| Neel Jani | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jani in 2021 at Arosa | |
| Nationality |  Swiss |
| Born | 8 December 1983 Rorschach, Switzerland |
| FIA World Endurance Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2011 (ILMC) |
| Current team | Porsche GT Team[1] |
| Racing licence |  FIA Platinum |
| Car number | 1 |
| Previous series | |
| 1998–2000 2000 2001–2002 2003–2004 2005–2006 2005–2009 2007 2010 | Karting Formula Lista Junior Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup Formula Renault V6 Eurocup GP2 Series A1 Grand Prix Champ Car World Series Le Mans Series |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 2009–2019 |
| Teams | Speedy Racing Team Sebah, Rebellion Racing, Porsche Team |
| Best finish | 1st (2016) |
| Class wins | 1 |
Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983)[2][non-primary source needed] is a Swiss professional racing driver.[3][4]
He achieved his greatest success winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche's LMP1 programme for the 2014 season driving in the WEC.[5] Previously, Jani drove for A1 Team Switzerland in A1 Grand Prix, helping them win the 2007-2008 title and finishing runner-up in 2005-06 and 2008–09. He raced for PKV Racing in the North American Champ Car series in 2007. He is also a GP2 Series race-winner and former Formula One test driver.
He joined Formula E's Faraday Future Dragon Racing squad for the 2017/2018 season but left the team after one weekend. For the 2019-20 Formula E season, he returned with his home brand Porsche with teammate Andre Lotterer.
Born in Rorschach, Jani started his career in karting in 1998 where he stayed for two years before moving up to Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup in 2001. In the same year, he also raced some races in Italian Formula Renault. He stayed in both for 2002, again only racing part of the Italian Formula Renault season. In 2003, he moved to Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, driving for the Jenzer team. In that year, he finished second by only four points in the championship with Jenzer Motorsport. In 2004, he again raced in the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup but changed team, running with the French team DAMS, stating in the Swiss press, "This year, it is win or nothing."[citation needed] He finished fourth in the championship that year, while his old team, Jenzer Motorsport finished second with their rookie driver Ryan Sharp.
In 2005, he raced in the GP2 Series with Racing Engineering alongside Borja García who he generally outperformed. He won two races, at the Hungaroring and at Monza. He also managed to lead most of the Nürburgring race in a clearly slower car with some effective defensive driving.
In 2006, he replaced injured Nicolas Lapierre in the Silverstone and Magny-Cours races for English race team Arden. By doing this, he also secured his place in the record books, being the only person to ever drive in both GP2 and F1 on the same day.
He then raced in the new A1 Grand Prix series, representing his home nation with A1 Team Switzerland. In the inaugural season of A1GP, the team earned the silver medal for second place, with Jani consistently finishing on the podium, including a win at the Dubai Autodrome of the 2005-06 United Arab Emirates Sprint race.
After not attending the first two rounds of the 2006-07 season, and handing the reins to Sébastien Buemi, Jani took another win later in the season at the 2006–07 Malaysia Sprint race.
Jani drove all the races for Switzerland in the 2007-08 season, taking the championship with four wins and 168 points. The team finished second in the 2008-09 season, again with Jani ever-present.
He was linked to a reserve F1 seat with the Sauber team. In 2004 however, he moved back to GP2 the following year. In December 2005 he was confirmed as Scuderia Toro Rosso's third driver, alongside race drivers Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi, a role he held throughout the 2006 season, before departing to pursue a Champ Car career. For the 2008 F1 season, Neel was linked with the test driving role at Red Bull Racing. As his father is from India, Jani was linked to the proposed Indian-backed buyout of BMW Sauber[6] but this did not succeed. In early 2010 he tested for Force India and was rumoured to be involved with the team in 2010. However Force India signed Mercedes driver Paul di Resta as their test and reserve driver.
.jpg)
In June 2023, it was announced that Jani had signed with Audi as a simulator driver to help them develop their power unit in preparation for their entry into Fomula 1 in 2026.[7]
For 2007, Jani drove for the PKV Racing team in the Champ Car World Series.[8] He ended the series in ninth place with a total of 231 points. After choosing to focus on the 2007-2008 A1GP season rather than stay in ChampCar for 2008,[9] the series was absorbed by the IRL.
In 2010, Jani became affiliated with Swiss privateer Rebellion Racing and teamed with Nicolas Prost to race a Lola-Judd LMP1 at the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing 2nd at Algarve and 5th at Silverstone. Also, he raced the second half of the FIA GT1 season for Matech in a Ford GT, finishing 7th in a championship race and 8th in other two.
