Lirim Zendeli

Lirim Zendeli
File:FIA F3 Austria 2019 Nr. 7 Zendeli.jpg Zendeli in 2019
Nationality	German
Born	(1999-10-18) 18 October 1999 Bochum, Germany
USF Pro 2000 Championship career
Debut season	2023
Current team	TJ Speed Motorsports
Car no.	10
Starts	6 (6 entries)
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	TBD in 2023
Previous series
2021-22 2020 2019-20, 2022 2016-18	FIA Formula 2 Championship FIA Formula 3 Championship Toyota Racing Series ADAC Formula 4
Championship titles
2018	ADAC Formula 4

Lirim Zendeli (born 18 October 1999 in Bochum) is a German racing driver of Macedonian-Albanian descent who currently competes in the 2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship with TJ Speed Motorsports. He last competed as a substitute driver for Campos Racing in Formula 2. He competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Charouz Racing System in 2019 as the reigning German Formula 4 champion. After the 2019 F3 season, Zendeli competed in the 2020 Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand before joining Trident for the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship, where he won a race at Spa. He made the step up to Formula 2 in 2021 with MP Motorsport.

Racing career

Karting

Zendeli began his motorsport career in karting in 2010. In his home country, he finished third in the KF3 class of the ADAC Kart Masters in 2013 and won the KFJ class of the series in 2014. That year he also made the switch to European championships and competed in the CIK-FIA World Championship in the KF Junior class, among other categories. In 2015, he concluded his karting career in the KF class of the South Garda Winter Cup, where he finished 11th.

ADAC Formula 4

2016

2016 was Zendeli's first season in single-seaters, racing in ADAC Formula 4 with ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg. He failed to score points in the opening two rounds, but after that, regularly finished in the top 10. He even achieved a podium finish with a second position in the penultimate race weekend at Zandvoort. With 74 points he finished in 13th place in the championship, whilst he ended up fifth in the rookie class.

2017

The following year Zendeli contested a double programme in both the ADAC and Italian Formula 4 championships, again with ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg. In the German series, Zendeli took his maiden single-seater win at Oschersleben. However, his title challenge was derailed when he suffered two retirements and two non-scoring finishes in the next three rounds. Despite this, he would win again in the Nürburgring and during the penultimate race at the Hockenheimring. The German classified fourth in the standings with 164 points, he also had a further two podiums. In the Italian championship, the German scored two podium finishes, but was not included in the final standings as he did not take part in the final race weekend at Monza.

2018

File:Lirim Zendeli, ADAC Formel 4, Nürburgring 2018.jpg

Zendeli racing in the 2018 ADAC Formula 4 Championship

For 2018, Zendeli moved to the US Racing-CHRS team, partnering David Schumacher, Mick Wishofer and Tom Beckhäuser, for a year that would prove to be his breakout. Zendeli dominated throughout the campaign, winning four of the first six races. Amazingly, Zendeli won at every round, and this allowed him to claim the title during the penultimate round at the Nürburgring. Zendeli rounded the season with two wins. He dominated the season by taking eight pole positions of a possible 14, winning 10 races out of 21 and finishing over 100 points ahead of nearest rival Liam Lawson.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

2019

Zendeli progressed to Formula 3 in 2019, continuing with Charouz and alongside Fabio Scherer and Raoul Hyman. Zendeli's only points came at the Red Bull Ring, finishing eighth and seventh place. In the latter result, Zendeli had started on reverse pole but lost out to the faster cars. He was set for another strong result in Monza, but suffered a puncture while battling for the lead. He missed the final round, and ended 18th in the championship with six points.

Following the season, Zendeli made a one-off appearance in the 2019 Formula Regional European Championship. He claimed two second places and ended 14th in the standings.

2020

During 2020 pre-season, he competed in the Toyota Racing Series with Giles Motorsport. Zendeli took four podiums but no wins, and managed to end up eighth in the standings.

