Julián Leal

Ómar Julián Leal Covelli, commonly known as Julián Leal, (born May 11, 1990 in Bucaramanga) is a professional racing driver from Colombia. He has also competed with an Italian licence in the GP2 Series.

Julián Leal Covelli
Julian Leal in 2014
NationalityColombia Colombian
Born (1990-05-11) 11 May 1990 (age 34)
Bucaramanga, Colombia
GP2 Series career
Debut season2011
Current teamCarlin
Racing licence FIA Silver
Car number4
Former teamsRacing Engineering
Trident Racing
Rapax
Starts102
Wins0
Poles0
Fastest laps1
Best finish10th in 2014
Previous series
2011
20092010
200708
200708
2006–07
GP2 Asia Series
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
Italian Formula 3000
Euroseries 3000
FR2.0 PanamGP
Championship titles
2008Italian Formula 3000

Career

Formula Renault 2.0

Leal began his racing career in 2006 in the Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGP series, scoring two podium finishes in seven races to finish ninth in the standings. He also took part in two races of the series the following year.

Euroseries 3000

The following season, Leal moved to Europe to compete in the Euroseries 3000 championship. Driving for the Italian Durango team, he finished ninth in the Euroseries standings and eleventh in the Italian Formula 3000 championship, which ran as part of the main series.

He continued in the championship in 2008, finishing sixth in the Euroseries after securing four podium places in fifteen races.[1] In September of that year, he won the Italian Formula 3000 championship at Misano, beating both Fabio Onidi and Nicolas Prost to the title by a single point.[2]

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

At the end of 2008, Leal took part in Formula Renault 3.5 Series testing at Paul Ricard and Valencia, driving for both Draco Racing and Prema Powerteam. In December 2008, it was announced that Leal had signed with Prema Powerteam for the 2009 season.[3] He had a testing first season in the category, with a podium at the Hungaroring being his only points–scoring finish, as he wound up 20th in the standings.

In the off–season, Leal tested for both Prema and Mofaz Racing at the Circuit de Catalunya and in December 2009, it was announced that he would drive for Draco Racing in the 2010 season, partnering Formula Renault graduate Nathanaël Berthon.[4] He again finished the season in 20th position after struggling to match his rookie team–mate, with his best race result being a fourth place at the first race in Brno.[5]

Auto GP

In March 2010, it was announced that Leal would also compete in the new Auto GP championship, competing for the Italian team Trident Racing.[6] He finished seventh in the final standings, with the highlight of his season coming at the penultimate round at the brand–new Circuito de Navarra, where he won the first race after starting from pole position.[7]

GP2 Series

Leal driving for Rapax at the Monza round of the 2011 GP2 Series season.

In November 2010, Leal tested a GP2 Series car for the first time, taking part in the post–season test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, and in January 2011 it was announced that he had signed with the Rapax Team to contest the GP2 Asia Series season, lining–up alongside Fabio Leimer.[8] He had initially signed to contest only the Asia series, but in March 2011 it was confirmed that he would stay with the team for the main 2011 championship, in which he finished 27th.[9]

Leal switched to the Trident Racing team for the non-championship season finale at Yas Marina, and remained with the outfit for the 2012 season, where he was partnered with Stéphane Richelmi. He scored his first series points and finished 21st in the championship.

Leal moved to Racing Engineering for the 2013 season, his teammate for the second time was champion of that year Fabio Leimer. He scored a total of 62 points, including two sprint race podiums leaving him 12th in the championship. For 2014, he moved to British squad Carlin alongside Felipe Nasr. He finished on the podium in both races at the first round but ultimately would finish 10th in the final standings on 68 points.

Leal continued with Carlin for 2015.

Racing record

Career summary

SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition
2006Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGPPenix Unico70002729th
2007Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGP?200001617th
Euroseries 3000Durango160000139th
Italian Formula 300080000811th
2008Euroseries 3000Durango150104386th
Italian Formula 300080104351st
2009Formula Renault 3.5 SeriesPrema Powerteam1700011120th
2010Formula Renault 3.5 SeriesInternational DracoRacing1700001120th
Auto GPTrident Racing121111219th
2011GP2 SeriesRapax180000027th
GP2 Asia Series40000026th
GP2 FinalTrident Racing20000022nd
2012GP2 SeriesTrident Racing240000921st
2013GP2 SeriesRacing Engineering2200026212th
2014GP2 SeriesCarlin2200126810th
Formula OneCaterham F1 TeamTest driver
2015GP2 SeriesCarlin1600003814th
2016European Le Mans Series - LMP2SMP Racing40002606th

