Introduction
Norman Nato (born 8 July 1992) is a professional racing driver from France. He is known for finishing as the runner-up in the 2010 F4 Eurocup 1.6 season and the 2012 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps season, and for winning both in Monaco and Hungary in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series season.
Career
Karting
Born in Cannes, Nato began his karting career in 1998 at age six, and eleven years later won the French KZ2 Championship.
Formula Renault
Nato made his debut in single-seater in 2010, joining the F4 Eurocup 1.6 series where he finished as runner-up with two wins, losing to Stoffel Vandoorne.
In 2011, he graduated to Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 with the R-ace GP team. He finished eleventh with two podiums at Nürburgring and the closing race of the season at Barcelona with another five point-scoring finishes. He also partially competed in Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup with the same team, bringing another podium at Nürburgring.
For the next season Nato remained in the Eurocup but switched to debutants RC Formula. He improved to fourth, winning his first Eurocup race at Spa. He was more successful in Formula Renault 2.0 Alps, fighting for title with Daniil Kvyat all the season long. But he crashed into him in the final race of the season and finished as runner-up with three-point margin.
Nato moved to the highest step of World Series by Renault weekeend — Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2013, joining Kevin Magnussen in DAMS team. He stayed with the team for the 2014 season, partnering Carlos Sainz Jr. 2014 was his most successful season so far in the series, when he won the prestigious race at Monaco, and race 2 in Hungary.
GP2 Series
On 29 January 2015, it was confirmed that Arden International had signed Nato as their number one driver in GP2 He finished 18th overall. On 4 February 2016, Racing Engineering confirmed Norman for their 2016 campaign.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | F4 Eurocup 1.6 | Autosport Academy | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 131 | 2nd |
| 2011 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | R-Ace GP | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 11th |
| Formula Renault 2.0 NEC | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 25th | ||
| 2012 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | RC Formula | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 96 | 4th |
| Formula Renault 2.0 Alps | 14 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 214 | 2nd | ||
| 2013 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | DAMS | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 13th |
| 2014 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | DAMS | 17 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 89 | 7th |
| 2015 | GP2 Series | Arden International | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 18th |
| 2016 | GP2 Series | Racing Engineering | 22 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 136 | 5th |
Complete Formula Renault 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 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | DAMS | MNZ 1 10 | MNZ 2 6 | ALC 1 5 | ALC 2 20 | MON 1 Ret | SPA 1 15 | SPA 2 15 | MSC 1 13 | MSC 2 10 | RBR 1 Ret | RBR 2 10 | HUN 1 15 | HUN 2 11 | LEC 1 18 | LEC 2 9 | CAT 1 Ret | CAT 2 5 | 13th | 33 |
| 2014 | DAMS | MNZ 1 15 | MNZ 2 11 | ALC 1 11 | ALC 2 10 | MON 1 1 | SPA 1 5 | SPA 2 5 | MSC 1 17 | MSC 2 16 | NÜR 1 12 | NÜR 2 6 | HUN 1 8 | HUN 2 1 | LEC 1 10 | LEC 2 Ret | JER 1 8 | JER 2 10 | 7th | 89 |
Complete GP2 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 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Arden International | BHR FEA Ret | BHR SPR 16 | CAT FEA 8 | CAT SPR 7 | MON FEA 18 | MON SPR 21 | RBR FEA 20 | RBR SPR 13 | SIL FEA 18 | SIL SPR 23 | HUN FEA 11 | HUN SPR 6 | SPA FEA Ret | SPA SPR 20 | MNZ FEA 6 | MNZ SPR Ret | SOC FEA 12 | SOC SPR 9 | BHR FEA 24 | BHR SPR 10 | YMC FEA Ret | YMC SPR C | 18th | 20 |
| 2016 | Racing Engineering | CAT FEA 1 | CAT SPR 16 | MON FEA 2 | MON SPR 6 | BAK FEA Ret | BAK SPR Ret | RBR FEA 7 | RBR SPR 12 | SIL FEA 7 | SIL SPR 22† | HUN FEA 7 | HUN SPR 3 | HOC FEA Ret | HOC SPR 18 | SPA FEA Ret | SPA SPR 8 | MNZ FEA 5 | MNZ SPR 1 | SEP FEA 3 | SEP SPR Ret | YMC FEA 6 | YMC SPR 5 | 5th | 136 |
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.