Sergey Sirotkin (racing driver)

Sergey Olegovich Sirotkin (born 27 August 1995) is a Russian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One in 2018 for the Williams team. He was also the reserve driver for Renault in 2019 and 2020.

Sergey Olegovich Sirotkin was born on 27 August 1995 in Moscow, Russia. His father, Oleg Sirotkin, was head of the National Institute of Aviation Technologies, Russia. He graduated from Moscow Automobile and Road Construction University in 2017 with a degree in race car engineering.

Having turned fifteen years old, Sirotkin graduated to single-seaters, racing in the newly launched Formula Abarth series in Italy for Jenzer Motorsport. He made his début at Vallelunga, finishing the first race in the points and later added four more point-scoring finishes to finish 18th in the championship. Sirotkin remained in Formula Abarth, and with Jenzer, for a second season in 2011; the series splitting into two separate classifications for European and Italian championship races. But prior to the round at Spa, Sirotkin switched to the Euronova Racing by Fortec team. He won the European Series title with a race to spare, taking five wins in fourteen races. In the Italian Series, Sirotkin finished as runner-up with two race victories, losing out to former teammate Patric Niederhauser after an error in the final race at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

In 2012, Sirotkin continued his collaboration with Euronova Racing into the Auto GP World Series. His first round at Monza saw him qualify on the front row, losing pole position to Adrian Quaife-Hobbs by just 0.04 seconds. He stalled at the start of the first race, but recorded a finish of fourth place in the second race; he also set the fastest lap in both races. At Valencia, he again started behind points leader Quaife-Hobbs, but this time Sirotkin passed him before the first turn, and eventually scored his first win—again setting fastest lap—becoming the youngest Auto GP winner in the process. After another fastest lap in the second race, Sirotkin established a record of four consecutive fastest laps; breaking a record previously held by Romain Grosjean. Sirotkin went on to finish the season in third place overall, behind Quaife-Hobbs and Pål Varhaug. He finished the season with two race wins in Valencia and Sonoma, and seven podium finishes. He also recorded his first pole position at the Marrakech Street Circuit.