Rio Haryanto
Rio Haryanto | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 22, 1993 Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, former professional racing driver |
| Years active | 2008–2016 (racing) |
| Known for | First Indonesian and first Muslim Formula One driver |
Rio Haryanto (born 22 January 1993) is an Indonesian entrepreneur and former professional racing driver who participated in 12 Formula One Grand Prix events during . He holds the distinction of being Indonesia's sole Formula One competitor as well as the first Muslim driver to race in the series.
Originating from Surakarta, Central Java, Haryanto started his motorsport journey in karting before progressing to junior formula categories in 2008. He achieved his inaugural championship title in the Formula BMW Pacific Championship while driving for Meritus.
Asian competitions
In 2008, Haryanto competed simultaneously in three Asian racing series: the Asian Formula Renault Challenge, Formula Asia 2.0, and Formula BMW Pacific. His standout performance came in Formula Asia 2.0, where he secured two victories and finished third overall, trailing only European drivers Felix Rosenqvist and Matthias Beche.
The following year, 2009, saw him return to contest the Australian Drivers' Championship and Asian Formula Renault Challenge, but his primary focus was on dominating the Formula BMW Pacific with Malaysian outfit Meritus. He claimed 11 wins from 15 races, including an impressive run of four consecutive victories, poles, and fastest laps at Sentul, his home track. Additionally, he made guest appearances in the European FBMW series.
GP3 Series
Haryanto stepped up to the highly competitive European GP3 Series full-time in 2010 with Manor Racing, joining teammates James Jakes, Adrien Tambay, and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs. He earned a race win at Istanbul Park and secured two more podium finishes, ultimately placing fifth in the drivers' championship as Manor’s leading driver. Autosport highlighted his season as one of the standout performances. He remained with the team in 2011 under its new identity Marussia Manor Racing alongside Quaife-Hobbs and Matias Laine. Despite increasing his wins to two—at Nürburgring and Hungaroring—an inconsistent start marked by seven races without points relegated him to seventh in the final standings behind Quaife-Hobbs. Both victories occurred under wet conditions, cementing his reputation as a specialist in rain-affected races.
Auto GP
Parallel to his GP3 campaign, Haryanto took part in the 2011 Auto GP series driving for DAMS, missing one event due to calendar clashes. Alongside teammates Sergey Afanasyev and occasional driver Tambay, he triumphed at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo and finished seventh overall in the drivers' classification. Their combined efforts—including substitute Kevin Korjus—helped DAMS secure the teams’ championship title.
GP2 Series
Haryanto made his GP2 debut with DAMS at the non-championship finale held at Yas Marina Circuit in 2011. He then competed full-time during 2012 with Marussia-supported Carlin, partnering Max Chilton. As the first Indonesian to compete at this level since Ananda Mikola’s International Formula 3000 days, he achieved a fastest lap, a pole position at a rain-affected Spa race, and a best finish of fifth place at Valencia, concluding the season 14th overall.
In 2013, Haryanto joined Barwa Addax Team alongside teammate Jake Rosenzweig. He earned both his and the team’s maiden podium finish at Silverstone. The following year saw him switch to EQ8 Caterham Racing, racing with Alexander Rossi, where he secured another podium at Monaco.
For the 2015 season, Haryanto signed with Campos. After finishing runner-up in Bahrain’s feature race, he claimed his first GP2 victory during the sprint race and later won another sprint event at the Red Bull Ring despite sustaining front wing damage. He ended that season fourth overall with a total of 138 points.
Formula One career
Haryanto's association with the Virgin Racing/Marussia F1/Manor Racing outfit dates back to his 2010 GP3 campaign with Manor, where he competed for their junior teams. By the end of the 2010 season, his status as the highest-ranked Manor driver in GP3 earned him a testing opportunity with Virgin. On 16 November, he took part in a test session at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit; however, gearbox complications led to him recording the slowest time among thirteen participants during the morning run. Despite this, he narrowly missed out on a 2011 test prize when teammate Adrian Quaife-Hobbs outperformed him in the final standings.
In 2012, Haryanto joined forces with Max Chilton for Marussia's young driver tests held at Silverstone. Over the course of two days, he completed a total of 300 kilometres, fulfilling one of the criteria required for obtaining an FIA superlicence and becoming the first Indonesian driver to meet this standard.
