Sami Meguetounif

Sami Meguetounif
Meguetounif in 2023
Nationality French
Born (2004-05-24) 24 May 2004 (age 20)
Marseille, France
FIA Formula 3 Championship career
Debut season2024
Current teamTrident
Car number5
Starts18 (18 entries)
Wins2
Podiums2
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish8th in 2024
Previous series
2023
2022
20212023
2021
2021
20192020
2019
FR Middle Championship
FR Asian Championship
FR European Championship
ADAC Formula 4
Italian F4 Championship
French F4 Championship
F4 SEA Championship

Sami Meguetounif (French pronunciation: [sa.mi mɛ.ɡɥɛ.tu.nif];[1] born 24 May 2004) is a French racing driver who most recently competed in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Trident. He previously competed in the Formula Regional European Championship for two seasons in 2022 and 2023 with MP Motorsport.

Career

Karting

Meguetounif started karting in his native France in 2013, racing in the Regional PACAC championship, which he would go on to finish second in. He won the same championship in the Minime class two years later, and soon made his debut in various national championships.[2] Meguetounif moved into international competition in 2017, finishing fifth in the Karting Academy Trophy and getting second place in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, only losing out to Tijmen van der Helm. That year Meguetounif also won two trophies in his homeland, one of them being the National Championship, beating future flatmate and Formula 4 rival Victor Bernier.[3] In 2018 Meguetounif went on to improve to fourth in the Academy Trophy, and also made his first appearance in the European Championship.[4] He finished his karting career in 2019, with 14th place at the World Championships.[5]

Lower formulae

2019

Meguetounif made his car racing debut in the 2019 French F4 Championship, competing at the Circuit Paul Ricard, ending up in the top ten in two out of three races.[6] He also made a solitary appearance as a guest driver in the final round of the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship, where he finished second in all but one of his races.

2020

For 2020 Meguetounif decided to race in the French F4 Championship for a full season.[7] He started the season out with only ten points from the first round, but would go on to improve rapidly, getting his first podium with a second-place finish in race 1 at Magny-Cours. After a disappointing round in Zandvoort Meguetounif returned to the rostrum with third place in race 1 of round four. He followed that success up with his most successful round of the season, scoring both pole positions, two seconds and one third place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. He finished his season off strongly, achieving his only win of the season at Le Castellet, and scoring two further podiums in the final two rounds. In total, Meguetounif finished on the podium eight times and ended up fourth in the standings.[8]

2021

Meguetounif racing in the 2021 ADAC Formula 4 Championship at the Red Bull Ring.

In 2021 the French driver joined R-ace GP to compete in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship on a full-time basis, whilst also racing in certain rounds of the Italian Championship.[9]

Formula Regional Championship

2021

On 4 October 2021 it was announced that Meguetounif would start the final four races of the Formula Regional European Championship, remaining with R-ace.[10] He finished his first two races at the Regional F3 level in 22nd and 20th at the Mugello Circuit. The Frenchman improved significantly in the final round, finishing close to the top-ten in both races.

2022

In February of the following year, Meguetounif took part in the final round of the Formula Regional Asian Championship with Evans GP, in preparation for his main campaign.[11] Having finished 13th in his debut race, Meguetounif scored points in an incident-packed race 2. He ended up 20th in the standings.

Meguetounif racing in the 2022 Formula Regional European Championship at the Red Bull Ring.

Meguetounif joined MP Motorsport for that year's Formula Regional European Championship, partnering Michael Belov and Dilano van 't Hoff.[12] He scored his first points in the first race with a ninth-place finish, missing out on the rookie win to Sebastián Montoya by three tenths. At the second round of the season in Imola Meguetounif experienced a hard crash after being pushed off the track. He recounts losing consciousness after colliding with the wall but was found to have no serious issues during subsequent check-ups.[13] He took part in qualifying the day after, but withdrew from the race.

The Frenchman would score two more points finishes during the campaign, which included a second place in Belgium, leading him to end up 16th in the drivers' championship.

2023

Meguetounif racing in the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship at the Red Bull Ring.

Meguetounif competed the full season in the 2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship with MP Motorsport.[14]

For his main campaign, Meguetounif would remain with MP in FRECA, partnering Victor Bernier and Dilano van 't Hoff.[15] A first podium of the year came soon, with the Frenchman finishing third in Barcelona.[16] After a pair of points-scoring rounds, Meguetounif and the team would miss the round in Mugello out of respect for van 't Hoff, who had died in an accident at Spa.[17] At the subsequent round in France, Meguetounif would finish second, and he would repeat that result during the next event at the Red Bull Ring, dedicating his result to van 't Hoff.[18][19] However, this would end up being his final podium finish of the year, one he ended ninth overall, six places ahead of teammate Bernier.[20]

FIA Formula 3

Meguetounif driving the Dallara F3 2019 during the 2024 Spielberg Formula 3 round

Having completed the post-season tests with Trident, Meguetounif would sign for the Italian team to compete in the 2024 season of the FIA Formula 3 Championship.[21]

