Zhenrui "Newman" Chi (; born 28 March 2009) is a Chinese racing driver who last competed under the Italian flag in the Formula Regional European Championship for MP Motorsport as part of the AMF1 Driver Development Programme.
Chi is a race winner in the Italian F4 Championship for Prema Racing, finishing fifth in 2025.
Career Karting (2014–2023) Chi began karting at the age of five, initially racing in China before moving to Europe in 2019. Internationally, Chi most notably finished third in the 2021 Trofeo Delle Industrie, and second in the 2022 WSK Champions Cup, both in OK-J.
Formula 4 (2024–2025) 2024 Chi was initially slated to make his single-seater debut in the 2024 Formula 4 UAE Championship, but instead opted to test F4 machinery for much of the year, before eventually making his single-seater debut with Prema Racing in the inaugural season of Formula Trophy UAE. In the three-round season, Chi finished third on his debut at Dubai, before ending the season with a second-place finish in race one at Yas Marina and a pole position in race two on his way to fifth in points.
2025 Staying with Prema Racing for 2025, Chi drove with them for the inaugural season of the F4 Middle East Championship, along with a dual programme in both the Italian F4 and E4 Championships. In the former, he finished fifth in the season-opening race at Yas Marina, which turned out to be his season-best result, matching it at Dubai and the third Yas Marina round on his way to ninth in the overall standings and runner-up in the rookies'.
Heading to Europe for the rest of the year, Chi finished fifth on his Italian F4 debut at Misano, and finished the other two races to leave Misano ninth in the overall standings and second in the rookies'. Following the round at Vallelunga, where Chi finished no higher than ninth, the Chinese finished the first two races at Monza outside the points before taking his maiden win in single-seaters in race three, having taken the lead in the closing stages. In the following round at Mugello, Chi once again stood on the podium as he finished second behind Alex Powell in race two, before finishing third in race three at Imola three weeks later as he completed a Prema Racing 1-2-3. Chi then ended the year by finishing second in race two at Misano en route to a fifth-place finish in his only season in the series. In E4 meanwhile, Chi scored a best result of fifth in race two at Monza and closed out the three-round campaign 12th in points.
Formula Regional (2025–) 2025 During 2025, Chi joined CL Motorsport in Formula Regional Europe to make his debut in Formula Regional competition at the Red Bull Ring. Competing in the Red Bull Ring and Hockenheimring rounds, he scored a best result of 17th in race two of the latter round. Towards the end of the year, Chi made a one-off appearance for Hillspeed in the GB3 Championship, as well as competing in the Macau Grand Prix for Van Amersfoort Racing.
2026 During the winter, Chi raced in the Formula Regional Middle East Trophy with CL Motorsport. In the four-round winter series, Chi scored a best result of sixth in race two at Dubai en route to a 16th-place points finish. For his main campaign, Chi joined MP Motorsport to compete in the Formula Regional European Championship. In his maiden season in FREC, Chi scored a best result of fourth three times en route to an eighth-place finish in points.
Formula One In April 2026, Chi was announced as a member of the Aston Martin Driver Development Programme.
