Harvard

**Chevrolet Harvard FI Team** is an American racing team operated by Harvard University. Having been founded in 2029 after buying out the remnants of Audi's sold Formula International team, Harvard entered Formula International with an alliance from Chevrolet and soonly established themselves as a rising force in the sport. In 2033, they created their own powertrain in collaboratin with Chevrolet following a change in regulations regarding powertrains and have since made a rapid rise in the grid, eventually battling for a driver's title in 2035, with Simone Cimorelli finishing runner-up in that season. Ever since, Harvard has been one of the top teams in the series.

## Origins

In the end of the 2028 season, Audi decided to shut down their Formula International venture, citing financial difficulties and a lack of success as the team had faded to backmarker territory during those years. The assets were put on sale for the 2029 season and there was a bidding war. Amongside the bidders there was Harvard University, who shockingly won the bid after beating opponents like Opel and Rimac and bought the assets. Soonly, they formed an alliance with Chevrolet, with the newly founded team being named Chevrolet Harvard FI Team. The team's intentions was to gather first funds in order to become a works team in the future seasons and is also operated by the students of the university.

## 2029-2032: A decent start

For their first ever season in the sport, Harvard signed talented prospect Mark Fouert from Tesla Dragon and Michael Konig whose contract was part of the assets Harvard bought from Audi. On their first season, Harvard proved that they were a competent team and showed flashes of potential, with Fouert scoring 6 points and Konig 2 points, thus beating the stricken Jaguar and Virgin teams. However, both drivers moved away for 2030 and the team signed two new drivers, former McLaren draftee Josephin Yashin, who had intented to retire from motorsport in the previous season and Viola Fitzau from the bankrupt Jaguar team. 2030 was a major improvenent for the promising team, with Yashin scoring points and Fitzau 10.

However, with the gulf between the top teams and the midfield becoming bigger for 2031, Harvard saw points harder to come. Fitzau only scored 6 points and newcomer Davor Dordevic, one of the hottest prospects in the world back then, only a single point in his debut campaign. 2032 saw the same lineup, and despite having a weaker car, they scored more points, as Dordevic scored 9 points and showed lots of ability, but Fitzau underperformed and only scored 1 point, thus finishing last.

## 2033-2034: Transition into a works team

In 2033, the new regulations saw Harvard in the list of the new manufacturers eligible to make a powertrain and then released their new works powertrain made in collaboration with co-owners Chevrolet. For 2033, the team signed Simone Cimorelli on a free transfer from Alpha Tauri to replace Dordevic who had left for Williams. Cimorelli impressed on the first year of the new powertrain and scored 13 points but Fitzau again struggled for consistency and scored only 1 point. 2034 was an even better year with Cimorelli and Fitzau scoring a total of 54 points and being well in the midfield.

## 2035-2038: Title contention and established frontrunners

Fitzau retired in the end of the year, as she wanted to focus on her family life with her husband, a major Harvard executive. The team signed Italian youngster Michelle di Aimano to replace her, thus having an all-Italian lineup. 2035 saw the team being surprisingly quick and battling for the drivers title, as the experienced Cimorelli impressed a lot and was an unlikely contender for the drivers title. Eventually, he finished 2nd, losing by 28 points to BP Silverstone's Erich von Ribermarch, but it was a fantastic last season in Formula International. Di Aimano struggled on his rookie season but showed great potential and scored 66 points, allowing Harvard to finish 4th, which was their best season back then.

Both drivers left the team in the end of the year, with Cimorelli moving to Aston Martin and di Aimano signing a draft deal with Ferrari. The team signed former prodigy and FE driver Santino Andreoli-Richard from Racing Point and Alpha Tauri youngster Liang Jin on loan after he was deemed ineligible to race for the first team due to his age. Initially, the team looked set to make another title contention, but later fizzled out in the second half as Andreoli-Richard, who was running as high as 2nd in the first half ended up in 9th and youngster Jin finished 11th. Jin was promoted to Alpha Tauri for 2037, with Harvard signing Shawn Yong from DS Techeetah. Yong was very quick for the American team and finished 3rd behind the dominant Geely Nio team. Andreoli-Richard finished well behind in 8th, but his points were enough to put Harvard in second place, their best ever finish. 2038 was an even stronger season, with Yong finishing 4th and Andreoli-Richard 6th, with Harvard securing third place in the team standings.

## 2039-present: Back in the midfield

Andreoli-Richard left the team after the end of his contract and Kenta Kawashima came on loan from Toyota as a replacement. The season started disastrously as Yong suffered a season-ending injury in the second race. Raviraj Kudmal, who was left without a drive after 2038, filled in as a replacement and held the team on his own, scoring 3 podiums and finishing 7th. Kawashima, on the other hand, had a dreadful loan spell, scoring only 14 points.

With Kudmal moving to Aston Martin, Yong was given a contract extension and Sebastian O'Gallaghan came to replace Kawashima, also on loan from Toyota. 2040 was another setback for the team, but O'Gallaghan did score the team;s only win and finished 12th on his rookie season. Yong had struggled to find his old pace after an one-year absence and finished down in 13th.

## Notable Drivers

* Mark Fouert (2029)
* Michael Konig (2039)
* Josephin Yashin (2030)
* Viola Fitzau (2030-2034)
* Davor Dordevic (2031-2032)
* Simone Cimorelli (2033-2035)
* Michelle di Aimano (2035)
* Santino Andreoli-Richard (2036-2038)
* Liang Jin (2036)
* Shawn Yong (2037-present)
* Kenta Kawashima (2039)
* Raviraj Kudmal (2039)
* Sebastian O'Gallaghan (2040-present)