Personal life

Meguetounif was born in Marseille and raised in Marrakesh, Morocco.[22][23] Meguetounif completed the Lycée, the equivalent to A-Levels in France. During this time, he lived and studied together with his FRECA teammate Victor Bernier.[24]

Karting record

Karting career summary

Season Series Team Position
2013 Championnat Regional PACAC — Mini 2nd
Coupe de France — Mini 10th
Challenge Rotax Max France — Mini 4th
2014 Coupe de France — Mini 26th
Challenge Rotax Max France — Mini 5th
2015 Championnat Regional PACAC — Minime 1st
National Series Karting — Minime 2nd
Coupe de France — Minime 11th
Challenge Rotax Max France — Minime 2nd
Championnat de France — Minime 6th
2016 Championnat de France — Cadet 9th
Coupe de France — Cadet 4th
National Series Karting — Cadet 8th
Challenge Rotax Max France — Cadet 8th
2017 Coupe de France — OKJ 19th
Finale Nationale X30 — X30 Junior 1st
CIK-FIA Academy Trophy Meguetounif, Pierre 5th
Championnat de France — Nationale 1st
CIK-FIA World ChampionshipOKJ Goudant, Cedric 30th
IAME International Final — X30 Junior 32nd
Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals — Rotax Junior Meguetounif, Pierre 2nd
2018 WSK Champions CupOKJ Formula K Racing Team 32nd
South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ 2nd
WSK Super Master SeriesOKJ 16th
WSK Open Cup — OKJ 13th
Championnat de France — Nationale 1st
CIK-FIA European ChampionshipOKJ Formula K Racing Team 36th
CIK-FIA Academy Trophy Meguetounif, Pierre 4th
CIK-FIA World ChampionshipOKJ Team Oakes 27th
WSK Final CupOK 15th
2019 South Garda Winter Cup — OK Tony Kart Racing Team 12th
WSK Super Master SeriesOK 16th
WSK Euro SeriesOK 28th
Championnat de France — OK 3rd
CIK-FIA European ChampionshipOK VDK Racing 33rd
CIK-FIA World ChampionshipOK 14th

Racing record

Racing career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2019 French F4 Championship FFSA Academy 3 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
Formula 4 SEA Championship Meritus.GP 4 0 0 1 3 0 NC†
2020 French F4 Championship FFSA Academy 21 1 2 1 8 183 4th
2021 ADAC Formula 4 Championship R-ace GP 18 0 0 0 0 61 11th
Italian F4 Championship 6 0 0 0 0 22 19th
Formula Regional European Championship 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship Evans GP 3 0 0 0 0 6 20th
Formula Regional European Championship MP Motorsport 19 0 0 0 1 21 16th
2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship Hyderabad Blackbirds by MP 15 1 2 0 2 65 10th
Formula Regional European Championship MP Motorsport 18 0 0 2 3 75 9th
2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship Trident 20 2 0 0 2 84 8th

As Meguetounif was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
* Season still in progress.

Complete French F4 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pos Points
2019 NOG
1
NOG
2
NOG
3
PAU
1
PAU
2
PAU
3
SPA
1
SPA
2
SPA
3
LÉD
1
LÉD
2
LÉD
3
HUN
1
HUN
2
HUN
3
MAG
1
MAG
2
MAG
3
LEC
1

5
LEC
2

Ret
LEC
3

7
NC† 0
2020 NOG
1

5
NOG
2

9
NOG
3

11†
MAG
1

2
MAG
2

4
MAG
3

4
ZAN
1

8
ZAN
2

10
ZAN
3

Ret
LEC1
1

3
LEC1
2

12†
LEC1
3

5
SPA
1

2
SPA
2

3
SPA
3

2
LEC2
1

8
LEC2
2

1
LEC2
3

3
LEC3
1

3
LEC3
2

Ret
LEC3
3

4
4th 183

As Meguetounif was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

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 Pos Points
2021 R-ace GP RBR
1

8
RBR
2

15
RBR
3

6
ZAN
1

22†
ZAN
2

7
ZAN
3

14
HOC1
1

Ret
HOC1
2

11
HOC1
3

Ret
SAC
1

6
SAC
2

8
SAC
3

6
HOC2
1

Ret
HOC2
2

8
HOC2
3

6
NÜR
1

10
NÜR
2

14
NÜR
3

6
11th 61

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 DC Points
2021 R-ace GP LEC
1

11
LEC
2

Ret
LEC
3

14
MIS
1

8
MIS
2

6
MIS
3

5
VLL
1
VLL
2
VLL
3
IMO
1
IMO
2
IMO
3
RBR
1
RBR
2
RBR
3
MUG
1
MUG
2
MUG
3
MNZ
1
MNZ
2
MNZ
3
19th 22

Complete Formula Regional European 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 DC Points
2021 R-ace GP IMO
1
IMO
2
CAT
1
CAT
2
MCO
1
MCO
2
LEC
1
LEC
2
ZAN
1
ZAN
2
SPA
1
SPA
2
RBR
1
RBR
2
VAL
1
VAL
2
MUG
1

