Sam Bird appeared on the karting scene in 2002, racing competitively in events across Europe, including the ICA Garda Cup and the Federation Cup.
Following his stint in karting, Bird won a scholarship to race in the inaugural season of Formula BMW with Carlin Motorsport. He ended the year with three wins and finished as one of the top rookie drivers.
Bird remained in Formula BMW for a second season and finished as eventual championship runner-up. His name also appeared on the shortlist for the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.
After a number of years progressing through Formula Renault and British F3, Bird held testing duties for Williams F1 focussing on straight-line aero development. He eventually joined forces with Mercedes for the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi.
Recently, Bird has competed in GP2 where he narrowly missed out on the championship with Russian Time, claiming five wins en route to second in the standings.
2013 - Finished as runner-up in GP2 for Russian Time with 5 wins. Test and Reserve Driver for Mercedes AMG F1 Team.
2012 - Finished 3rd in the World Series by Renault. Test and Reserve Driver for Mercedes AMG F1 Team.
2011 - Continued in GP2 and GP2 Asia Series and became Test and Reserve Driver for Mercedes AMG F1 Team.
2010 - Moved up to GP2, taking a pole, a feature race win and 6 podiums in his rookie season to finish 5th overall. Took part in the Young Driver Test for Mercedes at Abu Dhabi.
2009 - Continued in Formula 3 Euro Series and carried on testing duties for Williams F1.
2008 - Joined Formula 3 Euro Series with Manor Motorsport. Qualified on the front row at Macau GP.
2007 - Progressed to British F3 International Series with Carlin. 4th overall and Best Rookie. Selected to join MSA Race Elite and joined Williams F1 for aero testing.
2006 - Moved to Formula Renault with Fortec Motorsport. Finished 4th overall and ended year as the top rookie.
2005 - Remained in Formula BMW with Fortec Motorsport. Finished runner-up in the standings with 6 wins and 12 podiums. Selected as a finalist for McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.
2004 - Won scholarship from BMW to compete in the first season of Formula BMW UK with Carlin Motorsport. Finished 2nd in the rookie championship with 3 wins.
Early career - Started karting competitively in 2002 racing across Europe in the ICA Garda Cup and the Federation Cup.
Website: http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/drivers-club/sam-bird.aspx
Location: England
Members: 1
Latest Activity: Jul 24, 2014
Sam Jamie Bird (born 9 January 1987 in Roehampton) is a British racing driver; he was educated at Millfield School in Somerset.
Career
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.[2] 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 3 Euro Series 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.
Bird competed for the new Russian Time squad in 2013 and enjoyed a hugely successful season. The Englishman took five wins on the way to second place in the championship, having taken the championship race down to the very last weekend. Bird's performances alongside teammate Tom Dillman secured Russian Time first place in the GP2 constructors' championship.
On 16 November 2010 he took part in the young drivers test in Abu Dhabi driving for Mercedes GP.
| Season | Series | Team Name | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Formula BMW UK | Carlin Motorsport | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 14th |
| 2005 | Formula BMW UK | Fortec Motorsport | 20 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 12 | 218 | 2nd |
| Formula BMW World Final | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 4th | ||
| 2006 | Formula Renault UK | Fortec Motorsport | 20 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 373 | 4th |
| 2007 | British Formula Three | Carlin Motorsport | 22 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 180 | 4th |
| Macau Grand Prix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 6th | ||
| Masters of Formula 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 27th | ||
| 2008 | Formula 3 Euro Series | Manor Motorsport | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 11th |
| Macau Grand Prix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | NC | ||
| Masters of Formula 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 7th | ||
| 2009 | Formula 3 Euro Series | Mücke Motorsport | 18 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 40 | 8th |
| Masters of Formula 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 8th | ||
| British Formula Three | Fortec Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | |
| Macau Grand Prix | ART Grand Prix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 3rd | |
| 2009–10 | GP2 Asia Series | ART Grand Prix | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7th |
| 2010 | GP2 Series | ART Grand Prix | 20 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 48 | 5th |
| 2011 | GP2 Asia Series | iSport International | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12th |
| GP2 Series | iSport International | 18 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 45 | 6th | |
| 2012 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | ISR Racing | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 177 | 3rd |
| Formula One | Mercedes AMG Petronas | Test driver | |||||||
| 2013 | GP2 Series | Russian Time | 22 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 181 | 2nd |
† – As Bird was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
(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 |
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 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 | ||||
| 2013 | Russian Time | MYS FEA 7 |
MYS SPR Ret |
BHR FEA 6 |
BHR SPR 1 |
ESP FEA 21† |
ESP SPR 12 |
MON FEA 1 |
MON SPR 24 |
GBR FEA 1 |
GBR SPR 5 |
GER FEA 13 |
GER SPR 8 |
HUN FEA 10 |
HUN SPR 8 |
BEL FEA 1 |
BEL SPR 14 |
ITA FEA 2 |
ITA SPR 4 |
SGP FEA 8 |
SGP SPR 1 |
ABU FEA 10 |
ABU SPR 4 |
2nd | 181 |
(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 |
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | ISR | ALC 1 9 |
ALC 2 2 |
MON 1 1 |
SPA 1 3 |
SPA 2 5 |
NÜR 1 8 |
NÜR 2 4 |
MSC 1 3 |
MSC 2 Ret |
SIL 1 Ret |
SIL 2 1 |
HUN 1 10 |
HUN 2 4 |
LEC 1 10 |
LEC 2 3 |
CAT 1 2 |
CAT 2 8 |
3rd | 177 |
(Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | AF Corse | LMGTE Am | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | SIL 3 |
SPA | LMS Ret |
COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | SÃO | 11th* | 17* |
* Season in progress
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 |  AF Corse |
 Stephen Wyatt Michele Rugolo |
Ferrari 458 Italia GTC | LMGTE Am |
22 | DNF | DNF |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Andrew Kirkaldy |
Autosport British Club Driver of the Year 2006 |
Succeeded by Duncan Tappy |
| Preceded by Esteban Gutiérrez |
Pirelli Trophy for Tyre Management Champion 2013 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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