Luca Ghiotto

Luca Ghiotto (born 24 February 1995 in Arzignano, Veneto, Italy) is an Italian born racing driver, whom competes for Hitech Grand Prix as their lead driver in the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship. The elder statesman in the F2 field, Ghiotto has had a lot of experience in other junior categories, but has never taken an overall title.

Ghiotto's F2 career began in 2017, when the Italian racer was signed to the Russian Time squad alongside Artem Markelov, having competed in the GP2 Series in 2016. Ghiotto would claim his first F2 victory at the 2017 Monza Sprint Race, as he claimed fourth in the Championship and aided Russian Time to the Teams' Championship title.

For 2018 Ghiotto would secure a drive with Campos Racing, partnering rookie Roy Nissany. Unfortunately for Ghiotto the Campos entry was not a competitive one with the new Dallara F2 2018, although he did claim four podium finishes en-route to eighth in the Championship.

2019 saw Ghiotto return to the Russian Time squad, although they had been reformed as UNI-Virtuosi and hired Renault Sport Academy driver Guanyu Zhou for the campaign. It proved to be a more competitive campaign for Ghiotto, as the Italian racer flirted with a Championship bid, claiming four victories, although he ultimately had to settle for third to crushing Champion Nyck de Vries.

Yet another move would follow for Ghiotto in 2020, with the Italian racer joining the new Hitech Grand Prix squad for the campaign, partnered by Nikita Mazepin.

Background
Ghiotto's racing career began in karting, with the Italian racer rising through the ranks to get into the KF3 European Championship at the age of thirteen, taking the title at his first attempt. He would continue to compete in the KF3 class until the end of 2010, although rather than step into the World Championship scene, Ghiotto earned a spot in the Formula Abarth Championship for 2011.

Formula Footsteps
Ghiotto's maiden season racing cars came at the wheel of a Prema prepared Formula Abarth machine, with the Italian racer competing in both the Italian and European Championships. A relatively strong season saw Ghiotto claim ninth overall in Italy, and sixth in the European edition. The Italian racer stayed in the series for 2012, and duly ended the year as runner-up in both series.

Formula Renault tempted Ghiotto for the 2013 season, with the Italian racer taking part in the Alps and NEC championships for the year. It was Ghiotto's Alps campaign that proved to be the better, with the Italian just missing out on the title to compatriot Antonio Fuoco at the end of the season. Ghiotto was therefore promoted to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for 2014, although a dismal campaign saw him end the year in the bottom half of the table.

Ghiotto would also get his first experience of the GP3 Series in 2014, with the Italian racer taking part in several races for Trident. That developed into a full-season deal for 2015, with Ghiotto going on to duel Esteban Ocon for the title. Ultimately, it was Ocon whom came out on top, although Ghiotto had done enough to earn a spot in Trident's GP2 Series team for 2016.

GP2/Formula Two History
Ghiotto joined Trident's GP2 effort ahead of the 2016 season, partnering Indonesian racer Philo Paz Armand for the full campaign. Unfortunately for Ghiotto his start of his GP2 campaign would not go well, with the Italian having to wait until the fifth race of the season to claim his first points finish. The Italian would retire from two of the opening four races, including crashing at the start of his debut race in Barcelona.

Trying Trident
Ghiotto's performances would improve after his first points finish, with the Italian finishing fourth in the Feature Race at the Red Bull Ring a fortnight later. Ghiotto then enjoyed his best weekend of his season to that point, securing his first podium finish, as well as fastest lap, in the 2016 Silverstone Sprint Race. A miserable weekend in Hungary would follow, before Ghiotto again stood on the podium in Hockenheim.

A third podium of the season for Ghiotto followed at Spa-Francorchamps, followed up by another solid Feature Race performance at his home race in Monza. A fortnight later and Ghiotto finally gained a race win in GP2, sweeping to victory after starting from the front row at the 2016 Sepang Sprint Race. Unfortunately Ghiotto's season would end with a double non-score in Yas Marina, leaving the Italian in eighth place in the Championship.

Russian Renovation
Ghiotto stayed in the GP2 Series for 2017, and hence became an inaugural member of the newly re-forged FIA Formula Two Championship when Liberty Media and the FIA agreed to rename the series. He did, however, jump ship to Russian Time ahead of the season, partnering Artem Markelov for the first edition of F2, with the pair starting the season among the favourites. Indeed, Ghiotto seemed to have taken the next step after his switch to the Russian squad, for the Italian would stand on the podium twice in the first four races.

However, in-spite of the fact that Ghiotto would, like Markelov, become a consistent point scorer, their chances of the title faded drastically as momentum gathered around Charles Leclerc. Furthermore it was the veteran Markelov, not Ghiotto, whom emerged as team leader at Russian Time, with Ghiotto having to wait until the Silverstone Sprint Race to stand on the podium for a third time in 2017. A double score followed in Hungary, before Ghiotto scored another double podium weekend in Spa-Francorchamps, launching him into the top five in the Championship.

A week later and Ghiotto enjoyed his best weekend in F2, with the Italian claiming his first F2 victory in front of his home fans at Monza, claiming victory from fifth in the sprint race. That, however, was largely it for Ghiotto for the rest of the season, with the Italian only getting onto the podium once more in the final four races. Indeed, his lack of major points during the final four races was telling for Ghiotto, for it shuffled the Italian racer out of the top three at the end of the season, although his and Markelov's end-of-year total was enough to secure Russian Time the title in the Teams' Championship.

Campos Contemporary
Ghiotto moved to Campos Racing for the 2018 edition of F2, becoming the team's lead driver as he was partnered by rookie Roy Nissany.

Post GP2/Formula Two Career
Ghiotto completed his first Formula One test in August 2017, taking part in the in-season test at the Hungaroring for Williams F1.

Full GP2/Formula Two Record
Shown below are a series of tables outlining 's career in Formula Two in statistical form.

GP2/Formula Two Entries
The list below includes all of the teams and cars, as well as overall finishing positions for during their F2 career:

Career Results
Below is a table showing 's full GP2/Formula Two record.


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