Complete Euroseries 3000/Auto GP results

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

YearEntrant12345678910111213141516DCPoints
2007DurangoVAL
FEA

10
VAL
SPR

10
HUN
FEA

10
HUN
SPR

9
MAG
FEA

8
MAG
SPR

10
MUG
FEA

11
MUG
SPR

6
NÜR
FEA

Ret
NÜR
SPR

7
SPA
FEA

7
SPA
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

5
MNZ
SPR

4
CAT
FEA

7
CAT
SPR

6
10th14
2008DurangoVAL
FEA

5
VAL
SPR

6
SPA
FEA

9
SPA
SPR

C
VAL
FEA

5
VAL
SPR

2
MUG
FEA

4
MUG
SPR

3
MIS
FEA

3
MIS
SPR

2
JER
FEA

Ret
JER
SPR

7
CAT
FEA

Ret
CAT
SPR

4
MAG
FEA

Ret
MAG
SPR

9
6th38
2010Trident RacingBRN
1

10
BRN
2

4
IMO
1

Ret
IMO
2

8
SPA
1

7
SPA
2

Ret
MAG
1

9
MAG
2

7
NAV
1

1
NAV
2

Ret
MNZ
1

8
MNZ
2

4
9th21

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

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

YearTeam1234567891011121314151617PosPoints
2009Prema PowerteamCAT
1

15
CAT
2

19†
SPA
1

19
SPA
2

18
MON
1

14
HUN
1

22
HUN
2

3
SIL
1

17
SIL
2

16
BUG
1

Ret
BUG
2

20
ALG
1

18
ALG
2

17
NÜR
1

17
NÜR
2

14
ALC
1

21
ALC
2

22†
20th11
2010International Draco RacingALC
1

Ret
ALC
2

Ret
SPA
1

11
SPA
2

12
MON
1

16
BRN
1

4
BRN
2

13
MAG
1

Ret
MAG
2

19
HUN
1

Ret
HUN
2

16
HOC
1

13
HOC
2

9
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

10
CAT
1

Ret
CAT
2

Ret
20th11

† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete GP2 Series results

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

YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718192021222324DCPoints
2011RapaxIST
FEA

19
IST
SPR

Ret
CAT
FEA

17
CAT
SPR

14
MON
FEA

Ret
MON
SPR

Ret
VAL
FEA

11
VAL
SPR

9
SIL
FEA

22
SIL
SPR

21
NÜR
FEA

14
NÜR
SPR

9
HUN
FEA

20
HUN
SPR

Ret
SPA
FEA

Ret
SPA
SPR

Ret
MNZ
FEA

16
MNZ
SPR

Ret
27th0
2012Trident RacingSEP
FEA

15
SEP
SPR

15
BHR1
FEA

12
BHR1
SPR

17
BHR2
FEA

15
BHR2
SPR

14
CAT
FEA

24
CAT
SPR

17
MON
FEA

21
MON
SPR

Ret
VAL
FEA

12
VAL
SPR

8
SIL
FEA

20
SIL
SPR

17
HOC
FEA

21
HOC
SPR

12
HUN
FEA

16
HUN
SPR

15
SPA
FEA

7
SPA
SPR

9
MNZ
FEA

10
MNZ
SPR

8
MRN
FEA

11
MRN
SPR

16
21st9
2013Racing EngineeringSEP
FEA

5
SEP
SPR

Ret
BHR
FEA

19
BHR
SPR

16
CAT
FEA

13
CAT
SPR

25†
MON
FEA

Ret
MON
SPR

14
SIL
FEA

8
SIL
SPR

4
NÜR
FEA

22
NÜR
SPR

12
HUN
FEA

15
HUN
SPR

21
SPA
FEA

6
SPA
SPR

2
MNZ
FEA

5
MNZ
SPR

3
MRN
FEA

Ret
MRN
SPR

12
YMC
FEA

16
YMC
SPR

10
12th62
2014CarlinBHR
FEA

2
BHR
SPR

3
CAT
FEA

4
CAT
SPR

5
MON
FEA

Ret
MON
SPR

16
RBR
FEA

13
RBR
SPR

7
SIL
FEA

5
SIL
SPR

5
HOC
FEA

16
HOC
SPR

18
HUN
FEA

Ret
HUN
SPR

15
SPA
FEA

13
SPA
SPR

10
MNZ
FEA

14
MNZ
SPR

17
SOC
FEA

9
SOC
SPR

17
YMC
FEA

12
YMC
SPR

11
10th68
2015CarlinBHR
FEA

8
BHR
SPR

5
CAT
FEA

Ret
CAT
SPR

16
MON
FEA

6
MON
SPR

5
RBR
FEA

14
RBR
SPR

22
SIL
FEA

9
SIL
SPR

12
HUN
FEA

16
HUN
SPR

15
SPA
FEA

4
SPA
SPR

11
MNZ
FEA

12
MNZ
SPR

9
SOC
FEA
SOC
SPR
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
14th38

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

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

YearEntrant1234DCPoints
2011RapaxYMC
FEA

Ret
YMC
SPR

17
IMO
FEA

17
IMO
SPR

18
26th0

Complete GP2 Final results

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

YearEntrant12DCPoints
2011Trident RacingYMC
FEA

16
YMC
SPR

21
22nd0

Complete European Le Mans Series results

YearEntrantClassChassisEngine123456RankPoints
2016SMP RacingLMP2BR Engineering BR01Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8SIL
2
IMO
4
RBR
4
LEC
2
SPAEST6th60

References

Sporting positions
Preceded by Italian F3000 champion
2008
Succeeded by