Introduction
Gustav Malja (born 4 November 1995) is a Swedish racing driver, who most recently drove for Racing Engineering in the F2 championship.
Career
Karting
Born in Malmö, Sweden, Malja began his karting career in Formula Micro in 2006, winning the Gunnar Nilsson Memorial trophy the following year. By 2009 he had progressed up to the KF3 category, where he won the Swedish Championship and Gothenburg Grand Prix. In his final year of karting in 2010, Malja finished 22nd in the European KF3 Championship and fifth in the Junior Monaco Kart Cup.
ADAC Formel Masters
In 2011, Malja graduated to single-seaters, racing in the ADAC Formel Masters championship in Germany, despite being just 15 years of age. Driving for Neuhauser Racing, he took a single podium position at Assen to finish thirteenth in the standings. He continued with the team for a second season in 2012, taking three race wins and a further thirteen podium places to finish runner–up to champion Marvin Kirchhöfer.
Formula Renault 2.0
For 2013, Malja stepped up to Formula Renault, racing in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 NEC championships with Josef Kaufmann Racing. In the NEC championship, he contested eight races, taking podium places at the Nürburgring and Most to finish fifteenth in the standings. In the Eurocup he finished twentieth in the championship, taking a single points–position at Paul Ricard.
Malja remained with Josef Kaufmann Racing in both championships for a second season in 2014. He finished fifth in the NEC championship, taking race victories at Hockenheim and the Nürburgring and two further podium positions. In the Eurocup, he scored points on eight occasions to finish twelfth in the championship.
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
Malja stepped up to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2015 and raced for British team Strakka Racing.
Formula Three
In May 2015, Malja took part in the Pau round of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship, racing for EuroInternational in the car originally intended for Marvin Kirchhöfer before he left the team prior to the start of the season. He retired from the opening race of the event before finishing 25th in the remaining two races.
GP2
Malja contested in the Spa round of the 2015 season with Trident and the final two rounds with Rapax. In 2016, Malja joined the GP2 series campaign full-time for Rapax, finished on the podium twice and finished thirteenth overall.
FIA Formula 2 Championship
For the 2017 season, Malja switched to Racing Engineering.
Formula 1
Malja participated in the second 2017 Formula 1 in-season test at the Hungaroring during 1-2 August, following the Hungarian GP weekend. Malja drove a Sauber C36-Ferrari for the Sauber F1 Team during the first test day. He completed 108 laps. His best lap was 1.21.503, set during aerodynamic and mechanical development runs.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | ADAC Formel Masters | Neuhauser Racing | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 69 | 13th |
| 2012 | ADAC Formel Masters | Neuhauser Racing | 23 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 16 | 307 | 2nd |
| Formula Renault BARC Winter Series | MGR Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| 2013 | Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20th |
| Formula Renault 2.0 NEC | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 98 | 15th | ||
| 2014 | Formula Renault 2.0 NEC | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 14 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 193 | 5th |
| Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 12th | ||
| 2015 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Strakka Racing | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 79 | 9th |
| FIA Formula 3 European Championship | EuroInternational | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42nd | |
| GP2 Series | Trident | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25th | |
| Rapax | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2016 | GP2 Series | Rapax | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 13th |
| 2017 | FIA Formula 2 Championship | Racing Engineering | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 13th |
| 2018 | Porsche Supercup | Team Project 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 14th |
| Porsche Carrera Cup Germany | Team Deutsche Post by Project 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 82 | 11th | |
| 2019 | Porsche Carrera Cup Germany | Förch Racing | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50.5 | 14th |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Strakka Racing | ALC1 10 |
ALC2 20 |
MON1 Ret |
SPA1 8 |
SPA2 14 |
HUN1 10 |
HUN2 3 |
RBR1 7 |
RBR2 7 |
SIL1 6 |
SIL2 8 |
NÜR1 8 |
NÜR2 2 |
BUG1 11 |
BUG2 9 |
JER1 11 |
JER2 5 |
9th | 79 |
Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | EuroInternational | Mercedes | SIL1 | SIL2 | SIL3 | HOC1 | HOC2 | HOC3 | PAU1 Ret |
PAU2 25 |
PAU3 25 |
MNZ1 | MNZ2 | MNZ3 | SPA1 | SPA2 | SPA3 | NOR1 | NOR2 | NOR3 | RBR1 | RBR2 | RBR3 | ZAN1 | ZAN2 | ZAN3 | ALG1 | ALG2 | ALG3 | NÜR1 | NÜR2 | NÜR3 | HOC1 | HOC2 | HOC3 | 42nd | 0 |
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 | Trident | BHRFEA | BHRSPR | CATFEA | CATSPR | MONFEA | MONSPR | RBRFEA | RBRSPR | SILFEA | SILSPR | HUNFEA | HUNSPR | SPAFEA 10 |
SPASPR 18 |
MNZFEA | MNZSPR | SOCFEA | SOCSPR | 25th | 1 | ||||
| Rapax | BHRFEA 16 |
BHRSPR 13 |
YMCFEA 16 |
YMCSPR C | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Rapax | CATFEA 9 |
CATSPR 10 |
MONFEA 14 |
MONSPR 12 |
BAKFEA 10 |
BAKSPR Ret |
RBRFEA 13 |
RBRSPR 16 |
SILFEA 22 |
SILSPR 19 |
HUNFEA 13 |
HUNSPR 14 |
HOCFEA 6 |
HOCSPR 8 |
SPAFEA 8 |
SPASPR 2 |
MNZFEA 3 |
MNZSPR 7 |
SEPFEA 9 |
SEPSPR 5 |
YMCFEA Ret |
YMCSPR 14 |
13th | 53 |
Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Racing Engineering | BHRFEA 18 |
BHRSPR 13 |
CATFEA 7 |
CATSPR 6 |
MONFEA 6 |
MONSPR 3 |
BAKFEA 11 |
BAKSPR 13 |
RBRFEA 12 |
RBRSPR 15 |
SILFEA 14 |
SILSPR 9 |
HUNFEA 13 |
HUNSPR NC |
SPAFEA 4 |
SPASPR 11 |
MNZFEA 8 |
MNZSPR 18 |
JERFEA 14 |
JERSPR 18 |
YMCFEA 11 |
YMCSPR 17 |
13th | 44 |
Complete Porsche Supercup 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 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Team Project 1 | CAT 15 |
MON 13 |
RBR 13 |
SIL 17 |
HOC 11 |
HUN 15 |
SPA 16 |
MNZ 26† |
MEX 9 |
MEX 18 |
14th | 26 |
Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.