Mihai Marinescu

Mihai Marinescu
Born	(1989-01-25) January 25, 1989 Brașov, Romania
Occupation(s)	Racing driver, race engineer
Years active	2005–2013 (racing)
Known for	Competing in Formula Renault 3.5 Series, FIA Formula Two Championship

Mihai Marinescu (born 25 January 1989) is a Romanian professional racing driver who has competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series within the World Series by Renault. Originating from Brașov, Romania, he is presently employed as a race engineer at Jenzer Motorsport.

Formula Junior & Formula Renault 1.6

Following multiple Romanian national karting championships, Marinescu launched his motorsport career in 2005 by participating in the Italian Formula Junior 1600 and Belgian Formula Renault 1.6 championships. He secured six podium finishes, concluding the Italian series as runner-up behind Pasquale Di Sabatino, while in Belgium he achieved three victories, ending the season third overall.

Formula Renault

In addition to his 2005 campaigns, Marinescu took part in selected rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and competed in the Italian Formula Renault 2.0 winter series, where he placed thirteenth.

The following year, 2006, saw him contest full seasons in both the Italian Formula Renault 2.0 championship—finishing eleventh—and the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, where he ranked sixth. He also entered three races in the French Formula Renault 2.0 series but did not score points.

During 2007, Marinescu completed entire seasons in both the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Italian Formula Renault 2.0 championships. He earned a podium at the Hungaroring to finish eleventh overall in Eurocup and achieved three podiums to claim fifth place in Italy.

British Formula 3

At the close of 2007, Marinescu participated in two rounds of the British Formula 3 Championship with Räikkönen Robertson Racing at Rockingham Motor Speedway, where he attained a National Class podium finish.

Formula BMW

In 2008, Marinescu joined Fisichella Motor Sport for the inaugural season of Formula BMW Europe, which supported several rounds of the Formula One World Championship across Europe; he ended the season eleventh in the standings. That November, he triumphed at the Formula BMW Pacific race held during the annual Macau Grand Prix. Additionally, he competed in selected events within Formula BMW Americas, including a significant crash at Montreal from which he emerged unscathed.

International Formula Master

Marinescu took part in the final round of the 2008 International Formula Master season at Monza with Pro Motorsport in October 2008, finishing third in the first race before retiring from the second.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

In March 2009, Marinescu underwent testing with Austrian team Interwetten.com for the Formula Renault 3.5 Series and secured a contract prior to the season opener at Barcelona. After the initial event, he was temporarily replaced by Tobias Hegewald to provide Hegewald experience ahead of his forthcoming Formula Two campaign; Marinescu returned to compete at Monaco.

Before racing in Hungary, Marinescu departed Interwetten and joined Italian outfit RC Motorsport alongside Pasquale Di Sabatino. He later rejoined Interwetten for Le Mans but did not manage to score points.

Formula Two

Marinescu stepped up to compete in the FIA Formula Two Championship in 2010, consistently achieving midfield results and returning for another season in 2011. On 1 October that year, he claimed his first victory in Formula Two at Monza.

Hobbies

Marinescu stays in shape by engaging in mountain biking around his native city, Braşov. A video showcasing him riding a Trek racing bicycle along Romania's Transfăgărășan road attracted considerable views on YouTube.

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Victories	Pole positions	Fastest laps	Podium finishes	Points	Final standing
2005	Italian Formula Junior 1600	AP Motorsport	12	2	0	0	6	200	2nd
	Italian Formula Renault 2.0 Winter Series		4	0	0	?	0	9	13th
	Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium	District Racing	10	3	1	?	7	142	3rd
	Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0	Prema Powerteam	4	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2006	Italian Formula Renault 2.0	AP Motorsport	14	0	0	0	1	50	11th
	Formula Renault 2.0 NEC	Petrom District Racing	14	0	1	0	3	175	6th
	French Formula Renault 2.0		3	0	0	0	0	0	NC

^† Marinescu participated as a guest driver and was therefore not eligible to earn points.