Jani took up full-time WEC racing in 2012 with Rebellion, teaming with Prost and Nick Heidfeld for two seasons, before joining the Porsche works team in 2014 and winning his first LMP1 race at São Paulo, Brazil, finishing third overall in the championship. The 2015 season saw Jani take another win at Bahrain in addition to 5 runner-up spots; again he finished third in the championship.
Jani kicked off the 2016 WEC season with a win at Silverstone and a second place at Spa before inheriting the win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in dramatic fashion when Kazuki Nakajima's Toyota broke down in the lead with only one lap to go in the race.[10]
On 24 August 2017, it was announced that Jani would make his debut in FIA Formula E Championship in its fourth season at Faraday Future Dragon Racing with Jérôme d'Ambrosio as his teammate.[11] After two 18th-place finishes at the season opener in Hong Kong, Jani abruptly quit the team focusing instead on his WEC commitments with Rebellion Racing.[12]
In December 2018, Porsche announced that Jani would return to the championship as part of their driver line-up for their maiden season.[13] He raced for Porsche with teammate Andre Lotterer till the end of the 2019–20 season, finishing twentieth on the standings.[14] For the 2020-21 Formula E Championship, he was replaced by Pascal Wehrlein.
Jani and his wife Lauren have a son.[15]
(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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Switzerland | GBR SPR 9 |
GBR FEA Ret |
GER SPR 2 |
GER FEA 5 |
POR SPR 3 |
POR FEA 2 |
AUS SPR 6 |
AUS FEA 3 |
MYS SPR 2 |
MYS FEA 2 |
UAE SPR 1 |
UAE FEA Ret |
RSA SPR 3 |
RSA FEA 2 |
IDN SPR 5 |
IDN FEA 5 |
MEX SPR 2 |
MEX FEA 3 |
USA SPR |
USA FEA |
CHN SPR |
CHN FEA |
2nd | 121 |
| 2006–07 | NED SPR |
NED FEA |
CZE SPR |
CZE FEA |
BEI SPR 9 |
BEI FEA Ret |
MYS SPR 1 |
MYS FEA 4 |
IDN SPR 10 |
IDN FEA 8 |
NZL SPR |
NZL FEA |
AUS SPR |
AUS FEA |
RSA SPR 5 |
RSA FEA 4 |
MEX SPR |
MEX FEA |
SHA SPR |
SHA FEA |
GBR SPR |
GBR SPR |
8th | 50 | |
| 2007–08 | NED SPR 5 |
NED FEA 3 |
CZE SPR 8 |
CZE FEA 3 |
MYS SPR 1 |
MYS FEA 1 |
ZHU SPR 2 |
ZHU FEA 6 |
NZL SPR Ret |
NZL FEA 13 |
AUS SPR 10 |
AUS FEA 2 |
RSA SPR 3 |
RSA FEA 1 |
MEX SPR 3 |
MEX FEA 19 |
SHA SPR 1 |
SHA FEA 5 |
GBR SPR 4 |
GBR SPR 3 |
1st | 168 | |||
| 2008–09 | NED SPR 5 |
NED FEA Ret |
CHN SPR 4 |
CHN FEA 4 |
MYS SPR 1 |
MYS FEA Ret |
NZL SPR 2 |
NZL FEA 1 |
RSA SPR 3 |
RSA FEA 1 |
POR SPR 15 |
POR FEA 1 |
GBR SPR 8 |
GBR SPR 3 |
2nd | 95 |
(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 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Racing Engineering | IMO FEA 6 |
IMO SPR 15 |
CAT FEA 4 |
CAT SPR 5 |
MON FEA Ret |
NÜR FEA 6 |
NÜR SPR 13† |
MAG FEA 5 |
MAG SPR 4 |
SIL FEA 5 |
SIL SPR 6 |
HOC FEA Ret |
HOC SPR 22 |
HUN FEA 1 |
HUN SPR 4 |
IST FEA Ret |
IST SPR Ret |
MNZ FEA 7 |
MNZ SPR 1 |
SPA FEA 16 |
SPA SPR 18 |
BHR FEA 16 |
BHR SPR 13 |
7th | 48 |
| 2006 | Arden International Ltd | VAL FEA |
VAL SPR |
IMO FEA |
IMO SPR |
NÜR FEA |
NÜR SPR |
CAT FEA |
CAT SPR |
MON FEA |
SIL FEA NC |
SIL SPR Ret |
MAG FEA 11 |
MAG SPR 7 |
HOC FEA |
HOC SPR |
HUN FEA |
HUN SPR |
IST FEA |
IST SPR |
MNZ FEA |
MNZ SPR |
25th | 0 |
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Scuderia Toro Rosso | Toro Rosso STR1 | Cosworth V10 | BHR TD |
MAL TD |
AUS TD |
SMR TD |
EUR TD |
ESP TD |
MON TD |
GBR TD |
CAN TD |
USA TD |
FRA TD |
