Charles Pic
Charles Pic | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Maurice Marcel Pic February 15, 1990 Montélimar, Drôme, France |
| Occupation(s) | Racing driver, motorsport executive |
| Years active | 2006–2015 (racing) |
| Known for | Formula One driver (2012–2013), Formula E competitor, owner of DAMS racing team |
Charles Maurice Marcel Pic (; born 15 February 1990) is a retired French racing driver and former motorsport executive, who participated in Formula One between 2012 and 2013.
Originating from Montélimar, Drôme, Pic began his karting journey at the age of 13, benefiting from the guidance of his godfather, ex-F1 competitor Éric Bernard. Advancing through various junior categories starting in 2006, he achieved multiple podium placements in different Formula Renault series before stepping up to the GP2 Series in 2010. After securing several victories across two GP2 seasons, Pic joined Marussia for the 2012 season alongside teammate Timo Glock, making his Formula One debut at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix. That year, Marussia’s MR01 car failed to score points. The following year, Pic switched to Caterham, but again did not register any points and was released at the conclusion of the season; he then took on a reserve driver role with Lotus.
Pic moved into Formula E for its inaugural 2014–15 campaign, achieving a fourth-place finish at the opening Beijing ePrix while driving for Andretti Global. However, he was replaced by Matthew Brabham for the subsequent round. Later, Pic competed with China Racing in four additional ePrix events—including earning points in Monaco—before retiring after the 2015 Berlin ePrix.
After ending his racing career, Pic redirected his efforts toward business ventures and asset management. Since 2022, he has been the sole proprietor of French motorsport outfit DAMS, which competes in the FIA Formula 2 series.
Karting and Formula Renault
Hailing from Montélimar, France, Pic started karting at age 13. Supported by his godfather, former F1 driver Éric Bernard, he delivered strong performances in both Italian and French karting championships.
In 2006, Pic made his debut in Formula Renault racing with La Filière, finishing third overall and earning rookie champion status.
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
Pic joined Tech 1 Racing for the 2008 Formula Renault 3.5 Series, concluding the season sixth in the standings with two victories at Circuit de Monaco and the Le Mans. He remained with Tech 1 in 2009, winning races at both Silverstone and the Nürburgring, ultimately finishing third in the championship. That same year, he was enrolled in the Renault Driver Development Programme.
GP2 Series
At the close of 2009, Pic transitioned to the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season driving for Arden International, continuing into the main 2010 GP2 Series. He won on his debut in Bahrain and claimed another victory at the Circuit de Catalunya, ending the season tenth overall.
In 2011, Pic signed with Barwa Addax, racing alongside future Formula One colleague Giedo van der Garde. Despite a points-less Asia Series campaign, he secured wins at Catalunya and Monaco during the main series, climbing to third place in the championship standings. A pole position achieved at Valencia briefly placed him atop the leaderboard; however, subsequent retirements relegated him to fourth overall—three points ahead of Van der Garde.
Formula One
In November 2011, Pic made his first appearance behind the wheel of a Formula One car during young driver testing with Marussia Virgin Racing at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit. Initially scheduled for one and a half days of running, Virgin extended his track time by an additional half day due to engine complications on day two. During this test session, reports surfaced indicating that Pic had secured a race seat for the upcoming 2012 Formula One season.
Marussia (2012)
Following the conclusion of the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix, Pic was officially announced as Timo Glock's teammate at the newly named Marussia F1 outfit for the 2012 season. His development was guided by former Formula One driver and compatriot Olivier Panis. Reports surfaced of tensions between Pic and Glock after on-track incidents during qualifying at the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Pic made his first appearance at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix, finishing in 15th place, but subsequently retired from three successive races: Bahrain, Spain, and Monaco. He secured a 20th-place finish in Canada and incurred a five-place grid drop at the British Grand Prix due to a gearbox replacement. Remarkably, Pic was overtaken 70 times throughout the year, breaking the previous Formula One record of 68 overtakes set by Stefano Modena in 1989.
Caterham (2013)
In November 2012, Pic committed to a multi-year deal with the Renault-powered Caterham team, joining forces with former GP2 colleague and rookie Giedo van der Garde.
He began the 2013 season at the Australian Grand Prix, finishing 16th, then improved to 14th in Malaysia, closely trailing Marussia's Jules Bianchi. His form gained traction at the Bahrain Grand Prix where he outperformed both Marussia entries as well as a Sauber car. A significant upgrade introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix positioned him as the fastest among emerging drivers, a status he maintained through subsequent European rounds by consistently finishing 15th at Silverstone and the Hungaroring, demonstrating competitiveness near midfield rivals.
