# Zak O'Sullivan

Zak O'Sullivan (born 6 February 2005) is a British racing driver who is set to compete in the Super Formula with Kondo Racing. He most recently raced for ART Grand Prix in the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship.
He is the champion of the 2021 GB3 Championship and the 2019 Ginetta Junior, 2020 British F4 and the 2023 Formula 3 runner-up. He is a member of the Williams Driver Academy. O'Sullivan also serves as the simulator driver for Envision Racing in Formula E.
He was awarded the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award for 2021.

## Career
### Karting

Having taken up the sport when he was just nine years old, O'Sullivan started his competitive karting career in 2014, where he won the British Super One Rookie Championship. After competing in the national Super 1 Championship in 2015 he won the MSA Kartmasters British Grand Prix, and in 2017 the Brit first raced in Europe, coming twelfth in the CIK-FIA European Championship with Ricky Flynn Motorsport. O'Sullivan remained with the team in 2018 and achieved his best international karting result by finishing second in the German Karting Championship in the junior class. That same year he also made his first and only appearance in the Karting World Championship.

### Ginetta Junior Championship

In 2019 O'Sullivan made his car racing debut in the Ginetta Junior Championship with Douglas Motorsport. He scored five podiums in the first ten races of the season, however his results improved after he made a switch to R Racing in the middle of the season. O'Sullivan won two races at Snetterton and one at Thruxton, and thanks to a podium streak that lasted for nine consecutive races he finished second in the championship, which made him the highest-placed rookie.

### F4 British Championship

For the 2020 season the Brit moved up to the F4 British Championship, partnering Christian Mansell and Matías Zagazeta at Carlin. He started the season off strongly, with a win at the season-opening round at Donington Park and two victories at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit. Throughout the following three rounds however, O'Sullivan was overtaken in the standings by Luke Browning, who had won all three races at Oulton Park and another two at Knockhill. O'Sullivan bounced back with a run of nine consecutive podium finishes, which included four race wins as well as four second places. At the final race of the season, O'Sullivan won the race and was initially crowned champion. However, it turned out that, due to a red flag, only half the number of points were distributed, meaning that O'Sullivan fell behind Browning in the championship and became vice-champion, only three points behind his rival.

### GB3 Championship

O'Sullivan remained with Carlin for 2021, progressing to the GB3 Championship with his previous teammate Christian Mansell and American Bryce Aron. His first race win in the series came at the second race of the first round at Brands Hatch, which led to him taking an early championship lead. A pair of victories from Reece Ushijima at the next round put O'Sullivan's lead under threat, but the Brit was able to get away from his championship rivals by winning the first two races of the third weekend at Donington Park, having started both from pole position. He extended his advantage further by finishing second twice at both Spa-Francorchamps and Snetterton respectively, and would get back to winning ways in the reversed-grid race in Silverstone. Another victory followed in the first race at Oulton Park, and a sixth place in race 3, one where he overtook ten of his rivals, put O'Sullivan on the cusp of winning the title. He would go on to control the first race of the final round, thus clinching the title in dominant fashion.
For his efforts, O'Sullivan was nominated for the 2021 Autosport BRDC Award, and in February 2022, received that honour ahead of Jonny Edgar, Louis Foster and Oliver Bearman. In addition, in December 2021, the BRDC awarded O'Sullivan with the Jim Clark Trophy for winning the GB3 title.

### FIA Formula 3 Championship
#### 2022

For 2022, O'Sullivan once again reunited with Carlin to contest the FIA Formula 3 Championship. The Briton qualified 12th for reverse pole for the sprint race in Bahrain. He would slip back, but managed to score points in sixth place. In Imola he would qualify eighth, but was penalised three places for the sprint race for impeding Reece Ushijima. His sprint race would be disappointing, losing the car and crashing out on lap 9. In the feature race, he stayed out of trouble and brought sixth place. O'Sullivan had a poor round in Barcelona scoring no points, but bounced back in Silverstone with an unexpected pole position, describing it as "really nice". He would lose his lead to Arthur Leclerc on Sunday, but was able to narrowly hold off Ollie Bearman for second, scoring his first podium in the category.
Another positive surprise came in the Budapest feature race. Having changed to dry tyres as the damp conditions were disappearing in the last third of the feature race, O'Sullivan was able to make his way up, overtaking car after car to finish fourth place by race's end. He had a disappointing Spa-Francorchamps round despite starting from reverse pole, as he damaged his front wing during a first lap battle with Juan Manuel Correa. After qualifying tenth and starting third in the sprint at Zandvoort O'Sullivan took his second podium which ended up being his final points finish of the season. In the feature race, he ran in tenth for majority of the race but was overtaken by Bearman in the final stages, and O'Sullivan was given a penalty for contact with him, dropping him to the back. After failing to score points during the Monza finale, O'Sullivan ended his rookie campaign 11th in the standings with 54 points and two podiums, whilst helping Carlin to seventh place and its best year yet. During the F3 Prize Giving ceremony, O'Sullivan won the Comeback Of The Year for his comethru drive in Budapest.

