Aimée Gauthier
Aimée Gauthier (born January 17th, 2001 in Toulon, France) is a French racing driver, and the granddaughter of former Formula 1 driver and Equipe Gauthier team boss Guillaume Gauthier. She is known for winning the 2016-17 Formula Nippon championship.
Early Life
Aimée's early years were spent in close proximity to cars. Her family owns one of the biggest garage chain in southern France, and her grandfather Guillaume was one of the country's many Formula 1 stars in the late 70's and early 80's, on top of owning a racing team. When he was not busy running his team, Guillaume would regale Aimée with tales of his racing exploits, and from an early age she knew she wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Aimée was also privilege to one of the best educations money could buy, as her family had become very affluent in the wake of both Guillaume's Grand Prix success and the boom in business for Garages Automobiles Gauthier, in which Aimée's mother attained a rather high rank.
Junior Career
Karting (2009-2015)
Her father, Arnaud, was more interested in the technical aspects of motor racing as opposed to actually racing, but when Aimée turned 8, he surprised her with her very own kart with which to begin her racing career. At this stage, Arnaud was making a name for himself as an engineer within Equipe Gauthier, but was able to spare enough time to maintain the kart. Very quickly Aimée began crushing all opposition she came across, and by the time she was 10, Guillaume had seen fit to give her full backing from Equipe Gauthier, allowing her to compete on a national level. By the end of 2012, she was French Under-13 Karting Champion at the age of 11. A year later she earned the European title. Aimée then won the European Under-15 Karting Championship, and began looking for a way into single-seaters, eventually settling on the F1 Rejects Development Series.
2016
Equipe Gauthier did not run a F1RDS team, so Aimée had to rely on finding another team to accept her. Thanks to her karting results, this was not too difficult, and found a home with Jules Connes' Écurie Prenois outfit. Her debut season in car racing went exceptionally well, taking 3 podiums in the Winter Cup, finishing 2nd in the standings there, before following this up with 6 more in the series proper, again finishing 2nd in the championship. Although she only won once all year in the F1RDS, her consistency and reliability were exceptional for a driver of her youth, finishing outside the points only 4 times, and not once retiring. In both the Winter Cup and the main series, the only driver to best her in the final standings was Estonian Anu Võsu, a driver 5 years her senior.
When Écurie Prenois was granted a second car for the second half of the IFRC, Gauthier was called on to perform double duty in both that series. While she struggled to stand out against the must tougher opposition in more powerful machinery, she did outpace her teammate Mathilde Thybes. However, her competition in the series came to an abrupt end after an avoidable collision with Renato Bulku saw the Albanian driver injured for the rest of the season, and Gauthier herself banned for her part in it.
2017
Despite the ban, her performances had sufficiently impressed the racing world at large, and Gauthier was offered a seat in the 2016-17 Formula Nippon season by Noritake Terada Racing. In far more powerful machinery than she was used to, Gauthier still found herself a regular threat for wins and podiums - winning in only her second start at Okayama and taking 4 pole positions and 2 other podium results on her way to winning the 8-race championship - despite 3 retirements due to car failures and crashes that were out of her control.
Although initially it looked as if Gauthier would remain in the F1RDS for another season to continue her development, her aptitude in the very powerful Formula Nippon cars made it clear she was ready to handle more powerful machinery. The decision was made to move her to F3RWRS for the 2017 season, as the move up to full AutoReject 3.5 was deemed to big a step for her after her partial IFRC campaign. Although Equipe Gauthier did run an F3RWRS team, it was determined that she would have the best chance of winning elsewhere, and so signed with Atlantean Voeckler Junior. Ironically, in the truncated season, Gauthier driver Rick Simpson was one of the few drivers to beat her, as Gauthier took 2 podiums and placed 5th in the standings.
2018
With the collapse of F3RWRS, Gauthier focused her attention back on Formula Nippon, as she planned to defend her crown in an expanded 18-race schedule. Remaining with Noritake Terada Racing, Gauthier opened the season with 2 wins and 2 3rd place finishes in the first 5 races, but a frustrating string of 10 races with 6 retirements and only 1 points finish saw her trailing in the latter stages of the season. It was ultimately enough to allow ARWS veteran Barii Mori to hang on and win the championship by 20 points from Gauthier, though her marks of 4 wins, 7 poles, and 2 fastest laps left little question as to who the quickest driver in the series was.