In Formula 3, Zendeli signed for Trident Racing to partner David Beckmann and Olli Caldwell in the 2020 season. Zendeli managed to qualify second in his first race at the Red Bull Ring, but dropped to fifth at the flag despite momentarily being in the lead, and followed it up with fifth in Race 2. He scored his first Formula 3 podium finish at the rain-shortened first race of the second Red Bull Ring round. The German made a brilliant start from sixth, soaring to second on the first lap and nearly snatching the lead from the Frederik Vesti. He remained in the position until the conclusion of the race. The next two rounds went poorly for Zendeli, starting at the Hungaroring where he suffered collision damage in Race 1 and had to retire, with 16th place in the following race. In Silverstone, he had no pace and did not score. During the second Silverstone round in Race 2, Zendeli lined up on reverse pole and led for most of the race. On the final lap, he battled with Bent Viscaal and the Dutchman won out, and eventually Zendeli crossed the finish line second, only 0.189 seconds behind Viscaal.

After a scoreless weekend in Barcelona, Zendeli took his first Formula 3 pole position at Spa-Francorchamps. He led every lap to take his first victory by four seconds. He ended Race 2 in eighth place. In Monza, Zendeli qualified second but was given a ten-place grid penalty for dangerous offences. After a quiet Race 1 in eighth, he had a wild Race 2, taking the lead early but made a mistake and fell to seventh. He eventually worked his way to finish in fourth. He took a second pole position at the season finale at Mugello. He remained in the lead for seven laps and later fought with Jake Hughes but Zendeli would fall to fourth place at the finish. Race 2 ended in disappointment as he was eliminated on the opening lap after colliding with Logan Sargeant. Zendeli ended the season eighth in the championship with 104 points with one win, two poles and two podiums – behind Beckmann but considerably ahead of Caldwell – and helped his Trident team to achieve second place in the teams' championship.

2022

Zendeli returned to Charouz Racing System for a cameo appearance for the 2022 Barcelona Formula 3 round, taking over David Schumacher's seat. Starting 22nd, in both races, Zendeli managed to progress up in both races, taking 20th and 15th in the sprint and feature races respectively. Zendeli was replaced by Zdeněk Chovanec for the Silverstone onwards. The German was ranked 31st in the standings.

FIA Formula 2 Championship

2021

In December 2020 it was announced that Zendeli would graduate to the FIA Formula 2 Championship for the 2021 season, driving for MP Motorsport alongside Richard Verschoor. He scored his first points in his first race at Bahrain, thanks to a fastest lap by finishing ninth. That saw him line up for Sprint Race 2, and he was set for points when Christian Lundgaard made contact with his rear-right tyre, causing the German a puncture and his retirement. In Monaco, Zendeli qualified in 17th, and in the second sprint race he would finish in seventh, scoring points due to others' misfortune. In Baku, Zendeli had another incident in the second sprint but rescued a point with tenth in the feature race. Silverstone would be successful, as he finished close to the points in the first two races, before claiming ninth in the feature race. In Monza, Zendeli was on for a huge result in sprint race 1, but his race ended in the dying laps due to a engine issue. In the feature race, he had a strong race, climbing his way to his joint-best seventh place. In Sochi, he ended tenth in the sprint, and failed to score points. Due to financial reasons Zendeli left the team in early November and was replaced by Clément Novalak. Zendeli would finish 17th overall with 13 points, six places behind teammate Verschoor.

2022

In 2022, Zendeli made a cameo deputisation at Spa-Francorchamps, replacing the banned Olli Caldwell at Campos Racing, which was his first F2 round since he left MP Motorsport in 2021. He finished the sprint race in 20th and retired from the feature race, with Caldwell returning for the next round at Circuit Zandvoort. His P20 finish meant Zendeli was classified 29th, last in the standings.

Super Formula

At the end of 2022, Zendeli partook in a Super Formula test with B-Max Racing.

USF Pro 2000 Championship

Zendeli returned to racing in 2023, racing in the 2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship with TJ Speed Motorsports.

