Fabrizju Zolla
 | |
| Born | Fabrizju Antoine Zolla 17 September 1997 Sinatre, Montcrabe |
|---|---|
| Gran-Prix One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Montcrabin |
| 2023 team | Renehan |
| Car number | 31 |
| Entries | 117 (117 starts) |
| Championships | 2 (2022, 2023) |
| Wins | 27 |
| Podiums | 45 |
| Career points | 1467 |
| Pole positions | 23 |
| Fastest laps | 15 |
| First entry | 2018 Baltanlan Grand Prix |
| First win | 2019 Montcrabe City Grand Prix |
| Last win | 2023 Lurjizean Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2024 Creeperian Grand Prix |
| 2023 position | 1st (359 pts) |
| Previous series | |
| 2017 2015–2016 | Gran-Prix 2 Championship Gran-Prix 3 Championship |
| Championship titles | |
| 2017 2016 | Gran-Prix 2 Championship Gran-Prix 3 Championship |
| Awards | |
| FIA Rookie of the Year (2018) | |
Fabrizju "Fab" Antoine Zolla (born September 17, 1998), is a Montcrabin racing driver in Gran-Prix One competition with the Renehan GP1 Team and is the reigning two-time world champion, having won in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He signed with Renehan in the 2018 season following an extremely successful junior career with back to back titles in Gran-Prix 2 and Gran-Prix 3. He is contracted with Renehan until the end of the 2028 season, after signing a six year contract extension following his world championship.
Born in Sinatre, Montcrabe, Zolla joined the Iżakk Racing Driver Development Programme in 2011. Zolla quickly rose through the ranks within the Development Programme, becoming the youngest driver to jump from karting to racing in the program at the age of 15. He was able to secure a seat in Gran-Prix 3 in 2015 at the age of 16, finishing fourth in just his first year in the competition. In 2016 he became a Gran-Prix 3 champion, earning him a spot in Gran-Prix 2 for 2017. In just his first year in the competition, Zolla won Gran-Prix 2. His sudden success led Zolla to be heavily pursued by Gran-Prix one teams, gaining the nickname "The Montcrabin Wunderkind". Initially expected to join Iżakk Racing, with the team even announcing him as their next driver, Zolla controversially pulled out and chose to sign with Renehan instead, causing Iżakk to sue Zolla for damages. The case was eventually ruled against Iżakk by the FIA.
Zolla began his GP1 career off with an extremely strong rookie season, securing two podiums and winning FIA Rookie of the Year. In his second season Zolla was able to secure his first career victory at his home Grand Prix, the Montcrabe City Grand Prix and finished fifth in the drivers championship standings. He followed his sixth place finish in 2019 with a fourth place in his third season in 2020. Following two successful campaigns in 2019 and 2020, Zolla struggled heavily in fourth season, failing to secure a race win and finished seventh in the championship standings. Following regulation changes in 2022, the Renehan car quickly jumped to the front of the pack, allowing Zolla to regain form. He finished first in the drivers championship, winning fourteen of the season's twenty races, becoming the 2022 world champion.
Personal life
Junior career
Karting
2015-16 GP3
2015
2016: Championship
2017: GP2 Championship
Gran-Prix One
Zolla joined the Iżakk Racing Driver Development Programme in 2011. In 2017 he drove his first Gran-Prix One car during a test session with Iżakk Racing. At the test, Zolla managed to put up competitive times with both Iżakk drivers despite never having driven in a Gran-Prix One car before.
After Zolla finished his GP2 season as champion, he became the reserve driver for Iżakk for the final three races of the 2017 Gran-Prix one season, but did not drive in any practice sessions. During the Salisford Grand Prix, the final race of the season, Iżakk announced Zolla would be driving for the team in 2018. The next day, Zolla released a press announcement denying that he would be racing for Iżakk stating he had never signed a contract with the team. A week later Zolla announced he signed a contract to race with Renehan in 2018. Zolla was heavily criticized by Iżakk team principal Dudu Coutinho who claimed Zolla "broke his commitment to the organization" and "scammed us out of millions in investment". Iżakk sued Zolla through the FIA's contract dispute board, claiming Zolla was under contract for 2018 and owed the team damages. The Board ruled against Iżakk as Zolla had never formally signed a contract with the team.
