Ferdinand Habsburg (racing driver)

Ferdinand Habsburg-Lothringen (born Ferdinand Zvonimir Maria Balthus Keith Michael Otto Antal Bahnam Leonhard; 21 June 1997) is an Austrian motor racing driver and heir apparent to the headship of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.^[1][2] He competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Alpine Endurance Team and in the European Le Mans Series with CLX Racing.

Habsburg won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class alongside Charles Milesi and Robin Frijns in 2021.

Early life and family

Ferdinand Habsburg was born on 21 June 1997^[3] to Karl von Habsburg and Francesca von Thyssen-Bornemisza. A member of the House of Habsburg, his paternal grandparents were Otto von Habsburg, the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary, and Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen. His maternal grandparents are Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and Fiona Campbell-Walter, descendant of the Campbell baronets of Airds – his cousin, Jamie Campbell-Walter, is also a racing driver and doubles as Habsburg's manager.^[4]

Habsburg is a Catholic and has spoken openly about his faith.^[5] He was baptised on 20 September 1997 in Zagreb by Cardinal Franjo Kuharić. His godparents were his uncle Georg von Habsburg; Alois-Konstantin, 9th Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg; Queen Margarita of Bulgaria; and Agnes Husslein (born Countess Agnes von Arco).^[6] He was also named after king Zvonimir of Croatia.

Habsburg is the brother of Eleonore von Habsburg and Gloria von Habsburg. His brother-in-law (Eleanore's husband) is former driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio.^[7]

Habsburg is the heir apparent to the headship of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, held by his father on 1 January 2007.^[8] His titles and honorifics are unofficial as Austria is a republic with all royal titles being legally abolished in 1918.

Early career

Karting

Habsburg began his racing career at the age of 14 with the Austrian team Speedworld Academy.^[9] He has worn racing number 62 since the beginning of his karting career. In 2014, after four years spent in ROTAX Junior category, winning multiple championship titles, he switched to Rotax DD2. He also qualified three times for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, scoring a best result of eleventh in 2013.

Formula Renault 1.6 NEC

In 2014, Habsburg made his début in single seaters, taking part in the Formula Renault 1.6 NEC Championship with Lechner Racing. He finished fourth with a 100% finishing rate in 15 races.

Toyota Racing Series

For 2015, Habsburg contested New Zealand's Toyota Racing Series in January and February 2015 with Victory Motor Racing,^[10] finishing 11th in the championship and fifth in the rookie class with two podium finishes. He would return to the series with Giles Motorsport for 2016^[11][12] and finished fourth in the championship behind Lando Norris, Jehan Daruvala and Brendon Leitch with four podium finishes, which included his first win in car racing in the season opener at Mike Pero Motorsport Park.

Habsburg contested his final season in the series in 2017, this time driving for M2 Competition.^[13] The Austrian finished the campaign in eighth place, scoring two podiums.

Formula Renault 2.0 NEC

For 2015, Habsburg decided to switch to the Formula Renault Northern European Cup with Fortec Motorsports.^[14] Having only raced in the first five rounds in the series with a best finish of fifth at his home event at the Red Bull Ring, he ended up 19th in the standings.

Euroformula Open Championship

Habsburg made his debut in the Euroformula Open Championship in the 2015 season finale at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where he finished both races in the top ten.^[15]

The following year, Habsburg committed to the series full-time, racing for Drivex School.^[16] Having lost ground to the more experienced title-favourite Leonardo Pulcini during the first few rounds, Habsburg was able to achieve his first race win in the series at the Circuit Paul Ricard. He followed that up by scoring seven podiums across the five remaining rounds, which included a win in Barcelona, and finished second in the standings, with twelve podiums from just 16 races to his credit.

FIA Formula 3 European Championship

2017

For 2017, Habsburg stepped up to the FIA European F3 Championship, racing for Carlin. He had a highly successful season, taking four podiums and a first series win at Spa. However his most impressive drive came in the end of year Macau Grand Prix. In the main race, he battled hard for the lead with Brazilian Sérgio Sette Câmara, but was unable to pass. On the final lap, Habsburg took the lead around the outside of the final corner at Fisherman's Bend, but braked too late and understeered into the barriers on the exit of the corner, with Sette Câmara doing exactly the same thing, handing the race win to Câmara's teammate Dan Ticktum. Habsburg eventually limped across the line fourth despite broken front suspension. Nonetheless, the Austrian would gain much praise from both his team boss and journalists for his final lap maneuver, along with his great season as a whole.

2018

Habsburg returned to the series in 2018 with Carlin, this time partnering Jehan Daruvala, Sacha Fenestraz, Nikita Troitskiy and Ameya Vaidyanathan.^[17] However, Habsburg was unable to find the form from the previous year, scoring just a lone podium at Misano and finishing 13th in the championship.

