Niko Kari


Niko Kari is a Finnish racing driver. He won his first single-seater championship in his debut year in SMP F4 Championship. He recently competed in Formula 2 with MP Motorsport. He is a former member of the Red Bull Junior Team.

Career

Karting

Kari started karting in 2009 and took part in his first race in 2010. He raced in several national karting series in Finland from 2010 to 2013. In 2014, Kari moved to KF European where he finished fifth overall.

Junior Formulae

Kari moved to single-seaters in 2015, starting in the new SMP F4 Championship. He won seven races and took the title with three races to spare. Kari moved to European Formula 3 Championship in 2016 with Motopark. He took victory at the first race at Imola after a late lunge on Lance Stroll and finished fifth in the rookie standings and tenth overall.

GP3 Series

In August 2016, Kari was also announced to take part in the GP3 rounds at Spa-Francorchamps with Koiranen GP, in place of Ralph Boschung. In November 2016, Helmut Marko confirmed Kari would move to the series full-time in 2017. In January, Kari was signed to Arden International. Kari finished the season with 63 points and a 10th place in drivers' championship. He was dropped from the Red Bull Junior Team after the season.
Kari continued to race in GP3 switching to MP Motorsport for the 2018 campaign. After 14 races into the season Kari was promoted to FIA Formula 2 Championship with MP Motorsport for the remainder of the 2018 season. At the time Kari had collected 6 points and was holding 16th place in the drivers' championship.

Formula 2

Kari was promoted to FIA Formula 2 Championship with MP Motorsport for the last two weekends of the 2018 season replacing Ralph Boschung.

Formula One

In December 2015, Kari, along with his Motopark teammate Sérgio Sette Câmara, became a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and thus becoming a test driver of Scuderia Toro Rosso. In November 2016, it was confirmed Kari would remain a part of the Junior team. In August of the following year, Kari was dismissed from the program.

Racing record

Career summary

* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

YearEntrantEngine123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930DCPoints
2016MotoparkVolkswagenLEC
1
8
LEC
2
16
LEC
3
15
HUN
1
2
HUN
2
Ret
HUN
3
8
PAU
1
19
PAU
2
11
PAU
3
8
RBR
1
20
RBR
2
3
RBR
3
8
NOR
1
2
NOR
2
12
NOR
3
Ret
ZAN
1
6
ZAN
2
11
ZAN
3
11
SPA
1
11
SPA
2
10
SPA
3
7
NÜR
1
8
NÜR
2
10
NÜR
3
3
IMO
1
1
IMO
2
9
IMO
3
Ret
HOC
1
14
HOC
2
12
HOC
3
13
10th129

Complete GP3 Series results

YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718PosPoints
2016Koiranen GPCAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
RBR
FEA
RBR
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
SPA
FEA
Ret
SPA
SPR
14
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
SEP
FEA
SEP
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
26th0
2017Arden InternationalCAT
FEA
15
CAT
SPR
14
RBR
FEA
Ret
RBR
SPR
18
SIL
FEA
5
SIL
SPR
3
HUN
FEA
9
HUN
SPR
6
SPA
FEA
9
SPA
SPR
9
MNZ
FEA
15†
MNZ
SPR
C
JER
FEA
6
JER
SPR
19
YMC
FEA

1
YMC
SPR
13
10th63
2018MP MotorsportCAT
FEA
Ret
CAT
SPR
6
LEC
FEA

DSQ
LEC
SPR
Ret
RBR
FEA
11
RBR
SPR
8
SIL
FEA
11
SIL
SPR
Ret
HUN
FEA
Ret
HUN
SPR
Ret
SPA
FEA
14
SPA
SPR
12
MNZ
FEA
10
MNZ
SPR
10
SOC
FEA
SOC
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
17th6

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718192021222324DCPoints
MP MotorsportBHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
BAK
FEA
BAK
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA
MON
SPR
LEC
FEA
LEC
SPR
RBR
FEA
RBR
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
SOC
FEA
Ret
SOC
SPR
Ret
YMC
FEA
15
YMC
SPR
Ret
24th0

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

YearEntrant12345678910111213141516DCPoints
2019TridentCAT
FEA
8
CAT
SPR
3
LEC
FEA
18
LEC
SPR
24†
RBR
FEA
11
RBR
SPR
8
SIL
FEA
18
SIL
SPR
19
HUN
FEA
14
HUN
SPR
12
SPA
FEA
19
SPA
SPR
Ret
MNZ
FEA
Ret
MNZ
SPR
15
SOC
FEA
3
SOC
SPR
5
12th36

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

YearEntrantClassChassisEngine12345RankPoints
2020EurointernationalLMP3Ligier JS P320Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8LEC
6
SPA
CAT
MNZ
ALG
6th*8*

* Season still in progress.