Felipe Nasr: Formula One Racer Turned Sportscar Champion

Felipe Nasr is a Brazilian racing driver who spent 2015 and 2016 in Formula One with Sauber before turning to endurance racing. He has since won three IMSA SportsCar Championship titles, most recently in 2024, and he continues to race in the category for Team Penske Porsche.

Who is Felipe Nasr?

Luiz Felipe de Oliveira Nasr was born on 21 August 1992 in Brasilia. He competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Team Penske Porsche and has also raced in Formula One, Formula E and the GP2 Series. Among his endurance results are wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring and several Daytona 24 Hour victories.

His career moved from single-seaters to sportscars, and once he joined IMSA full time his results on the big North American endurance events became the centre of his reputation.

From a Sauber seat in 2015 to three IMSA titles with Cadillac, Action Express and Porsche Penske.

How did Nasr start in racing?

Nasr started karting in Brazil at the age of seven and won several national championships between 2000 and 2007. His first open-wheel outing was the last round of the 2008 Formula BMW Americas season, held at Interlagos alongside that year's Brazilian Grand Prix. He reached the podium in race two.

In 2009 he moved to the European Formula BMW championship with EuroInternational. He was in the top two in fourteen of sixteen races, won six of them and took five pole positions, and he won the title by 104 points from Daniel Juncadella. BMW's Sauber link meant he was lined up for a test in a Sauber Formula One car, but that test never happened after BMW left the sport.

How did his British Formula 3 and Daytona years go?

For 2010 Nasr joined Raikkonen Robertson Racing in British Formula 3, finishing the season fifth. He then moved to Carlin for 2011 and won the British title, finishing 123 points ahead of his team-mate Kevin Magnussen.

That same year he won the Sunoco Rolex 24 at Daytona Challenge, a joint programme among the series that use Sunoco fuel. The winner earned a drive in the 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona, and Nasr finished third in that event for Michael Shank Racing in a Riley prototype.

What did his GP2 seasons show?

In 2012 he raced for DAMS in the GP2 Series, supported by Brazilian sponsors Banco do Brasil and OGX. He was second in race two at Spa and fourth in race one at Germany, and he finished with four podium places, with his best result a second at Spa.

He was also the second-highest-placed rookie overall, behind James Calado. Nasr finished tenth in the drivers' standings, which helped DAMS win the teams' championship. In 2013 he moved to Carlin, partnering Jolyon Palmer, and finished fourth overall.

The 2014 season with Carlin, alongside Julian Leal, brought his first GP2 victory in the sprint race at Barcelona, followed by wins at the Red Bull Ring, Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. He lost a title fight with Palmer and finished third overall, after missing out on second to Stoffel Vandoorne by five points at Yas Marina.

How did he reach Formula One with Sauber?

Confirmed as Williams reserve driver in February 2014, he took part in three tests and five free practice sessions that season. His first appearance came in first practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix, replacing Valtteri Bottas.

Sauber announced on 5 November 2014 that he would race for them in 2015. In his first race with the team, in Australia, he finished fifth, the best result by a Brazilian making a Grand Prix debut. His streak of finishes ended at the British Grand Prix, where his gearbox failed on the way to the grid.

In Japan he had a mechanical failure on lap 51 and was classified 20th. He finished his debut season with 27 points and 13th in the drivers' championship.

Why did he lose his Sauber seat after 2016?

His only points of 2016 came at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he finished ninth. That result allowed Sauber to overtake Manor in the constructors' championship, which cost Manor prize money and eventually led to its bankruptcy.

The fallout left Nasr without a seat for 2017. He had been due to swap places with Manor driver Pascal Wehrlein, and once the Manor team left the sport he could not find another drive in Formula One.

What happened in his 2019 Formula E spell?

In January 2019 Nasr was due to join GEOX Dragon for the Marrakesh rookie test, but contractual issues stopped him from taking part. The following month it was announced that he would replace Maximilian Gunther from the Mexico City ePrix onwards.

