Mahaveer Raghunathan (born 17 November 1998) is an Indian racing driver. He became only the third Indian driver to test a Formula One car when he participated in a private test with Alfa Romeo Racing on 5 August 2021 at the Hungaroring, before testing with McLaren in July 2023 at Portimão and getting sued two years later for unpaid testing fees. Raghunathan is the 2017 BOSS GP champion in the Formula class, and gained notoriety while racing in Formula 2 in 2019—a season plagued by incidents and a lack of pace. He last competed in the 2025 Italian GT Championship for AF Corse.
Career Junior series Raghunathan started his racing career in karting in 2012, where he remained active until 2013. He also made his formula racing debut in 2012 in four races of the JK Racing Asia Series for the Meco Racing team.
In 2013, Raghunathan competed in the MRF Challenge Formula 1600, finishing sixth. He also took part in the final race weekend of the Formula Masters China series at the Shanghai International Circuit for the Cebu Pacific Air by KCMG team.
In 2014, Raghunathan moved to the new Italian F4 Championship, debuting on the second race weekend for the F&M team. He finished 12th in the championship.
Formula 3 At the beginning of 2015, Raghunathan took part in the final race weekend of the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 series at the Madras Motor Race Track. He then returned to Europe to take part in the European Formula 3 Championship for the Motopark team. He failed to get any points, finishing 39th in the championship. He participated in the official GP3 post season test with the Campos and Trident teams, in preparation for the 2016 GP3 Series, but he only raced in the first round of the championship for Koiranen GP. He also tested with the Coloni Motorsport team in Auto GP.
Auto GP and BOSS GP In 2016, Raghunathan raced in the Auto GP championship with Italian team PS Racing, finishing second in the championship. In the same year, he also raced in the BOSS GP series in the Formula Class and secured two podiums in his class.
In 2017, Raghunathan continued racing in BOSS GP's Formula Class Championship races in his class. He ended the season as the champion of the Formula Class, as the only driver to compete in all of the season's races. He is the first and only Indian to win the BOSS GP Championship.
World Endurance Championship Raghunathan took part in the FIA WEC rookie test at the end of the 2017 season, driving an Oreca 07 for G-Drive Racing.
In November 2022, Raghunathan drove for Algarve Pro Racing at the rookie test in Bahrain.
FIA Formula 2 Championship Following a season in which he made just one race appearance in the Le Mans Cup, Raghunathan progressed to the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2019, racing alongside Jordan King for MP Motorsport.
Raghunathan collected numerous penalty points throughout the season. Infringements included passing the chequered flag twice in Bahrain, failing to stop at the weighbridge during practice at Baku, overtaking a car before the safety car line in Baku, collided with Jack Aitken and left the track to gain an advantage twice at Monaco and three virtual safety car infringements at Paul Ricard. Following the French round, Raghunathan had 12 penalty points on his licence, resulting in a race ban for the Austrian round. Raghunathan returned to the series at Silverstone, however he continued to collect penalty points – failing to slow down for yellow flags in qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, not following track-limit procedures in Sochi and failed to follow the practice start procedure at Abu Dhabi. Raghunathan consequently ended the season with 12 penalty points on his licence, which would have resulted in another race ban if the season had additional races. After he received his ban in France, Formula One Grand Prix winner Johnny Herbert labelled him as "someone who is not aware of what is going on around him".
Raghunathan collected his only point of the season thanks to a reduced field in Italy. He finished the season 20th in the standings, scoring only a single point and being the last-placed driver among those who had scored points.
Formula One In August 2021, nearly two years after his last appearance behind the wheel of a race car, Raghunathan became the third Indian to drive a Formula One car when he tested the Alfa Romeo Racing C38 alongside Théo Pourchaire at the Hungaroring where he set a time 1.9 seconds slower than the Frenchman. In July 2023, nearly two years after his last Formula One test, Raghunathan tested a McLaren MCL35 at Portimão, but in 2025 he was successfully sued by the team for unpaid testing fees.
Italian GT Raghunathan competed in the Italian GT Endurance Championship in 2023, driving a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 for Imperiale Racing in the Pro-Am class alongside teammates Jack Bartholomew and Miguel Garcia. Raghunathan achieved his first professional career podium by coming in third at Round 3. He returned to the series in 2024, having been inducted into Aston Martin's AMR Driver Academy. He was signed by Lazarus Corse to compete in the endurance rounds of the championship alongside William Alatalo and three-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo.
