Einar Ármannsson

Einar Ármannsson

Nationality	Icelandic
Born	5th August 1995 Reykjavik, Iceland
DEC Holder	kevinbotz
Current Series	Formula One
Current Team	Theodore Racing Team
Car Number	91
Former Teams	Mansell, Ferrari, Calinetic

Einar Ármannsson (born August 5, 1995 in Reykjavik, Iceland), is an Icelandic racing driver currently racing in Formula One. He is most famous for his stint with Ferrari.

Early life and career

Born into a family of affluent amateur racers, Ármannsson was first introduced to motor racing through attending his father's Formula Off Road events, and various weekend karting races. Having been exposed to the sport at a very young age, and with a family background capable of supporting his ambitions, Ármannsson ascended both local and international karting ladders rapidly, winning the Karting World Championship in 2008. The Icelander followed his karting successes with a Formula Ford championship in his rookie season, earning him a race seat in Formula Renault 2.0 with the front-running Koiranen Motorsport team.

Nevertheless, despite demonstrating prodigious pace throughout his debut season, Ármannsson struggled with car setup issues and consistency, consigning him to a lowly fifth place in his debut year. 2011 thus represented a considerable improvement, as Ármannsson came to grips with his machinery and took three consecutive victories at the end of the year; with his confidence restored and two years worth of experience under his belt, Ármannsson dominated the 2012 season, taking ten victories and an additional six podium positions. Ármannsson would subsequently transition to Formula Renault 3.5, where he finished on the podium an impressive eleven times, though he failed to take any victories, and placed third overall. In a reversal of his fortunes in Formula Renault 2.0, Ármannsson would assemble a robust championship challenge in the following season; whilst he eventually fell short to perennial junior series nemesis, João Oliveira, 2014 nevertheless marked a watershed moment in the young Icelander's career, as Ferrari drafted him as a future Formula One prospect.

Ármannsson would spend the majority of 2015 serving as a simulator driver at the Ferrari facilities in Maranello.

Formula One

2016: Mansell

Ármannsson would spend his first Grand Prix season in torrid circumstances, having been deputized to the new Mansell team by Ferrari management in order to gain more F1 experience. With an abysmal chassis and a virtually non-existent management team, Ármannsson struggled, ultimately finishing near the bottom on the championship table. In spite of his difficulties, however, Ármannsson ultimately managed to score Mansell's only points finishes of the entire season, a seventh place and a tenth at the Cypriot Grands Prix. His professionalism and stoicism under duress impressed Maranello sufficiently that the task of deputizing for Nathan McKane for the remainder of his contract at Kingfisher was left to the young Icelandic driver.

2017: Ferrari

Ármannsson deputized for Ferrari for the first four race weekends of the season, establishing himself as a solid, if unspectacular, driver capable of regular points finishes. He duly made way for Nathan McKane as the latter driver's ARWS contract expired at Cyprus, and was subsequently remanded to his previous testing and reserve duties. Whilst cognizant of the transient nature of his tenure at Ferrari, a frustrated Ármannsson nevertheless committed the following four months toward a ruthlessly fastidious refinement of his racecraft and a brutally arduous physical conditioning program. His preparations left him in good stead for when McKane was effectively forced into an involuntary sabbatical following a particularly egregious incident with Robert Kubica at Monza.

Recalled to the Ferrari race team once more at the European Grands Prix in Silverstone, a deeply motivated Ármannsson immediately dispelled existing impressions by forcibly splitting the two dominant Caterham cars, applying consistent pressure first to Sebastian Vettel, then to Daniil Kvyat during the second tire stint. His dogged persistence paid off gloriously as the championship leader committed an unusual race-ending error, and, with Kvyat subsequently coming into contact with the DGN of Kevin Magnussen, left Ármannsson in the lead of the race. Ármannsson would then go on to become the first Icelandic victor of a Formula One Grand Prix.

Managing three more podiums and multiple points finishes in the remaining races, Einar Ármannsson had at last established himself as a respected driver in Formula One. Treated as a national hero at home, Ármannsson was granted audiences with both the President and Prime Minister of Iceland, and was voted by the Icelandic public as the Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year for 2017. Much to his and his compatriots' chagrin, however, the sponsorship climate in F1 in 2018 was such that Ármannsson was left without a permanent race seat, and the Grand Prix winner would spend most of 2018 driving for Racing Team Solvalou in the GT Super Series.

2018: Calinetic

Despite racing full-time for Solvalou in 2018, Ármannsson, upon request, deputized for a suspended Max Verstappen in the Finnish and Russian Grands Prix for Calinetic. Though the car was comparatively uncompetitive, Ármannsson nevertheless contributed to Calinetic's point tally with an eighth place finish.

2019: Theodore

Not having raced in Formula One in a permanent capacity since 2016, Ármannsson quickly agreed to race for the newly inaugurated Theodore Racing Team when extended a contract offer by Teddy Yip Jr. Ármannsson would be partnered by former Precision driver Valtteri Bottas. Ármannsson scored two victories early in the season in Japan and Australia and was a regular points scorer, finishing the season in eighth place.

2020-: Calinetic

Ármannsson, despite his strong season, was released by Theodore at the end of 2019. Ármannsson moved across to the Jamaican Calinetic team alongside Pascal Wehrlein on a short term deal. He'd score his only podium of the year with a third place in the Turkish Grand Prix which saw him finish in sixteenth place.

A change of ownership at the team saw Ármannsson dropped to test/reserve driver in 2021 when increased investment brought in Jules Bianchi and Daniel Melrose.

GT Super Series

2018: Racing Team Solvalou

Ármannsson, needing a race seat after being unceremoniously dismissed by a new Ferrari management team, agreed to a one-year contract with Racing Team Solvalou to drive the #02 Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT alongside fellow GTSS rookie Chris Winter. Adapting quickly to the new discipline, Ármannsson proved to be highly competitive in a GT car, securing Solvalou's first victory of the season at the Yas Supercar Festival, before proceeding to secure both championships by scoring consecutive victories at Zhuhai and Suzuka.

Results

Complete Formula One results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		13		14		15		16		17		18		19		WDC	Points
2016	Petrobras Mansell Engineering	Mansell Red 5A	Ferrari Type 059	BAH		IND		BRA		MEX		PAC		CYP		HUN		GER		GBR		RUS		AUT		ITA		EUR		ESP		USA		ABU		SIN		JPN		CHI		24th	7
				13	19	Ret	16	18	17	19	18	15	20	7	10	Ret	19	12	Ret	19	17	21	21	20	Ret	18	17	Ret	20		Ret	23	13	17	18	18	16	17	14	22	20
2017	Scuderia Ferrari Gauloises	Ferrari F17	Ferrari Type 059	USA		JPN		IND		BAH		CYP		HUN		GER		GBR		AUS		PAC		MEX		AUT		ITA		EUR		ESP		ABU		RUS		BRA		CHN		10th	136
				18†	6	8	Ret	22†	5	7	4																			1	3	3	6	9	7	C	C	Ret	3	7	7
2018	Team Calinetic Shionogi	Calinetic F1-CAL3	Holden LSF1-18	USA		JPN		BAH		TUR		CYP		MED		GER		FIN		RUS		SIN		AUS		GBR		FRA		NED		HUN		ABU		CHN		MEX		BRA		31st	3
																		8	13	22	13