From ASM Formule 3 to five straight Formula 3 teams' titles, GP2 and GP3 champions and a Formula One bid that was withdrawn in 2010.
ART Grand Prix is a French single-seater team founded in 2005 by Frederic Vasseur and Nicolas Todt. It won five straight Formula 3 teams' titles, produced GP2 and GP3 champions and ran DTM cars for two seasons before ceasing operations there.
ART Grand Prix has built a long list of junior titles since it was set up as a French team in 2005. It grew out of an existing Formula 3 operation, and its drivers have gone on to Formula One, DTM and endurance racing. The team's record runs through five Formula 3 teams' titles, several GP2 and GP3 championships and a short-lived Formula One bid.
What is ART Grand Prix?
ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team that competes in single-seaters in Europe. It was created in 2005 and has run in GP2, GP3, Formula 2 and Formula 3, as well as Formula Renault and the DTM. Its drivers have included Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas.
A team born from a Formula 3 operation that became a training ground for GP2, GP3 and Formula One talent.
How was ART Grand Prix created?
ART was formed in 2005 as a joint project between Frederic Vasseur, principal of ASM Formule 3, and Nicolas Todt, son of Jean Todt, then Ferrari team principal and later FIA president. Vasseur wanted to expand his championship-winning Formula Three team into the new GP2 Series, while Todt was interested in team management.
Todt had come into motorsport as a driver manager and was notable for representing Felipe Massa. On the business side Todt looked after sponsorship and promotion, while Vasseur handled the running of the team on a daily basis.
Who owns ART Grand Prix?
Ownership has changed over time. In April 2007 a 30% share went to Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. Nicolas Todt sold his shares in December 2018.
How did ART dominate Formula 3?
ART's Formula 3 record was built on ASM's programme. In 2004 Jamie Green and Alexandre Premat finished first and second in the drivers' championship, and Premat also won the 2004 Macau Grand Prix. The team then won five straight teams' titles from 2005 to 2009.
Drivers' championships in those years went to Lewis Hamilton, Paul di Resta, Romain Grosjean, Nico Hulkenberg and Jules Bianchi. Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel and Kamui Kobayashi also had success with the team. In 2010 Signature, with Edoardo Mortara in a Volkswagen-powered car, broke ART's run, and ART withdrew from the F3 Euroseries at the end of that season.
How did ART start in GP2?
ART took part in the launch of the GP2 Series in 2005, one of several teams entering the category. Its debut pairing was Alexandre Premat of France and Nico Rosberg of Germany. Rosberg became the inaugural GP2 Drivers' Champion, while Premat was fourth, which was enough for ART to take the Teams' Championship.
Rosberg showed consistency, with points-scoring results at every race meeting. His rise continued when he graduated to Formula One with Williams.
How did ART's GP2 years unfold?
In 2006 Lewis Hamilton joined Premat and took the title in his debut season, although Nelson Piquet Jr. pressed him mid-season. Premat finished third in the drivers' championship, helping ART to a second consecutive Teams' title. In 2007 Lucas di Grassi finished runner-up to Timo Glock despite winning only a single race.
In 2008 Romain Grosjean won two races and finished fourth, only 14 points behind champion Giorgio Pantano. In 2009 Nico Hulkenberg won five races and 100 points, prevailing over Vitaly Petrov of Addax. Pastor Maldonado also joined from Minardi Piquet Sports and won two sprint races early in the year.
ART championship record at a glance
| Series | Years | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Formula 3 Euroseries | 2005 to 2009 | Five straight teams' titles; drivers' titles with Hamilton, di Resta, Grosjean, Hulkenberg and Bianchi |
| GP2 | 2005 to 2011 | Teams' titles in 2005, 2006 and 2009; Rosberg 2005 and Hamilton 2006 drivers' champions |
| GP3 | 2010 to 2013 | Teams' titles in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 |
| GP2 | 2015 | Stoffel Vandoorne drivers' title; first Team Championship since 2009 |
| GP3 | 2015 and 2016 | Esteban Ocon champion in 2015; Charles Leclerc champion in 2016 |
| FIA Formula 2 | 2019 | Nyck de Vries champion with four victories; team third in the teams' standings |
What was the Lotus era?
For 2011 ART reached an agreement with Lotus Cars and ran as Lotus ART, switching to a green-and-yellow scheme inspired by Team Lotus. The team became Lotus GP in 2012, with a black-and-gold livery that matched the Lotus Formula One team.
Lotus Cars was also sponsoring the Renault Formula One team at the time, and it was in a legal dispute with the new Team Lotus, now Caterham, over the name. Bianchi kept third place in 2011 but had a disappointing season, while Esteban Gutierrez won once and finished 13th. ART slipped to fifth in the teams' championship that year. In 2012 Gutierrez improved to third with three victories, and James Calado won twice to finish fifth overall as the top rookie.
How strong was ART in GP3?
ART signed up for the first GP3 Series season in 2010 and immediately won the teams' championship, with Esteban Gutierrez as the inaugural champion. Alexander Rossi finished fourth and Pedro Nunes 24th in that first season. The team took a second straight teams' title in 2011 and a third in 2012. It claimed its fourth constructors' title in 2013.
