Matheus Leist

Matheus Leist
Leist at the 2018 ABC Supply 500
Nationality Brazil
BornMatheus Tobias Leist
(1998-09-08) 8 September 1998 (age 26)
Novo Hamburgo, Brazil
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career
Debut season2020
Current teamJDC-Miller MotorSports
Racing licence FIA Gold
Starts5
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish11th in 2020
Previous series
2018–2019
2017
2016
2015-16
2015
2014		IndyCar Series
Indy Lights
BRDC British Formula 3 Championship
MRF Challenge
MSA Formula
Brazilian Formula Three Championship
Championship titles
2016BRDC British Formula 3 Championship
Matheus Leist, winner of the 2017 Freedom 100

Matheus Tobias Leist (born September 8, 1998)[1] is a Brazilian racing driver who last raced for JDC-Miller MotorSports in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Career

Karting

Leist began karting in 2009 at the age of eleven. In 2013, he finished as runner-up in the Petrobras Karting Championship.

Lower formulas

In 2014, Leist graduated to single-seaters, racing in the B class of the Brazilian F3 Championship, finishing runner-up to Vitor Baptista.

The following year, Leist switched to MSA Formula in Britain with Double R Racing. He scored two victories and finished fifth in the standings.

British F3

In 2016, Leist reunited with Double R Racing and graduated to BRDC British F3. Scoring four wins, two poles and six fastest laps, Leist took the title at the final round after a close fight with Ricky Collard throughout the season.[2]

GP3 Series

In November 2016, it was announced Leist would partake in the GP3 post-season test at Yas Marina with ART Grand Prix, Arden International and Trident Racing.[3]

Indy Lights

In February 2017, Leist signed with Carlin for the Indy Lights Championship.[4] During his first season, Leist picked up his first podium at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis before taking pole and winning the Freedom 100 less than two weeks later, having led from start to finish.[5]

IndyCar Series

In November 2017, A.J. Foyt Enterprises announced that the team hired Leist to drive the No. 4 Chevrolet in 2018.[6] Leist partners veteran Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan and made his IndyCar debut at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 11, 2018. Leist completed two full seasons of IndyCar with Foyt, with a best finish of fourth at the 2019 IndyCar Grand Prix. He was replaced at Foyt with Charlie Kimball for 2020.[7]

IMSA

Leist joined JDC–Miller MotorSports for the Endurance Cup rounds of the 2020 IMSA SportsCar Championship plus the Laguna Seca round.[8] Following a best finish of fourth in the season-ending 12 Hours of Sebring, JDC-Miller downsized to one car for the 2021 season leaving Leist without a drive.[9]

Personal life

Leist's younger brother Arthur is also a racing driver, currently competing in Stock Car Brasil.[10][11]

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2014 Fórmula 3 Brasil - Class B Hitech Racing 16 2 0 0 9 115 2nd
2015 MSA Formula Championship Double R Racing 30 2 1 1 7 273 5th
FIA Formula 3 European Championship 3 0 0 0 0 0 41st
2015-16 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 MRF Racing 2 0 0 0 0 20 14th
2016 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship Double R Racing 24 4 2 6 11 493 1st
2017 Indy Lights Carlin 16 3 2 1 4 279 4th
2018 IndyCar Series A. J. Foyt Enterprises 17 0 0 0 0 253 18th
2019 IndyCar Series A. J. Foyt Enterprises 17 0 0 0 0 261 19th
2020 IMSA Sports Car Championship - DPi JDC-Miller MotorSports 5 0 0 0 0 123 11th
2024 GT4 America Series - Pro-Am RENNtech Motorsport 4 1 0 0 1 49* 4th*

Complete Fórmula 3 Brasil results

Year Team Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points
2014 Hitech Racing Class B TAR
1
7 		TAR
2
Ret 		SCS
1
5 		SCS
2
Ret 		BRA
1
Ret 		BRA
2
Ret 		2nd 115
Cesário F3 INT
1
7 		INT
2
7 		CUR1
1
3 		CUR1
2
3 		VEL
1
3 		VEL
2
Ret 		CUR2
1
9 		CUR2
2
5 		GOI
1
4 		GOI
2
Ret

Complete MSA Formula 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 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points
2015 Double R Racing BHI
1
3 		BHI
2
8 		BHI
3
3 		DON
1
7 		DON
2
1 		DON
3
Ret 		THR
1
2 		THR
2
5 		THR
3
4 		OUL
1
5 		OUL
2
2 		OUL
3
DSQ 		CRO
1
5 		CRO
2
5 		CRO
3
6 		SNE
1
7 		SNE
2
Ret 		SNE
3
DNS 		KNO
1
9 		KNO
2
6 		KNO
3
11 		ROC
1
5 		ROC
2
4 		ROC
3
6 		SIL
1
4 		SIL
2
3 		SIL
3
1 		BHGP
1
Ret 		BHGP
2
14 		BHGP
3
7 		5th 273