#### 2023

O'Sullivan drove for Prema Racing on all three days during the post-season test at the Jerez Circuit. In November 2022, it was announced he would be joining Prema for the 2023 F3 season. O'Sullivan had a disappointing start to the season as he failed to score points during the first round in Bahrain. O'Sullivan qualified in fifth for Melbourne, and got his first podium of the season by finishing second in the sprint race. However, following the disqualification of Franco Colapinto, who had originally finished first, O'Sullivan was promoted to race winner and thus scored his first victory in Formula 3. He remained in fifth place for the feature race. O'Sullivan had another tough round in Monaco, qualifying 13th which limited points opportunities at a circuit where overtaking was tough. Despite that, he made a strong getaway during the feature race and an incident ahead secured him seventh place at the end.
In Barcelona, O'Sullivan qualified on reverse pole, and would fend off fellow Williams Academy member Luke Browning to secure his second win. He added more points to his tally in the feature race, finishing eighth. In Austria, O'Sullivan qualified in sixth but was penalised three places during the sprint race for impeding. Despite the setback, O'Sullivan would charge forward to fourth. Sunday was much better, O'Sullivan mastered his way into the lead, taking advantage of his rivals fighting and breakthrough for his first Formula 3 feature race win. O'Sullivan had a difficult weekend in his Silverstone home race, failing to score points. In Hungary, O'Sullivan stormed to pole position, his first of the year. His sprint race was compromised by making contact with Nikola Tsolov, which forced the Briton to pit for a new front wing and was classified 21st. He then went on to dominate the feature race from pole, equalling the F3 win record with his fourth victory, propelling him to second in the standings.
O'Sullivan qualified sixth in Spa-Francorchamps, but his races would be unlucky. During the sprint race, he impressed by finishing fourth, but was penalised for passing Hugh Barter by gaining time off-track, dropping to 15th. His feature race started on the wrong foot, starting on the dry tyres which proved to be the wrong choice. He could not recover from there, ending the race in 12th, and knocked himself out of title contention. O'Sullivan qualified sixth for the Monza season finale. After a penalty demoted him out of the points in the sprint race, he bounced back with a second place finish in the feature race. The result meant that O'Sullivan finished runner-up in the standings, scoring 119 points, four wins, one other podium and one pole.

### FIA Formula 2 Championship

In October 2023, O'Sullivan was announced to step up to Formula 2 with ART Grand Prix for the 2024 season, teaming up with 2022 FIA Formula 3 champion Victor Martins. Despite it being his rookie year, he stated that he saw "no reason why [fighting for the championship] shouldn't be possible". Unfortunately, ART was one of many teams to struggle with the new-for-2024 F2 car and a championship challenge didn't materialise. O'Sullivan qualified sixth on his debut in Bahrain and finished seventh on his debut during the sprint race. A strong start moved him to second in the feature race, but faded slightly late in the race to finish fourth. A difficult round followed in Jeddah, where he stalled in the sprint race and spun out late in the feature race. In Melbourne, O'Sullivan managed to avoid the chaos and claim a point in eighth. A scruffy feature race followed with contact with Roman Staněk on the opening lap, before his race ended after colliding with Joshua Dürksen.
A pointless weekend followed in Imola, before O'Sullivan earned his breakthrough in Monaco. Starting 15th, O'Sullivan ran long on the harder tyres, and pitted right before the virtual safety car was deployed on lap 40. Due to this, he was able to jump the entire field, including net race leader Isack Hadjar to secure his first Formula 2 win. In Austria, starting 12th, a long stint on the harder tyres allowed him to score points in the feature race with ninth. In Silverstone, O'Sullivan was making a charge in the sprint from 14th and made his way to the points until he tipped teammate Martins into a spin, taking both out of the race. He narrowly missed points with 11th in the feature race. Qualifying on reverse pole for the sprint in Spa-Francorchamps, he controlled proceedings and won the shortened sprint race affected by heavy rain. He ended the feature race in a strong fourth place.
Unfortunately for O'Sullivan, he pulled out of the championship following the Monza round, meaning that he did not see out the remaining three rounds of the season. Media coverage suggested the end of O'Sullivan's championship was connected to an issue with ART but he has since confirmed it was purely down to funding, and he had a great relationship with the team. He would eventually place 16th in the overall standings with two wins and 59 points.

