Lirim Zendeli

Lirim Zendeli (born 18 October 1999 in Bochum) is a German racing driver of Macedonian-Albanian descent[1][2] who last competed for MP Motorsport in the 2021 Formula 2 Championship. He competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Charouz Racing System in 2019 as the reigning German Formula 4 champion.[3] After the 2019 F3 season, Zendeli competed in the 2020 Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand before joining Trident for the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship, where he won a race at Spa.

Lirim Zendeli
Zendeli in 2019
Nationality German
Albanian
Macedonian
via triple nationality
Born (1999-10-18) 18 October 1999
Bochum, Germany
FIA Formula 2 Championship career
Debut season2021
Car number12
Former teamsMP Motorsport
Starts17 (18 entries)
Wins0
Podiums0
Poles0
Fastest laps1
Best finish17th in 2021
Previous series
2020
2016-18		Toyota Racing Series
ADAC Formula 4
Championship titles
2018ADAC Formula 4

Racing career

ADAC Formula 4

2016 was Zendeli's first season in ADAC Formula 4. His only podium of the year came at Zandvoort and he finished 13th in the standings. The following season would see Zendeli improve his results by winning three races and finishing in 4th position. 2018 was his breakout year; Zendeli moved to the US Racing-CHRS team and secured the ADAC F4 title, taking eight pole positions of a possible 14, winning 10 races out of 21 and finishing over 100 points ahead of nearest rival Liam Lawson.[4][5]

2019

Zendeli progressed to Formula 3 in 2019, continuing with Charouz and alongside Fabio Scherer and Raoul Hyman. The team finished eighth of ten teams in the championship and Zendeli scored six points, one less than Scherer but ahead of Hyman. Zendeli's best race result was seventh place at the Red Bull Ring and he finished 18th in the drivers' championship.

2020

Zendeli signed for Trident Racing to partner David Beckmann and Olli Caldwell in the 2020 season. He scored his first Formula 3 podium finish at the rain-shortened first race of the second Red Bull Ring round. At the final Silverstone race, Zendeli led for most of the race but battled for the win with Bent Viscaal on the final lap. Zendeli crossed the finish line second, only 0.189 seconds behind Viscaal.[6] Zendeli took his first Formula 3 pole position at Spa-Francorchamps and led every lap to take his first victory.[7] He took a second pole position at the season finale at Mugello, but fell to fourth place in the first race before being eliminated on the opening lap of the second race after colliding with Logan Sargeant.[8] Zendeli ended the season eighth in the championship with 104 points – behind Beckmann but considerably ahead of Caldwell – and helped his Trident team to achieve second place in the teams' championship.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

In December 2020 it was announced that Zendeli would graduate to the FIA Formula 2 Championship for the 2021 season, driving for MP Motorsport alongside Richard Verschoor.[9] He scored his first points in his first race, thanks to a fastest lap. Due to financial reasons, Zendeli left the team in early November and was replaced by Clément Novalak.[10]

Personal life

His father Jauni founded a drywall works company in Bochum.[11]

Karting record

Karting career summary
Season Series Team Position
2011 DMV Kart Championship — KF3 39th
Ciao Thomas Knopper Memorial — KF3 14th
2012 Euro Wintercup — KF3 KSM Motorsport 11th
Bridgestone Cup Europe — KF3 5th
ADAC Kart Masters — KF3 11th
German Karting Championship — Junior 42nd
DMV Kart Championship — KF3 10th
2013 ADAC Kart Masters — KF3 KSM Racing Team 3rd
WSK Euro Series — KFJ 24th
German Karting Championship — Junior 5th
WSK Final Cup — KFJ NC
2014 South Garda Winter Cup — KF3 KSM Racing Team 21st
Trofeo Andrea Margutti — KFJ 6th
German Karting Championship — Junior 8th
ADAC Kart Masters — KFJ 1st
CIK-FIA World Championship — KFJ 27th
2015 South Garda Winter Cup — KF KSM Racing Team 11th

Racing record

Racing career summary
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2016 ADAC Formula 4 Championship ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. 24 0 0 2 1 84 13th
2017 ADAC Formula 4 Championship ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. 21 3 3 1 5 164 4th
Italian F4 Championship BWT Mücke Motorsport 18 0 0 1 2 114 NC†
2018 ADAC Formula 4 Championship US Racing - CHRS 21 10 7 8 13 348 1st
2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship Sauber Junior Team by Charouz 14 0 0 0 0 6 18th
Formula Regional European Championship US Racing 3 0 0 0 2 42 14th
2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship Trident 18 1 2 1 3 104 8th
Toyota Racing Series Giles Motorsport 15 0 0 0 4 200 8th
2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship MP Motorsport 17 0 0 1 0 13 17th
DTM Trophy T3 Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC‡