Renehan (2018-present)
2018 season
In his first career Gran-Prix One race at the Baltanlan Grand Prix, Zolla scored his first career points finishing 7th and ahead of his teammate. Zolla would have a strong start to his rookie year finishing with back to back 6th place finishes at the following two Grand Prix. In just his fourth ever career race, Zolla would secure his first podium finish, finishing 3rd at the Reykani Grand Prix despite qualifying in 8th.
Zolla's good luck to start the season would end at the Montesayettean Grand Prix, where he would have the first Q1 exit of his career due to a fuel pressure problem with his car. Then on the first lap of the main race he was taken out by a spinning driver. Zolla would recover with three straight points appearances at 8th, 7th and 9th in the subsequent three Grand Prix. His streak ended in Tirol when he was forced to retire due to an engine failure. In rounds ten and eleven Zolla would again return to the top of the grid with a 6th and 5th place finish at the Jackson and Kivuian Grand Prix respectively.
A refueling problem caused Zolla to qualify 13th at the Karimun Grand Prix where was only able to recover to 12th. Zolla became involved in his first retirement due to on track collision at the Ajakanistan Grand Prix where he caused a multi car collision into the first corner after qualifying 18th due to engine penalties. He received a ten place grid penalty for the accident at the subsequent Paleocacherian Grand Prix where he was able to recover to a 13th place finish. Zolla would return to the points at the Monsilvan Grand Prix with a 10th place finish, but would drop out again at the Gandorian Grand Prix where he would finish 12th.
Zolla would end his 2018 campaign on a high note, earning his second career podium at the Lurjizean Grand Prix with a third place finish and a 6th place finish at the final race of the season in Salisford Grand Prix. He would finish 7th in the driver's championship standings, behind only the drivers of the top three teams. For his efforts in his rookie season he would be awarded FIA Rookie of the Year at the 2018 FIA award ceremony.
2019 season
Zolla began his second year off to a strong start with his third career podium in Baltanla, finishing third after qualifying fourth. Zolla would just barely finish off the podium in the next three races, earning three straight fourth place finishes. He returned to the podium in Jackson Grand Prix with another third place finish. In Kivu Zolla would cross the line in third place, but finished fourth due to a five second penalty for nearly colliding with another car in the pitlane.
At the Reykanoring, Zolla would recover from an eleventh place qualifying position to finish fifth. Zolla would earn his fifth fourth place finish at the Creeperian Grand Prix. At his home Grand Prix in Montcrabe City, Zolla would manage to qualify third at the technically challenging circuit. A long pitstop from the Izakk of Frenċ Bakere would allow Zolla to move up into second place. During the the final laps of the race, the leading Moffatt of Georgia O'Concannon reported an engine issue. On the penultimate lap of the race, Zolla would pass O'Concannon into the Crabota Chicane for the lead of the race, earning both his maiden victory at his home Grand Prix and his first career fastest lap.
In Bostonia, Zolla would be in line for another podium finish late in the race but a collision during an attempted overtake from the car behind Zolla would see him spin out and finish fifth. At the Montesayettean Grand Prix, a chaotic start would see Zolla drop from his second place qualification down into eight place. However, rain would arrive during the middle of the race and persist into the end. Well time pitstops from Zolla would see him regain a number of positions in the wet weather, eventually taking the lead of the Grand Prix to earn his second career victory and fastest lap.