### Super Formula

In December 2024, O'Sullivan took part in a Super Formula test at the Suzuka Circuit, later stating that he "considered [it] an option for 2025".

#### 2025 season

Shortly after his test, O'Sullivan was confirmed to be competing in the 2025 Super Formula Championship with Kondo Racing.

### Formula One

In February 2022, it was announced O'Sullivan would join the Williams Driver Academy. During late October, O'Sullivan got his first taste of F1 machinery, driving the Aston Martin AMR21 at the Silverstone Circuit as part of his reward for claiming the Autosport BRDC Award the previous year.
O'Sullivan debuted in Formula One machinery while driving the Williams FW45 during free practice (FP1) at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He ended the session in 18th place, 1.3 seconds off the fastest time. He returned driving the FW45 during the young drivers' test, racking up 50 laps.

### Formula E

O'Sullivan is set to make his Formula E debut during the rookie free practice session at the Diriyah ePrix, driving for Envision Racing. Additionally, he was also named as their simulator driver for the 2024–25 season.

### Super GT

O'Sullivan was announced that he will make his debut and compete in Super GT GT300 Class with new entry of CarGuy MKS Racing as would race with Ferrari 296 GT3. O'Sullivan will race alongside Rikuto Kobayashi.

## Personal life

O'Sullivan was born in Chelsea in London and moved to Cheltenham when he was eight years old. His racing hero is seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.

## Karting record
### Karting career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Position |
| 2014 | Clay Pigeon Kart Club — Honda Cadet | | 18th |
| 2015 | LGM Series — IAME Cadet | | 21st |
| 2015 | Super 1 National Championship — IAME Cadet | | 34th |
| 2015 | Formula Kart Stars — Super Cadet | | 7th |
| 2015 | BNL Karting Series — Rotax Micro | | 6th |
| 2016 | LGM Series — IAME Cadet | | 14th |
| 2016 | Super 1 National Championship — IAME Cadet | Fusion Motorsport | 8th |
| 2016 | ROK Cup International Final — Mini ROK | | 23rd |
| 2016 | MSA Kartmasters British Grand Prix — IAME Cadet | | 1st |
| 2017 | WSK Champions Cup — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 8th |
| 2017 | Trofeo delle Industrie — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 28th |
| 2017 | WSK Super Master Series — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 9th |
| 2017 | CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 12th |
| 2017 | CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 38th |
| 2018 | WSK Champions Cup — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 4th |
| 2018 | South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 31st |
| 2018 | Trofeo Andrea Margutti — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 6th |
| 2018 | WSK Super Master Series — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 6th |
| 2018 | German Karting Championship — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 2nd |
| 2018 | CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 11th |
| 2018 | CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | 28th |

### Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Points |
| 2017 | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | OKJ | SAR QH 3 | SAR R 5 | CAY QH 12 | CAY R 7 | LEM QH 20 | LEM R 28 | ALA QH 38 | ALA R DNQ | KRI QH 24 | KRI R 10 | 12th | 34 |
| 2018 | Ricky Flynn Motorsport | OKJ | SAR QH DSQ | SAR R DSQ | PFI QH 12 | PFI R 23 | AMP QH 16 | AMP R 7 | ESS QH 8 | ESS R 4 | | | 11th | 25 |

## Racing record
### Racing career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F. Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 2019 | Ginetta Junior Championship | Douglas Motorsport | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 591 | 2nd |
| 2019 | Ginetta Junior Championship | R Racing | 16 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | | 2nd |
| 2020 | F4 British Championship | Carlin | 26 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 408.5 | 2nd |
| 2021 | GB3 Championship | Carlin | 24 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 535 | 1st |
| 2022 | FIA Formula 3 Championship | Carlin | 18 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 54 | 11th |
| 2023 | FIA Formula 3 Championship | Prema Racing | 18 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 119 | 2nd |
| 2023 | Formula One | Williams Racing | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver |
| 2024 | FIA Formula 2 Championship | ART Grand Prix | 22 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 59 | 16th |
| 2024–25 | Formula E | Envision Racing | Simulator driver | Simulator driver | Simulator driver | Simulator driver | Simulator driver | Simulator driver | Simulator driver |
| 2025 | Super Formula | Kondo Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12th* |
| 2025 | Super GT - GT300 | CarGuy MKS Racing | | | | | | | |
* Season still in progress.

