Mahaveer Raghunathan


Mahaveer Raghunathan is an Indian racing driver. He currently competes in the Italian GT Championship with AF Corse. He is the 3rd Indian to have driven a Formula 1 car.

Career

Junior series

Raghunathan started his racing career in karting in 2012, where he remained active until 2013. He also made his formula racing debut in 2012 in four races of the JK Racing Asia Series for the Meco Racing team.
In 2013, Raghunathan competed in the MRF Challenge Formula 1600, finishing sixth. He also took part in the final race weekend of the Formula Masters China series at the Shanghai International Circuit for the Cebu Pacific Air by KCMG team.
In 2014, Raghunathan moved to the new Italian F4 Championship, debuting on the second race weekend for the F&M team. He finished 12th in the championship.

Formula 3

At the beginning of 2015, Raghunathan took part in the final race weekend of the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship|MRF Challenge Formula 2000] series at the Madras Motor Race Track. He then returned to Europe to take part in the 2015 [FIA Formula 3 European Championship|European Formula 3 Championship] for the Motopark team. He failed to get any points, finishing 39th in the championship. He participated in the official GP3 post season test with the Campos and Trident teams, in preparation for the GP3 Series">GP3 Series">GP3 Series, but he only raced in the first round of the championship for Koiranen GP. He also tested with the Coloni Motorsport team in Auto GP.

Auto GP and BOSS GP

In 2016, Raghunathan raced in the Auto GP championship with Italian team PS Racing, finishing second in the championship. In the same year, he also raced in the BOSS GP series in the Formula Class and secured two podiums in his class.
In 2017, Raghunathan continued racing in BOSS GP's Formula Class Championship races in his class. He ended the season as the champion of the Formula Class, as the only driver to compete in all of the season's races. He is the first and only Indian to win the BOSS GP Championship.

World Endurance Championship

Raghunathan took part in the FIA WEC rookie test at the end of the 2017 season, driving an Oreca 07 for G-Drive Racing.
In November 2022, Raghunathan drove for Algarve Pro Racing at the rookie test in Bahrain.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

Following a season in which he made just one race appearance in the Le Mans Cup, Raghunathan progressed to the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2019, racing alongside Jordan King for MP Motorsport.
Raghunathan collected numerous penalty points throughout the season. Infringements included passing the chequered flag twice in Bahrain, failing to stop at the weighbridge during practice at Baku Formula 2 round|Baku], overtaking a car before the safety car line in Baku, collided with Jack Aitken and left the track to gain an advantage twice at Monaco and three virtual safety car infringements at Paul Ricard. Following the French round, Raghunathan had 12 penalty points on his licence, resulting in a race ban for 2019 [Red Bull Ring FIA Formula 2 round|the Austrian round]. Raghunathan returned to the series at Silverstone Formula 2 round|Silverstone], however he continued to collect penalty points – failing to slow down for yellow flags in qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps FIA Formula 2 round|Spa-Francorchamps], not following track-limit procedures in Sochi FIA Formula 2 round|Sochi] and failed to follow the practice start procedure at Abu Dhabi. Raghunathan consequently ended the season with 12 penalty points on his licence, which would have resulted in another race ban if the season had additional races. After he received his ban in France, Formula One Grand Prix winner Johnny Herbert labelled him as "someone who is not aware of what is going on around him".
Raghunathan collected his only point of the season thanks to a reduced field in Italy. He finished the season 20th in the standings, scoring only a single point and being the last-placed driver among those who had scored points.

Formula One

In August 2021, nearly two years after Raghunathan's last appearance behind the wheel of a race car, he became the third Indian to drive a Formula One car when he tested the Alfa Romeo Racing C38 alongside Théo Pourchaire at the Hungaroring where he set a time 1.9 seconds slower than the Frenchman. In July 2023, nearly two years after his last Formula One test, Raghunathan tested a McLaren MCL35 at Portimão, completing a distance of 750km over two days.

Italian GT

Raghunathan competed in the Italian GT Endurance Championship in 2023, driving a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 for Imperiale Racing in the Pro-Am class alongside teammates Jack Bartholomew and Miguel Garcia. Raghunathan achieved his first professional career podium by coming in third at Round 3. He returned to the series in 2024, having been inducted into Aston Martin's AMR Driver Academy. He was signed by Lazarus Corse to compete in the endurance rounds of the championship alongside William Alatalo and three-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo.
In 2025, Mahaveer joined team AF Corse for the 2025 Italian GT Sprint and Endurance championship. He had a very successful year, starting with a win at the first round of the championship at Autodromo Vallelunga, and closing the year with a win at the final race at Autodromo Monza, finishing the year winning 3 races in total and getting 8 podiums out of 12 races.

