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Théophile Naël

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Théophile Naël
Naël in 2024
NationalityFrance French
Born (2007-06-27) 27 June 2007 (age 17)
Saint-Étienne, France
FRECA career
Debut season2024
Current teamSaintéloc Racing
Car number44
Starts20 (20 entries)
Wins1
Podiums1
Poles1
Fastest laps0
Best finish9th in 2024
Previous series
2024
2023
2022–2023		FR Middle East Championship
Formula 4 UAE Championship
F4 Spanish Championship
Championship titles
2023F4 Spanish Championship

Théophile Naël (born 27 June 2007) is a French racing driver who is set to compete with Van Amersfoort Racing in 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship. He is also the 2023 F4 Spanish champion.

Career

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Karting

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Naël was a successful karter in his national category, taking the crown in the 2018 French Championship, National Series Karting and in the 2020 IAME Series.[1][2][3]

Formula 4

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2022

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Naël made his single-seater debut during the fourth round of the 2022 F4 Spanish Championship with Saintéloc Racing at Spa-Francorchamps, around a week after he had turned 15.[4] Having achieved four points finishes with a high of eighth place, Naël ended 19th in the standings with 11 points.

2023

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During 2023 pre-season, Naël was announced to drive in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship with Saintéloc Racing.[5] With multiple points finishes across the season, Naël placed 11th in the standings.[6][7]

Naël driving at Spa-Francorchamps during the 2023 F4 Spanish Championship.

His full-time campaign would lie in the 2023 F4 Spanish Championship, as he continued to drive for Saintéloc Racing.[8] His first podium came only in the second race in Spa-Francorchamps, before taking his maiden car racing win the next round in Aragón.[9] Naël then put on a dominant display over the next three rounds, winning the next six of nine races, propelling himself to the top of the standings.[10] Another win the next round in Circuit Ricardo Tormo put him at the brink of the title.[11] Despite a complete sweep by rival Christian Ho during the season finale in Barcelona, Naël's massive points lead allowed him to seal the title during the first race.[12] He described his title win as "unbelievable" as he won against long-standing rivals Campos Racing and MP Motorsport.[13] He achieved eight wins, five poles and fourteen podiums whilst harnessing 314 points, 23 ahead of rival Ho.

Formula Regional

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Naël driving in the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship at the Hungaroring

Naël stepped up to the Formula Regional European Championship for 2024, continuing his relationship with Saintéloc Racing.[14] Before that, he competed in the pre-season Formula Regional Middle East Championship with the team.[15] He took his first Formula Regional win during the second round at Yas Marina and a further podium.[16] Ending the season with a third place, Naël was 11th in the standings.[17]

In his main campaign, Naël had a sluggish first half of the season with only three points finishes.[18] However, his breakthrough came at the Red Bull Ring where he won the second race from third on the grid.[19] He ended the season strongly with two fourth places in Monza, in which he even took his first pole in the final race.[20] Naël ended his first FRECA campaign ninth in the standings with 81 points.[21] He also partook in the Macau Grand Prix with Saintéloc.[22] He finished 14th in the main race, but was later disqualified as his team crew had illegally started the car again when his car had stalled.[23]

FIA Formula 3 Championship

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In October 2024, Naël participated in the first round of FIA Formula 3 post-season testing at Jerez, with Van Amersfoort Racing.[24]

On November 28, 2024 Naël was confirmed as part of Van Amersfoort Racing's lineup for the 2025 season.[25][26]

Karting record

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Karting career summary

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Season Series Team Position
2017 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals — Micro Max Laurent Nael 34th
2018 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals — Mini Max Nuvolini Stephen 21st
French Championship — Cadet 1st
National Series Karting — Cadet 1st
2019 CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ
2020 IAME Series France — X30 Junior 2N Racing 1st
IAME Euro Series — X30 Junior 3rd
IAME International Games — X30 Junior 2N Racing 51st
2021 IAME Warriors Final — X30 Junior 3rd
Source:[27]

Racing record

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Racing career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2022 F4 Spanish Championship Saintéloc Racing 12 0 0 0 0 11 19th
2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship Saintéloc Racing 15 0 0 1 0 49 11th
F4 Spanish Championship 21 8 5 5 14 314 1st
2024 Formula Regional Middle East Championship Saintéloc Racing 15 1 0 0 3 75 11th
Formula Regional European Championship 20 1 1 0 1 81 9th
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DSQ
2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 0 0 0 0 0 0 TBD

* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results

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(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 DC Points
2022 Saintéloc Racing ALG
1
 ALG
2
 ALG
3
 JER
1
 JER
2
 JER
3
 CRT
1
 CRT
2
 CRT
3
 SPA
1
24 		SPA
2
12 		SPA
3
Ret 		ARA
1
8 		ARA
2
23 		ARA
3
21† 		NAV
1
11 		NAV
2
10 		NAV
3
8 		CAT
1
15 		CAT
2
11 		CAT
3
9 		19th 11
2023 Saintéloc Racing SPA
1
7 		SPA
2
3 		SPA
3
6 		ARA
1
5 		ARA
2
3 		ARA
3
1 		NAV
1
1 		NAV
2
1 		NAV
3
3 		JER
1
1 		JER
2
4 		JER
3
1 		EST
1
1 		EST
2
1 		EST
3
Ret 		CRT
1
2 		CRT
2
1 		CRT
3
19 		CAT
1
3 		CAT
2
18 		CAT
3
2 		1st 314