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

(key) (Races shown in bold represent pole positions; races in italics denote fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	DC	Points
2005	Prema Powerteam	ZOL 1	ZOL 2	VAL 1	VAL 2	LMS 1	LMS 2	BIL 1	BIL 2	OSC 1	OSC 2	DON 1	DON 2	EST 1 31	EST 2 21	MNZ 1 Ret	MNZ 2 Ret	47th	0
get\ 2007	important nowrap  Petrom District Racing AP	getstyle="background:#cfcfff;" \ZOL\<br\>1\<br\>Template:Small\	getstyle="background:#cfcfff;" \ZOL\<br\>2\<br\>Template:Small\	getstyle="background:#dfffdf;" \NÜR\<br\>1\<br\>Template:Small\	getstyle="background:#efcfff;" \NÜR\<br\>2\<br\>Template:Small\	getstyle="background:#ffdf9f;" \HUN\<br\>1\<br\>Template:Small\	getstyle="background:#dfffdf;" \HUN\<br\>2\<br\>Template:Small\	getstyle="background:#dfffdf;" \DON\<br\>1\<br\>Template:Small\	getstyle="background:#dfffdf;" \DON\<br\>2\<br\>Template:Small\	getstyle="background:#cfcfff;" \MAG\<br\>1\<br\>Template:Small\	\MAG\<br\>2\<br\>Template:Small \	getstyle="background:#dfffdf;" \EST\<br\>1\<br\>Template:Small \	getstyle="background:#dfffdf;" \EST\<br\>2\<br\>Template:Small \	(empty)	(empty)	important11th	important37

Full Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Results

(key) (Events shown in bold denote pole position) (Events in italics represent fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final Position	Points Scored
2006	Petrol District Racing	OSC 1 Retired	OSC 2 6th	SPA 1 12th	SPA 2 Retired	NÜR 1 8th	NÜR 2 10th	ZAN 1	ZAN 2	OSC 1 9th	OSC 2 16th	ASS 1 2nd	ASS 2 4th	AND 1 9th	AND 2 4th	SAL 1 3rd	style="background:#ffdf9f;" SAL 2 3rd	6th place	175 points

Full Formula Renault 3.5 Series Results

(key) (Bolded races signify pole position) (Italicized races denote fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final Standing	Total Points
2009	Interwetten.com Racing	CAT 1 Retired	CAT 2 13th	SPA 1	SPA 2	MON 1 Retired					BUG 1 16th	BUG 2 14th	ALG 1	ALG 2	NÜR 1 15th	NÜR 2 15th	ALC 1 20th	ALC 2 17th	30th place	0 points
	RC Motorsport						HUN 1 Retired	HUN 2 11th	SIL 1	SIL 2

|- | 2013 ! nowrap | Zeta Corse |style="background:#DFFFDF;"> MNZ
1 |style="background:#DFFFDF;"> MNZ
2 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"> ALC
1 |style="background:#EFCFFF;"> ALC
2 | MON
1 |style="background:#CFCFFF;"> SPA
1 |style="background:#CFCFFF;">SPA
2 |style="background:#CFCFFF;"> MSC
1 |style="background:#CFCFFF;"> MSC
2 | | | | | | ! 25th position ! 5 points |}

Full FIA Formula Two Championship Results

(key) (Races highlighted in bold denote pole positions) (Races in italics represent fastest laps)

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final Position	Points Scored
2010	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SIL 1	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SIL 2	style="background:#EFCFFF;" |MAR 1	style="background:#CFCFFF;" |MAR 2	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |MNZ 1	style="background:#CFCFFF;" |MNZ 2	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |ZOL 1	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |ZOL 2	style="background:#CFCFFF;" |ALG 1	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |ALG 2	style="background:#CFCFFF;" |BRH 1	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |BRH 2	style="background:#CFCFFF;" |BRN 1	style="background:#CFCFFF;" |BRN 2	style="background:#CFCFFF;" |OSC 1	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |OSC 2	style="background:#CFCFFF;" |VAL 1	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |VAL 2	11th	68
2011	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SIL 4th	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SIL 5th	style="background:#EFCFFF;" |MAG Retired	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |MAG 5th	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SPA 8th	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SPA 5th	style="background:#EFCFFF;" |NÜR Retired	style="background:#CFCFFF;" |NÜR 11th	style="background:#EFCFFF;" |BRH Retired	style="background:#DFFFDF;" |BRH 4th	style="background:#FFDF9F;" |RBR 3rd	style="background:#FFDF9F;" |RBR 3rd	style="background:#FFFFBF; font-weight:bold" | MNZ

Complete GP2 Final Series Results

(key) (Pole positions are shown in bold, fastest laps in italics)

Year	Team Entrant	Race 1	Race 2	Final Classification	Total Points
2011 GP2 Final	Rapax Team	YMC Feature Race 17th	YMC Sprint Race Retired	24th overall	0 points