In 2025, Raghunathan joined the AF Corse team in the Sprint and Endurance Championship, and finished second in the championship, winning three races and finishing eight times on the podium driving the Ferrari 296 GT3.https://www.evoindia.com/motorsport/motorsport-news/indias-sole-italian-gt-championship-2025-contender-mahaveer-raghunathan-basks-in-p1-glory-in-race-2-at-monza-ending-the-season-on-a-high-for-af-corse-587208
Racing record Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2012 JK Racing Asia Series Meco Racing 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2013 MRF Challenge Formula 1600 Championship MRF Racing ? ? ? ? ? ? 6th Formula Masters China Cebu Pacific Air by KCMG 3 0 0 0 0 0 21st 2014 Italian F4 Championship F & M 18 0 0 0 0 45 12th 2014–15 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship MRF Racing 3 0 0 0 0 5 21st 2015 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Motopark 26 0 0 0 0 0 39th Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 17th Euroformula Open Championship Motul Team West-Tec F3 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC† Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series Cram Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2016 Auto GP Formula Open Championship PS Racing 10 0 0 0 2 151 2nd BOSS GP Series - Formula Class 8 0 0 0 2 118 5th GP3 Series Koiranen GP 2 0 0 0 0 0 27th 2017 BOSS GP Series - Formula Class PS Racing 14 3 4 1 13 263 1st2018Le Mans Cup - LMP3United Autosports100000.546th 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship MP Motorsport 20 0 0 0 0 1 20th 2023 Italian GT Endurance Championship - GT3 Pro-Am Imperiale Racing30001326th 2024 Italian GT Endurance Championship - GT3 Pro-Am Lazarus Corse 2 0 0 0 0 14 NC 2025 Italian GT Endurance Championship - GT3 Pro-Am AF Corse 4 0 0 0 2 74 2nd Italian GT Sprint Championship - GT3 Pro-Am 8 3 0 0 4 103 2nd
Complete JK Racing Asia Series 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 DC Points 2012 Meco RacingSEP1SEP2SEP3SEP4LEC1LEC2SPA1SPA2SIL1SIL2IND11IND12 IND21 IND22 IND23 IND24 NC -
Complete Formula Masters China 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 DC Points 2013 Cebu Pacific Air by KCMGZHU1ZHU2ZHU3SHI1SHI2SHI3ORD1ORD2INJ1INJ2INJ3INJ4SEP1SEP2SEP3 SHI1 SHI2 SHI3 21st 0
Complete Italian F4 Championship 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 DC Points 2014 F & M ADR1 ADR2 ADR3 IMO11 IMO12 IMO13 MUG1 MUG2 MUG3 MAG1 MAG2 MAG3 VLL1 VLL2 VLL3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 IMO21 IMO22 IMO23 12th 45
Complete MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2014-15LOS1LOS2LOS3LOS4BHR1BHR2BHR3BHR4 MMR1 MMR2 MMR3 MMR4 21st 5
Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant Engine 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 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 DC Points 2015 Motopark Volkswagen SIL1 SIL2 SIL3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 PAU1 PAU2 PAU3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 NOR1 NOR2 NOR3 ZAN1 ZAN2 ZAN3 RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 ALG1 ALG2 ALG3 NÜR1 NÜR2 NÜR3 HOC1 HOC2 HOC3 39th 0
Complete Masters of Formula 3 results YearTeamCarQualifyingQuali RaceMain race2015 MotoparkDallara F31517th17th17th
Complete Auto GP Formula Open Championship 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 Pos Pts 2016 PS Racing ADR1 ADR2 MNZ1 MNZ2 ASS1 ASS2 BRN1 BRN2 IMO1 IMO2 2nd 151
Complete GP3 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts 2016 Koiranen GP CATFEA CATSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR SILFEA SILSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 27th 0
Complete BOSS GP Series 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 Pos Pts 2016 PS Racing HOC1 HOC2 RBR1 RBR2 MNZ1 MNZ2 ASS1 ASS2 BRN1 BRN2 IMO1 IMO2 5th 118 2017 PS Racing HOC1 HOC2 ZAN1 ZAN2 LEC1 LEC2 ZOL1 ZOL2 ASS1 ASS2 BRN1 BRN2 IMO1 IMO2 1st 263
Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results (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 DC Points MP Motorsport BHRFEA BHRSPR BAKFEA BAKSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR LECFEA LECSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR SILFEA SILSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SOCFEA SOCSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 20th 1
Complete Italian GT Championship results Italian GT Endurance Championship (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) YearTeamCarClass1234DCPoints 2023 Imperiale Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo Pro-AmPERMUGMNZVLL 6th 32 2024 Lazarus Corse Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Pro VAL MUG IMO MON NC 0
Notes
References https://www.thehindu.com/sport/mahaveer-ferrari-win-race-2-of-italian-gt-sprint-championship/article69621256.ece
https://www.thehindu.com/sport/motorsport/mahaveer-posts-win-in-italian-gt-sprint-championship/article70113234.ece
https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/formula-one/story/mahaveer-raghunathan-f2-trolling-to-italian-gt-success-and-f1-dream-2813601-2025-11-05
https://www.evoindia.com/motorsport/motorsport-news/indias-sole-italian-gt-championship-2025-contender-mahaveer-raghunathan-basks-in-p1-glory-in-race-2-at-monza-ending-the-season-on-a-high-for-af-corse-587208
External links Mahaveer Raghunathan career summary at DriverDB.com
Race wins at
Profile at