The Most Famous

RACING DRIVERS from Russia

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This page contains a list of the greatest Russian Racing Drivers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,080 Racing Drivers, 6 of which were born in Russia. This makes Russia the birth place of the 24th most number of Racing Drivers behind Portugal, and Ireland.

Top 8

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Russian Racing Drivers of all time. This list of famous Russian Racing Drivers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Daniil Kvyat

1. Daniil Kvyat (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 44.49, Daniil Kvyat is the most famous Russian Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 45 different languages on wikipedia.

Daniil Vyacheslavovich Kvyat (Russian: Даниил Вячесла́вович Квят, IPA: [dənʲɪˈil vʲɪtɕɪˈslavəvʲɪtɕ ˈkvʲat]; born 26 April 1994) is a Russian racing driver, currently competing under a neutral flag in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Lamborghini and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for SS-Green Light Racing. Kvyat competed in Formula One from 2014 to 2020. Born in Ufa and raised in Moscow, Kvyat began competitive kart racing aged 10, before moving to Italy in 2007 to pursue a professional career. After winning several international karting titles, Kvyat progressed to junior formulae in 2010. He was successful in Formula Renault, finishing runner-up to Stoffel Vandoorne in the Eurocup and winning the Alps Series, both in 2012 with Koiranen. Kvyat then graduated to the GP3 Series in 2013, winning the title in his debut season with Arden. A member of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2010, Kvyat signed with Toro Rosso in 2014, making his Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix, finishing ninth to become the then-youngest points finisher aged 19. Kvyat was promoted to parent team Red Bull in 2015, taking his maiden podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix and out-scoring teammate Daniel Ricciardo throughout the season. Despite retaining his seat at Red Bull for 2016 and achieving another podium finish in China, Kvyat was replaced by Max Verstappen following a controversial collision with Sebastian Vettel at the Russian Grand Prix. Kvyat remained at Toro Rosso for his 2017 campaign before being released at the end of the season, becoming a reserve driver for Ferrari. He returned to Toro Rosso—later renamed to AlphaTauri—in 2019 to partner Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly, taking his third career podium at the rain-affected German Grand Prix. Kvyat was replaced by Yuki Tsunoda at the conclusion of the 2020 season, departing as the most successful Russian driver in Formula One history; he achieved three podiums and one fastest lap across six seasons. After serving as a reserve driver for Alpine in 2021, Kvyat was set to compete in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship for G-Drive Racing prior to their withdrawal following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Despite facing sanctions, Kvyat returned to WEC the next season with Prema, competing under an Italian license. He then signed for Lamborghini in 2024, competing in the premier Hypercar class alongside Mirko Bortolotti and Edoardo Mortara.

Photo of Vitaly Petrov

2. Vitaly Petrov (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 43.86, Vitaly Petrov is the 2nd most famous Russian Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrov (Russian: Вита́лий Алекса́ндрович Петро́в, IPA: [vʲɪˈtalʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈtrof]; born 8 September 1984) is a Russian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 2010 to 2012. Born and raised in Vyborg, Petrov began his career in rallying, skipping competitive kart racing altogether. Petrov competed for Renault and Caterham in Formula One, becoming the first Russian driver to compete in Formula One at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. Widely known as the "Vyborg Rocket" in Russia, Petrov scored his only podium finish at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix.

Photo of Vladimir Chagin

3. Vladimir Chagin (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 41.09, Vladimir Chagin is the 3rd most famous Russian Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Vladimir Gennadiyevich Chagin (Russian: Владимир Геннадьевич Чагин, IPA: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɡʲɪˈnadʲjɪvɪtɕ ˈtɕæɡʲɪn]; born 5 January 1970) is a Russian rally raid driver. He has won the Dakar Rally driving Kamaz trucks in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2011, becoming the most successful single category pilot in the history of the tournament earning him the nickname "The Tsar of Dakar". As of January 2016 he holds the following records: The most Dakar rally wins in the truck category with 7 (1 more than Karel Loprais) The second most Dakar rally stage wins in all categories with 63, 5 behind Stéphane Peterhansel The record for most stage wins in a single Dakar rally season in the truck category with 9 out of 14 in 2010.

