Gianmaria Bruni

Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni (born 30 May 1981 in Rome, Lazio, Italy) is an Italian professional racing driver, who competed in the FIA GP2 Series between 2005 and 2006. A former Formula One driver prior to his time in GP2, Bruni would claim three wins in the Series, before going on to compete as a factory driver for Ferrari and Porsche in sportscars.

Bruni was signed by Coloni Motorsport ahead of the inaugural GP2 season in 2005, partnering Mathias Lauda for the campaign. The Italian racer would open the season strongly, claiming a win in the third race, although his title bid faded with a long pointless run, which saw him leave Coloni mid-season after a fall-out with the team. Bruni would finish the season with Durango, although despite a pole position upon his return the Italian racer would end the season in tenth in the championship.

For 2006 Bruni signed with the new Trident Racing team, with the Italian racer leading the new squad alongside Andreas Zuber. Bruni went on to score two victories, although a significant number of retirements prevented the Italian from mounting a title challenge, leaving him in seventh in the title hunt.

At the end of 2006 Bruni signed a deal to become a Ferrari factory driver, joining their sportscar programme in the FIA GT Championship. Bruni would go on to claim multiple class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ferrari's pseudo-factory team AF Corse, while also claiming two World Cups in the WEC.

In 2017 Bruni caused a minor storm in the sportscar world by quitting Ferrari for Porsche, with the deal between the two seeing the Italian racer sit-out a half a season as a result.

Background
Bruni began his career in karting, racing in his native Italy at the age of ten through until he made his debut in the Italian Formula Renault championship in 1997. 1998 saw the Italian youth claim the Italian FR title, earning him a promotion into the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. Bruni went on to secure the 1999 Eurocup crown ahead of Antônio Pizzonia, earning him a promotion into Formula 3 level racing ahead of the new millennium.

An Italian Hope: 2000 - 2004
Bruni moved into British Formula 3 for 2000, and would go on to claim fifth in his maiden campaign. A second campaign in British F3 in 2001 yielded a fourth place, with Bruni getting a promotion to the European Formula 3000 series for 2002. Two seasons in Euro F3000 saw Bruni claim twelfth and then third in the final standings, earning him a seat at Minardi for the 2004, having also spent time in 2003 serving as a test driver for the Italian squad.

Armed with the uncompetitive Minardi PS04B for his maiden F1 campaign, Bruni would end the season in last in the Championship having been out-classed by teammate Zsolt Baumgartner.

GP2 Series History
Bruni signed with Coloni Motorsport ahead of the inaugural 2005 FIA GP2 Series, with the Italian squad partnering him with Mathias Lauda for the full campaign.

Post GP2 Series Career
After leaving GP2 at the end of 2006, Bruni secured a factory seat with Ferrari in their sportscar programme, who placed the Italian racer in the FIA GT Championship for 2007. Finishing second overall in the GT2 class with teammate Stéphane Ortelli, Ferrari moved Bruni into the American Le Mans Series and the w:c:motorsport:Le Mans Series with their customer GT2 teams, with Bruni claiming third in the latter series in 2008. Bruni would also make his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2008, with the Italian racer partnering Mika Salo and Jamie Melo to victory in the GT2 class.

Ferrari Force: 2009 - 2016
Bruni remained in the Le Mans Series through to 2012, with the Italian racer partnering Giancarlo Fisichella to the GTE Pro title in 2011. In 2012 Bruni was selected to lead Ferrari's pseudo-factory team in the new FIA World Endurance Championship, aiding them to the Manufacturers' World Cup and AF Corse to the LMGTE Pro Trophy alongside Fisichella and Toni Vilander. The Bruni-Vilander-Fisichella combo would also claim the GTE Pro honours at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, before being broken up ahead of the 2013 season with Vilander leaving the team.

2013 saw Bruni and Fisichella combine to claim the World Cup for GT Drivers, an honour that Bruni would defend in 2014 after being reunited with Vilander. 2014 would also see Vilander and Fisichella join Bruni to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans for a third time, before they combined again in 2015 to finish second in the World Endurance Cup and third at Le Mans. In 2016 Bruni was given a new partner in the form of James Calado, with the pair finishing third in the World Endurance Cup.

Porsche Performer: 2018 - 2021
In the winter of 2016 Bruni caused a stir by announcing that he had signed with Porsche for the 2018 season, in-spite of having signed a multi-year deal with Ferrari a season before. As a result of his deal to terminate his contract by mutual consent, Bruni sat out the entire WEC season in 2017, and would have to wait until after the 24 Hours of Le Mans to make his debut for Porsche in the USCC. In 2018 Bruni was fully inducted in Porsche's WEC team, and would go on to finish third in the 2018-19 GTE Pro World Championship.

Full GP2 Series Record
Shown below are a series of tables outlining 's career in the GP2 Series in statistical form.

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

Career Results
Below is a table showing 's full GP2 Series record.


 * }