Following this, Gauthier chose to return to AR3.5 to continue progressing her career - remaining with the Voeckler organisation for the 2018 season. After few disappointing results in the opening rounds of the championship, Gauthier scored points in every race following her pole position in her heat race at the British round, up until crashing out in her heat race at the Japanese round. Though she didn't win, a total of 5 podium finishes saw her climb up to 10th in the final standings.
By this stage, however, Equipe Gauthier had closed up as an organisation due to many outstanding debts and the return of her grandfather's depression. While the skill she had displayed behind the wheel up to this point meant continuing her career was not in jeopardy, it did mean that she had lost a lot of the support structure she had relied heavily upon up to that point.
2019
Looking to challenge for the title in AR3.5 in 2019, Gauthier moved back to the familiar environment of Écurie Prenois, the reigning Teams Champions. Although she opened the season strongly with 3 consecutive podiums, and won 3 races later in the season, she did not finish on the podium otherwise. This saw her slip to a disappointing 6th in the championship, the only title contender not to finish on the podium in the final 4 rounds of the championship.
Regardless, she was tapped to replace the banned Naoki Shinjo for Union Saver Developments making her ARWS debut in the final round of the 2019 season, the Chinese Grand Prix. At just 18 years old, on the biggest stage imaginable, Gauthier starred in qualifying, demolishing teammate Shinobu Katayama's time by 1.5 seconds - but this did not translate in the race, as an early crash saw her debut end in disappointment.
2020 & 2021
For 2020, Gauthier had many offers with various ARWS teams, but elected to remain with USD for her rookie season. A 4th place finish in the first race of the season seemed to herald good things for her and the team - but these were quickly dashed as the Leonhard von Gottorp scandal wiped out the season after just 2 races. Gauthier wound up taking refuge with Team Abt in the DTM series for 2020 and 2021, narrowly missing out on the 2021 title to Monika Flater.
2022 & 2023
Although she had an offer to continue in DTM beyond 2021, Gauthier's true passion was always single seaters, and when a spot opened up for her to resume chasing her dream in F2 with Prema for 2022, she quickly took it.
ARWS
2024
Four years after she initially thought she would be getting her first full season in ARWS competition, Gauthier finally got a second chance at the series for the 2024 season, this time for William Storey's Rich Energy Racing Point ARWS Team.
Career Summary
Year | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | F1RDS Winter Cup | Écurie Prenois | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 46 | 2nd |
F1RDS | Écurie Prenois | 20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 151 | 2nd | |
IFRC | Écurie Prenois | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 48th | |
2016-17 | Formula Nippon | Noritake Terada Racing | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 245 | 1st |
2017 | F3RWRS | Atlantean Voeckler Junior | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 49 | 5th |
2017-18 | Formula Nippon | Noritake Terada Racing | 18 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 475 | 2nd |
2018 | AR3.5 Africa | Voeckler Grand Prix Engineering | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 13th |
AR3.5 | Voeckler Grand Prix Engineering | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 76 | 10th | |
2019 | AR3.5 Middle East | Écurie Prenois | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 4th |
AR3.5 | Écurie Prenois | 22 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 130 | 6th | |
ARWS | Union Saver Developments | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39th | |