At the Korean Grand Prix, Pic equaled his best finish of 14th place, running closely behind Williams drivers Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas. However, handling difficulties affected his results during the final trio of races in India, Abu Dhabi, and the United States.
He recovered somewhat at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix by qualifying well ahead of van der Garde and Marussia competitors but retired on lap 58 due to suspension failure.
On 21 January 2014, Caterham Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul confirmed that Pic would not be retained for the following season:
Lotus (2014)
After parting ways with Caterham, Pic joined Lotus F1 as their official reserve driver, a role announced during their Bahrain car launch event on 20 February 2014.
Formula E
Pic took part in the inaugural 2014–15 Formula E championship. Competing in the opening round in Beijing for Andretti Autosport, he achieved a fourth-place finish. Despite this promising start, he was replaced by Matthew Brabham ahead of round two. Pic returned to action for round five in Miami with China Racing, stepping in for Ho-Pin Tung.
Post-motorsport
In 2015, Pic shifted his career focus toward management within French logistics company Charles André Group, where he currently holds the position of Managing Director of the Assets Department.
By 2022, he had acquired full ownership of French racing outfit DAMS, further extending his involvement in motorsport business operations.
Career overview
| Season | Competition | Team | Events | Victories | Pole positions | Fastest laps | Podium finishes | Points scored | Final standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Formula Renault Campus France | La Filière | 13 | 1 | 2 | ? | 8 | 162 | 3rd |
| 2007 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | SG Formula | 14 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 88 | 3rd |
| French Formula Renault 2.0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 69 | 4th | ||
| 2008 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Tech 1 Racing | 17 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 69 | 6th |
| 2009 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Tech 1 Racing | 16 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 94 | 3rd |
| 2009–10 | GP2 Asia Series | Arden International | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 5th |
| 2010 | GP2 Series | Arden International | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 10th |
| 2011 | 2011 GP2 Asia Series | Addax Team | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18th |
| 2011 GP2 Series | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 52 | 4th | ||
| 2012 | 2012 Formula One World Championship | Marussia F1 Team | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21st |
| 2013 | 2013 Formula One World Championship | Caterham F1 Team | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20th |
| 2014 | 2014 Formula One World Championship | Lotus F1 Team | Test driver | ||||||
| 2014–15 | 2014–15 Formula E Championship | Andretti Autosport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18th (16 points) | |
| China Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Template:Center | |||||||||
Complete Championnat de France Formula Renault 2.0 results
((key)) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole position; those in italics indicate fastest lap)
(2007) || SG Formula ||style="background:#DFFFDF;"| (NOG1)
(9) ||style="background:#DFFFDF;"| (NOG
2)
(4) ||style="background:#EFCFFF;"| (LED
1)
(Ret) ||style="background:#DFFFDF;"| (LED
2)
(5) ||style="background:#EFCFFF;"| (DIJ
1)
(Ret) ||style="background:#DFDFDF;"| (DIJ
2)
(2) ||style="background:#EFCFFF;"| (VIE
1)
(Ret) ||style="background:#EFCFFF;"| (VIE
2)
(Ret) ||style="background:#EFCFFF;"| (MAG1)
(Ret) ||style="background:#FFDF9F;"| (MAG2
1)
(3) ||style="background:#DFDFDF;"| (MAG2
2)
(2) ||style="background:#FFDF9F;"| (CAT
1)
(3) ||style="background:#DFFFDF;"| (CAT
2)
(4) ||4th||69|}
Full Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Results
(legend) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole positions; those in italics represent fastest laps)
Full Formula Renault 3.5 Series Results
