Gabriele Mini has had an impressive racing career, winning multiple championships in go-karting and the Italian Formula 4 title.
The Italian driver has been consistently successful over his junior single-seater career, being immediately on the pace.
He also drove well in the Formula Regional European Championship, challenging for the title and proving Mini could handle the step up in power and a notoriously difficult car to drive.
In 2024, Mini also put together an excellent season in FIA Formula 3 after competing for the title against his compatriot, Leonardo Fornaroli, but narrowly missed out.
Gabriele Mini dominated the 2020 Italian F4 Championship
Mini had a superb career in go-karting and won the Italian Regional Championship in the Sicilia region in 2013, his first year of competition.
He returned to win the title again the following season before going on to win the Italian Championship later in his karting career.
The Italian driver had honed his craft in go-karts, developing skills in wheel-to-wheel combat and learning how to manage a race.
Mini then made the step up to car racing in 2020 driving in Italian F4 for PREMA, who are consistent frontrunners in the series and other championships further up the ladder towards Formula 1.
He also competed in six races in that year’s ADAC Formula 4 Championship, gathering more experience in single-seaters.
Mini’s Italian F4 season began in the best possible way with a victory in the first race of the season at Misano, as well, with an eye-catching drive.
He also finished second in the third and final race of the weekend, underlining Mini’s title credentials from the outset.
Mini was very consistent over the season, finishing in the top 10 at every single race apart from a small blip at Monza where he retired in the third race of the weekend.
The second round of the championship at Imola was slightly more difficult, too, after scoring points in all three races but without a trip to the podium.
Italian F4 headed to Austria for the next round and Mini was back on form, finishing on the podium in all three races and winning at the end of the weekend.
The final four rounds were held in Italy with Mini winning one race at Mugello and Monza before winning the Italian F4 Championship by 76 points over his nearest rival, Francesco Pizzi.
Mini’s championship success was very impressive, adjusting to the difficult world of car racing seamlessly after a stellar karting career.
He competed against a very tough field, racing against Gabriel Bortoleto and Fornaroli who both also made it to Formula 2 in their careers.
Mini then moved up to FRECA, the logical next step, for two seasons after gathering experience in Italy. This meant racing with more power, against a bigger grid and on tricky circuits such as Monaco.
Gabriele Mini narrowly missed out on the 2024 FIA F3 title
Mini didn’t win a title in FRECA but he did finish second in 2022 behind Swedish driver Dino Beganovic, who dominated the series.
Alongside his main commitments, the Italian driver also raced in the Formula Regional Asian Championship and the Formula Regional Middle East Championship in 2023 to prepare for FIA F3.
Mini moved up to FIA Formula 3 in the 2023 season, sticking with Hitech Pulse-Eight after racing with the British team in Asia and the Middle East.
FIA F3 is a significant step up from other championships further down the single-seater ladder as there is the added pressure of racing on an F1 Grand Prix weekend.
The racing is also much more chaotic than other series with 30 drivers looking to make an impression and knock on the door of 1. Mini had also been picked up by the Alpine F1 team as a junior academy driver in February 2003.
Life in Formula 3 began well for the Italian driver, scoring points with an eighth place in the Bahrain Feature Race despite it being Mini’s first time racing at that track.
He kept up the momentum in Australia by driving to third place in the Feature Race, which was very impressive as there was no reverse grid element.
Mini scored two wins over the season, with his first triumph coming in the Feature Race at Monaco. He took pole position and stayed ahead of his old adversary, Beganovic, to win.
He took one more win with the Sprint Race in Hungary before finishing seventh in the standings at the end of a competitive first year. Mini also raced at the 2023 Macau Grand Prix, finishing in third place.
He was very competitive over the Macau GP weekend, missing out on pole position by just 0.006 behind Williams junior Luke Browning. After then finishing third in the Qualifying Race, Mini stayed behind Browning and Dennis Hauger in the Main Race.
The Alpine junior driver then returned to Formula 3 for the 2024 season with Mini switching Hitech for PREMA, who have been very successful in the series.
His second season in the championship started relatively steadily with drives to seventh and sixth places at the two races at the Bahrain season opener.
Yet, for the second season in a row, Mini finished in third place in the Australia Feature Race before winning the Monaco Feature Race for the second consecutive year.
There were some more difficult rounds, such as at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain where he endured a double non-score.
His win at Monaco also marked the PREMA driver’s only victory of the season, as the final five rounds were mixed for Mini. He scored three second places in that time but didn’t take a point from Hungary.
Yet the Italian driver still went into the final round at Monza agonisingly close to taking the 2024 FIA F3 title. He even started the last lap of the year in a position to win the championship. But Fornaroli passed Christian Mansell into the final corner to steal the crown.
Fornaroli’s bold move at Curva Alboreto took the title away from Mini, who was later disqualified from the Monza Feature Race as his car didn’t meet the minimum tyre pressure requirements.
Mini also then sampled Formula 2 for the first time as PREMA handed the Italian a one-off outing in Baku, Azerbaijan with Oliver Bearman deputising in F1 for Haas.
His F2 debut came after Mini’s dramatic end to the Formula 3 campaign and he was very impressive, taking third place in the Azerbaijan Sprint Race on a very difficult street circuit.
So, with that in mind, Full Oversteer looks at everything you need to know about Mini…
How old is Gabriele Mini? Where was he born?
Mini is currently 19 years old, and he was born on the 20th of March, 2005 in Palermo, Italy.
How tall is Gabriele Mini? What is his height in feet?
Mini is 170cm tall, which is 5’6 in feet.
Does Gabriele Mini have a girlfriend?
At the time of writing, Mini’s girlfriend is Ebba Oscarson. She has been to some motorsport events to support Mini and also has an interest in art. They have been together for multiple years, with Instagram posts of their relationship going back to at least August 2022.
Gabriele Mini’s career racing stats
Mini has been successful in his career, winning multiple karting championships and the Italian F4 title at the first attempt. Below, Full Oversteer lists the Italian’s career racing stats as of the end of Mini’s 2024 season.
2020 Italian F4 Championship: 20 races, 4 wins, 12 podiums, 9 pole positions, 2 fastest laps
2020 ADAC Formula 4 Championship: 6 races, 1 win, 4 podiums, 2 pole positions, 2 fastest laps
2021 Formula Regional European Championship: 20 races, 0 wins, 4 podiums, 0 pole positions, 0 fastest laps
2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship: 12 races, 2 wins, 4 podiums, 1 pole position, 1 fastest lap
2022 Formula Regional European Championship: 20 races, 3 wins, 9 podiums, 3 pole positions, 5 fastest laps
2023 Formula Regional Middle East Championship: 6 races, 0 wins, 0 podiums, 1 pole position, 0 fastest laps
2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship: 18 races, 2 wins, 4 podiums, 2 pole positions, 1 fastest lap
2023 Macau Grand Prix: 1 race, 0 wins, 0 podiums, 0 pole positions, 0 fastest laps
2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship: 20 races, 1 win, 5 podiums, 1 pole position, 1 fastest lap
2024 Formula 2 Championship: 2 races, 0 wins, 1 podium, 0 pole positions, 0 fastest laps