Sportscar career

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

2019

In 2019, Habsburg signed for R-Motorsport II to race the Aston Martin Vantage DTM in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. He scored two points finishes in Circuit Zolder and the Norisring and ended up 18th in the driver's championship.^[18]

2020

For the 2020 season, Habsburg made the switch to Audi Sport Team WRT racing the Audi RS5 Turbo DTM.^[19] This season was comparatively successful for Habsburg as he secured ten points positions, one of which was a podium in Circuit Zolder. This meant that Habsburg finished tenth in the driver's championship with 68 points, beating both of his teammates Fabio Scherer and Harrison Newey.

eSports

2020

In 2020, Habsburg competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual with Mahle Racing, driving the 2018 Aston Martin Vantage GTE alongside former IndyCar Series driver Robert Wickens and sim-racers Jimmy Broadbent and Kevin Rotting. They classified in 46th place.^[20][21]

Endurance racing

2021

Habsburg started his 2021 campaign by racing in the Asian Le Mans Series with G-Drive Racing. Together with his teammates Yifei Ye and Rene Binder he won the drivers' championship, taking two wins along the way. Alongside this, Habsburg raced with High Class Racing in the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona alongside Robert Kubica, Dennis Andersen, and Anders Fjordbach. However, they retired from the race due to a gearbox failure.^[22]

On 26 February, it was confirmed Habsburg would compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Team WRT alongside Robin Frijns and Charles Milesi, driving an Oreca 07 in the LMP2 class. During the first round in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Habsburg and his team finished tenth and in the following race, the 8 Hours of Portimão, his team finished in fourth position. However, it was in the next race, the 6 Hours of Monza that Habsburg clinched his first LMP2 podium, finishing in second place. In round four, that being the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Habsburg and his Team WRT teammates clinched a dramatic LMP2 class win after their sister Team WRT car suffered a throttle Sensor failure on the final lap whilst in the lead of the race.^[23] After a two-month long break the trio won the 6 Hours of Bahrain.^[24] The following weekend, Habsburg, Frijns and Milesi clinched the LMP2 title after scoring a third consecutive victory in the series at the 8-hour race at the same venue.^[25] Habsburg also became the first Austrian to win the LMP2 title in the World Endurance Championship.

2022

The following year, Habsburg returned to the WEC, driving the No. 41 car for RealTeam by WRT with Rui Andrade and Norman Nato.^[26] Together, the team achieved three podiums, which included a win at the 6 Hours of Monza, and finished fourth in the standings.^[27]

Parallel to his WEC campaign, Habsburg competed for Prema Racing in the European Le Mans Series.^[28][29] The team started the season in controlling fashion, winning the season opener at Paul Ricard, after which Habsburg described himself as "honoured",^[30] and taking victory in Imola despite Lorenzo Colombo having to serve two drive-through penalties for a pair of separate infringements.^[30] After a fifth place in Monza, Habsburg and his teammates Colombo and Louis Delétraz took yet another victory at Barcelona to extend their championship advantage.^[31] Another podium came in the penultimate race at Spa,^[32] before the team clinched the title with a victory at the finale in Portimão, meaning that Habsburg and Delétraz claimed the ELMS drivers' title.^[33]

2023

Habsburg remained with Team WRT for the 2023 WEC season, this time partnering Sean Gelael and reuniting with Robin Frijns.^[34] The trio ended up fourth in the standings, with bad luck costing them three important results: having lost out on a podium at Le Mans due to a suspension problem, the team was forced to retire from the lead at Monza due to an engine failure, while a wheel gun issue at the final pit stop dropped the team from first to second in Bahrain.^{[35][36][37][38]}

2024

For the 2024 season, Habsburg stepped up to the top class in the WEC, joining the Alpine Endurance Team to drive an Alpine A424.^[39] Habsburg competed in the first round, the Qatar 1812 km, finishing eighth.^[40] He would be injured in a crash during testing at MotorLand Aragón on 27 March, fracturing two lumbar vertebrae,^[41] missing the next two rounds at Imola and Spa; Alpine reserve driver Jules Gounon would stand in for him.^[42] He would return to the car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[43]

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Career summary

† As von Habsburg was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score championship points. ‡ Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship. * Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 1.6 NEC results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Toyota Racing Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

† As Habsburg was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Euroformula Open Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

† As von Habsburg was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score championship points.

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

† Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed 90% of the race distance.

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Dynastic activities

In 2011, Ferdinand attended the Requiem Mass in Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral of his grandfather, Otto von Habsburg, former head of the House of Habsburg, former Crown Prince and by pretense, Emperor-King of Austria-Hungary.^[45]

On 28 June 2014, Austrian royal family members including Ferdinand and more than 120 direct descendants of Archduke Franz Ferdinand gathered in Lower Austria to mark the 100th anniversary of his death. The ceremony took place at Artstetten Castle, the royal family's former summer home, where his remains rest.^[46]

On 5 May 2016, he was installed as a knight in the Order of St. George. The heir to the house of Austria received the knighthood from his father, Archduke Karl, Grand Master.^[47] The history of the order goes back many centuries, created by Rudolph, Count of Habsburg who reigned as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1273 to 1291.

In 2022, Ferdinand with his family observed the 100th anniversary of the death of Charles I of Austria.^[48][49]

Honours

Dynastic

• House of Habsburg-Lorraine:

National

• Austria:

Ancestry