Zhenrui Chi
Zhenrui "Newman" Chi is a Chinese racing driver who last competed under the Italian flag in the Italian F4 Championship for Prema Racing and the GB3 Championship for Hillspeed.
Career
Karting
Chi began karting at the age of five, initially racing in China before moving to Europe in 2019. Internationally, Chi most notably finished third in the 2021 Trofeo Delle Industrie, and second in the 2022 WSK Champions Cup, both in OK-J.Formula 4
Chi was initially slated to make his single-seater debut in the 2024 Formula 4 UAE Championship, but instead opted to test F4 machinery for much of the year, before eventually making his single-seater debut with Prema Racing in the inaugural season of Formula Trophy UAE. In the three-round season, Chi finished third on his debut at Dubai, before ending the season with a second-place finish in race one at Yas Marina and a pole position in race two on his way to fifth in points.Staying with Prema Racing for 2025, Chi drove with them for the inaugural season of the F4 Middle East Championship, along with a dual programme in both the Italian F4 and E4 Championships. In the former, Chi finished fifth in the season-opening race at Yas Marina, which turned out to be his season-best result, matching it at Dubai and the third Yas Marina round on his way to ninth in the overall standings and runner-up in the rookies'.
Heading to Europe for the rest of the year, Chi finished fifth on his Italian F4 debut at Misano, and finished the other two races to leave Misano ninth in the overall standings and second in the rookies'. Following the round at Vallelunga, where Chi finished no higher than ninth, the Chinese finished the first two races at Monza outside the points before taking his maiden win in single-seaters in race three, having taken the lead in the closing stages. In the following round at Mugello, Chi once again stood on the podium as he finished second behind Alex Powell in race two, before finishing third in race three at Imola three weeks later as he completed a Prema Racing 1-2-3. Chi then ended the year by finishing second in race two at Misano en route to a fifth-place finish in his only season in the series. In E4 meanwhile, Chi scored a best result of fifth in race two at Monza and closed out the three-round campaign 12th in points.
Formula Regional
2025
During 2025, Chi joined CL Motorsport in Formula Regional Europe to make his debut in Formula Regional competition at the Red Bull Ring. Competing in the Red Bull Ring and Hockenheimring rounds, Chi scored a best result of 17th in race two of the latter round. Towards the end of the year, Chi made a one-off appearance for Hillspeed in the GB3 Championship, as well as competing in the Macau Grand Prix for Van Amersfoort Racing.2026
During the winter, Chi raced in the Formula Regional Middle East Trophy with CL Motorsport.Karting record
Karting career summary
Racing record
Racing career summary
* Season still in progress.Complete Formula Trophy UAE results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | DC | Points |
| 2024 | Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited | DUB 1 3 | DUB 2 11 | DUB 3 14 | YMC1 1 4 | YMC1 2 10 | YMC2 1 2 | YMC2 2 6 | 5th | 54 |
Complete F4 Middle East Championship results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | DC | Points |
| 2025 | Prema Racing | YMC1 1 5 | YMC1 2 13 | YMC1 3 7 | YMC2 1 11 | YMC2 2 10 | YMC2 3 9 | DUB 1 5 | DUB 2 24 | DUB 3 12 | YMC3 1 7 | YMC3 2 5 | YMC3 3 Ret | LUS 1 9 | LUS 2 9 | LUS 3 7 | 9th | 78 |
Complete Italian F4 Championship results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | DC | Points |
| 2025 | Prema Racing | MIS1 1 5 | MIS1 2 | MIS1 3 7 | MIS1 4 9 | VLL 1 9 | VLL 2 9 | VLL 3 | VLL 4 28 | MNZ 1 28 | MNZ 2 17 | MNZ 3 1 | MUG 1 9 | MUG 2 2 | MUG 3 8 | IMO 1 6 | IMO 2 C | IMO 3 3 | CAT 1 4 | CAT 2 7 | CAT 3 C | MIS2 1 | MIS2 2 2 | MIS2 3 5 | MIS2 4 4 | MIS2 5 4 | 5th | 162 |
Complete E4 Championship results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
| 2025 | Prema Racing | LEC 1 8 | LEC 2 Ret | LEC 3 18 | MUG 1 29† | MUG 2 10 | MUG 3 8 | MNZ 1 14 | MNZ 2 5 | MNZ 3 27† | 12th | 19 |
Complete Formula Regional European Championship results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
| 2025 | CL Motorsport | MIS 1 | MIS 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | RBR 1 Ret | RBR 2 22 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | HOC 1 24 | HOC 2 17 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | 33rd | 0 |
Complete Macau Grand Prix results
Complete Formula Regional Middle East Trophy results
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points |
| 2026 | CL Motorsport | YMC1 1 17 | YMC1 2 9 | YMC1 3 7 | YMC2 1 | YMC2 2 | YMC2 3 | DUB 1 | DUB 2 | DUB 3 | LUS 1 | LUS 2 | LUS 3 | 8* | 12th* |