Matevos Isaakyan

Matevos Isaakyan
Nationality	Russian
Born	17 April 1998 Moscow, Russia
Formula V8 3.5 career
Debut season	2016
Current team	SMP Racing
Car no.	35
Starts	16
Wins	1
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	9th in 2016
Previous series
2015-16 2014-15 2014-2015 2014 2013	GP3 Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Toyota Racing Series French F4 Championship

Matevos "Matos" Isaakyan (born 17 April 1998) is a Russian racing driver with Armenian roots. He is a current member of the SMP Racing driver programme.^[1]

Career

Karting

Born in Moscow, Isaakyan began karting in his native Russia in 2010, finishing fifth in the Russian Super Mini Championship. The following year he stepped up to the Russian KF3 Championship, finishing seventh,^[2] before placing fifth in the same category in 2012.^[3]

French F4

Isaakyan graduated to single-seaters in 2013, racing in the French F4 Championship.^[4] He took five podium places and two fastest laps on his way to fifth in the championship.^[5]

Toyota Racing Series

In January and February 2014, Isaakyan raced in the New Zealand-based Toyota Racing Series for the ETEC Motorsport team.^[6] He took a best race result of sixth at the opening round in Teretonga to finish ninth in the championship, one place behind team-mate and fellow Russian Denis Korneev.^[7]

Formula Renault 2.0

Isaakyan's main racing program for 2014 was in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championship, racing for Italian team JD Motorsport.^[8] He was ineligible to race at the first round of the season in Imola due to the fact he had not yet turned 16 years of age. He was, however, allowed to take part in the free practice sessions.^[9]

During the season, Isaakyan took seven podium places, including a double win at the Red Bull Ring,^[10] to finish third in the championship, behind Charles Leclerc and champion Nyck de Vries.^[11] He also finished second to Leclerc in the Junior Championship standings.^[12] Isaakyan also contested the opening three rounds of the 2014 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, taking a best race result of seventh at both Spa-Francorchamps and Moscow Raceway.

In 2015, Isaakyan remained with JD Motorsport to contest full-seasons in both Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Alps.^[13]

GP3 Series

Isaakyan made his debut with Koiranen GP at the Bahrain round of the 2015 season and finished twenty first with two points. The following year, Isaakyan competed with the team full-time and finished seventeenth overall (his highest race result being fourth in the sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps.

Formula V8 3.5

Whilst competing full-time in GP3, Isaakyan debuted in the series with SMP Racing in place of original choice Vladimir Atoev.^[14] He claimed his maiden victory in the sport at the first race at Jerez and finished ninth overall.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2013	French F4 Championship	Auto Sport Academy	20	0	0	2	5	153	5th
2014	Toyota Racing Series	ETEC Motorsport	15	0	0	0	0	412	9th
	Formula Renault 2.0 Alps	JD Motorsport	12	2	2	0	7	180	3rd
	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0		6	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2015	Formula Renault 2.0 Alps	JD Motorsport	16	2	0	1	7	193	4th
	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0		17	0	0	2	2	87	10th
	GP3 Series	Koiranen GP	4	0	0	0	0	2	21st
2016	GP3 Series	Koiranen GP	18	0	0	0	0	17	17th
	Formula V8 3.5 Series	SMP Racing	13	1	1	0	2	70	9th

^† As Isaakyan was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete GP3 Series results

(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	16	17	18	Pos	Points
2015	Koiranen GP	CAT FEA	CAT SPR	RBR FEA	RBR SPR	SIL FEA	SIL SPR	HUN FEA	HUN SPR	SPA FEA	SPA SPR	MNZ FEA	MNZ SPR	SOC FEA	SOC SPR	BHR FEA Ret	BHR SPR 14	YMC FEA 9	YMC SPR 12	21st	2
2016	Koiranen GP	CAT FEA 11	CAT SPR 6	RBR FEA Ret	RBR SPR Ret	SIL FEA 21	SIL SPR 18	HUN FEA 12	HUN SPR 8	HOC FEA Ret	HOC SPR 13	SPA FEA 8	SPA SPR 4	MNZ FEA Ret	MNZ SPR Ret	SEP FEA 15	SEP SPR 14	YMC FEA Ret	YMC SPR 16	17th	17

Complete Formula V8 3.5 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	16	17	18	Pos.	Points
2016	SMP Racing	ALC 1 12	ALC 2 10	HUN 1 Ret	HUN 2 Ret	SPA 1 DNS	SPA 2 Ret	LEC 1 10	LEC 1 12	SIL 1	SIL 2	RBR 1 12	RBR 2 3	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	JER 1 1	JER 2 6	CAT 1 5	CAT 2 5	9th	70

References

1. Allen, Peter (16 December 2014). "PaddockScout Top 50 Drivers of 2014: 40-31". paddockscout.com. Paddock Scout. Retrieved 25 March 2015. Part of the expansive SMP Racing programme that also recruited Sirotkin at the start of the year...
2. "Russian Championship — KF3 2011 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
3. "Russian Championship — KF3 2012 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
4. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (23 April 2013). "2013 French F4 Championship season preview". paddockscout.com. Paddock Scout. Retrieved 25 March 2015. Finally, perhaps the strongest Russian on the grid is Matevos Isaakyan...
5. "French F4 Championship 2013 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
6. "ETEC Brings the World to Toyota Racing Series". toyota.co.nz. Toyota Racing New Zealand. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
7. "Point standings: Toyota Racing Series — Season 2013-2014". speedsport-magazine.com. Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
8. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (25 February 2014). "Isaakyan lands Alps promotion with JD Motorsport". paddockscout.com. Paddock Scout. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
9. Costa, Massimo (5 April 2014). "Imola — Isaakyan bloccato dalla FIA" [Imola — Isaakyan blocked by the FIA]. italiaracing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
10. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (25 May 2014). "Isaakyan does the double at Spielberg". paddockscout.com. Paddock Scout. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
11. "Formula Renault 2.0 Alps 2014 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
12. "Leclerc takes Rookie Championship title". fortecmotorsports.com. Fortec Motorsports. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
13. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (3 March 2015). "Alps race winner Matevos Isaakyan follows JD to Eurocup". paddockscout.com. Paddock Scout. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
14. "Isaakyan replaces injured Atoev in SMP's F3.5 line-up". April 12, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016.

External links

• Matevos Isaakyan career summary at DriverDB.com