Nielsen began karting when he was four years old, back in 2001. He competed in many international events and championships, winning ten major titles.[4]
Lower formula
In 2016, Nielsen made his single-seater debut in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship in Germany, finishing 8th and winning the Rookie's championship while racing for the Austrian Neuhauser Racing team, scoring three podiums and two fastest laps.
In 2017, Nielsen returned to the ADAC championship, this time with the US Racing team. Although he did win a race[5] and scored three podiums, a team disqualification at the Lausitzring event and a major accident induced by a competitor which caused irreparable damage to his car for the rest of the event at the Nürburgring deprived him of a proper chance to fight for the title.[according to whom?]
At the end of 2017, not having the budget to continue in single-seater competitions, Nielsen was given a chance to race in the final round of the Ferrari Challenge Europe by gentleman driver and Formula Racing team owner Johnny Laursen, whose son Conrad Nielsen had coached in karting.[6] Nielsen took the opportunity and won both races at Mugello, leading to him contesting the Ferrari Challenge season in 2018. There, the Dane dominated, winning the title with Formula Racing after taking ten victories from 14 races, never finishing off the podium.[7] He also ended up taking home the Finali Mondiali trophy at Monza to conclude his season.[8]
In 2019, Nielsen stepped into the LMGTE category, driving for Luzich Racing in the European Le Mans Series and partaking in the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign at AF Corse.[9][10] In the former championship, the Dane would help Ferrari factory driver Alessandro Pier Guidi and amateur Fabien Lavergne to win four races, which allowed the trio to clinch the title with a race to spare. He was awarded the accolade of ELMS Rookie of the Year as a result.[11] During the WEC campaign, one that Nielsen contested alongside François Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard, he finished third in class at the Le Mans 24 Hours, on his way to win the title with two victories and five podiums to their name.[12]
Having been promoted to FIA Gold ranking ahead of 2021, Nielsen returned to the WEC's LMGTE Am class with AF Corse, partnering youngster Alessio Rovera and gentleman driver Perrodo.[13] The trio dominated, winning early at Spa and then Monza, with Nielsen setting the fastest lap in both races.[14][15] They subsequently performed well at Le Mans, winning the race in their class and putting themselves into a controlling championship lead.[16][17] With another win at Bahrain, Nielsen and his teammates became champions, with the Dane and Perrodo defending their title.[18] The same season also saw Nielsen triumph at the 24 Hours of Spa, in a performance which helped him, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Côme Ledogar to take home the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup championship.[19][20]
Prototypes
For the 2022 season, Nielsen moved into prototype racing, competing in the LMP2 category of the WEC and ELMS respectively, remaining with AF Corse, Rovera, and Perrodo in the series's Pro-Am subclasses.[21] Their campaign in the WEC proved to be successful, as four subclass wins, as well as a pole at Sebring scored by Nielsen, earned them the Pro-Am title.[22][23][24] In the ELMS meanwhile, the Dane and his teammates lost out on the title to Racing Team Turkey, winning just one race in their class at Barcelona.[25][26]
Nielsen was one of the six drivers chosen to debut for Ferrari in the burgeoning Hypercar category in 2023, driving its 499P #50 entry alongside Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina in the WEC.[27] Though the team showed bursts of pace, as proven by Fuoco's two poles, they ended up third in the championship behind both Toyota entries, having scored podiums in four events. Nielsen, Fuoco, and Molina managed to beat their sister car in the standings, despite the latter winning the Centenary Le Mans, a race in which the #50's hopes of victory were dashed due to a radiator leak during the night.[28] At the end of the season, Nielsen committed to Ferrari by signing a contract extension.[29]
In 2024, Nielsen remained with Ferrari in the WEC.[30] The season began with points finishes in Qatar and Imola, though the team missed out on the win in the latter due to a strategic error in changing weather conditions.[31] The podium came at Spa, where the #50 crew completed a comeback from being disqualified in qualifying to finish third in a red flag-interrupted event.[32] Nielsen's highlight performance came at Le Mans: having already taken the lead once during the opening lap, Nielsen re-entered the car for the final stints on Sunday.[33][34] A pit stop to fix the right-front door, which would not close, put the #50 entry onto an alternate strategy relative to its competitors, with Nielsen being tasked to save fuel to remain in the lead once his rivals had pitted. Having managed his car's so-called virtual energy tank during the final thirty minutes, Nielsen crossed the line in first place, earning him, Fuoco, and Molina their first ever overall victories at the Sarthe, as well as defending Ferrari's Le Mans crown from the previous year.[35][36]
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