Sebastian Devereux

Devereux at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 2021.

**Sebastian Devereux** (born 24 October 1989) is a French auto racing team owner and retired professional racing driver. Devereux is best known for winning the 2020 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, being the first French-born driver to win the legendary event in the Indycar World Championship era.

Devereux currently co-owns and manages the Razgriz Racing team, which competes in the AT&T Champ Car World Series and the GTPlanet Fandom Series. He resides out of Paris, France during the offseason.

## Early Years

Devereux was born in Rouen and spent most of his childhood there. He moved to Paris to study in university, where he achieved a Bachelor's degree in Business. He started racing at age 17 in go-karts, and despite his relatively late start, had plenty of success before moving to Formula 3. It was then he was scouted for Champ Cars where he made his debut in 2009.

## Moving to the U.S.

After the resulting aftermath of the horror-crash in the 2009 Indianapolis 500, Devereux took a full two years off of racing open-wheel cars, working with various companies to increase driver safety, and find solutions to make motor racing, and open-wheel racing in particular, safer for drivers. He frequently bounced between France and the United States over these two years, occasionally racing in sports cars. He partook in select rounds of the 2010 All Japan GT Championship in Japan, in the GT300 class.

## Champ Car Career

### 2009

Devereux made his Indycar World Championship debut at the 2009 Indianapolis 500 for Red Bull Hornet Racing, learning under the tutelage of Canadian veteran Karina Martin. During the practice leading up to the race, Devereux was as high as 12th on the daily practice timing sheets, setting a personal best speed of 226.575 mph, but couldn't make that speed appear in qualifying, only qualifying 23rd with a fastest lap of 224.815 mph. Devereux would be caught up in the lap 54 accident that claimed the life of Arimoto Tokutaro and injured Javier Vasquez, being logged with a 24th place finish when the race was called off on lap 101 in respect of the fallen Japanese driver. The accident remains the largest open wheel racing accident in terms of cars involved, with 22 of the 33 starters involved in the crash.

## Post-Retirement Activity

Devereux is heavily involved with the Razgriz Racing outfit, focusing on the open wheel management, co-owning the stock car team with Kristina Ryan. Devereux is the mentor of fellow driver, Astrid Krane, and has funded her through much of her career.

## Personal Life

Devereux is one of the most passionately outspoken members of the paddock. His push for driver safety has been rivaled by few others. He still holds a very prominent role in various Driver's Unions. He often has spoken loudly for the paddock on their behalf, especially after large incidents. He was quoted as saying "There is no spectacle worth a human life" following a crash in the 2020 Indianapolis 500, following which, he refused to drink the milk or have a celebration beyond thanking his team members and sponsors for their support. Upon the announcement of the passing of Giuliano Ansaldi and Tim Kourting, he retired from open-wheel racing.

On May 11, 2020, Devereux donated a share winnings from his victory in the 2020 Indianapolis 500 each to the families of Giuliano Ansaldi and Tim Kourting following their passing after a crash on lap 171. He also paid the remaining dues on medical bills of BK Glover and Mildred Moon, who were injured in the incident.

Devereux made a guest star appearance on a Racing Heart's episode in 2019, as himself.

## See Also

* Razgriz Racing, the team co-owned and co-operated by Devereux
* 2020 Indianapolis 500, the premier event won by Devereux.