Karting record Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition2016Rotax Max Challenge China — Micro BSKA2017Rotax Max Challenge China — Micro A2018China Karting Championship — MiniRotax Max Challenge Chinese Cup — MicroRok Cup China — Micro Rok2019WSK Champions Cup — 60 MiniParolin MotorsportNCWSK Super Master Series — 60 Mini Parolin MotorsportEnergy Corse Srl64thSouth Garda Winter Cup — Mini RokEnergy Corse SrlNCWSK Euro Series — 60 Mini69thAndrea Margutti Trophy — 60 Mini20thWSK Open Cup — 60 Mini32ndWSK Final Cup — 60 Mini29th2020China Karting Championship — MiniWSK Champions Cup — 60 MiniGamoto ASDNCWSK Super Master Series — 60 Mini57thSouth Garda Winter Cup — Mini Rok24thWSK Open Cup — 60 Mini41st2021WSK Champions Cup — 60 MiniBabyrace Driver Academy18thWSK Super Master Series — 60 Mini29thAndrea Margutti Trophy — 60 Mini11thWSK Euro Series — 60 Mini30thIAME Euro Series — X30 JuniorTeam Driver Racing Kart44thIAME Warriors Final — X30 Junior20thWSK Open Cup — OKJKR Motorsport57thTrofeo Delle Industrie — OKJBeyond Racing Team3rdSouth Garda Winter Cup — OKJ19thWSK Final Cup — OKJ24th2022WSK Champions Cup — OKJBeyond Racing Team2ndAndrea Margutti Trophy — OKJ11thWSK Euro Series — OKJ46thKarting World Championship — OKJ24thWSK Open Cup — OKJ6thTrofeo Delle Industrie — OKJ7thWSK Final Cup — OKJ9thWSK Super Master Series — OKJKR Motorsport45thChampions of the Future Winter Series — OKJ7thChampions of the Future Euro Series — OKJ 35thKarting European Championship — OKJ41stItalian Karting Championship — OKJ NC2023South Garda Winter Cup — OKBeyond Racing Team13thWSK Champions Cup — OK10thWSK Super Master Series — OK32ndChampions of the Future — OK51stKarting European Championship — OK96thSources:
Racing record Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2024 Formula Trophy UAE Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited 9 0 1 0 2 54 5th2025 F4 Middle East Championship Prema Racing 15 0 0 0 0 78 9th Italian F4 Championship 20 1 0 0 4 162 5thE4 Championship 9 0 0 0 0 19 12th Formula Regional European Championship CL Motorsport 4 0 0 0 0 0 33rdGB3 ChampionshipHillspeed 3 0 0 0 0 0 NC† Macau Grand Prix Van Amersfoort Racing 1 0 0 0 0 DNF 2026 Formula Regional Middle East Trophy CL Motorsport 11 0 0 0 0 20 16th Formula Regional European Championship MP Motorsport 19 0 0 1 0 73 8thSources:
* Season still in progress.
Complete Formula Trophy UAE results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) YearTeam1234567DCPoints 2024 Mumbai Falcons Racing LimitedDUB1DUB2DUB3YMC11YMC12YMC21YMC22 5th 54
Complete F4 Middle East 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 DC Points 2025 Prema RacingYMC11YMC12YMC13YMC21YMC22YMC23DUB1DUB2DUB3YMC31YMC32YMC33LUS1LUS2LUS3 9th 78
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 22 23 24 25 DC Points 2025 Prema RacingMIS11 MIS12MIS13MIS14VLL1VLL2VLL3VLL4MNZ1MNZ2MNZ3MUG1MUG2MUG3IMO1IMO2IMO3CAT1 CAT2CAT3MIS21MIS22MIS23MIS24MIS25 5th 162
Complete E4 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 DC Points 2025 Prema RacingLEC1LEC2LEC3MUG1MUG2MUG3MNZ1MNZ2MNZ3 12th 19
Complete Formula Regional European 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 DC Points 2025 CL Motorsport MIS1 MIS2 SPA1 SPA2 ZAN1 ZAN2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 IMO1 IMO2 RBR1 RBR2 CAT1 CAT2 HOC1 HOC2 MNZ1 MNZ2 33rd 0 2026 MP Motorsport RBR1 RBR2 RBR3 ZAN1 ZAN2 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 MNZ1 MNZ2 MNZ3 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 IMO1 IMO2 IMO3 HOC1 HOC2 8th 73
Complete Macau Grand Prix results Year Team Car Qualifying Quali Race Main Race 2025 Van Amersfoort Racing Tatuus F3 T-318 26th 26th DNF
Complete Formula Regional Middle East Trophy 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 DC Points 2026 CL Motorsport YMC11 YMC12 YMC13 YMC21 YMC22 YMC23 DUB1 DUB2 DUB3 LUS1 LUS2 LUS3 16th 20
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