Rio Haryanto: Indonesia's Only Formula One Driver and His Manor Season

Rio Haryanto, an Indonesian ex-racer, drove for Manor Racing in Formula One in 2016, taking part in 12 Grands Prix. He remains the only Indonesian driver to have raced in the sport. Before reaching Formula One he had won the Formula BMW Pacific title and built a career across GP3, Auto GP and GP2.

Who is Rio Haryanto?

Rio Haryanto was born on 22 January 1993 and raised in Surakarta, Indonesia. He started in karting, won several continental titles, and moved into junior single-seaters in 2008. A Formula BMW Pacific championship in 2009 was his first major title.

From there his career moved through European GP3 and GP2 racing before a single season in Formula One. Since leaving Formula One he has raced sports cars in Asia.

The only Indonesian to start a Formula One race, whose sole season was defined by back-of-grid finishes and a sponsorship crisis.

How did Haryanto's junior career begin?

His 2008 programme covered three regional categories, among them Formula Asia 2.0, the Asian Formula Renault Challenge and Formula BMW Pacific. Formula Asia 2.0 was where he shone, with two race wins good for third overall behind Felix Rosenqvist and Matthias Beche, both European expatriates.

That year he also appeared in the Australian Drivers' Championship and once more in the Asian Formula Renault Challenge. His main focus was Formula BMW Pacific, which he dominated with 11 victories from 15 races, driving for the Malaysian Meritus team. Five of those wins went to invited guests who were not part of the title chase.

At his home circuit of Sentul he won four consecutive races outright, with pole positions and fastest laps as well. He also took a guest drive in a round of the European FBMW series.

What happened in Haryanto's GP3 seasons?

Haryanto moved into full-time European racing in 2010, joining Manor Racing for the GP3 Series that supports Formula One. A race win at Istanbul Park came alongside a fifth-place championship finish, which made him the top Manor driver.

Jakes, Tambay and Quaife-Hobbs lined up alongside him that year. Autosport magazine counted his form among the surprises of the season.

For 2011 the team was rebranded Marussia Manor Racing, with Quaife-Hobbs and Matias Laine as teammates. Haryanto won at the Nurburgring and the Hungaroring, but inconsistency cost him. He went seven races without points at the start of the year and slipped to seventh behind Quaife-Hobbs.

Both of his 2011 wins came in the rain, which earned him a reputation as a wet-weather specialist.

What did his Auto GP and GP2 seasons involve?

Alongside GP3, Haryanto drove for DAMS in Auto GP, scoring a victory at Valencia and finishing seventh in the standings. DAMS took the teams' championship, and then he moved up to GP2, making his GP2 debut in 2011 at the non-championship finale in Yas Marina.

The Auto GP programme clashed with GP3, so he missed one round. His team-mates Sergey Afanasyev and Tambay, plus substitute Kevin Korjus, helped DAMS to the teams' title.

In 2012 he joined Carlin alongside Max Chilton and finished 14th in the GP2 championship. He was the first Indonesian in the series since Ananda Mikola raced in International Formula 3000 in 2000 and 2001. His season brought one fastest lap, one pole in the wet at Spa, and a top result of fifth in the Valencia feature race.

In 2013 he raced for Barwa Addax with Jake Rosenzweig and took his first GP2 podium at Silverstone on 30 June 2013. In 2014 he moved to EQ8 Caterham, partnered Alexander Rossi, and took a second podium at Monaco on 24 May 2014.

With Campos in 2015 he finished second in the Bahrain feature race, then won the following day's sprint. A second sprint win followed at the Red Bull Ring, even with a broken front wing, and he ended the year fourth on 138 points.

How did Haryanto reach Formula One?

Haryanto had been linked with Virgin Racing and its successor teams since his first GP3 season with Manor. Finishing as the top Manor driver in the 2010 GP3 standings earned him a test with Virgin, which he took in Abu Dhabi on 16 November 2010.

Gearbox trouble left him bottom of the morning timesheet among thirteen runners. He missed the 2011 prize test, because Quaife-Hobbs had beaten him in the standings.

The following year he ran Marussia's young driver test at Silverstone with Max Chilton. Over two days he covered three hundred kilometres, which met one of the conditions for a superlicence. He thereby became the first Indonesian to qualify for one.

What happened in Haryanto's 2016 Formula One season?

Manor confirmed Haryanto on 18 February 2016, alongside Pascal Wehrlein. His first race was the Australian Grand Prix, which he retired from, and was demoted to reserve driver on 10 August 2016 after a sponsorship shortfall. Across his 12 races he was often the last car classified, and his best result was a 15th place at Monaco.

The debut started badly. He collided with Romain Grosjean in the pit lane during practice, which brought a three-place grid penalty and two penalty points on his licence. He retired on lap 18 with a drive link problem.

He briefly topped the new Driver of the Day vote, until it emerged that an Indonesian IP address had tried to rig the result in his favour. Romain Grosjean was awarded the honour instead.

At Bahrain he was the second driver eliminated from qualifying, ahead of Felipe Nasr, but Kevin Magnussen's pit-lane start moved him up to 20th. He finished last, 17th and a lap down. In China he beat Jolyon Palmer to 21st, before a first-lap crash in Russia involving Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez.

The Monaco race brought his best finish, 15th and four laps down. He then placed 19th and 18th, and 16th in Austria, where teammate Wehrlein scored Manor's only point of the season.

He spun in the wet in Britain, and his final two races saw him last again as his future became unclear. On 10 August Manor demoted him to reserve driver, and Esteban Ocon was named as his replacement.

Parliament blocked funds promised by the government's youth and sport department, citing irregular procurement. After the parent company went under at season's end, he was the one Manor driver left off the 2017 grid.

Did Haryanto race sports cars after Formula One?

Yes. From 2018 he raced sports cars in Asia, first in the SIC888 race and then in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia and the Asian Le Mans Series with T2 Motorsports. He finished ninth in the series standings for 2019-20.

In 2018 he teamed up with Anderson Tanoto and Andrew Haryanto, who is not related to him, in an Audi R8 LMS GT4 at the SIC888 race. The trio finished fifth in the six-hour event at the Shanghai International Circuit.

In 2019 he drove a Ferrari 488 GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia for T2 Motorsports, alongside David Tjiptobiantoro in every round except one, where Singaporean driver Gregory Teo took over. The pair ended 31st in the overall standings and 12th in the Pro-Am class.

Across 2019-20 he also contested the Asian Le Mans campaign, using the same Ferrari with Tjiptobiantoro and Italian driver Christian Colombo.

What were Haryanto's main results by series?