Manor (2016)
On 18 February 2016, Manor Racing officially announced Haryanto as one of their drivers for the 2016 Formula One season, partnering with Pascal Wehrlein, who was the reigning DTM Champion from 2015. His debut came at the Australian Grand Prix, where during practice he collided with Romain Grosjean in the pit lane. This incident resulted in a three-place grid penalty and two penalty points on his Super Licence. Unfortunately, Haryanto retired on lap 18 due to a failure in his drive link. Although initially declared Driver of the Day by popular vote, it was later uncovered that votes originating from Indonesian IP addresses had attempted to manipulate the outcome, leading to Grosjean being awarded instead.
At the Bahrain Grand Prix that year, Haryanto was knocked out early during qualifying but started 20th on account of Kevin Magnussen’s pitlane start penalty. He finished last, trailing by one lap. In China, he managed to outperform teammate Jolyon Palmer but was involved in a first-lap collision during the Russian Grand Prix. His highest race finish was 15th place at Monaco; however, he was four laps behind and classified last. Subsequent races mostly saw him finishing at or near the back of the field, underscoring a clear performance disparity compared to Wehrlein, who secured Manor’s sole point that season. A spin during the British Grand Prix and several last-place results followed as doubts over Haryanto’s future grew amid sponsorship difficulties.
On 10 August 2016, Manor relegated Haryanto to reserve driver status due to insufficient sponsorship after promised financial support from Indonesia’s Ministry of Youth and Sport was blocked by Parliament over procurement concerns. Esteban Ocon took over his race seat. When Manor’s parent company folded at season’s conclusion, Haryanto was unique among Manor drivers in not securing a seat for 2017; Ocon and Wehrlein moved on to Force India and Sauber respectively.
2018
In 2018, Haryanto participated in the SIC888 Race at Shanghai International Circuit alongside fellow Indonesians Anderson Tanoto and Andrew Haryanto (no familial relation), competing in an Audi R8 LMS GT4. The team completed the six-hour endurance event in fifth position.
2019
During the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia, Haryanto drove for T2 Motorsports in car number 75, a Ferrari 488 GT3, partnering primarily with compatriot David Tjiptobiantoro; Singaporean Gregory Teo substituted for Tjiptobiantoro in one round. He concluded the season ranked 31st overall and 12th within the Pro-Am Cup category.
Additionally, he competed in the 2019–20 Asian Le Mans Series with T2 Motorsports behind the wheel of the No. 75 Ferrari 488 GT3 alongside Tjiptobiantoro and Italian driver Christian Colombo, finishing ninth in the drivers’ championship standings.
Personal life
Haryanto was born in Solo to Sinyo Haryanto and Indah Pennywati, who are of Chinese-Indonesian heritage. Racing runs deep in his family, with his three elder brothers having competed at the national level, all encouraged by their father, an active racer until 2003.
In 2014, he completed a business degree at the Singapore campus of Anglia Ruskin University. By early 2017, he had taken charge of the security printing division within his family's enterprise, Kiky. During his tenure in Formula One, Kiky was involved in a legal dispute over copyright infringement concerning the unauthorized use of artwork by the Spanish cartoonist Adaco.
Haryanto is also the proprietor of Grandis Barn Restaurant in Surakarta and Teakyard Restaurant located in Colomadu, Central Java.
As a committed Muslim, he integrates his faith into his racing career, notably by featuring the Throne Verse on the cockpit of his race car. Additionally, his family manages a Pesantren (Islamic Boarding School).
He is a supporter of the local football team Persis Solo.
On 5 December 2024, Haryanto wed Athina Papadimitriou, who is related to businessman and politician Sandiaga Uno as his niece.