Photo of Nikita Mazepin

4. Nikita Mazepin (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 37.93, Nikita Mazepin is the 4th most famous Russian Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Nikita Dmitryevich Mazepin (Russian: Ники́та Дми́триевич Мазе́пин, IPA: [nʲɪˈkʲitə ˈdmʲɪtrʲɪjɪvʲɪtɕ mɐˈzʲepʲɪn]; born 2 March 1999) is a Russian racing driver and motorsport executive, who most recently competed under a neutral flag in the 2023–24 Asian Le Mans Series for 99 Racing. Mazepin competed in Formula One in 2021. Born and raised in Moscow, Mazepin is the son of Belarusian-Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, owner of Uralchem. After finishing runner-up to Lando Norris at the direct-drive Karting World Championship in 2014, Mazepin graduated to junior formulae. Following a season in Formula Renault 2.0, he progressed to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2016, finishing tenth the following season. Mazepin then competed in the GP3 Series in 2018, finishing runner-up to Anthoine Hubert in his rookie season with ART. He also finished third in the 2019–20 F3 Asian Championship. Graduating to Formula 2 in 2019, Mazepin finished fifth in 2020 with Hitech. A test driver for Force India from 2016 to 2018, Mazepin topped the Barcelona in-season test in 2019 with Mercedes, driving the W10. Mazepin signed for Haas in 2021 to partner Mick Schumacher, making his Formula One debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix under a neutral flag representing the Russian Automobile Federation. After crashing out on lap one of his debut race, Haas failed to score points all season with the VF-21, with Mazepin finishing a career-best 14th in Azerbaijan. He made his final Formula One start in Saudi Arabia, withdrawing from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with COVID-19. Despite having a multi-year contract signed with Haas, Mazepin—alongside Russian sponsor Uralkali—was dropped for the 2022 season following the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, resulting in two years of arbitration and legal proceedings. Outside of Formula One, Mazepin founded the Jordanian-British sports car racing team 99 Racing in 2022. With the team, he has competed in the Asian Le Mans Series since 2023, where he is a race-winner. In rally raid, Mazepin topped his class at the Silk Way Rally in 2022.

Photo of Sergey Sirotkin

5. Sergey Sirotkin (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 35.98, Sergey Sirotkin is the 5th most famous Russian Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Sergey Olegovich Sirotkin (Russian: Серге́й Оле́гович Сиро́ткин, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɐˈlʲeɡəvʲɪtɕ sʲɪˈrotkʲɪn]; born 27 August 1995) is a Russian racing driver, who most recently competed in the 2023–24 Middle East Trophy for SMP. Sirotkin competed in Formula One in 2018. Born and raised in Moscow, Sirotkin is the son of Oleg Sirotkin, former head of the NIAT in Russia. He began karting aged 12 before graduating to Formula Abarth in 2010, winning the European Championship and finishing runner-up in the Italian Championship the following season. After competing in Italian Formula 3 and Formula Renault 3.5, Sirotkin progressed to the GP2 Series with Rapax in 2015. Sirotkin twice finished third in the GP2 standings with Rapax and ART, taking several wins across his two full seasons in the series. Following this—having already served as a test driver for Sauber—Sirotkin was promoted to reserve driver at Renault in 2017. After impressing at the Yas Marina post-season test, Sirotkin signed for Williams in 2018, replacing Felipe Massa to partner Lance Stroll and making his Formula One debut at the Australian Grand Prix. He scored his maiden points finish in Italy, but was dropped by Williams at the end of the season after SMP withdrew his sponsorship due to performance concerns with the FW41. Sirotkin returned as a reserve driver for Renault and McLaren in 2019, remaining at the former for 2020 before his departure. Since leaving Formula One, Sirotkin has moved into sportscar racing, competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Challenge Europe, Intercontinental GT Challenge and the Middle East Trophy for SMP.

Photo of Evgeny Novikov

6. Evgeny Novikov (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 29.91, Evgeny Novikov is the 6th most famous Russian Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Evgeny Maksimovich Novikov (Russian: Евгений Максимович Новиков, romanized: Yevgeniy Maksimovich Novikov; born 19 September 1990) is a Russian former rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2007 to 2013.

Photo of Mikhail Aleshin

7. Mikhail Aleshin (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 27.91, Mikhail Aleshin is the 7th most famous Russian Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Mikhail Petrovich Aleshin (Russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Алёшин, IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ɐˈlʲɵʂɨn], born 22 May 1987) is a Russian professional racing driver and the 2010 champion of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.

Photo of Artem Markelov

8. Artem Markelov (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 27.82, Artem Markelov is the 8th most famous Russian Racing Driver.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Artem Valeryevich Markelov (Russian: Артём Вале́рьевич Марке́лов, IPA: [ɐrˈtʲɵm vɐˈlʲerʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mɐrˈkʲeləf]; born 10 September 1994) is a Russian racing driver who last competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for HWA Team in 2020.

People

Pantheon has 8 people classified as Russian racing drivers born between 1970 and 1999. Of these 8, 8 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Russian racing drivers include Daniil Kvyat, Vitaly Petrov, and Vladimir Chagin. As of April 2024, 2 new Russian racing drivers have been added to Pantheon including Vladimir Chagin, and Artem Markelov.

Living Russian Racing Drivers

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Newly Added Russian Racing Drivers (2024)

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