2020 | ARWS | Union Saver Developments | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7th |
2022 | F2 | Prema Powerteam | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
2024 | ARWS | Rich Energy Racing Point ARWS Team | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
Complete Results
F1RDS Winter Cup Results
Year | Team | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | DC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Écurie Prenois | Peugeot-Cosworth 2.0L V6 | SN1 3 |
SN2 17 |
LS1 8 |
LS2 2 |
LB1 9 |
LB2 2 |
2nd | 46 |
F1RDS Results
Year | Team | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Écurie Prenois | Peugeot-Cosworth 2.0L V6 | SP1 2 |
SP2 2 |
UK1 8 |
UK2 11 |
ITA 7 |
AUT 6 |
TU1 2 |
TU2 14 |
FR1 9 |
FR2 5 |
GER 9 |
NED 1 |
EN1 7 |
EN2 5 |
BE1 8 |
BE2 21 |
CZ1 2 |
CZ2 3 |
JP1 5 |
JP1 2 |
2nd | 151 |
IFRC/AR3.5 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 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Écurie Prenois | AUS HEA |
AUS FEA |
MEX HEA |
MEX FEA |
FRA HEA |
FRA FEA |
GBR HEA |
GBR FEA |
ITA HEA |
ITA FEA |
USA HEA 8 |
USA FEA 12 |
GER HEA 7 |
GER FEA Ret |
NED HEA 10 |
NED FEA 13 |
FIN HEA 8 |
FIN FEA Ret |
BEL HEA Ret |
BEL FEA DNQ |
RUS HEA EX |
RUS FEA EX |
JPN HEA EX |
JPN FEA EX |
48th | 4 |
2018 | Voeckler Grand Prix Engineering | AUS HEA 9 |
AUS FEA 11 |
ITA HEA 7 |
ITA FEA 17 |
FRA HEA 6 |
FRA FEA DNS |
USA HEA 17 |
USA FEA C |
GBR HEA 2 |
GBR FEA 2 |
AUT HEA 2 |
AUT FEA 8 |
NED HEA 4 |
NED FEA 2 |
GER HEA 6 |
GER FEA 10 |
BEL HEA 3 |
BEL FEA 9 |
JPN HEA Ret |
JPN FEA DNQ |
10th | 76 | ||||
2019 | Écurie Prenois | AUS HEA 2 |
AUS FEA 3 |
ESP HEA 2 |
ESP FEA 4 |
ITA HEA 10 |
ITA FEA 2 |
FRA HEA 7 |
FRA FEA 9 |
IRL HEA 1 |
IRL FEA 15 |
GBR HEA 8 |
GBR FEA 1 |
AUT HEA 13 |
AUT FEA 1 |
GER HEA 4 |
GER FEA 21 |
BEL HEA 4 |
BEL FEA 4 |
USA HEA 4 |
USA FEA 4 |
JPN HEA 4 |
JPN FEA Ret |
6th | 130 |
Formula Nippon
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016-17 | Noritake Terada Racing | AUO 3 |
OKY 1 |
SUZ 5 |
YEO Ret |
MOT Ret |
SUG 20† |
MOT 4 |
FUJ 2 |
1st | 245 | ||||||||||
2017-18 | Noritake Terada Racing | FUJ R1 Ret |
FUJ R2 1 |
SUG R1 1 |
SUG R2 3 |
MOT R1 3 |
MOT R2 14 |
MOT R1 10 |
MOT R2 Ret |
YEO R1 Ret |
YEO R2 4 |
OKY R1 23 |
OKY R2 Ret |
SEN R1 Ret |
SEN R2 Ret |
AUT R1 Ret |
AUT R2 1 |
SUZ R1 3 |
SUZ R2 1 |
2nd | 475 |
F3RWRS results
(Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Pts | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | Atlantean Voeckler Junior | Mygale M-17 | Maserati 017/3 | HIG SP Ret |
AUS R1 Ret |
AUS R2 25† |
GBR R1 3 |
GBR R2 2 |
AUT R1 14 |
AUT R2 C |
USA R1 5 |
USA R2 C |
ATP SP C |
NED R1 C |
NED R2 C |
BEL R1 C |
BEL R2 C |
MOR R1 C |
MOR R2 C |
SUR SP C |
5th | 49 |
AutoReject 3.5 Middle Eastern & Africa Cup results
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pos | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Voeckler Grand Prix Engineering | KYA 5 |
PHA |
NAM Ret |
ANG |
13th | 8 |
2019 | Écurie Prenois | DUB 3 |
ABU 4 |
QAT 12 |
BAH 1 |
4th | 38 |
ARWS Results
Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Union Saver Developments | KS-02 | Daihatsu Zeetec-R2/19 | AUS |
NSW |
KIN |
ITA |
MAR |
CAN |
500 |
GBR |
AUT |
GER |
SCA |
BEL |
MON |
RSA |
BRA |
ARG |
JPN |
CHN Ret |
39th | 0 |
2020 | Union Saver Developments | KS-03 | Daihatsu Zeetec-R2/20 | AUS 4 |
NSW Ret |
ARG C |
BRA C |
500 C |
CAN C |
GBR C |
BEL C |
MON C |
ITA C |
AUT C |
GER C |
SAF C |
INA C |
MAL C |
PAC C |
JPN C |
CHN C |
7th | 3 |
2024 | Rich Energy Racing Point ARWS Team | WJS-24 | Koenigsegg ATFG | MON |
MED |
LUX |
GER |
CRI |
GRS |
NUS |
ITA |
GBR |
CAN |
RNO |
SUS |
MAL |
KIN |
JPN |
AUS |
NC | 0 |
Formula 2 Results
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | DC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Prema Powerteam | NC | 0 |