Personal life

His father Jauni, who had fled from North Macedonia before settling in Germany, founded a drywall works company in Bochum.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Season	Series	Team	Position
2011	DMV Kart Championship — KF3		39th
	Ciao Thomas Knopper Memorial — KF3		14th
2012	Euro Wintercup — KF3	KSM Motorsport	11th
	Bridgestone Cup Europe — KF3		5th
	ADAC Kart Masters — KF3		11th
	German Karting Championship — Junior		42nd
	DMV Kart Championship — KF3		10th
2013	ADAC Kart Masters — KF3	KSM Racing Team	3rd
	WSK Euro Series — KFJ		24th
	German Karting Championship — Junior		5th
	WSK Final Cup — KFJ		NC
2014	South Garda Winter Cup — KF3	KSM Racing Team	21st
	Trofeo Andrea Margutti — KFJ		6th
	German Karting Championship — Junior		8th
	ADAC Kart Masters — KFJ		1st
	CIK-FIA World Championship — KFJ		27th
2015	South Garda Winter Cup — KF	KSM Racing Team	11th

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2016	ADAC Formula 4 Championship	ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.	24	0	0	2	1	84	13th
2017	ADAC Formula 4 Championship	ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.	21	3	3	1	5	164	4th
	Italian F4 Championship	BWT Mücke Motorsport	18	0	0	1	2	114	NC†
2018	ADAC Formula 4 Championship	US Racing - CHRS	21	10	7	8	13	348	1st
2019	FIA Formula 3 Championship	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	14	0	0	0	0	6	18th
	Formula Regional European Championship	US Racing	3	0	0	0	2	42	14th
2020	FIA Formula 3 Championship	Trident	18	1	2	1	3	104	8th
	Toyota Racing Series	Giles Motorsport	15	0	0	0	4	200	8th
2021	FIA Formula 2 Championship	MP Motorsport	17	0	0	1	0	13	17th
	DTM Trophy	T3 Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC‡
2022	FIA Formula 3 Championship	Charouz Racing System	2	0	0	0	0	0	31st
	FIA Formula 2 Championship	Campos Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	29th
2023	USF Pro 2000 Championship	TJ Speed Motorsports	6	0	0	0	1	83	7th*

^† As Zendeli had not competed in the required number of rounds he was ineligible for a championship position.
^‡ As Zendeli was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
* Season still in progress.

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship 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	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	Pos	Points
2016	ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.	OSC1 1 Ret	OSC1 2 16	OSC1 3 Ret	SAC 1 18	SAC 2 11	SAC 3 11	LAU 1 21	LAU 2 6	LAU 3 5	OSC2 1 25	OSC2 2 5	OSC2 3 13	RBR 1 27	RBR 2 10	RBR 3 14	NÜR 1 Ret	NÜR 2 12	NÜR 3 31	ZAN 1 4	ZAN 2 2	ZAN 3 7	HOC 1 4	HOC 2 5	HOC 3 24	13th	74
2017	ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V.	OSC1 1 7	OSC1 2 9	OSC1 3 1	LAU 1 7	LAU 2 9	LAU 3 Ret	RBR 1 7	RBR 2 Ret	RBR 3 5	OSC2 1 11	OSC2 2 11	OSC2 3 7	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 2	NÜR 3 6	SAC 1 20	SAC 2 6	SAC 3 8	HOC 1 2	HOC 2 1	HOC 3 Ret				4th	164
2018	US Racing - CHRS	OSC 1 1	OSC 2 1	OSC 3 Ret	HOC1 1 1	HOC1 2 1	HOC1 3 3	LAU 1 11	LAU 2 1	LAU 3 4	RBR 1 4	RBR 2 1	RBR 3 5	HOC2 1 3	HOC2 2 1	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 2	NÜR 3 5	HOC3 1 7	HOC3 2 1	HOC3 3 1					1st	348

Complete Italian F4 Championship 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	18	19	20	21	Pos	Points
2017	BWT Mücke Motorsport	MIS 1 21	MIS 2 9	MIS 3 8	ADR 1 12	ADR 2 3	ADR 3 5	VLL 1 8	VLL 2 Ret	VLL 3 9	MUG1 1 7	MUG1 2 5	MUG1 3 12	IMO 1 3	IMO 2 6	IMO 3 4	MUG2 1 7	MUG2 2 6	MUG2 3 8	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	MNZ 3	NC†	114

^† Zendeli did not compete in the required number of rounds to be eligible for a championship position.