He made his debut at Mexico City, finishing 19th after spending most of the race at the back. At Hong Kong an early crash of his took out the two Mahindra cars of Pascal Wehrlein and Jerome d'Ambrosio. At Sanya he stalled on the grid and recorded his second successive retirement.

Nasr did not return to Formula E after that. His three races brought one non-points finish and two retirements, and he was classified 24th in the championship with no points.

Why did his IndyCar debut never happen?

On 10 March 2020 it was announced that Nasr would make his IndyCar debut with Carlin at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The COVID-19 pandemic then postponed that race until October, and the debut was put on hold.

He did not compete in the 2020 season, so the planned IndyCar debut did not take place that year.

How did his IMSA career begin with Cadillac?

After a year without competitive racing, Nasr entered the Prototype category of the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship. He partnered Eric Curran at Whelen Engineering Racing in a Cadillac DPi-V.R. The duo finished second at the 24 Hours of Daytona and took third at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

At Belle Isle he held off Ricky Taylor, who was on fresh tyres, to claim his first IMSA win. Nasr and Curran stayed consistent, scored two more podiums and clinched the overall and North American Endurance Cup titles at the final round in Road Atlanta.

In 2019 Nasr partnered Pipo Derani for the full season with Acura Team Penske, with Curran joining for the endurance events. He won at Sebring, and he and Derani took the Endurance Cup at Petit Le Mans. They finished five points short of the overall title.

What did his Action Express years bring?

For 2020 Nasr moved to Action Express Racing and was again joined by Derani. The season was interrupted by the pandemic, and he missed a race after testing positive for COVID-19. He returned at Sebring, where Derani took pole and the pair won, and four further podiums in the next five races helped AXR finish fourth in the teams' standings.

In 2021 the pair won the Daytona qualifying race, and Nasr started from first on the grid, but race results did not come easily. They were sixth at Daytona, and Nasr's first win of the year came at Watkins Glen, where he held off Renger van der Zande despite saving fuel in the final stint.

How did the 2021 IMSA title come together?

Nasr's pole and dominant drive at Long Beach put him ten seconds clear of the runners-up. He also took pole for the season finale, and with Derani he was in contention to catch the leading pair in the standings.

For much of the final race the AXR car was in front. Nasr lost the lead with 22 minutes to run and then battled for second with Ricky Taylor before a collision at turn 10 sent the Acura off. He crossed the line second, which was enough to claim his second IMSA title and his first alongside Derani.

How did his Porsche Penske years go?

In December 2021 Nasr and Dane Cameron were the first drivers announced for the new Porsche Penske Motorsport project in the LMDh category. Before the Porsche 963 arrived in 2023, Penske ran an Oreca 07 in the LMP2 class of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship, with Nasr, Cameron and Emmanuel Collard.

At Le Mans in 2022 the team reached second early on, before a delaminating tyre cost it ground. Nasr and his team-mates finished fifth in class. The LMP2 campaign ended after that weekend as the focus moved to LMDh.

That year Nasr also raced the three big IMSA rounds in GTD Pro for Pfaff Motorsports. With Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell he took class honours at Daytona, placed fifth at Sebring and third at Petit Le Mans, and the last result handed the GTD Pro title to Jaminet and Campbell.

In 2023 he partnered Campbell in the new Porsche 963 in Penske's number 7 car. Despite a difficult debut year for the car, they scored three podiums, including a win at Road America, and finished fifth in the drivers' standings.

What did Nasr achieve in 2024 and 2025?

In 2024 Nasr raced with Cameron, with Campbell supporting in the endurance events. Daytona became a high point after he defended his position against Tom Blomqvist in the final hour. Third places followed at Sebring, Long Beach and Laguna Seca, and he added a second win of the year at Watkins Glen.

A second place at Road America put them 100 points clear, and a ninth place at Indianapolis after a power steering failure threatened the lead. Two disqualifications later the gap stood at 124 points. A third place at Petit Le Mans gave Nasr and Cameron the overall IMSA title and the Michelin Endurance Cup.

In 2025 he returned to defend the title, this time partnering Nick Tandy. He added Sebring wins in 2025 and 2026 to his 2019 victory there.

What were Nasr's main results?