Stéphane Richelmi

Stéphane Richelmi is a Monégasque professional racing driver. He is the son of former World Rally Championship driver Jean-Pierre Richelmi.

Career

Formula Renault 1.6 & 2.0

Richelmi began his Formula racing career in the Belgian Formula Renault 1.6 category in 2006, ending the year in 12th place.
The 2007 [Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season|following year], Richelmi stepped up to the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series, racing for Boutsen Energy Racing. He finished the season with no points, with his best race result being an 18th place at the Hungaroring. He also contested two races of the Italian Formula Renault Championship.
In 2008, Richelmi participated in both the Eurocup and Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup series. He failed to score a point in eight Eurocup races and left the series after failing to qualify for either race at the Le Mans meeting. He finished only 16th in the qualifying race for drivers who failed to make super pole, with the top twelve in the race qualifying for the weekend. In the West European Cup, he scored points in three of his seven races to finish 16th in the championship.

Formula Three

Richelmi made the step up to Formula Three in late 2008, taking part in the final six races of the 2008 [Formula 3 Euro Series season|Formula 3 Euro Series season] with Barazi-Epsilon. His best result was an 18th place on his début in Barcelona.
The 2009 [British Formula 3 season|following year], Richelmi and the team entered the British Formula 3 Championship, running a Dallara F308 chassis in the International Class. Despite not finishing in the points in any of his 15 races, he was awarded two points at both Spa-Francorchamps and Portimão due to a number of cars finishing ahead of him who were ineligible for championship points. He was classified 19th in the final standings.
During the year, Richelmi also took part in the 2009 [Italian Formula Three season|Italian Formula Three Championship], driving for RC Motorsport. Despite missing the first two rounds at Adria and Magione, he finished sixth in the standings, scoring podium places at Varano, Imola and Vallelunga Circuit|Vallelunga]. Richelmi continued in the Italian Formula Three series in 2010, switching to the Lucidi Motors team. He finished the season as runner-up behind BVM-Target Racing's César Ramos, taking four race victories and eight podium places in total. Along with Ramos and Andrea Caldarelli, Richelmi tested a Ferrari F2008 Formula One car as a prize for finishing in the top three in the championship, with the test taking place at Vallelunga on Thursday 2 December. He completed 25 laps during the test and was the slowest of the three runners with a time of 1:17.97.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

In October 2009, Richelmi tested a Formula Renault 3.5 Series car for the first time, taking part in the first post-season test session at Motorland Aragón with the recently crowned champions Draco Racing. He completed a total of 80 laps, recording a best time of 1:44.526 on the second day of running. A year later he tested again for Draco at Barcelona and Motorland Aragón and also had an outing with French team Tech 1 Racing at the latter venue.
It was announced in January 2011 that Richelmi would join the series for the 2011 season, racing for International DracoRacing alongside fellow newcomer André Negrão.

Sports cars

In October 2009, Richelmi took part in the French FFSA GT Championship round at Paul Ricard, supporting the Paul Ricard 2 Hours|FIA GT race] held on the same weekend. Sharing a Chevrolet [Corvette C6.R] with Éric Cayrolle, he finished second in the first race before winning the second event.

GP2 Series

Richelmi made his GP2 Series début in the 2011 season finale at Monza, replacing his injured compatriot Stefano Coletti at the Trident Racing team. His team-mate was Rodolfo González. Despite not having tested the car before the event, he finished both races ahead of González. He remained with Trident for the 2012 season, alongside Julián Leal. Taking a best result of third place in the feature race at Hockenheim by gambling successfully on tyre choice in changing weather conditions, he finished 18th in the championship. For 2013, he moved to reigning teams champion DAMS alongside Marcus Ericsson, he managed to score a podium finish at Silverstone and finished eighth in the standings on 103 points.
Richelmi continued with DAMS for the 2014 season, this time with champion of that season Jolyon Palmer. Richelmi scored his maiden GP2 victory in the sprint race at his home event in Monaco and another podium in the sprint race at Italy ensured he finished 9th in the championship on 73 points which helped DAMS take the teams championship.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Richelmi was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

Year

Entrant

Points

2007

Boutsen Energy Racing

ZOL
1
20

ZOL
2
21

NÜR
1
28

NÜR
2
20

HUN
1
26

HUN
2
18

DON
1
Ret

DON
2
Ret

MAG
1
Ret

MAG
2
Ret

EST
1
25

EST
2
Ret

CAT
1
24

CAT
2
23

36th

2008

Epsilon Sport

SPA
1
17

SPA
2
13

SIL
1
39†

SIL
2
15

HUN
1
Ret

HUN
2
15

NÜR
1
34†

NÜR
2
23

LMS
1
DNQ

LMS
2
DNQ

EST
1

EST
2

CAT
1

CAT
2

35th

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results

key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2008	Barazi-Epsilon	Dallara F308/094	Mercedes	HOC 1	HOC 2	MUG 1	MUG 2	PAU 1	PAU 2	NOR 1	NOR 2	ZAN 1	ZAN 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	BRH 1	BRH 2	CAT 1 18	CAT 2 Ret	BUG 1 25	BUG 2 23	HOC 1 21	HOC 2 21†	NC‡	0‡

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

‡ As Richelmi was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos	Points
2011	International Draco Racing	ALC 1 16	ALC 2 Ret	SPA 1 17	SPA 2 Ret	MNZ 1 7	MNZ 2 15	MON 1 16	NÜR 1 13	NÜR 2 13	HUN 1 15	HUN 2 20	SIL 1 19	SIL 2 20	LEC 1 17	LEC 2 13	CAT 1 Ret	CAT 2 Ret	26th	6