# Niko Kari

Niko Kari (born 6 October 1999) is a Finnish former racing driver who last raced in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Jenzer Motorsport. He won his first single-seater championship, the 2015 SMP F4 Championship, in his debut year in car racing and is a former member of the Red Bull Junior Team.

## Career
### Karting

Kari started karting in 2009 and took part in his first race in 2010. He raced in several national karting series in Finland from 2010 to 2013. In 2014, Kari moved to KF European where he finished fifth overall.

### Junior formulae

Kari moved to single-seaters in 2015, starting in the new SMP F4 Championship. He won seven races and took the title with three races to spare. Kari moved to European Formula 3 Championship in 2016 with Motopark. He took victory at the first race at Imola after a late lunge on Lance Stroll and finished fifth in the rookie standings and tenth overall.

### GP3 Series and Formula 3
#### 2016

In August 2016, Kari was also announced to take part in the GP3 rounds at Spa-Francorchamps with Koiranen GP, in place of Ralph Boschung. He retired from the first race, and finished 14th in the second, scoring no points.

#### 2017

In November 2016, Helmut Marko confirmed Kari would move to the series full-time in 2017. In January, Kari was signed to Arden International. Kari finished the season with one race victory, one third place finish, 63 points and 10th place in drivers' championship. He was dropped from the Red Bull Junior Team after the season.

#### 2018

Kari continued to race in GP3 switching to MP Motorsport for the 2018 campaign. After 14 races into the season Kari was promoted to FIA Formula 2 Championship with MP Motorsport for the remainder of the 2018 season. As a result, Kari finished the season with three point scoring finishes, six total points, and a 17th place in the drivers' championship.

#### 2019

For the rebranded 2019 F3 season, Kari would drive for Trident, and he would achieve two podiums, both 3rd place finished, in Barcelona and Sochi. He finished 12th in the championship with 36 points.

### Formula 2

Kari was promoted to FIA Formula 2 Championship with MP Motorsport for the last two weekends of the 2018 season replacing Ralph Boschung. He retired in both races held in Sochi, finished 15th in the first race of Abu Dhabi, and retired again in the season closing second race.

### Formula One

In December 2015, Kari, along with his Motopark teammate Sérgio Sette Câmara, became a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and thus becoming a test driver of Scuderia Toro Rosso. In November 2016, it was confirmed Kari would remain a part of the Junior team. In August of the following year, Kari was dismissed from the program.

### European Le Mans Series

For the 2020 European Le Mans Series, Kari signed with EuroInternational, in the LMP3 class. They finished fourth overall in the category, with a 2nd, a 3rd, two 6th, and a 7th place finish during the year.

### Return to racing

In 2022, following a year out of racing, Kari joined Jenzer Motorsport in FIA Formula 3, partnering Ido Cohen and fellow Finn William Alatalo for the opening Bahrain round. He finished the races in 26th and 14th, the former race was derailed by a puncture. Following Bahrain, however, he would be replaced by Federico Malvestiti. Kari ranked 30th in the standings overall.

## Karting record
### Karting career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Position |
| 2010 | ROK Cup International Final - Mini ROK | | |
| 2011 | Finnish KF6 Challenge | | 1st |
| 2012 | 17° South Garda Winter Cup - KF3 | | 33rd |
| 2012 | WSK Master Series - KF3 | Ward Racing | 15th |
| 2012 | CIK-FIA European Championship - KF3 | Ward Racing | 40th |
| 2012 | 41° Trofeo delle Industrie - KF3 | Ward Racing | 7th |
| 2012 | Viking Trophy - KF3 | | 8th |
| 2012 | Finnish Championship - KF3 | | 13th |
| 2012 | WSK Euro Series - KF3 | | 33rd |
| 2012 | FIA Karting World Cup - KF3 | | 13th |
| 2012 | WSK Final Cup - KF3 | | 7th |
| 2013 | Finnish Championship - KF3 | | 2nd |
| 2013 | WSK Super Master Series - KF Junior | | 10th |
| 2013 | 18° South Garda Winter Cup - KF3 | | 30th |
| 2013 | WSK Euro Series - KF Junior | | 16th |
| 2013 | CIK-FIA European Championship - KF Junior | | 21st |
| 2013 | CIK-FIA World Championship - KF Junior | | 8th |
| 2014 | WSK Champions Cup - KF | | 17th |
| 2014 | WSK Super Master Series - KF | | 5th |
| 2014 | CIK-FIA European Championship - KF | Ward Racing | 5th |
| 2014 | CIK-FIA World Championship - KF | Ward Racing | 13th |