Karting career summary
| Season | Series | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Open Belgian Championship — Cadet | 33rd |
| Grand Prix Karting FFSA — Junior | 42nd | |
| 2006 | Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals — Junior | 23rd |
| Asian Karting Open Championship — Formula 125 Junior Open | 1st | |
| Asian Karting Open Championship — ROK Junior | 1st | |
| 2007 | Rotax Max Challenge Asia — Junior | 2nd |
| 2008 | Asian Karting Open Championship — Rotax Max Junior | 5th |
| Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals — Junior | 4th |
Racing career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/laps | Podiums | Points | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Asian Formula Renault Challenge | Asia Racing Team | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 160 | 6th | |
| Formula Asia 2.0 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 121 | 3rd | |||
| Formula BMW Pacific | Pacific Racing | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0† | NC† | ||
| 2009 | 2009 Australian Drivers' Championship – National A | PHR Scuderia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 11th | |
| 2009 Australian Drivers' Championship – Gold Star | Astuti Motorsport | '2' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '18' | '8th' | ||
| 2009 Asian Formula Renault Challenge season | Asia Racing Team | '2' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '2' | '48' | '11th' | ||
| 2009 Formula BMW Europe season | Coloni Motorsport | '2' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '0†' | 'NC†' | ||
| 2009 Formula BMW Pacific season | Team Meritus | '15' | '11' | '7' | '9' | '12' | '250' | 1st' | ||
| 2010 GP3 Series | Manor Motorsport | '16' | '1' | '0' | '0' | '3' | '27' | '5th' | ||
| 2010 British Formula 3 International Series | CF Racing Manor Motorsport | '6' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '20th' | ||
| 2010 Masters of Formula 3 | '1' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '0' | "N/A" | "10th" | |||
| 2010 Macau Grand Prix | Double R Racing | "1" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "N/A" | "NC" | ||
| 2010 Formula One World Championship | Marussia Virgin Racing | Test driver | | ||||||||
| 2011 | 2011 GP3 Series | Manor Motorsport | "16" | "2" | "0" | "1" | "4" | "31" | "7th" | |
| 2011 Auto GP Series | DAMS | "14" | "1" | "1" | "2" | "3" | "82" | "7th" | ||
| 2011 GP2 Final | "2" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "0" | "17th" | |||
| 2012 | 2012 GP2 Series | Carlin Motorsport | "24" | "0" | "1" | "1" | "0" | "38" | "14th" | |
| '2012 Formula One World Championship' | 'Marussia F1 Team' | Test driver ' | ||||||||
| '2013' | '2013 GP2 Series' | 'Addax Team' | '22' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '1' | '22' | '19th' | |
| '2014' | '2014 GP2 Series' | 'Caterham Racing (GP2 team)' | '22' | '0' | '0' | '0' | '1' | '28' | '15th' | |
| 2015 ' | '2015 GP2 Series ' | 'Campos Racing ' | '22 ' | '3 ' | '0 ' | '1 ' | '5 ' | '138 ' | '4th ' | |
| '2015 Formula One World Championship ' | 'Manor Marussia F1 Team ' | Test driver ' | ||||||||
| '2016 ' | '2016 Formula One World Championship ' | 'Manor Racing ' | '12 ' | '0 ' | '0 ' | '0 ' | '0 ' | '0 ' | '24th ' | |
| ’2018’ | ’Audi R8 LMS Cup - Invitational Race’ | ’Absolute Racing’ | ’1’ | ’0’ | ’0’ | ’0’ | ’0’ | ’N/A’ | ’5th’ | |
| ’rowspan=2’ !2019’ | ’Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia’ | ’T2 Motorsports’ | ’12’ | ’0’ | ’0’ | ’0’ | ’1’ | ’62’ | ’12th’ | |
| ’Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia - Pro-Am’ | ’T2 Motorsports’ | ’12’ | ’0’ | ’0’ | ’0’ | ’1’ | ’62’ | ’12th’ | ||
| ’nowrap’ !2019–20’ | ’Asian Le Mans Series - GT’ | ’T2 Motorsports’ | ’4’ | ’0’ | ’1’ | ’0’ | ’0’ | ’41’ | ’9th’ |
† As Haryanto participated as a guest driver, he was not eligible to earn points.
Complete Formula Asia 2.0 results
(key) (Races in bold denote pole position) (Races in italics denote fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Asia Racing Team | SEP1 1 8 |
SEP1 2 6 |
SEP1 3 10 |
SEP2 1 8 ... (table continues with similar format for remaining races) |
3rd!
121! |
Complete Asian Formula Renault Challenge results
(key) (Races in bold denote pole position) (Races in italics denote fastest lap)
... (table format as above with race details)Complete Formula BMW Pacific results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
... (table format continues)Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
... (table format continues)Complete GP3 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
... (table format continues)† Denotes a driver who did not finish but was classified after completing over ninety percent of the race distance.
Complete Auto GP results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
... (table format continues)Complete GP2 Series results
(key) (Races in bold represent pole positions) (Races in italics represent fastest laps)
... (table format continues with detailed race outcomes and points)Complete GP2 Final results
(key) (Bold indicates pole position; italics denote fastest lap)
... (table with final GP2 event results)Complete Formula One results
(Template:F1 driver results legend 2#key) (Bold for pole positions; italics for fastest laps)
...| nowrap | Pertamina Manor Racing MRT | Manor MRT05 | Mercedes PU106C Hybrid V6 Turbo |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Retired||17||21||Retired||17||15||19||18||16||Retired||21||20|||||||||| |
24th! 0! |
|---|
Complete Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia results
(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Bold indicates pole position; italics indicate fastest lap)
...Asian Le Mans Series results
(Template:Motorsport driver results legend#key) (Bold indicates pole position; italics indicates fastest lap)
...