GER TD |
HUN TD |
TUR TD |
ITA TD |
CHN TD |
JPN TD |
BRA TD |
- | - |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | PKV Racing | LVG 10 |
LBH 7 |
HOU 15 |
POR 12 |
CLE 3 |
MTT 6 |
TOR 2 |
EDM 9 |
SJO 2 |
ROA 10 |
ZOL 8 |
ASN 5 |
SRF 8 |
MXC 9 |
9th | 231 | [16] |
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Matech Competition | Ford GT1 | ABU QR |
ABU CR |
SIL QR |
SIL CR |
BRN QR |
BRN CR |
PRI QR |
PRI CR |
SPA QR 20 |
SPA CR 14 |
NÜR QR 8 |
NÜR CR 16 |
ALG QR 20 |
ALG CR 12 |
NAV QR 4 |
NAV CR 7 |
INT QR 7 |
INT CR 8 |
SAN QR 17 |
SAN CR 8 |
33rd | 14 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Operator | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Position | Points | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Olympiacos CFP | GU-Racing International | SIL | ASS | MAG | JAR | NÜR | ZOL | BRH | ADR | POR | ORD | BEI† | NAV | 4th | 653 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | 1 | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Belgium – RSC Anderlecht | Azerti Motorsport | HOL | BEL | 5th | 125 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† Non Championship round
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Rebellion Racing | LMP1 | Lola B10/60 | Rebellion (Judd) 5.5 L V10 | LEC 7 |
SPA Ret |
ALG 2 |
HUN 2 |
SIL 5 |
7th | 52 | |
| 2011 | Rebellion Racing | LMP1 | Lola B10/60 | Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 | LEC 3 |
SPA 7 |
IMO 6 |
SIL Ret |
EST 3 |
3rd | 37 | |
| 2023 | Duqueine Team | LMP2 | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | CAT 1 |
LEC 2 |
ARA 6 |
SPA 6 |
POR 5 |
ALG 5 |
4th | 79 |
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Rebellion Racing | P1 | Lola B12/60 | Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 | SEB | LBH | MTY | LRP | MOS | MDO | ROA | BAL | VIR | PET 1 |
NC | 0 |
| 2013 | Rebellion Racing | P1 | Lola B12/60 | Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 | SEB 3 |
LBH 2 |
LAG 2 |
LRP | MOS | ROA | BAL | COA | VIR | PET 1 |
2nd | 82 |
| Year | Entrant | No. | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Rebellion Racing | 13 | P | Oreca 07 | Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 | DAY 8 |
SEB 9 |
LBH | COA | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | LGA | PET | 26th | 45 | |
| 2020 | Porsche GT Team | 912 | GTLM | Porsche 911 RSR-19 | Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6 | DAY | DAY | SEB | ELK | VIR | ATL | MDO | CLT | PET | LGA | SEB 2 |
14th | 32 |
| 2022 | Cadillac Racing | 02 | DPi | Cadillac DPi-V.R | Cadillac 5.5 L V8 | DAY | SEB 1 |
LBH | LGA | MDO | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | PET | 19th | 378 | |
| 2023 | Proton Competition | 59 | GTP | Porsche 963 | Porsche 9RD 4.6 L V8 | DAY | SEB | LBH | LGA | WGL | MOS | ELK | IMS | PET 3 |
20th | 321 | ||
| 2024 | Proton Competition | 5 | GTP | Porsche 963 | Porsche 9RD 4.6 L V8 | DAY |
SEB |
LBH |
LGA |
DET |
WGL |
ELK |
IMS |
PET |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Powertrain | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Dragon Racing | Spark SRT01-e | Penske EV-2 | HKG 18 |
HKG 18 |
MRK | SCL | MEX | PDE | RME | PAR | BER | ZUR | NYC | NYC | 25th | 0 |
| 2019–20 | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team | Spark SRT05e | Porsche 99X Electric | DIR 17 |
DIR 13 |
SCL Ret |
MEX 14 |
MRK 18 |
BER 11 |
BER 15 |
BER Ret |
BER 19 |
BER 6 |
BER 15 |
20th | 8 |
