| Christian Mansell | |
| Nationality: |  Australian |
| Birth Date: | 9 February 2005 |
| Birth Place: | Maitland, New South Wales, Australia |
| Current Series: | FIA Formula 3 Championship |
| First Year: | 2022 |
| Current Team: | ART Grand Prix |
| Car Number: | 23 |
| Former Teams: | Charouz Racing System, Campos Racing |
| Starts: | 38 (38 entries) |
| Wins: | 0 |
| Podiums: | 6 |
| Poles: | 1 |
| Fastest Laps: | 2 |
| Best Finish: | 12th in the championship |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Prev Series: | FR Oceania Championahip Euroformula Open BRDC British F3 F4 British Championship Australian Formula 4 Championship |
| Prev Series Years: | 2024 2021-2022 2021 2020 2019 |
Christian Mansell (born 9 February 2005) is an Australian racing driver who is competing in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship with ART Grand Prix, having previously raced for Campos Racing. He finished third in the 2021 GB3 Championship, and the 2022 Euroformula Open.
His personal website is https://www.christianmansellracing.com/.
Despite having the same last name as retired British Formula One champion Nigel Mansell, they are not related.
Mansell's karting career wasn't particularly notable, his highest finish in the CIK-FIA Karting European Championship came in 2019, where he achieved 69th in the OKJ category.[1]
In 2019, Mansell made his single-seater debut in the New South Wales Formula Race Car Championship. He also raced in two rounds of the Australian Formula 4 Championship with AGI Sport and finished all but one race in the top seven.[2] However, due to Mansell being a guest driver he was not classified in the standings.
For 2020 Mansell moved over to the United Kingdom to race full-time in the F4 British Championship, partnering Zak O'Sullivan and Matías Zagazeta at Carlin.[3] Whilst the Australian only managed to score one win at the Brands Hatch Circuit, in contrast to O'Sullivan's nine over the course of the season, he did score four more podiums, which included two third places and a second place at the final round.[4] This led to Mansell finishing seventh in the championship at the end of the year.[5] Furthermore, Mansell would come out victorious in that season's Rookie Cup, winning that title with a 61.5 point gap to Frederick Lubin.[6]
Mansell stayed on with Carlin in 2021, progressing to the renamed GB3 Championship.[7] The Aussie took his first win of the season in the reversed grid race at the opening round in Brands Hatch, after overtaking six cars over the course of the race.[8] His next win came at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, claiming it in the first race.[9] Mansell scored a further three podiums to rank third in the standings.[10]
In 2021, Mansell made his Euroformula Open Championship debut at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, with Carlin[11] finishing all his races in the top six.[12] Mansell returned to Euroformula but with Team Motopark during the penultimate round at Monza,[13] and achieved a third place during the first race.[14] He was retained for the Barcelona stage,[15] where he achieved two more points finishes to finish the season 11th overall.[16]
Mansell remained in the series for the 2022 season, partnering Vladislav Lomko and Josh Mason at CryptoTower Racing.[17] The Australian started his season out in strong fashion, taking the opening victory of the season at the Estoril Circuit.[18] Mansell claimed two second places at the next round in Pau, which included his only pole of the year,[19] before a run of four straight podium finishes which consisted a win.[20] His third and last win came at Hungaroring in the final race.[21] Four more podiums in the next two rounds came, before a double retirement in the penultimate Monza round.[22] The first retirement was marred by a serious crash where he was launched skyward by Francesco Simonazzi, luckily the halo saved him and he emerged unscathed.[23] He claimed a podium in the final round and ended third in the standings, having taken 15 podiums.[24]
Mansell made his first ever F3 appearance in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship, at the Hungaroring with Charouz Racing System. In his debut, he replaced Zdeněk Chovanec.[25] He had two decent weekends, achieving a best finish of 22nd at the Budapest Sprint Race and also outperforming teammate László Tóth.[26] [27] Mansell returned to his main campaign at the Euroformula Open before the Zandvoort round and was replaced by David Schumacher.[28] Mansell was ranked 38th in the final standings.[29] At the end of September, Mansell partook in the post-season test with Campos Racing on the first two days.[30] [31]
On November 28, Mansell was unveiled as a full-time driver with Campos Racing for the 2023 F3 season.[32] He then stated that he was "hungry to maxmise his and Campos Racing's full potential" after his cameo appearance in 2022.[33] In Bahrain, he finished both races in 13th.[34] In Melbourne he would score his first points in ninth place after three drivers ahead were disqualified post-sprint race.[35] The following day, he would add another point in tenth following another post-race penalty for a rival.[36] Mansell failed to score points in Monaco, and more bad luck occurred when he was spun out by Gabriele Minì in the Barcelona sprint race.[37] [38] He returned to the points in the feature race with tenth place.[39] [40] The following weekend in Austria, Mansell bagged his personal best result by finishing seventh in a hectic feature race.[41]
Silverstone delivered a breakthrough for the Australian, qualifying in fourth.[42] After a right choice to stay on dry tyres, Mansell climbed from seventh to third during the last lap, holding off a late charge from Caio Collet to achieve his maiden Formula 3 podium.[43] He followed his successful weekend with a fifth placed finish in the feature race.[44] Budapest would prove to be slightly challenging for Mansell in tyre management, finishing sixth in the sprint but overcooked his tyres in the feature race saw him slip to 11th.[45] The weekend at Spa-Francorchamps started on the wrong foot, qualifying 23rd and being involved in an incident in the sprint race where he received a puncture.[46] In the feature race, a bold gamble on wet tyres saw him jump up the order rapidly, and was up to second after leader Paul Aron pitted. He would narrowly miss out on the win to Taylor Barnard but yet claimed another podium finish.[47] Mansell ended his season in Monza by scoring a pair of seventh and eighth places.[48] Mansell finished 12th in the standings with 60 points and two podium finishes.[49] [50]
