24: A NUMBER, A LEGEND

On this day, 24 years ago, a little boy with blond hair and green eyes was born… and today he is a successful race car driver who makes his fans happy, and above all an amazing person who does his best to make the world a better place.

This morning I wished him happy birthday with a direct message on Instagram, he was so happy about it!

BTW, the number “24” recalls me of 24 Hours of Le Mans, to which Lou will take part in a few months. I wish him all the best!

NO PAIN, NO GAIN

The young Swiss had his first taste of Formula 2 in November 2016, when it was still named GP2 Series. He raced with Carlin in the last round of the season, held in Abu Dhabi. However, he was not so lucky, as he retired in the Feature Race and finished 17th in the Sprint Race, scoring no points.

In December, after successful tests, he signed a contract for the 2017 Formula 2 season for the Spanish team Racing Engineering, the team owned by the nobleman Alfonso d'Orléans-Bourbon. His teammate was the Swedish Gustav Malja, known by Louis since his period in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC. Louis struggled a lot with Racing Engineering, achieving as his best result a 10th place in the Hungarian Feature Race. He had only one retirement, in the Baku Sprint Race.

Before the Spa-Francorchamps round, Louis swapped his seat with Nyck de Vries, so he switched to the Italian team Rapax. His results improved: he scored points in both the Monza races and in the Feature Race in Abu Dhabi. Unluckily, in the Abu Dhabi Sprint Race he retired. His best result of his whole season was the 4th place in the Sprint Race in Monza.

Ouch! I forgot to say that sadly, at the beginning of the season, despite his results in 2016, he was dropped out of the Renault Sport Academy for mysterious reasons.

RUSH II

If you enjoyed the movie "Rush" you would have surely enjoyed the 2016 Formula V8 3.5 Series season. Louis and his rival, the experienced Tom Dillmann, fought hard like real knights all over the season. He won two races and climbed the podium for 9 times, ending the championship as runner-up. In this season he received a prestigious award for the second time, being crowned as Rookie of the Year!

In this season he was a member of the Renault Sport Academy, along with the fellow Swiss Kevin Jörg and the Brits Oliver Rowland and Jack Aitken. Louis had a lot of funny adventures with them.

He also made eight appearances in the ADAC GT Masters with BMW, in the team Schubert Motorsport, teaming up with Jesse Krohn.

CONSACRATION

Finally, in 2013, our handsome Louis contested his first season in Formula Renault 2.0, racing for the German team Josef Kaufmann Racing. He impressed with his speed, consistence and maturity. Unluckily, while he was riding his bike, he crashed and broke two fingers; he attended a race careless of his injury!

2014 was better for him; his season started with a win in Monza; it was the time in which I discovered Louis, but I didn't like him... However, Louis ended the season as runner-up.

But his consacration took place in 2015, when he won the title... in that season he was also selected by BMW as a Junior Program member, along with the Finnish Jesse Krohn, the American Trent Hindman, the Swedish Victor Bouveng and the New Zealander Nick Cassidy. At the end of the year Louis was crowned as the Junior Driver of the year.

"SINGLE-SEATERS, I'M COMING!"

On November 24th 2011 Louis was selected to race in the 2012 Formula BMW Talent Cup along with 16 other young drivers, including two girls: the Polish Malgorzata Rdest and the German Isabella Lauer. His single-seater career was about to begin! In this season, he developed a close friendship with fellow Swiss drivers Ralph Boschung and Hugo De Sadeleer. 

Drivers scored point only in the last round of the championship held in Oschersleben; Louis obtained three pole positions and won the second race of the weekend. Unluckily in the third race our hero collided with Ralph Boschung, who was sanctioned for unsportsmanlike conduct. 

FROM ZERO TO HERO

And as easily as we might have expected, at age of 8 the young Louis asked his father if he could race in karts. Unfortunately, his father told him that he was too young, so they built together a soapbox, a little car without engine, with which Louis attended some races between 2005 and 2007. Aged 11, in 2008, he finally could race in karts. His first season was quite tough, as he didn't score points, but in the following one he won the Vega Trofeo Super Mini class. In 2010 he was 3rd in the Swiss KF3 Bridgestone Cup and in the Vega Trofeo Junior. Finally, in 2011, he conquered the Vega Trofeo.

A PUPPY IN A HERD OF ADULTS

Louis attended a race for the first time when he was in his mother's belly. He always used to follow his dad during his racing weekends all over Europe and the world. His German nanny used to go back home during weekends, so his dad used to take Louis at the races not to leave him alone at home. Jean-Denis thought that it could have been a temporary solution waiting for Louis growing up... but it wasn't. Louis soon became a racing junkie. He often was the only child in the paddock, so he received  many attentions from the drivers and other members of teams. Grid girls used to cuddle him and give him a lot of candies and biscuits. Andrea Piccini, at the time Jean-Denis' teammate and now Louis' manager, once said that Louis was "a puppy in a herd of adults" 

WHO IS LOUIS?

Louis Delétraz is one of the most promising racing drivers of the new generation. In 2018 he will race in the FIA F2 with a new Czech team named Charouz Racing System; his teammate will be the Italian Antonio Fuoco.

Louis was born on April 22nd 1997 in Geneva, and he lives in a village named Veyrier. He is the son of the former racing driver Jean-Denis Delétraz, who in the middle 90s attended some races in Formula One, too. He has no siblings. He owns a Ragdoll cat named Bruce. 

He attended the École Moser, a Genevan private school, until 2015; subjects were taught in German language, so he speaks French, English and German.

Louis can count on an exceptional tutor: Romain Grosjean, the Swiss racing driver committed in Formula One with the Haas Team.

The young Swiss is also well-known for his charity commitments: his father and him are ambassadors for Porte Bonheur, a Swiss association which helps children whose parents are dead or divorced, and sometimes he takes part to go-kart races in favour of L'Arche de Kira, association which helps abandoned or abused animals.

Louis hasn't got a favourite singer: he listens to every kind of music. His favourite movies are the Disney animated Classics and his favourite actress is Salma Hayek. He is an avid reader, too.

One of his biggest interests is travelling: he visited several countries around the world, not only for races but also for holidays.

Apart from racing, he loves football, swimming, cycling, running, boxing, tennis and archery. Talking about football, sometimes he takes part to the charity matches of the Nazionale Piloti.