Complete F4 UAE Championship results

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(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
2023 Saintéloc Racing DUB1
1
7 		DUB1
2
Ret 		DUB1
3
7 		KMT1
1
4 		KMT1
2
15 		KMT1
3
8 		KMT2
1
10 		KMT2
2
9 		KMT2
3
32 		DUB2
1
26 		DUB2
2
28 		DUB2
3
6 		YMC
1
28† 		YMC
2
9 		YMC
3
6 		11th 49

Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 DC Points
2024 Saintéloc Racing YMC1
1
13 		YMC1
2
10 		YMC1
3
6 		YMC2
1
8 		YMC2
2
1 		YMC2
3
2 		DUB1
1
10 		DUB1
2
Ret 		DUB1
3
10 		YMC3
1
Ret 		YMC3
2
Ret 		YMC3
3
12 		DUB2
1
Ret 		DUB2
2
9 		DUB2
3
3 		11th 75

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

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(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 DC Points
2024 Saintéloc Racing HOC
1
Ret 		HOC
2
7 		SPA
1
11 		SPA
2
7 		ZAN
1
17 		ZAN
2
13 		HUN
1
DSQ 		HUN
2
9 		MUG
1
23 		MUG
2
14 		LEC
1
11 		LEC
2
14 		IMO
1
7 		IMO
2
8 		RBR
1
13 		RBR
2
1 		CAT
1
6 		CAT
2
11 		MNZ
1
4 		MNZ
2
4 		9th 81

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

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Year Team Car Qualifying Quali Race Main race
2024 France Saintéloc Racing Tatuus F3 T-318 8th 11th DSQ

References

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  1. ^ "French Championship - Cadet 2018". DriverDB. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  2. ^ "National Series Karting - Cadet". DriverDB. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  3. ^ "IAME Series France - X30 Junior". DriverDB. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  4. ^ Wood, Ida (5 July 2022). "Sainteloc Racing and Brazilian F4 duo to debut in Spanish F4 at Spa". Formula Scout. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  5. ^ Wood, Ida (14 December 2023). "Cram Motorsport and Sainteloc Racing reveal F4 UAE line-ups". Formula Scout. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  6. ^ "F4 United Arab Emirates Championship 2023". DriverDB. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  7. ^ Tassel, Pierre (22 February 2023). "Deux Top 10 pour conclure la saison F4 UAE". Saintéloc Racing (in French).
  8. ^ Wood, Ida (3 May 2023). "Sainteloc Racing reveals Spanish F4 line-up and Cram adds Silvaggi". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  9. ^ Allen, Peter (28 May 2023). "Nael takes his and Sainteloc Racing's first Spanish F4 win at Aragon". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Spanish F4 leader Théophile Naël: 'I knew there was an opportunity to do something in this championship'". Feeder Series. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Théophile Naël one step away from the F4 Spain title". Saintéloc Racing. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  12. ^ Allen, Peter (11 November 2023). "Nael clinches Spanish F4 crown even as Ho wins Barcelona race one". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  13. ^ Alonso Lopez, Alejandro (14 November 2023). "Theophile Nael: "To win versus Campos and MP is just unbelievable"". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  14. ^ Gascoigne, Roger (1 December 2023). "Nael, de Palo and Peugeot form Sainteloc's all-rookie 2024 FREC line-up". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  15. ^ Wood, Ida (5 January 2024). "FRegional Middle East grid grows with a week to go before round one". Formula Scout. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  16. ^ Gascoigne, Roger (20 January 2024). "Nael scores his and Sainteloc's first FRegional win at Yas Marina". Formula Scout. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Formula Regional Middle East Championship 2024 Standings". DriverDB. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Théophile in action: A look back at the intense Hungaroring weekend". theophilenael.com. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  19. ^ Allen, Peter (15 September 2024). "Nael beats Stromsted to first win in eventful race for FREC contenders". Formula Scout. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Ugochukwu finally triumphs as Strømsted takes rookie championship: FR Europe Monza recap". Feeder Series. 31 October 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  21. ^ "Impressive performance by Théophile Naël at Monza". theophilenael.com. 30 October 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  22. ^ "FIA FRegional World Cup: Macau Grand Prix guide". Feeder Series. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  23. ^ Wood, Ida (18 November 2024). "Three drivers get disqualified from Macau GP". Formula Scout. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  24. ^ "Formula 3 begins post-season testing in Jerez". FIAFormula3® - The Official F3® Website. 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  25. ^ "Van Amersfoort Racing confirm Théophile Nael for 2025 campaign". FIAFormula3® - The Official F3® Website. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  26. ^ Scout, Formula (2024-11-30). "Sagrera and Nael secure steps up to F3 for 2025". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-11-30.
  27. ^ "Théophile Naël | Racing career profile | Driver Database". Driver DB. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by F4 Spanish Championship
Champion
2023 		Succeeded by
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