Ricardo Teixeira

Ricardo Teixeira (born 2 August 1984 in Lisbon, Portugal) is an Angolan-Portuguese former racing driver. He holds dual nationality and has raced under both nationalities at various points in his career. He was the first Angolan driver to drive a Formula 1 car when he was announced as a test driver for Team Lotus for 2011. He has been sponsored throughout his career by the Angolan oil company Sonangol.

Career

Formula BMW Teixeira began his formula racing career in 2001 by driving in the Formula BMW Junior Cup in Portugal. He finished in 20th position in the drivers' championship.

Formula Three Teixeira moved to the National Class of the British Formula 3 Championship in 2002, but did not start a race that year. In 2003, he raced occasionally in the BRSCC's ARP Formula Three Championship, taking one win and three podiums finish at club racing level.

Teixeira returned to the British Championship in 2005 after taking a couple of years out for study with the Carlin Motorsport team, finishing ninth in the National Class. The following season, he improved to seventh, despite switching teams to Performance Racing Europe part-way through the year finishing twice in the podium. In 2007, he moved up to the Championship Class of the series with Performance Racing, scoring no points. For 2008, he moved to the Ultimate Motorsport team's Mygale chassis. Teixeira also competed in two races of the German ATS Formel 3 Cup in 2007, and has driven in two Masters of Formula Three races, with a best finish of 24th.

GP2 Series Teixeira was signed by the Trident Racing team to drive in the fifth and sixth rounds of the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season. He replaced Frankie Provenzano, and was the seventh competitor to drive one of the team's two entries. He was the first Angolan driver to compete at this level of motorsport. Trident kept a hold of Teixeira for the 2009 GP2 Series.

After two years away from the series, one in FIA Formula Two Championship and then as a test driver for the Lotus Formula One team, Teixeira returned to GP2 by signing with the Rapax team for the 2012 season, in which he partnered Tom Dillmann. After ten races, and with a best finish of 13th, he was replaced by Daniël de Jong after suffering from illness. He returned to action for the next round at Silverstone, with De Jong taking Dillmann's seat instead. Teixeira eventually finished 29th in the championship.

FIA Formula Two Championship Teixeira at the Oschersleben round of the 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship. Teixeira moved to the FIA Formula Two Championship for 2010. He finished fifth in his third race in the series, at Marrakech, but suffered a spectacular aerial accident in the following race when he collided with Ivan Samarin under braking for a chicane. Teixeira was uninjured in the accident. Over the course of the season, he amassed 23 points to finish 16th in the drivers' championship: his best showing in any series since 2006.

Formula One After driving for Team Lotus in pre-season testing for the 2011 season, Teixeira was confirmed as a test driver for the team in March 2011.

GP2 again In July 2013, Teixeira returned to the GP2 series in Hungary with the Trident team.

Racing record

Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition 2001 Formula BMW Junior Cup Iberia 3 0 0 0 0 28 20th 2002 British Formula 3 Championship - Scholarship Essential Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2003 ARP Formula 3 Championship Rowan Racing 5 2 1 2 4 47 8th 2005 British Formula 3 International Series - National Carlin Motorsport 16 0 0 0 0 61 9th 2006 British Formula 3 International Series - National Carlin Motorsport 14 0 0 1 2 74 7th Performance Racing Europe 2007 British Formula 3 International Series Performance Racing Europe 18 0 0 0 0 0 20th ATS Formel 3 Cup Rennsport Rössler 1 0 0 0 0 2 23rd Masters of Formula 3 Performance Racing Europe 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 24th 2008 British Formula 3 International Series Ultimate Motorsport 20 0 0 0 0 0 21st Masters of Formula 3 Ultimate Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series Trident Racing 4 0 0 0 0 0 38th 2009 GP2 Series Trident Racing 18 0 0 0 0 0 26th 2010 Formula Two MotorSport Vision 18 0 0 0 0 23 16th 2011 Formula One Team Lotus Test/reserve driver 2012 GP2 Series Rapax 22 0 0 0 0 0 29th 2013 GP2 Series Trident Racing 4 0 0 0 0 0 34th 2014 Auto GP Series Super Nova International 0 0 0 0 0 0 NC2017 FRD LMP3 Series Jackie Chan DC Racing Team20000329th

Complete GP2 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Asia Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA Formula Two Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points 2010 SIL1 SIL2 MAR1 MAR2 MON1 MON2 ZOL1 ZOL2 ALG1 ALG2 BRH1 BRH2 BRN1 BRN2 OSC1 OSC2 VAL1 VAL2 16th 23

Complete Auto GP 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 Pos Points 2014 Super Nova International MAR1 MAR2 LEC1 LEC2 HUN1 HUN2 MNZ1 MNZ2 IMO1 IMO2 RBR1 RBR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 EST1 EST2 NC 0