Roy Nissany ( ; born 30 November 1994) is an Israeli racing driver who is set to compete in the European Le Mans Series with Nielsen Racing. He previously drove for Duqueine Team in 2025.
Nissany previously competed in the 2023 Formula 2 Championship with PHM Racing by Charouz. He is the son of former racing driver Chanoch Nissany.
Personal life Nissany was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and resides in Herzliya, Israel. He is the son of the former Israeli one-time Minardi Formula One test driver, Chanoch Nissany. Nissany races under the flag of his native Israel, however he also holds a French passport.
Junior career Karting Nissany began karting at the age of six. In 2004, he drove for the Hungarian G-Kart Racing Team, and finished fourth overall in the FIA Central European Zone Trophy and in the Hungarian Karting Championship. In 2007, Nissany drove for the Italian Morsicani Racing Team, racing in the Italian Open Masters and 13th Winter Cup in Lonato del Garda. In the following year, he raced for the Gandolfi Racing Team and scored a best finish of second in the Mille Dollari race in Pomposa.
Junior formulae
Nissany began his car racing career in 2010, finishing eighth in the 2010 Formula Lista Junior championship and scoring a pole position at Monza. In 2011, he moved to the ADAC Formel Masters series (now ADAC Formula 4) for the Mücke Motorsport team, racing against drivers such as Pascal Wehrlein and Artem Markelov. He finished the season in 11th place, scoring two podium finishes. Nissany competed again in 2012, finishing in ninth place and scoring one win at the Red Bull Ring.
Formula 3 European Championship 2013 In 2013, Nissany moved up to the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with Mücke Motorsport alongside future IndyCar driver Felix Rosenqvist. Nissany scored 11 points including two eighth-place finishes, and ended the season 22nd in the championship.
2014 He competed again in 2014 alongside Rosenqvist and Lucas Auer. Nissany finished 17th in the championship with 26 points, his best race result being sixth place at the Nürburgring.
Formula Renault 3.5 Series 2015 In 2015, Nissany moved to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Tech 1 Racing alongside Aurélien Panis. Nissany took a podium finish with third place at the Red Bull Ring, and ended the season 13th in the championship with 27 points to Panis' 42.
2016 Nissany moved to Lotus for the 2016 season alongside René Binder. His 2016 season was more successful; he claimed three pole positions, three race wins and four further podium finishes to end the season fourth in the championship, ahead of Binder and behind future Formula 2 competitor Louis Delétraz.
2017 Nissany then moved to RP Motorsport for 2017 as the series became the World Series Formula V8 3.5. Nissany was one of only eight full-time drivers in the series, which folded the following year due to a lack of entries. Nissany had another successful season, winning a race at the Circuito de Jerez and claiming five more podium places to finish fifth in the championship.
FIA Formula 2 Championship 2018 In 2018, Nissany competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Campos Vexatec Racing. After the tenth round in Monza, Nissany had scored only a single point – a tenth-place finish at the feature race at Spa-Francorchamps. In contrast, teammate Luca Ghiotto had collected 94 points including four podium finishes. Nissany was then replaced by Roberto Merhi for the remaining two rounds of the season.
2019 Nissany suffered a training injury at the beginning of 2019 and did not compete in racing during the year.
2020 In 2020, Nissany returned to Formula 2 to race for Trident Racing alongside Marino Sato. Nissany scored a point in the opening race at the Red Bull Ring, finishing tenth. His next points finish came at the thirteenth race of the season, the feature race at Spa-Francorchamps, where he finished eighth. This put Nissany on reverse-grid pole position for the sprint race, however he was forced to retire from the race after a collision with fellow Williams Driver Academy member Dan Ticktum. Nissany ended the season 19th in the drivers' championship, scoring five of his team's six points that year. In December 2020, Nissany drove for DAMS in the post-season Formula 2 test at the Bahrain International Circuit.
2021 In January 2021, it was confirmed that Nissany would move to DAMS for the season, driving alongside Ferrari Driver Academy member Marcus Armstrong. Nissany qualified seventh for the Monaco round, his best Formula 2 qualifying position. This put him fourth on the grid for the opening sprint race, and an oil leak for Christian Lundgaard during the race elevated Nissany to third place and allowed him to claim his first Formula 2 podium finish. Unfortunately for Nissany, his only other points finish came in Monza, as he ended up 16th in the championship.
2022 Nissany remained with DAMS for a second season, partnering F3 graduate Ayumu Iwasa. Starting the season out at Bahrain, he finished eighth in the feature race, scoring his first points of the season. More points followed in Jeddah, before Nissany qualified sixth in Imola. After taking fourth in the sprint race, Nissany made a sublime start on Sunday, taking the lead going into the first corner. He would ultimately lose his chance of victory, crashing at the final corner on lap 20. He came back with a point at Barcelona, however from this point, Nissany would go three events without finishing in the points. The Israeli driver broke his duck in Austria, taking ninth place in the feature race, and he would score the same result in France. Following the accumulation of 12 penalty points by the conclusion of the round at Zandvoort, he received a ban for the following event in Monza. Nissany returned to action for the season finale at Yas Marina, where he qualified second and finished in the points in both races, leading him to conclude the campaign sitting 19th in the standings.
