| Sam Bird | |
|---|---|
Sam Bird at Zolder, 2007 |
|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 9 January 1987 Roehampton (England) |
| 2012 GP2 Series | |
| Debut season | 2010 |
| Current team | iSport International |
| Car no. | 9 |
| Former teams | ART Grand Prix |
| Starts | 37 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Poles | 2 |
| Fastest laps | 5 |
| Best finish | 5th in 2010 |
| Previous series | |
| 2009–10-2011 2008–09 2007, 2009 2006 2004–05 |
GP2 Asia Series Formula Three Euroseries British Formula Three Formula Renault 2.0 UK Formula BMW |
| Awards | |
| 2006 | Autosport Club Driver/Year |
Sam Bird (born 9 January 1987 in Roehampton) is a British racing driver; he was educated at Millfield School in Somerset.
Contents |
Bird made his name in single seater racing in the Formula BMW category, coming fourteenth overall in his debut season and second in the rookie cup. He came runner up in 2005, which was only his second season in the category and also came fourth in the Formula BMW world final, the race itself was won by German Marco Holzer.
For 2006, Bird entered the British Formula Renault series, where he won four races and came fourth in the championship, 111 points behind series champion Sebastian Hohenthal.
In 2007, Bird raced in the British Formula Three Championship with Carlin Motorsport, racing in a Mercedes powered Dallara. In March 2007, Bird secured sponsorship from BP, "The brand is already prominent in the World Rally Championship" Mark Reader, BP's UK Fuels Marketing Manager, commented, "Sam’s an incredible prospect and we’re excited to be getting into a relationship at this stage of his career" he added.[1] Bird was elected to the Motor Sports Association Race Elite Scheme in April 2007, along with 5 other drivers in various British series and also participated in a series of aerodynamic tests with the AT&T Williams F1 Team.
Bird moved to the Manor Motorsport and the Formula Three Euroseries in 2008 and had a testing year, finishing eleventh in the championship with 23 points - 16 of which came from second places during Saturday races at Catalunya and Le Mans and only picked up points from three other races. For 2009, he joined McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Alexander Sims, 2008 Mücke driver Christian Vietoris and 2008 Formula BMW Europe runner-up Marco Wittmann at Mücke Motorsport. He earned his first pole position and fastest laps, but failed to win a race en route to eighth in the championship.
Bird missed the final round of the F3 Euroseries season to join up with the ART Grand Prix team for a GP2 Asia Series test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. He raced in the 2009–10 season for the team, where he finished seventh in the series, with a second place in the final round.
Bird contested the 2010 GP2 Series with ART, having long coveted a drive with the French team. He was fast but frequently unlucky, losing several potential results due to technical issues, engine failures and collisions for which he was not at fault. However, he managed to claim his maiden series win at the first race at Monza, as well as claiming his third fastest lap of the season.
For 2011, Bird moved to the iSport International team alongside Marcus Ericsson. His GP2 Asia campaign resulted in three retirements from four races, but after a strong start to the main series season, he was second in the Drivers' Championship after four rounds, with the same number of points as leader Romain Grosjean. After this point, however, he gradually slipped back in the standings and finished sixth overall at the end of the season.
On 16 November 2010 he took part in the young drivers test in Abu Dhabi driving for Mercedes GP. He set the third fastest time, 1.118 seconds slower than pacesetter Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull.[2]
| Season | Series | Team Name | Races | Poles | Wins | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Formula BMW UK | Carlin Motorsport | 14 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 14th |
| 2005 | Formula BMW UK | Fortec Motorsport | 20 | 8 | 6 | 218 | 2nd |
| 2006 | Formula Renault UK | Fortec Motorsport | 20 | 6 | 4 | 373 | 4th |
| 2007 | British Formula Three | Carlin Motorsport | 22 | 0 | 2 | 180 | 4th |
| 2008 | Formula Three Euroseries | Manor Motorsport | 20 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 11th |
| 2009 | Formula Three Euroseries | Mücke Motorsport | 18 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 8th |
| British Formula Three | Fortec Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | |
| Macau Grand Prix | ART Grand Prix | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 3rd | |
| 2009–10 | GP2 Asia Series | ART Grand Prix | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 7th |
| 2010 | GP2 Series | ART Grand Prix | 20 | 1 | 1 | 48 | 5th |
| 2011 | GP2 Asia Series | iSport International | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12th |
| GP2 Series | iSport International | 18 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 6th |
† - As Bird was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Manor Motorsport | Dallara F308/036 | Mercedes | HOC1 1 10 |
HOC1 2 6 |
MUG 1 14 |
MUG 2 8 |
PAU 1 Ret |
PAU 2 11 |
NOR 1 14 |
NOR 2 8 |
ZAN 1 4 |
ZAN 2 6 |
NÜR 1 22 |
NÜR 2 19 |
BRH 1 Ret |
BRH 2 19 |
CAT 1 2 |
CAT 2 18 |
BUG 1 2 |
BUG 2 11 |
HOC2 1 16 |
HOC2 2 Ret |
11th | 23 |
| 2009 | Mücke Motorsport | Dallara F308 | Mercedes | HOC1 1 3 |
HOC1 2 6 |
LAU 1 5 |
LAU 2 3 |
NOR 1 8 |
NOR 2 Ret |
ZAN 1 8 |
ZAN 2 2 |
OSC 1 12 |
OSC 2 20 |
NÜR 1 4 |
NÜR 2 8 |
BRH 1 6 |
BRH 2 3 |
CAT 1 Ret |
CAT 2 Ret |
DIJ 1 6 |
DIJ 2 5 |
8th | 40 |
(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 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | ART Grand Prix | ESP FEA 9 |
ESP SPR 4 |
MON FEA 18 |
MON SPR 10 |
TUR FEA 3 |
TUR SPR 10 |
VAL FEA 3 |
VAL SPR 10 |
GBR FEA 4 |
GBR SPR DNS |
GER FEA 14 |
GER SPR 5 |
HUN FEA 13 |
HUN SPR Ret |
BEL FEA Ret |
BEL SPR 12 |
ITA FEA 1 |
ITA SPR 3 |
ABU FEA 3 |
ABU SPR Ret |
5th | 48 |
| 2011 | iSport International | TUR FEA 2 |
TUR SPR 3 |
ESP FEA 3 |
ESP SPR 5 |
MON FEA Ret |
MON SPR 13 |
VAL FEA 5 |
VAL SPR 12 |
GBR FEA 5 |
GBR SPR 6 |
GER FEA 8 |
GER SPR 7 |
HUN FEA 17 |
HUN SPR 5 |
BEL FEA 12 |
BEL SPR 5 |
ITA FEA 4 |
ITA SPR 4 |
6th | 45 |
* Season in progress.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 | ART Grand Prix | ABU1 FEA 18 |
ABU1 SPR 18 |
ABU2 FEA Ret |
ABU2 SPR Ret |
BHR1 FEA 13 |
BHR1 SPR 4 |
BHR2 FEA 6 |
BHR2 SPR 2 |
7th | 12 |
| 2011 | iSport International | ABU FEA 7 |
ABU SPR Ret |
ITA FEA Ret |
ITA SPR Ret |
12th | 2 |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Andrew Kirkaldy |
Autosport British Club Driver of the Year 2006 |
Succeeded by Duncan Tappy |
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