Continuing his streak of career firsts, Zolla earned his first career pole at the Karimun Grand Prix, but a late race overtake would see him finish second for the first time in his career. Zolla's first retirement of the season would come in New Gandor after a collision into the first corner damaged his suspension. A disastrous qualifying in Monsilva where he was unable to set a time, saw Zolla start from the back of the grid. Despite this, he would manage to recover and finish eight place. Zolla's sixth and final podium of the season would come at the Paleocacherian Grand Prix. Zolla would finish his season with a fourth place finish in Ajakanistan, a second retirement in Tavisebi due to another first lap collision, and a sixth place finish in Salisford. He finished fifth in the driver's championship with 220 points after being as high as third earlier in the season.
2020 season
Ahead of the 2020 season, Zolla signed a two year contract extension with Renehan till the end of the 2021 season. Zolla began his 2020 season slowly with two straight sixth place finishes and a seventh place finish in his first three races. He would return to the podium at his home Grand Prix in Montcrabe City with a second place finish and a fastest lap. A crash by Búri Hlíðbergsson in qualifying helped propel Zolla to pole position in Jackson, but tyre issues would drop Zolla down into third place. At the Karimun Grand Prix, Zolla would qualify fourth and finish fifth.
At the Bostonia Grand Prix, Renehan would bring a complete floor redesign to the car. In his first practice session with the upgrades, Zolla would voice his frustrations with the car calling it a "terrorism of engineering" over radio. Zolla would qualify eighth, but finish tenth in the race. He would face even more frustration in Paleocacher. After qualifying fourth, he would fall to tenth again over the course of the race, describing the car's tyre degradation as "an assassination attempt". Zolla would enter into controversy after video surfaced of him shoving his personal trainer to the floor after his poor finish in Paleocacher.
Renehan would revert the floor change after Paleocacher and Zolla would return to form, finishing fifth, fourth twice, seventh and sixth at the subsequent Grand Prix. Heading into the Rakhmani Grand Prix, Renehan would bring another round of upgrades including another new floor. The newest round of upgrades were much more effective, with Zolla qualifying third and finishing second for his third podium of the season. Zolla would be driving in the third position for most of the Gjorkan Grand Prix, but an electrical issue in the closing laps forced him to retire the car. Zolla would qualify second in Lurjize, but a collision in the opening lap would drop him down to the back of the grid. Despite this, Zolla would work his way up the field, taking advantage of two safety cars, to eventually take the lead of the Grand Prix on Lap 64 and earn his first win of the season. Zolla described the victory as the "happiest moment of his life". Following a retirement in Creeperopolis, Zolla would earn his second victory of the season in Salisford after qualifying on pole. Zolla finished the season in fourth with 183 points with five podiums and two race victories.
2021 season
For the 2021 season, Zolla began his first four races with alternating results, finishing sixth and then fourth back to back. Zolla earned his first pole of the season in Kivu, but crash in qualifying would cause him to be unable to start the race due to a driveshaft issue. He earned another pole position at the Tumanitun Grand Prix. Controversially during a late safety car in the race, the team ordered Zolla to stay out and not pit for new tires, with this strategy seeing Zolla get passed three times to finish fourth in the race. Zolla criticized the team's decision saying "they're allgeric to winning". During his home grand prix in Montcrabe City, Zolla would be in line for a fourth place finish after a well timed pitstop allowed him to gain multiple places during the safety car. However, on the penultimate lap he would collide with the Alfieri-Rossi of Alfons Menegus and fall completely out of the points, finishing sixteenth.
Zolla returned to the points with seventh and eight place finishes at the subsequent grand prix. In Reykanes, Zolla would qualify fourth but take the lead of the race on lap one following a collision between the two front runners. Zolla would retain this lead until the final two laps when he was passed by Georgia O'Concannon, finishing second. Another collision in Tirol would see Zolla retire early in the race. Zolla would finish eighth, fifth and fourth at the next three Grand Prix. At the Gjorkan Grand Prix, Zolla would pit for intermediate tires latter then most of the grid after rain arrived in the final laps, dropping him all the way out of the points into fifteenth.
