Introduction
Aaro Vainio (born October 2, 1993 in Espoo) is a Finnish racing driver, currently contesting in the GP3 series.
Career
Karting
Vainio has enjoyed a successful karting career. He won the Finnish championship in 2007, and in 2008 he won the European KF3 Championship and the Junior Monaco Kart Cup. In 2009 he was runner-up in the CIK-FIA Karting World Championship and won the European KF1 Champion.
Formula Renault
In 2010 Vainio stepped up to single-seater racing, driving for Tech 1 Racing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. He had been expected to be part of the SG Formula team, but the team shut down. His manager was Nicolas Todt, son of FIA president Jean Todt and manager of Formula One driver Felipe Massa who had set a goal to get Vainio to Formula One in 2014. Vainio was also a candidate for the Ferrari Young Driver Academy, but was unsuccessful.
GP3 Series
For the 2011 racing season, Vainio moved into the GP3 series with Tech 1 Racing. He achieved a podium finish in his third race but only scored points twice during the remainder of the season, ultimately finishing 15th in the standings.
He remained in GP3 for 2012, moving to the Lotus GP team, where he took his maiden series win in the first ever GP3 race in Monaco. He finished the season fourth in the standings, behind António Félix da Costa, team-mate Daniel Abt and champion Mitch Evans.
He is currently driving for the new team Koiranen GP.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F.L. | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | Tech 1 Racing | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 101 | 4th |
| Formula Renault UK 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 18th | ||
| 2011 | GP3 Series | Tech 1 Racing | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 15th |
| 2012 | GP3 Series | Lotus GP | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 123 | 4th |
| Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Team RFR | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 18th | |
| 2013 | GP3 Series | Koiranen GP | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 75 | 9th |
Complete GP3 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 | D.C. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Tech 1 Racing | IST FEA 15 | IST SPR Ret | CAT FEA 3 | CAT SPR 20 | VAL FEA Ret | VAL SPR Ret | SIL FEA 11 | SIL SPR 18 | NÜR FEA 7 | NÜR SPR 13 | HUN FEA 5 | HUN SPR 7 | SPA FEA 13 | SPA SPR Ret | MNZ FEA 22† | MNZ SPR 8 | 15th | 12 |
| 2012 | Lotus GP | CAT FEA 3 | CAT SPR 4 | MON FEA 1 | MON SPR 7 | VAL FEA 2 | VAL SPR 7 | SIL FEA 3 | SIL SPR Ret | HOC FEA 5 | HOC SPR 6 | HUN FEA 5 | HUN SPR 7 | SPA FEA 6 | SPA SPR 14 | MNZ FEA 11 | MNZ SPR 14 | 4th | 123 |
| 2013 | Koiranen GP | CAT FEA 5 | CAT SPR 1 | VAL FEA 7 | VAL SPR 2 | SIL FEA 11 | SIL SPR 8 | NÜR FEA 14 | NÜR SPR 11 | HUN FEA 1 | HUN SPR 9 | SPA FEA 20 | SPA SPR 22† | MNZ FEA 16 | MNZ SPR 13 | YMC FEA | YMC SPR | 9th | 75 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Team RFR | ALC 1 | ALC 2 | MON 1 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | MSC 1 | MSC 2 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | HUN 1 Ret | HUN 2 18 | LEC 1 16 | LEC 2 6 | CAT 1 8 | CAT 2 3 | 18th | 27 |