† As Zendeli had not competed in the required number of rounds he was ineligible for a championship position.
‡ As Zendeli was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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 Pos Points
2016 ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. OSC1
1
Ret		 OSC1
2
16		 OSC1
3
Ret		 SAC
1
18		 SAC
2
11		 SAC
3
11		 LAU
1
21		 LAU
2
6		 LAU
3
5		 OSC2
1
25		 OSC2
2
5		 OSC2
3
13		 RBR
1
27		 RBR
2
10		 RBR
3
14		 NÜR
1
Ret		 NÜR
2
12		 NÜR
3
31		 ZAN
1
4		 ZAN
2
2		 ZAN
3
7		 HOC
1
4		 HOC
2
5		 HOC
3
24		 13th 74
2017 ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. OSC1
1
7		 OSC1
2
9		 OSC1
3
1		 LAU
1
7		 LAU
2
9		 LAU
3
Ret		 RBR
1
7		 RBR
2
Ret		 RBR
3
5		 OSC2
1
11		 OSC2
2
11		 OSC2
3
7		 NÜR
1
1		 NÜR
2
2		 NÜR
3
6		 SAC
1
20		 SAC
2
6		 SAC
3
8		 HOC
1
2		 HOC
2
1		 HOC
3
Ret		 4th 164
2018 US Racing - CHRS OSC
1
1		 OSC
2
1		 OSC
3
Ret		 HOC1
1
1		 HOC1
2
1		 HOC1
3
3		 LAU
1
11		 LAU
2
1		 LAU
3
4		 RBR
1
4		 RBR
2
1		 RBR
3
5		 HOC2
1
3		 HOC2
2
1		 NÜR
1
1		 NÜR
2
2		 NÜR
3
5		 HOC3
1
7		 HOC3
2
1		 HOC3
3
1		 1st 348

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points
2019 Sauber Junior Team by Charouz CAT
FEA
14		 CAT
SPR
11		 LEC
FEA
Ret		 LEC
SPR
16		 RBR
FEA
8		 RBR
SPR
7		 SIL
FEA
15		 SIL
SPR
9		 HUN
FEA
Ret		 HUN
SPR
20		 SPA
FEA
22		 SPA
SPR
22†		 MNZ
FEA
Ret		 MNZ
SPR
18		 SOC
FEA
WD		 SOC
SPR
WD		 18th 6
2020 Trident RBR
FEA
5		 RBR
SPR
5		 RBR
FEA
2‡		 RBR
SPR
10		 HUN
FEA
Ret		 HUN
SPR
16		 SIL
FEA
13		 SIL
SPR
11		 SIL
FEA
9		 SIL
SPR
2		 CAT
FEA
12		 CAT
SPR
16		 SPA
FEA
1		 SPA
SPR
8		 MNZ
FEA
7		 MNZ
SPR
4		 MUG
FEA
4		 MUG
SPR
Ret		 8th 104

† Driver did not finish the race but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Toyota Racing Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 DC Points
2020 Giles Motorsport HIG
1
3		 HIG
2
3		 HIG
3
8		 TER
1
7		 TER
2
2		 TER
3
12		 HMP
1
10		 HMP
2
7		 HMP
3
5		 PUK
1
12		 PUK
2
Ret		 PUK
3
3		 MAN
1
13		 MAN
2
15		 MAN
3
13		 8th 200

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year Entrant 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
2021 MP Motorsport BHR
SP1
9		 BHR
SP2
Ret		 BHR
FEA
18		 MCO
SP1
15		 MCO
SP2
7		 MCO
FEA
Ret		 BAK
SP1
13		 BAK
SP2
Ret		 BAK
FEA
10		 SIL
SP1
11		 SIL
SP2
9		 SIL
FEA
9		 MNZ
SP1
15†		 MNZ
SP2
12		 MNZ
FEA
7		 SOC
SP1
10		 SOC
SP2
C		 SOC
FEA
16		 JED
SP1		 JED
SP2		 JED
FEA		 YMC
SP1		 YMC
SP2		 YMC
FEA		 17th 13

References
  1. "Zendeli traf einst Schumi: Dieser Albaner will in die Formel 1". Blick (in Swiss High German). 21 January 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  2. "Lirim Zendeli nga Maqedonia e Veriut/ Mbajeni mend kur një ditë ta shihni mbështjellë me flamurin e Shqipërisë në podiumin e fituesve të Formulës 1". ata.gov.al (in Albanian). 5 October 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  3. "Charouz reveal 2019 line-up". FIA F3. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  4. Waring, Bethonie (2018-08-05). "Zendeli secures ADAC Formula 4 title at the Nurburgring, Krutten wins race three". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  5. Waring, Bethonie (2018-09-23). "Lirim Zendeli ends ADAC F4 season with 10th win at Hockenheim". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
  6. Waring, Bethonie (9 August 2020). "Viscaal beats Zendeli in thrilling Silverstone FIA F3 finish". formulascout.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. Suttill, Josh (29 August 2020). "Spa-Francorchamps F3: Zendeli takes maiden win as Sargeant loses points lead". autosport.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  8. Suttill, Josh (13 September 2020). "Mugello F3: Piastri wins 2020 title as Lawson dominates season finale". autosport.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  9. "Lirim Zendeli steps up to FIA Formula 2 with MP Motorsport". MP Motorsport. 16 December 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. Allen, Peter (3 November 2021). "Novalak joins MP Motorsport for F2 move ahead of 2022". Formula Scout. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  11. "Zendeli Trockenbau - Willkommen". www.zendeli-trockenbau-bochum.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-08-04.
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