Charles Pic (French:[ʃɑʁlˈpik]; born 15 February 1990) is a French retired professional racing driver[1] who drove in Formula One for two full seasons in 2012 and 2013, racing for Marussia F1 Team in the first season and then for Caterham in the second season.
Early career
Karting and Formula Renault
Born in Montélimar, France, Pic entered karting at a late age of 13 years. With the help of his godfather Éric Bernard, Pic achieved "strong results" in Italian and French championships.[2]
In 2006, Pic made his Formula Renault debut, racing for La Filière. He finished the season as third and also became the rookie champion.[2]
For 2011 Pic moved to the Barwa Addax squad alongside future Formula 1 team-mate Giedo van der Garde.[8] Despite failing to score any points in the preceding Asia Series campaign, he hit back with a second career GP2 win at Catalunya where he led home Van der Garde for an Addax one-two finish. Another victory, this time on the streets of Monaco, helped move him up to third place in the drivers' championship. The two points he then scored for taking pole position at Valencia briefly moved Pic into the championship lead but, after retiring from both races and dropping back in the standings as a result, he eventually finished the season fourth overall, three points clear of Van der Garde.[7]
Formula One
In November 2011 Pic made his debut at the wheel of a Formula One car, driving for Marussia Virgin Racing at the young driver test held at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.[9] He was due to drive for a day and-a-half of the test, but the Virgin team decided to give him a further half-day of running after he encountered engine problems on the second day of the test.[10]
During the test, several news sources reported that Pic had agreed a deal to race with the team in the 2012 season.[11][12]
In November 2012 it was announced that Pic had signed a multi-year contract at the Renault-powered Caterham squad, with former GP2 team-mate and F1 rookie Giedo van der Garde later confirmed alongside him.
His season began to gather pace in Bahrain where Pic comfortably beat both Marussia cars and a Sauber, before a major upgrade to his Caterham at the Spanish Grand Prix established Pic as the quickest of the younger teams' drivers. He would continue this trend throughout the European portion of the season, scoring 15th-place finishes at Silverstone and the Hungaroring while displaying pace close to that of the established midfield runners.
Pic would equal his season-best result at the Korean Grand Prix, taking the chequered flag in 14th spot and within striking distance of Williams drivers Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas. However, as the campaign reached its final stretch the Frenchman suffered a succession of difficult races in India, Abu Dhabi and the United States, where balance issues prevented him from extracting the full potential of his car.
Pic recovered well at the season-closing Brazilian Grand Prix, where he qualified over half a second clear of team-mate van der Garde and well clear of the Marussias. However his race ended early when a suspension failure forced him into retirement on lap 58.
On 21 January 2014, Caterham's Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul confirmed that Pic would not be driving for Caterham in 2014:
Unfortunately Charles won't be with us next season. It's a pity that the adventure between Caterham and Charles is ending. On a personal level I want to thank Charles for the work he achieved last year.
Lotus (2014)
After being dropped by Caterham, Pic signed for Lotus F1 as their official reserve driver. This was announced at the car launch in Bahrain on 20 February 2014.[23]
Formula E
Pic participated in the 2014–15 Formula E season, the inaugural season of the championship. He competed in the first round in Beijing for Andretti Autosport and finished in fourth position. Despite this points-scoring result, Pic was replaced prior to the second round by Matthew Brabham. Pic returned to Formula E for the fifth round of the championship in Miami driving for China Racing. He replaced Ho-Pin Tung at the team.[24]
Post-motorsport
In 2015, Pic moved into a management role at French logistics company Charles André Group, of which he is now Managing Director of the Assets Department.[25][26]
In 2022, Pic acquired full control of the French racing team DAMS.[27][28]
^Bean, David (21 November 2011). "Brazilian Grand Prix 2011: Preview". TheCheckeredFlag.co.uk. BlackEagleMedia. Retrieved 22 November 2011. Brazil could also be the final race for Jérôme d'Ambrosio, with Virgin Racing expected to announce Charles Pic alongside Timo Glock for next season.