Racing record

Complete JK Racing Asia Series results

YearTeam12345678910111213141516DCPoints
2012Meco RacingSEP
1		SEP
2		SEP
3		SEP
4		LEC
1		LEC
2		SPA
1		SPA
2		SIL
1		SIL
2		IND1
1		IND1
2		IND2
1
Ret		IND2
2
Ret		IND2
3
12		IND2
4
10		NC-

Complete Formula Masters China results

YearTeam123456789101112131415161718DCPoints
2013Cebu Pacific Air by KCMGZHU
1		ZHU
2		ZHU
3		SHI
1		SHI
2		SHI
3		ORD
1		ORD
2		INJ
1		INJ
2		INJ
3		INJ
4		SEP
1		SEP
2		SEP
3		SHI
1
14		SHI
2
15		SHI
3
12		21st0

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

YearTeam123456789101112131415161718192021DCPoints
2014F & MADR
1		ADR
2		ADR
3		IMO1
1
14		IMO1
2
17		IMO1
3
8		MUG
1
19		MUG
2
13		MUG
3
8		MAG
1
20		MAG
2
18		MAG
3
19		VLL
1
14		VLL
2
12		VLL
3
15		MNZ
1
11		MNZ
2
6		MNZ
3
12		IMO2
1
6		IMO2
2
6		IMO2
3
6		12th45

Complete MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship results

Year123456789101112DCPoints
2014-15LOS
1		LOS
2		LOS
3		LOS
4		BHR
1		BHR
2		BHR
3		BHR
4		MMR
1
8		MMR
2
11		MMR
3
DNS		MMR
4
10		21st5

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

YearEntrantEngine123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233DCPoints
2015MotoparkVolkswagenSIL
1
26		SIL
2
25		SIL
3
29		HOC
1
24		HOC
2
31		HOC
3
30		PAU
1
DNQ		PAU
2
DNQ		PAU
3
DNQ		MNZ
1
Ret		MNZ
2
24		MNZ
3
25		SPA
1
29		SPA
2
27		SPA
3
24		NOR
1
25		NOR
2
20		NOR
3
25		ZAN
1
27		ZAN
2
30		ZAN
3
28		RBR
1
31		RBR
2
25		RBR
3
29		ALG
1
30		ALG
2
23		ALG
3
DNS		NÜR
1
30		NÜR
2
26		NÜR
3
22		HOC
1		HOC
2		HOC
3		39th0

Complete Auto GP Formula Open Championship results

YearTeam12345678910PosPts
2016PS RacingADR
1
2		ADR
2
3		MNZ
1
15		MNZ
2
6		ASS
1
7		ASS
2
5		BRN
1
8		BRN
2
4		IMO
1
4		IMO
2
Ret		2nd151

Complete GP3 Series results

YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718PosPts
2016Koiranen GPCAT
FEA
23		CAT
SPR
24		RBR
FEA		RBR
SPR		SIL
FEA		SIL
SPR		HUN
FEA		HUN
SPR		HOC
FEA		HOC
SPR		SPA
FEA		SPA
SPR		MNZ
FEA		MNZ
SPR		SEP
FEA		SEP
SPR		YMC
FEA		YMC
SPR		27th0

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718192021222324DCPoints
MP MotorsportBHR
FEA
18		BHR
SPR
19		BAK
FEA
11		BAK
SPR
13		CAT
FEA
16		CAT
SPR
19		MON
FEA
15		MON
SPR
Ret		LEC
FEA
12		LEC
SPR
18		RBR
FEA
EX		RBR
SPR
EX		SIL
FEA
15		SIL
SPR
18		HUN
FEA
17		HUN
SPR
19		SPA
FEA
C		SPA
SPR
C		MNZ
FEA
10		MNZ
SPR
13		SOC
FEA
17		SOC
SPR
17		YMC
FEA
Ret		YMC
SPR
15		20th1

Complete Italian GT Championship results

Italian GT Endurance Championship

YearTeamCarClass1234DCPoints
2023Imperiale RacingLamborghini Huracán GT3 EvoPro-AmPER
6		MUGMNZ
4		VLL
6		6th32
2024Lazarus CorseAston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EvoProVAL
14		MUG
11		IMOMONNC0