Ahead of the final five races of the season, Renehan would bring one final upgrade package for the season, heavily redesigning the aerodynamics on the car. This new upgrade would enable Zolla to earn pole in three of the five races, including the season finale in Salisford, however the car's issue with tire degradation persisted and Zolla failed to earn even a podium finish in any of the races, including a disastrous eighth place finish in Salisford after spinning out on the final lap. Zolla would finish the season in seventh place with 152 points, one podium finish, five pole positions and no race wins. In an interview following the season, Zolla described it as "the stupidest affair of my life".
2022 season: World Champion
Despite reportedly being heavily pursued by other teams, Zolla signed a one year contract to drive with Renehan again in 2022. He was joined by new teammate Alfons Menegus, who left Alfieri-Rossi to join Renehan. During preseason testing in Toboshi, Zolla stated the 2022 car felt like "a dream" and praised Renehan's response to the new regulation changes. He would qualify in second in the opening race of the year in Ajakanistan, but a fuel system failure would force the Montcrabin to retire on lap 54. He would qualify fourth in Rakhman, but a safety car with ten laps to go allowed Zolla to close the gap to the leading Corona of Esteban Cruz Albeño and earn his first victory of the season. Zolla would qualify second at the Gjorkan Grand Prix, but another mechanical issue with a fuel leak would see him retire for the second time in three races. Following his retirement in Gjorka, Zolla would be 46 points behind championship leader Cruz Albeño.
At the next race in Baltanla would earn the first grand slam of his career, winning the race from pole while leading every lap and earning the fastest lap. He would finish on the top step of the podium in the next two races, doubling his career win total in the first six races of the season. His victory in Jackson would see him gain the lead in the world championship race, which he would not lose for the remainder of the season. Zolla would finish third in Tumland after qualifying fourth. Zolla earned his second victory at his home Grand Prix in Montcrabe City, an impressive feat after qualifying third. Zolla would secure his second pole of the season in Creeperopolis and his sixth victory of the season. A tire puncture late at the Paleocacherian Grand Prix caused Zolla to drop from a second place finish to seventh.
At the Hapatmitas Grand Prix would earn pole and fastest lap, but would only manage to finish second place behind Cruz Albeño. After the disappointing result in Hapatmitas, Zolla declared in the post race press conference he "would not a lose a race for the rest of the year". Zolla's statement preceded five straight wins for the Montcrabe driver. The final of his five straight victories in Karimun would see him clinch the driver's world championship with four races to go. At the Gandorian Grand Prix, Zolla qualified a disappointing eight after being unable to set a second time in Q3. During the mid point of the race, Zolla found himself in front of his teammate Menegus after the latter had pitted for new tires. Despite team orders to let his teammate pass, Zolla defended against Menegus for several laps, even refusing a team order to pit. Eventually he was overtaken by Menegus who went on to win the race. Zolla was criticized by Renehan team principal Aaron O'Sullivan for failing to follow team orders, while Zolla stated "we're teammates only in paddock, on the race track he's like every other driver: behind me".
Zolla would win the final three races of the season, including two wins from pole. He finished 416 points, 14 wins, 6 poles and first in the world championship standings. The gap between Zolla and second place, his teammate Menegus, was 136 points. the largest gap in points between first and second in GP1 history.
2023 season: Second World Championship
For his efforts in the 2022 season, Zolla would sign a six year contract extension with Renehan making him the highest paid driver in the sport until 2028. Zolla started off his 2023 campaign with a pole at the opening Baltanlan Grand Prix, and was in the lead for much of the race. However, during his second pit stop the pit crew sent him off with three medium tires and one hard tire forcing Zolla to pit again the next lap. This caused him to drop down to sixth, where he recovered back to fourth to finish the race and earned fastest lap. His struggles continued at the Rakhmani Grand Prix, Fabrizju again qualified pole and earned pole in the sprint race shootout. Zolla managed to win the sprint race. At the second turn of the Grand Prix, Zolla and his teammate Alfons Menegus collided, forcing both Renehan's to retire. Both drivers accused the other of causing the accident, with team principal Aaron O'Sullivan criticizing both drivers for "reckless driving".