In October 2023, Mansell joined ART Grand Prix for post-season testing at Jerez.[51] He then partook in the Macau Grand Prix with the French outfit,[52] finishing 16th in the main race.[53]
At the Formula 3 end of season awards night, Mansell picked up the Best Comeback of the Year following his exploits in the Feature race in Belgium where he stormed his way forward from 23rd to second at the chequered flag briefly mounting a challenge for the race win.[54]
Mansell participated in the first two rounds of the 2024 Formula Regional Oceania Championship with Giles Motorsport, in preparation for his main campaign.[55] It would bring him success, securing four podiums in six races including a sole win in Manfeild.[56]
Mansell would switch to ART Grand Prix for his second full Formula 3 season.[57] Qualifying eighth for the Bahrain opening round,[58] a difficult sprint race saw him slump out of the points. However, a strong opening lap jumped him to second by lap 5, where he remained for his first podium of 2024.[59] Mansell took two tenth places in his home event in Melbourne, despite fighting for the lead in the sprint race.[60] Mansell endured a surprisingly uncompetitive round in Imola where he failed to score points,[61] but bounced back with a brilliant second in Monaco qualifying.[62] He was eliminated in a first lap incident after Arvid Lindblad swiped across him in the sprint race, but he returned to the podium with another second place in the feature.[63] [64]
Mansell soared to his first F3 pole in Barcelona.[65] [66] After narrowly missing out on points in the sprint race, he led the feature until lap 5 where Arvid Lindblad overtook him, leading to Mansell settling for second place yet again.[67] Mansell tussled for the lead in Austria with teammate Nikola Tsolov, but made an error by lifting too early during the safety car signal dropped him to third place.[68] In a hectic feature race, Mansell made an impressive charge towards the front, even contending for the podium positions as he placed in fourth place.[69] However, he was forced to endure a point-less weekend in Silverstone as a track limit penalty demoted him from fifth to 12th in the sprint, and unpredictable weather saw him on the wrong strategy in the feature.[70]
In Hungary, he qualified eighth, and an overtaking masterclass in both races secured fifth and fourth place, hauling him into title contention.[71] However, a messy Spa-Francorchamps round followed, as he qualified down in 20th and was unable to score points in both races, even being penalised in the feature for taking Arvid Lindblad out.[72] [73]
Although sharing the same last name, he is not related to Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell.
Mansell has type 1 diabetes.[74] Mansell grew up in Bolwarra in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, but currently lives in London.[75]
| Season | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ | 52nd | |
| CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ | Lennox Racing Team | 72nd | |
| CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ | 70th | ||
| WSK Final Cup — OKJ | 84th | ||
| Australian Kart Championship — KA4 Junior | 18th | ||
| 2019 | Australian Kart Championship — KA2 | 12th | |
| WSK Super Master Series — OKJ | Lennox Racing Team | 105th | |
| CIK-FIA Karting European Championship — OKJ | 69th | ||
| WSK Euro Series — OKJ | 80th |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Australian Formula 4 Championship | AGI Sport | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
| New South Wales Formula Race Car Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | ||
| 2020 | F4 British Championship | Carlin | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 163 | 7th |
| 2021 | GB3 Championship | Carlin | 24 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 371 | 3rd |
| Euroformula Open Championship | Carlin Motorsport | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 11th | |
| Team Motopark | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2022 | Euroformula Open Championship | CryptoTower Racing | 26 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 377 | 3rd |
| FIA Formula 3 Championship | Charouz Racing System | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38th | |
| 2023 | FIA Formula 3 Championship | Campos Racing | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 60 | 12th |
| Macau Grand Prix | ART Grand Prix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 16th | |
| 2024 | Formula Regional Oceania Championship | Giles Motorsport | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 135 | 9th |
| FIA Formula 3 Championship | ART Grand Prix | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 97* | 5th* |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† As Mansell was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
‡ Half points were awarded for Race 3, as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(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 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | DC | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | nowrap | Carlin Motorsport | POR 1 | POR 2 | POR 3 | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | LEC 3 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | HUN 3 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | IMO 3 | RBR 1 | RBR 2 | RBR 3 | 11th | 79 | |||||||||
| Team Motopark | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | MNZ 3 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | CAT 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | nowrap | CryptoTower Racing | POR 1 | POR 2 | POR 3 | PAU 1 | PAU 2 | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | LEC 3 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | HUN 3 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | IMO 3 | RBR 1 | RBR 2 | RBR 3 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | MNZ 3 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | CAT 3 | 3rd |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
* Season still in progress.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)