 2 Ret | NÜR 1 8 | NÜR 2 10 | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | OSC 1 9 | OSC 2 16 | ASS 1 2 | ASS 2 4 | AND 1 9 | AND 2 4 | SAL 1 3 | SAL 2 3 | 6th | 175 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics 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 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics 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 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Rapax | YMC FEA 17 | YMC SPR Ret | 24th | 0 |
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.