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	DC	Points
2019	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	CAT FEA 14	CAT SPR 11	LEC FEA Ret	LEC SPR 16	RBR FEA 8	RBR SPR 7	SIL FEA 15	SIL SPR 9	HUN FEA Ret	HUN SPR 20	SPA FEA 22	SPA SPR 22†	MNZ FEA Ret	MNZ SPR 18	SOC FEA WD	SOC SPR WD			18th	6
2020	Trident	RBR FEA 5	RBR SPR 5	RBR FEA 2‡	RBR SPR 10	HUN FEA Ret	HUN SPR 16	SIL FEA 13	SIL SPR 11	SIL FEA 9	SIL SPR 2	CAT FEA 12	CAT SPR 16	SPA FEA 1	SPA SPR 8	MNZ FEA 7	MNZ SPR 4	MUG FEA 4	MUG SPR Ret	8th	104
2022	Charouz Racing System	BHR SPR	BHR FEA	IMO SPR	IMO FEA	CAT SPR 20	CAT FEA 15	SIL SPR	SIL FEA	RBR SPR	RBR FEA	HUN SPR	HUN FEA	SPA SPR	SPA FEA	ZAN SPR	ZAN FEA	MNZ SPR	MNZ SPR	31st	0

^† Driver did not finish the race but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Formula Regional European 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	23	24	25	DC	Points
2019	US Racing	LEC 1	LEC 2	LEC 3	VLL 1	VLL 2	VLL 3	HUN 1	HUN 2	HUN 3	RBR 1	RBR 2	RBR 3	IMO 1	IMO 2	IMO 3	IMO 4	CAT 1	CAT 2	CAT 3	MUG 1 7	MUG 2 2	MUG 3 2	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	MNZ 3	14th	42

Complete Toyota Racing 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	DC	Points
2020	Giles Motorsport	HIG 1 3	HIG 2 3	HIG 3 8	TER 1 7	TER 2 2	TER 3 12	HMP 1 10	HMP 2 7	HMP 3 5	PUK 1 12	PUK 2 Ret	PUK 3 3	MAN 1 13	MAN 2 15	MAN 3 13	8th	200

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year	Entrant	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	DC	Points
2021	MP Motorsport	BHR SP1 9	BHR SP2 Ret	BHR FEA 18	MCO SP1 15	MCO SP2 7	MCO FEA Ret	BAK SP1 13	BAK SP2 Ret	BAK FEA 10	SIL SP1 11	SIL SP2 9	SIL FEA 9	MNZ SP1 15†	MNZ SP2 12	MNZ FEA 7	SOC SP1 10	SOC SP2 C	SOC FEA 16	JED SP1	JED SP2	JED FEA	YMC SP1	YMC SP2	YMC FEA					17th	13
2022	Campos Racing	BHR SPR	BHR FEA	JED SPR	JED FEA	IMO SPR	IMO FEA	CAT SPR	CAT FEA	MCO SPR	MCO FEA	BAK SPR	BAK FEA	SIL SPR	SIL FEA	RBR SPR	RBR FEA	LEC SPR	LEC FEA	HUN SPR	HUN FEA	SPA SPR 20	SPA FEA 21†	ZAN SPR	ZAN FEA	MNZ SPR	MNZ FEA	YMC SPR	YMC FEA	29th	0

American open-wheel racing results

USF Pro 2000 Championship

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Rank	Points
2023	TJ Speed Motorsports	STP 1 16	STP 2 4	SEB 1 6	SEB 2 2	IMS 1 13	IMS 2 10	IRP	ROA 1	ROA 2	MOH 1	MOH 2	TOR 1	TOR 2	COTA 1	COTA 1	POR 1	POR 2	POR 3	7th*	83*

*Season still in progress.

External links

• Lirim Zendeli career summary at DriverDB.com