22
MUG
2

20
MNZ
1

15
MNZ
2

13
NC† 0
2022 MP Motorsport MNZ
1

9
MNZ
2

11
IMO
1

Ret
IMO
2

DNS
MCO
1

15
MCO
2

11
LEC
1

15
LEC
2

19
ZAN
1

13
ZAN
2

16
HUN
1

17
HUN
2

Ret
SPA
1

2
SPA
2

11
RBR
1

11
RBR
2

15
CAT
1

20
CAT
2

21
MUG
1

16
MUG
2

28
16th 21
2023 MP Motorsport IMO
1

17
IMO
2

22
CAT
1

Ret
CAT
2

3
HUN
1

11
HUN
2

7
SPA
1

Ret
SPA
2

9
MUG
1
MUG
2
LEC
1

2
LEC
2

14
RBR
1

6
RBR
2

2
MNZ
1

Ret
MNZ
2

10
ZAN
1

12
ZAN
2

9
HOC
1

13
HOC
2

Ret
9th 75

As Meguetounif was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete Formula Regional Asian Championship results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 DC Points
2022 Evans GP ABU
1
ABU
2
ABU
3
DUB
1
DUB
2
DUB
3
DUB
1
DUB
2
DUB
3
DUB
1
DUB
2
DUB
3
ABU
1

13
ABU
2

7
ABU
3

22
20th 6

Complete Formula Regional Middle East 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 DC Points
2023 Hyderabad Blackbirds by MP DUB1
1

Ret
DUB1
2

Ret
DUB1
3

Ret
KUW1
1

17
KUW1
2

4
KUW1
3

1
KUW2
1

25†
KUW2
2

12
KUW2
3

5
DUB2
1

13
DUB2
2

18
DUB2
3

Ret
ABU
1

2
ABU
2

Ret
ABU
3

Ret
10th 65
  • † – Driver did not finish the race but was classified, as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete FIA Formula 3 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 DC Points
2024 Trident BHR
SPR

10
BHR
FEA

4
MEL
SPR

17
MEL
FEA

12
IMO
SPR

Ret
IMO
FEA

1
MON
SPR

22†
MON
FEA

Ret
CAT
SPR

Ret
CAT
FEA

15
RBR
SPR

10
RBR
FEA

20
SIL
SPR

8
SIL
FEA

12
HUN
SPR

10
HUN
FEA

25
SPA
SPR

27
SPA
FEA

5
MNZ
SPR

5
MNZ
FEA

1
8th 84

References

  1. ^ Formula 4 SEA (15 December 2019). "F4SEA 2019 - Sami Meguetounif". Facebook. Retrieved 13 January 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ kartcom (11 April 2013). "Meguetounif Sami" (in French). Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  3. ^ kartcom (20 December 2017). "Sami Meguetounif conclut en beauté une saison remarquable" (in French). Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  4. ^ "FIA Karting". www.fiakarting.com. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  5. ^ "FIA Karting". www.fiakarting.com. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  6. ^ "FFSA Academy: Final round full of interest at Paul Ricard". FFSA Academy. 7 October 2019.
  7. ^ "F4 ACADEMY: NOGARO OPENS THE FESTIVITIES WITH A QUALITY GRID". FFSA Academy. 17 August 2020.
  8. ^ Waring, Bethonie (14 November 2020). "Sami Meguetounif claims his first French F4 win at Paul Ricard". Formula Scout. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  9. ^ Wood, Ida (22 February 2021). "Sami Meguetounif joins R-ace GP in Germany for third year in F4". Formula Scout. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  10. ^ Wood, Ida (4 October 2021). "Sami Meguetounif steps up to FREC with R-ace GP for two rounds". Formula Scout. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Sami Meguetounif on Instagram". Instagram. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Sami Meguetounif joins MP Motorsport for first full Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine season". MP Motorsport. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  13. ^ "La frayeur de Sami Meguetounif à Imola". AutoHebdo (in French). 9 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  14. ^ Wood, Ida (7 January 2023). "MP announces drivers and Hyderabad Blackbirds branding for FRMEC". Formula Scout. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Sami Meguetounif doubles up with MP for second attempt at FRECA glory". MP Motorsport. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  16. ^ "FRECA: 2 out of 2 for Tim Tramnitz in Barcelona for the perfect weekend". KartXpress. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  17. ^ Bruin, Lois de (4 July 2023). "TEAM STATEMENT - MP Motorsport withdraws from FRECA Mugello Event to honour Dilano van 't Hoff". MP Motorsport. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  18. ^ Forbes, Gonzalo (22 July 2023). "Alessandro Giusti ouvre son compteur en FRECA, doublé français au Paul-Ricard". AutoHebdo (in French). Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  19. ^ Roeck, Philippe De. "FRECA: Camara en Giusti winnen op de Red Bull Ring". www.autosport.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  20. ^ "Championships | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  21. ^ "Sami Meguetounif signs with Trident for 2024 season". FIA_Formula 3® - The Official F3® Website. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  22. ^ "Sami Meguetounif garde les pieds sur terre". La Provence (in French). 10 February 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  23. ^ "City life, good food and racing heritage nearby: Sami Meguetounif on his hometown". Formula Motorsport. 13 March 2024.
  24. ^ Sami Meguetounif — Road to F1, retrieved 30 October 2021