All three of ART's 2012 drivers were competitive, yet none took the title. Abt came close late in the year, finishing just behind Mitch Evans, while Aaro Vainio, an early rival, fell away to fourth. Conor Daly was also a consistent frontrunner and finished sixth overall.
Which drivers came through ART's GP3 line-up?
In 2013 Conor Daly stayed on, with Facu Regalia and British F3 champion Jack Harvey joining the team. Regalia finished runner-up to Arden's Daniil Kvyat, while Daly was third overall. In 2014 the team raced Alex Fontana, Dino Zamparelli and GP3 debutant Marvin Kirchhofer, and it lost the constructors' title for the first time.
The 2015 line-up kept Kirchhofer and added Alfonso Celis Jr. from Status Grand Prix and Esteban Ocon, the 2014 FIA Formula 3 European champion, making his GP3 debut. The team won the teams' title in Bahrain, and in 2016 Nyck de Vries, Charles Leclerc, Nirei Fukuzumi and Alexander Albon formed the line-up. The team claimed its sixth constructors' title at Monza, with Leclerc champion and Albon vice-champion.
For 2017 Fukuzumi stayed on, and Jack Aitken, George Russell and Anthoine Hubert joined, with Aitken a Renault Sport Academy member and Russell a Mercedes junior. For the last season of the GP3 Series, Hubert stayed on, and the squad signed Jake Hughes, Callum Ilott and Nikita Mazepin from the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
How did ART perform in FIA Formula 3?
ART was listed among ten teams for the inaugural FIA Formula 3 Championship in October 2018. Its first driver was David Beckmann. Two Renault juniors, Christian Lundgaard and Max Fewtrell, were confirmed the month after. The maiden season ended third in the teams' standings.
Lundgaard claimed the team's sole win in the feature race at the Hungaroring. For 2020 ART brought in Aleksandr Smolyar, a Formula Renault Eurocup race winner, and Theo Pourchaire, the reigning ADAC Formula 4 champion.
Did ART return to Formula Renault?
Yes. ART said in September 2019 that it intended to return to the Formula Renault Eurocup for the 2020 season, and it was confirmed two months later. The team entered the season with series regular Gregoire Saucy and Mercedes junior Paul Aron.
The team's roots go further back. Its ASM predecessor raced in the Formula Renault 2.0 categories of Europe and France first, and only later took on a Formula 3 programme. The ASM name was used in the Formula Renault Eurocup from 2002 to 2003.
In 2011 Valtteri Bottas won the title from James Calado by seven points. In 2015 Esteban Ocon won the GP3 title after a close duel with Trident's Luca Ghiotto, and in 2016 Charles Leclerc became champion with Alexander Albon as vice-champion.
How did ART fare in FIA Formula 2?
The GP2 Series was renamed the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2017. In 2019 the team ran Nikita Mazepin and Nyck de Vries. Mazepin struggled to match his GP3 form, and de Vries scored four victories and sealed the title at Sochi while ART finished third in the teams' standings. In 2020 the line-up became Marcus Armstrong and Christian Lundgaard, both Ferrari or Renault juniors.
Before that, Nobuharu Matsushita stayed for a third season in 2017 alongside Alexander Albon. For 2018 the team promoted its 2017 GP3 drivers, Jack Aitken and George Russell, to the category.
Why did ART bid for Formula One?
ART launched an entry bid for Formula One as one of several candidates for the 13th slot in the 2011 season, announced on 13 May 2010. Autosport reported on 24 June 2010 that ART were set to become the 13th team, but on 7 July 2010 the team withdrew its bid, saying it could not gather the guarantees needed for a stable long-term project.
The bid had been linked to a possible partnership with the now-defunct Toyota Racing Grand Prix team, and the team planned to phase out its Formula 3 operation to focus on GP2 and GP3. The 2010 Formula 3 season proved to be its last. Michelin, one of the crucial partners, did not become an official Formula One tyre supplier from 2011.
Did ART race in the DTM?
Yes. ART expanded into the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters after the plan was proposed on 29 November 2014 and announced on 22 April 2015. It ran two Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 Coupe cars with full-works support from Mercedes-AMG, with Gary Paffett and Austrian rookie Lucas Auer in 2015.
In 2016 Paffett was joined by Esteban Ocon, who left for Formula One with Manor Racing and was replaced by Felix Rosenqvist from the Moscow round. DTM then cut its field from 24 to 18 cars from 2017, and ART ceased DTM operations after just two seasons. The team announced a return on 13 February 2020, with Robert Kubica as a full-time rookie.
Where is ART based and what is it doing now?
The team's home base was Villeneuve-la-Guyard until it relocated to Saint-Pierre-du-Perray in January 2024. The team also helped SMP Racing with technical support in the LMP1 category of the 2018 FIA World Endurance Championship, and to the UAE-based GP Extreme Racing team.
Its current results sections cover the FIA Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 championships, the Formula Regional European Championship and F1 Academy, among others.