Complete FIA Formula 3 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 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 DC Points
2015 Double R Racing SIL
1 		SIL
2 		SIL
3 		HOC
1 		HOC
2 		HOC
3 		PAU
1 		PAU
2 		PAU
3 		MNZ
1 		MNZ
2 		MNZ
3 		SPA
1 		SPA
2 		SPA
3 		NOR
1 		NOR
2 		NOR
3 		ZAN
1 		ZAN
2 		ZAN
3 		RBR
1
27 		RBR
2
24 		RBR
3
27 		ALG
1 		ALG
2 		ALG
3 		NÜR
1 		NÜR
2 		NÜR
3 		HOC
1 		HOC
2 		HOC
3 		41st 0

Complete MRF Challenge Formula 2000 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 DC Points
2015-16 ABU
1 		ABU
2 		ABU
3 		ABU
4 		BHR
1
5 		BHR
2
5 		DUB
1 		DUB
2 		DUB
3 		DUB
4 		CHE
1 		CHE
2 		CHE
3 		CHE
4 		14th 20

Complete BRDC British Formula 3 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 22 23 24 DC Points
2016 Double R Racing SNE1
1
10 		SNE1
2
1 		SNE1
3
4 		BRH
1
1 		BRH
2
Ret 		BRH
3
Ret 		ROC
1
3 		ROC
2
4 		ROC
3
2 		OUL
1
4 		OUL
2
4 		OUL
3
5 		SIL
1
1 		SIL
2
3 		SIL
3
C 		SPA
1
2 		SPA
2
5 		SPA
3
2 		SNE2
1
2 		SNE2
2
6 		SNE2
3
2 		DON
1
1 		DON
2
5 		DON
3
5 		1st 493

American open-wheel racing

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

Indy Lights

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points
2017 Carlin STP
15 		STP
11 		ALA
4 		ALA
7 		IMS
5 		IMS
3 		INDY
1 		RDA
1 		RDA
4 		IOW
1 		TOR
13 		TOR
5 		MDO
11 		MDO
10 		GMP
10 		WGL
4 		4th 279

IndyCar Series

(key)

Year Team Chassis No. Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref
2018 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara DW12 4 Chevrolet STP
24 		PHX
19 		LBH
14 		ALA
12 		IMS
21 		INDY
13 		DET
15 		DET
14 		TXS
22 		RDA
15 		IOW
22 		TOR
15 		MDO
19 		POC
11 		GTW
16 		POR
14 		SNM
19 		18th 253 [12]
2019 STP
22 		COA
17 		ALA
20 		LBH
15 		IMS
4 		INDY
15 		DET
21 		DET
20 		TXS
22 		RDA
20 		TOR
19 		IOW
16 		MDO
18 		POC
14 		GTW
17 		POR
8 		LAG
17 		19th 261 [13]

* Season still in progress.

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2018 Dallara Chevrolet 11 13 A. J. Foyt Enterprises
2019 Dallara Chevrolet 24 15 A. J. Foyt Enterprises

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

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

Year Team Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2020 JDC-Miller MotorSports DPi Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5 L V8 DAY
5 		DAY SEB ELK ATL
8 		MDO PET
8 		LGA
8 		SEB
4 		11th 123

References

  1. ^ "Matheus Leist". IndyCar.com. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
  2. ^ Cozens, Jack (September 11, 2016). "British F3 championship won by Matheus Leist at Donington finale". Autosport. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  3. ^ "Matheus Leist participa de testes com a GP3 em Abu Dhabi (Matheus Leist participates in testing with GP3 in Abu Dhabi)". November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  4. ^ "Leist joins Carlin for Indy Lights". February 3, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  5. ^ Straw, Edd (May 26, 2017). "Indy Lights Freedom 100: Matheus Leist wins Indianapolis showpiece". Autosport. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  6. ^ Racing, By Marshall Pruett / Image courtesy of A.J. Foyt. "Foyt team confirms Leist to partner Kanaan". www.racer.com. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
  7. ^ "Kimball Joins AJ Foyt Racing for 2020 Season". Motorsport Tribune. 22 January 2020.
  8. ^ "IndyCar runner Matheus Leist makes IMSA switch for 2020 season". Motorsport Week. 14 December 2019.
  9. ^ Dagys, John (November 18, 2020). "Duval Set for Full-Season Drive in JDC-Miller Cadillac DPi". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  10. ^ "Two Leists may be better than one in INDYCAR ... someday". IndyCar Series. 28 October 2018.
  11. ^ "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing anuncia Arthur Leist na Stock Car 2024" (in Portuguese). Stock Car Pro Series. 2 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Matheus Leist – 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  13. ^ "Matheus Leist – 2019 NTT IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

Matheus Leist career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Will Palmer
(British F4 champion)
 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship
Champion
2016 		Succeeded by