Zolla earned his first victory at the Bostonia Grand Prix, earning first place after qualifying second to the Scutari of Vitale Scutari. He followed up his maiden victory with another victory at the Karimun Grand Prix, again overtaking the pole sitter from second place with this time it being his teammate Menegus. Despite a disappointing start to the season, Zolla would rise to second in the driver's championship heading into his home Grand Prix, the Montcrabe City Grand Prix. He would both qualify and finish the Crabin Circuit in 2nd place behind Georgia O'Concannon. The Creeperian Grand Prix would grant pole and first place to Zolla, who rose to first in the rankings over Scutari. However his time as number one in the world would be short-lived as the next race, the Jackson Grand Prix, saw Zolla qualify second behind the Scutari of José Uribe Álvarez. On Lap 5 of the race, Álvarez and Zolla collided causing front wing damage to Zolla forcing him to pit and sidepod damage to Álvarez ultimately causing him to retire on Lap 20. Zolla would make up the places he lost to finish P2 behind Scutari, seeing Scutari retake the lead in the driver's championship. Zolla would once again take the lead in the driver's championship at the Kivuian Grand Prix where he would qualify on pole and win the race.
At the Gjorkan Grand Prix would qualify second in both the main qualifying session and the sprint shootout. Following a win in the sprint race, Zolla would be leading the Grand Prix but a tire puncture resulting from a collision ahead of Zolla would see him lose the lead very late in the race at lap 69. He would finish seventh with the fastest lap, once again surrendering the lead of the driver's championship. His poor luck would continue at the Hapatmitas Grand Prix where would he would retire following a collision during a blue flag overtake with the Mercedes of Maddox Chance. Zolla saw a return to form at the Paleocacherian Grand Prix where he would earn both pole and the top podium spot. After a bad qualifying session in the Reykani Grand Prix saw Zolla have several lap times deleted causing him to qualify 11th, Zolla would manage to finish 5th. Two wins in the next three races, at the Lavarazzian Grand Prix and the Tiroler Grand Prix, would see him close the championship gap to Scutari to seven points going into the Tumanitun Grand Prix.
Zolla would qualify second behind Scutari at the Monsilva Grand Prix and end up earning third at the Grand Prix, taking back the lead of the World Championship after Scutari's first DNF of the season. At the Gandorian Grand Prix, Zolla again qualified second behind Scutari in the Grand Prix's qualifying session. During the sprint qualifying session, Zolla qualified fourth but managed to earn third in the short sprint session. At the main Grand Prix, Zolla was second behind Scutari until the final laps where a spin would see him fall and finish ninth place. At the penultimate grand prix of the season, Zolla would earn pole for the eight time in the season and lead every lap to earn his ninth victory of the season. A second place finish by Scutari would see Scutari lead the World Championship by one point going into the Salisford Grand Prix. During qualifying, Zolla would qualify second ahead of Scutari fourth's place qualification. Zolla would be in the lead for most of the race, but a pitstop had Zolla fall to second behind Menegus. A late crash by Osmín Salinas Quijada would see this position solidified. Scutari would pit for fresh tires and see him slowly close the gap to Zolla. A team order was given to Menegus to move over for Zolla, but this was ignored by Menegus. Ultimately, Scutari would finish 3 tenths behind Zolla in third place. Zolla's second place finish would see him earn 3 more points than Scutari and win the world championship by 2 points.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Gran-Prix One | Renehan | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 85 | 7th |
| 2019 | Gran-Prix One | Renehan | 18 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 220 | 5th |
| 2020 | Gran-Prix One | Renehan | 18 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 183 | 4th |
| 2021 | Gran-Prix One | Renehan | 20 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 152 | 7th |
| 2022 | Gran-Prix One | Renehan | 20 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 416 | 1st |
| 2023 | Gran-Prix One | Renehan | 20 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 359 | 1st |
Complete Gran-Prix One results
(Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