## Racing record
### Racing career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 2015 | SMP F4 Championship | Koiranen GP | 21 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 449 | 1st |
| 2016 | FIA Formula 3 European Championship | Motopark | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 129 | 10th |
| 2016 | Masters of Formula 3 | Motopark | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd |
| 2016 | GP3 Series | Koiranen GP | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26th |
| 2017 | GP3 Series | Arden International | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 63 | 10th |
| 2018 | GP3 Series | MP Motorsport | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 17th |
| 2018 | FIA Formula 2 Championship | MP Motorsport | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24th |
| 2019 | FIA Formula 3 Championship | Trident | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 36 | 12th |
| 2019 | Formula Regional European Championship | KIC Motorsport | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 15th |
| 2020 | European Le Mans Series - LMP3 | Eurointernational | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 55 | 4th |
| 2022 | FIA Formula 3 Championship | Jenzer Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30th |

### Complete SMP 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 | DC | Points |
| 2015 | AHV 1 2 | AHV 2 Ret | AHV 3 2 | MSC1 1 2 | MSC1 2 1 | MSC1 3 2 | SOC 1 1 | SOC 2 1 | SOC 3 4 | ALA 1 2 | ALA 2 2 | ALA 3 2 | AUD1 1 2 | AUD1 2 2 | AUD1 3 1 | MSC2 1 1 | MSC2 2 1 | MSC2 3 1 | AUD2 1 2 | AUD2 2 2 | AUD2 3 2 | 1st | 449 |

### Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | 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 |
| 2016 | Motopark | Volkswagen | LEC 1 8 | LEC 2 16 | LEC 3 15 | HUN 1 2 | HUN 2 Ret | HUN 3 8 | PAU 1 19 | PAU 2 11 | PAU 3 8 | RBR 1 20 | RBR 2 3 | RBR 3 8 | NOR 1 2 | NOR 2 12 | NOR 3 Ret | ZAN 1 6 | ZAN 2 11 | ZAN 3 11 | SPA 1 11 | SPA 2 10 | SPA 3 7 | NÜR 1 8 | NÜR 2 10 | NÜR 3 3 | IMO 1 1 | IMO 2 9 | IMO 3 Ret | HOC 1 14 | HOC 2 12 | HOC 3 13 | 10th | 129 |

### Complete GP3 Series/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 | Pos | Points |
| 2016 | Koiranen GP | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | RBR FEA | RBR SPR | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | HUN FEA | HUN SPR | HOC FEA | HOC SPR | SPA FEA Ret | SPA SPR 14 | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | SEP FEA | SEP SPR | YMC FEA | YMC SPR | 26th | 0 |
| 2017 | Arden International | CAT FEA 15 | CAT SPR 14 | RBR FEA Ret | RBR SPR 18 | SIL FEA 5 | SIL SPR 3 | HUN FEA 9 | HUN SPR 6 | SPA FEA 9 | SPA SPR 9 | MNZ FEA 15† | MNZ SPR C | JER FEA 6 | JER SPR 19 | YMC FEA 1 | YMC SPR 13 | | | 10th | 63 |
| 2018 | MP Motorsport | CAT FEA Ret | CAT SPR 6 | LEC FEA DSQ | LEC SPR Ret | RBR FEA 11 | RBR SPR 8 | SIL FEA 11 | SIL SPR Ret | HUN FEA Ret | HUN SPR Ret | SPA FEA 14 | SPA SPR 12 | MNZ FEA 10 | MNZ SPR 10 | SOC FEA | SOC SPR | YMC FEA | YMC SPR | 17th | 6 |
| 2019 | Trident | CAT FEA 8 | CAT SPR 3 | LEC FEA 18 | LEC SPR 24† | RBR FEA 11 | RBR SPR 8 | SIL FEA 18 | SIL SPR 19 | HUN FEA 14 | HUN SPR 12 | SPA FEA 19 | SPA SPR Ret | MNZ FEA Ret | MNZ SPR 15 | SOC FEA 3 | SOC SPR 5 | | | 12th | 36 |
| 2022 | Jenzer Motorsport | BHR SPR 26 | BHR FEA 14 | IMO SPR | IMO FEA | CAT SPR | CAT FEA | SIL SPR | SIL FEA | RBR SPR | RBR FEA | HUN SPR | HUN FEA | SPA SPR | SPA FEA | ZAN SPR | ZAN FEA | MNZ SPR | MNZ FEA | 30th | 0 |
$^†$ Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

### Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
| Year | Entrant | 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 |
| 2018 | MP Motorsport | BHR FEA | BHR SPR | BAK FEA | BAK SPR | CAT FEA | CAT SPR | MON FEA | MON SPR | LEC FEA | LEC SPR | RBR FEA | RBR SPR | SIL FEA | SIL SPR | HUN FEA | HUN SPR | SPA FEA | SPA SPR | MNZ FEA | MNZ SPR | SOC FEA Ret | SOC SPR Ret | YMC FEA 15 | YMC SPR Ret | 24th | 0 |

### Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Rank | Points |
| 2020 | Eurointernational | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 | LEC 6 | SPA 3 | LEC 7 | MNZ 2 | ALG 6 | 4th | 55 |