### Complete Ginetta Junior 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 | DC | Points |
| 2019 | Douglas Motorsport | BHI 1 2 | BHI 2 9 | DON 1 2 | DON 2 8 | DON 3 2 | THR1 1 2 | THR1 2 2 | CRO 1 C | CRO 2 8 | OUL 1 11 | OUL 2 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2nd | 591 |
| 2019 | R Racing | | | | | | | | | | | | SNE 1 4 | SNE 2 4 | SNE 3 1 | SNE 4 1 | THR2 1 2 | THR2 2 1 | THR2 3 2 | KNO 1 3 | KNO 2 2 | KNO 3 2 | SIL 1 2 | SIL 2 5 | SIL 3 9 | BHGP 1 5 | BHGP 2 Ret | BHGP 3 7 | 2nd | 591 |

### Complete F4 British 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 | DC | Points |
| 2020 | Carlin | DON 1 4 | DON 2 1 | DON 3 3 | BHGP 1 1 | BHGP 2 Ret | BHGP 3 1 | OUL 1 2 | OUL 2 9 | OUL 3 3 | KNO 1 4 | KNO 2 1 | KNO 3 3 | THR 1 5 | THR 2 10 | THR 3 12 | SIL 1 2 | SIL 2 1 | SIL 3 3 | CRO 1 1 | CRO 2 2 | SNE 1 2 | SNE 2 1 | SNE 3 1 | BHI 1 2 | BHI 2 4 | BHI 3 1‡ | 2nd | 408.5 |
‡ Half points were awarded for Race 3, as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.

### Complete GB3 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 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | DC | Points |
| 2021 | Carlin | BRH 1 3 | BRH 2 1 | BRH 3 7$^{10}$ | SIL1 1 2 | SIL1 2 2 | SIL1 3 9$^6$ | DON1 1 1 | DON1 2 1 | DON1 3 Ret | SPA 1 2 | SPA 2 2 | SPA 3 7$^8$ | SNE 1 17 | SNE 2 2 | SNE 3 2$^3$ | SIL2 1 15 | SIL2 2 4 | SIL2 3 1$^5$ | OUL 1 1 | OUL 2 Ret | OUL 3 6$^{10}$ | DON2 1 1 | DON2 2 1 | DON2 3 8$^{13}$ | 1st | 535 |

### Complete FIA Formula 3 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 | DC | Points |
| 2022 | Carlin | BHR SPR 6 | BHR FEA 18 | IMO SPR Ret | IMO FEA 6 | CAT SPR 18 | CAT FEA 27† | SIL SPR 14 | SIL FEA 2 | RBR SPR 12 | RBR FEA 17 | HUN SPR 18 | HUN FEA 4 | SPA SPR 20 | SPA FEA 13 | ZAN SPR 3 | ZAN FEA 23 | MNZ SPR Ret | MNZ FEA 11 | 11th | 54 |
| 2023 | Prema Racing | BHR SPR 12 | BHR FEA 11 | MEL SPR 1 | MEL FEA 5 | MON SPR 13 | MON FEA 7 | CAT SPR 1 | CAT FEA 8 | RBR SPR 4 | RBR FEA 1 | SIL SPR 16 | SIL FEA 18 | HUN SPR 22 | HUN FEA 1 | SPA SPR 15 | SPA FEA 12 | MNZ SPR 11 | MNZ FEA 2 | 2nd | 119 |

### Complete FIA Formula 2 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 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | DC | Points |
| 2024 | ART Grand Prix | BHR SPR 7 | BHR FEA 4 | JED SPR 16† | JED FEA Ret | MEL SPR 8 | MEL FEA Ret | IMO SPR 9 | IMO FEA 13 | MON SPR 10 | MON FEA 1 | CAT SPR 9 | CAT FEA 15 | RBR SPR 9 | RBR FEA 9 | SIL SPR Ret | SIL FEA 11 | HUN SPR 19 | HUN FEA 14 | SPA SPR 1 | SPA FEA 4 | MNZ SPR Ret | MNZ FEA 13 | BAK SPR | BAK FEA | LSL SPR | LSL FEA | YMC SPR | YMC FEA | 16th | 59 |

### Complete Formula One participations

(key) (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 | 21 | 22 | WDC | Points |
| 2023 | Williams Racing | Williams FW45 | Mercedes M14 E Performance V6 t | BHR | SAU | AUS | AZE | MIA | MON | ESP | CAN | AUT | GBR | HUN | BEL | NED | ITA | SIN | JPN | QAT | USA | MXC | SAP | LVG | ABU TD | – | – |

### Complete Super Formula results

| Year | Team | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points |
| 2025 | Kondo Racing | Toyota | SUZ 8 | SUZ 22† | MOT | MOT | AUT | FUJ | FUJ | SUG | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | 12th* | 3 |
$^*$ Season still in progress.

### Complete Super GT results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Points |
| 2025 | CarGuy MKS Racing | Ferrari 296 GT3 | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | SEP | FUJ | SUZ | SUG | AUT | MOT | | |