(legend) (Pole positions are shown in bold; fastest laps appear in italics)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final Standing | Points Accumulated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | SG Formula | ZOL 1 |
ZOL 2 |
NÜR 1 |
NÜR 2 |
HUN 1 |
HUN 2 |
DON 1 |
DON 2 |
MAG 1 |
MAG 2 |
EST 1 |
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final Position | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Tech 1 Racing | MNZ 1 9 |
MNZ 2 3 |
SPA 1 Ret |
SPA 2 12 |
MON 1 1 |
SIL 1 15 |
SIL 2 13 |
HUN 1 18 |
HUN 2 9 |
NÜR 1 Ret |
NÜR 2 12 |
LEM 1 1 |
LEM 2 6 |
EST 1 Ret |
EST < br > 2 < br > 2 | CAT < br >1 < br > 8 | CAT < br >2 < br > 8 | 6th place | 69 points |
|
nowrap | Tech 1 Racing |
style = "background: #FFFFFF" | CAT < br >1 < br > DNS |
style = "background: #DFFFDF" | CAT < br >2 < br > 6 |
style = "background: #DFFFDF" | SPA < br >1 < br > 4 |
style = "background: #EFCFFF" | SPA < br >2 < br > Ret |
style = "background: #DFFFDF" | MON < br >1 < br > 9 |
style = "background: #CFCFFF" | HUN < br >1 < br > max11 |
style = "background: #DFFFDF" | HUN < br >2 < br > 8 |
style = "background: #CFCFFF" | SIL < br >1 < br > 7 |
style = "background: #FFFFBF" | SIL < br >2 < br > 1 |
style = "background: #DFFFDF" | LEM < br >1 < br > 6 |
style = "background: #EFCFFF" | LEM < br >2 < br > Ret |
style = "font-style:italic; background: #FFFFBF" | ALG < br >1 < br > 4 |
style = "background: #DFFFDF" | ALG < br >2 < br > 2 |
style = "background: #DFFFDF" | NÜR < br >1 < br > 6 |
style = "background: #FFFFBF" | NÜR < br >2 < br > 1 |
style = "background: #CFCFFF" | ALC < br >1 < br > 13 |
style = "background: #CFCFFF" | ALC < br >2 < br > 11 |
3rd overall |
94 points | |
| Template:Center | ||||||||||||||||||||
Full GP2 Series Outcomes
(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole position; those in italics represent fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Final Position | Points Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Arden International | CAT FEA 1 |
CAT SPR 7 |
MON FEA 11 |
MON SPR 7 |
IST FEA Ret |
IST SPR DNS |
VAL FEA 6 |
VAL SPR 5 |
SIL FEA 10 |
SIL SPR 8 |
HOC FEA 3 |
HOC SPR 17 |
HUN FEA 11 |
HUN SPR 9 |
SPA FEA 4 |
SPA SPR Ret |
MNZ FEA 11 |
MNZ SPR 8 |
YMC FEA 20 |
YMC SPR 11 |
10th | 28 |
| 2011 | Barwa Addax Team | IST < br/> FEA < br/> 7 | IST < br/> SPR < br/> 4 | CAT < br/> FEA < br/> 1 | CAT < br/> SPR < br/> 19 | MON < br/> FEA < br/> 8 | MON < br/> SPR < br/> 1 | VAL < br/> FEA < br/> Ret | VAL < br/> SPR < br/> Ret | SIL < br/> FEA < br/> 11 | SIL < br/> SPR < br/> 10 | NÜR < br/> FEA < br/> 2 | NÜR < br/> SPR < br/> DSQ | HUN < br/> FEA < br/> 2 | HUN < br/> SPR < br/> 13 | SPA < br/> FEA < br/> Ret | SPA < br/> SPR < br/> 19 | MNZ < br/> FEA < br/> 2 | MNZ < br/> SPR < br/> Ret | 4th | 52 | ||
Full GP2 Asia Series standings
(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole position; those in italics represent fastest lap)
| Season | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Final Position | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 | Arden International | YMC1 FEA Retired |
YMC1 SPR 15th |
YMC2 FEA 10th |
YMC2 SPR 8th |
BHR1 FEA 5th |
BHR1 SPR 1st |
BHR2 FEA 3rd |
BHR2 SPR 19th |
5th | 18 |
| 2011 | Barwa Addax Team | YMC FEA 9th |
YMC SPR 21st |
IMO FEA 21st |
IMO SPR 11th |
18th | 0 | ||||
Comprehensive Formula One results
(key)
Full Formula E Results
(legend) (Races displayed in bold denote pole position; those in italics signify the fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car Model | Power Unit | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Final Standing | Points Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marussia F1 Team | Marussia MR01 | Cosworth CA2012, naturally aspirated 2.4L V8 engine | AUS † |
MAL |
CHN |
BHR |
ESP |
MON |
CAN |
EUR |
GBR |
GER |
HUN < br/> | BEL < br/> | ITA < br/> | SIN < br/> | JPN < br/> | KOR < br/> | IND < br/> | ABU < br/> | USA < br/> | BRA < br/> | 21st | 0 |
| Season | Team | Chassis | Power Unit | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Final Standing | Points Earned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–15 | Andretti Autosport | Spark SRT01-e | SRT01-e | BEI 4th |
PUT | PDE | BUE | 18th place | 16 points | |||||||
| China Racing / NEXTEV TCR | MIA 17th |
LBH 16th |
MCO 8th |
BER 15th |
MSC | LDN | LDN | |||||||||