2023
During the 2022 post-season testing, Nissany reunited with Charouz Racing System. Shortly after, he was announced for the team for the 2023 season, under the new name PHM Racing by Charouz. The campaign turned out to be the Israeli's weakest in Formula 2, as he and the team failed to score points, with Nissany ending up 21st and last of all full-time drivers in the standings.
Formula One Nissany had his first experience with a Formula One car in October 2014, testing the Sauber C31 at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo. In December 2019, he took part in post-season testing with Williams at Yas Marina Circuit. In January 2020, it was announced that Williams had appointed Nissany as their official test driver for the season. He made his Grand Prix weekend debut at the , taking part in the first practice session (FP1) for the team. He later appeared in FP1 sessions at the Italian and Bahrain Grands Prix, as well as representing Williams at the post-season young driver test at Yas Marina Circuit.
Nissany was retained by Williams in his test driver role for the season. He took part in the first day of pre-season testing with the team, recording 83 laps of the Bahrain International Circuit. He appeared in three FP1 sessions with Williams during the season, at the Spanish, French and Austrian Grands Prix.
Nissany remained a member of the Williams Driver Academy for the season. However, he did not partake in any free practice sessions that year and was not included in the academy line-up the following year.
Sportscar racing career
European Le Mans Series At the end of 2024, Nissany took part in the European Le Mans Series rookie test, driving a Ferrari 296 GT3 for AF Corse.
On 24 February 2025, it was announced that Nissany would make his full-time debut in the 2025 European Le Mans Series driving for the Duqueine Team in LMP2. This would be his first foray into sportscar racing. This was also his first time driving in any series in almost a year. Alongside Reshad de Gerus, Nissany scored a best result of seventh at Le Castellet and finished 15th in the standings, last of the full-time drivers. Nissany took part in one qualifying session during the campaign, placing sixth at Silverstone.
In 2026, Nissany returned to the ELMS, joining Nielsen Racing.
Driving standards Throughout his time in FIA Formula 2, Nissany's racecraft has borne the brunt of criticism. This culminated in a chaotic 2022 season, which began when Richard Verschoor called for the Israeli driver to "go choose another sport" after the latter's defensive driving had caused a collision which ended the Dutchman's race in Bahrain. Another notable collision came at Silverstone, where Nissany received a five-place grid penalty, having forced Dennis Hauger off the track on the exit on the approach to Vale, which subsequently forced Hauger's car over the sausage kerb on the inside of the corner, catapulting it onto the Halo of Nissany's vehicle. Later in the year, a collision with David Beckmann at Zandvoort caused Nissany to be banned from the subsequent round, as he had accrued twelve penalty points across the campaign.
Nissany once again amassed a number of penalty points during the 2023 season, sitting on nine penalty points after twelve rounds. Chief among his misdeeds proved to be a collision with Zane Maloney at Monza, where the Israeli spun his rival on the main straightaway, causing Maloney's car to impact the barriers heavily and earning Nissany three penalty points.
Racing record
Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition2008 South Garda Winter Cup — KF395thItalian Open Masters — KF3Morsicani Racing28thTorneo Industrie — KF3Gandolfio Ennio Racing33rd2009South Garda Winter Cup — KF3Gandolfi Ennio RacingDNFSource:
Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2010 Formula Lista Junior Daltec Racing 12 0 1 1 0 43 8th 2011 ADAC Formel Masters Mücke Motorsport 24 0 0 0 2 81 11th 2012 ADAC Formel Masters Mücke Motorsport 23 1 0 0 1 98 9th 2013 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Mücke Motorsport 30 0 0 0 0 11 22nd 2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Mücke Motorsport 33 0 0 0 0 26 17th Formula One Sauber F1 TeamTest driver 2015 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Tech 1 Racing 17 0 0 0 1 27 13th 2016 Formula V8 3.5 Series Lotus 18 3 3 5 7 189 4th 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 RP Motorsport 18 1 0 2 6 201 5th 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Campos Vexatec Racing 20 0 0 0 0 1 22nd 2019 Formula One ROKiT Williams RacingTest driver 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship Trident 24 0 0 2 0 5 19th Formula One Williams RacingTest driver 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship DAMS 23 0 0 0 1 16 16th F3 Asian Championship Hitech Grand Prix 15 0 0 0 2 99 5th Formula One Williams RacingTest driver 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship DAMS 26 0 0 0 0 20 19th Formula One Williams RacingTest driver 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship PHM Racing by Charouz 26 0 0 0 0 0 21st 2025 European Le Mans Series -LMP2 Duqueine Team 6 0 0 0 0 10 15th2026European Le Mans Series - LMP2Nielsen Racing000000TBDSource:
Complete Formula Lista Junior results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points 2010 Daltec Racing HOC11 HOC12 NÜR1 NÜR2 MOS1 MOS2 HOC21 HOC22 MAG1 MAG2 MNZ1 MNZ2 8th 43
Complete ADAC Formel Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points 2011 Mücke Motorsport OSC1 OSC2 OSC3 SAC1 SAC2 SAC3 ZOL1 ZOL2 ZOL3 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 LAU1 LAU2 LAU3 ASS1 ASS2 ASS3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 11th 81 2012 Mücke Motorsport OSC1 OSC2 OSC3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 SAC1 SAC2 SAC3 NÜR11 NÜR12 NÜR13 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 LAU1 LAU2 LAU3 NÜR21 NÜR22 NÜR23 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 9th 98
Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results