Julián Leal


Ómar Julián Leal Covelli, commonly known as Julián Leal, is a professional racing driver from Colombia, although he has also competed with an Italian licence in the GP2 Series.

Career

Formula Renault 2.0

Leal began his racing career in 2006 in the Formula Renault 2.0 PanamGP series, scoring two podium finishes in seven races to finish ninth in the standings. He also took part in two races of the series the following year.

Euroseries 3000

The following season, Leal moved to Europe to compete in the Euroseries 3000 championship. Driving for the Italian Durango team, he finished ninth in the Euroseries standings and eleventh in the Italian Formula 3000 championship, which ran as part of the main series.
He continued in the championship in 2008, finishing sixth in the Euroseries after securing four podium places in fifteen races. In September of that year, he won the Italian Formula 3000 championship at Misano, beating both Fabio Onidi and Nicolas Prost to the title by a single point.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series

At the end of 2008, Leal took part in Formula Renault 3.5 Series testing at Paul Ricard and Valencia, driving for both Draco Racing and Prema Powerteam. In December 2008, it was announced that Leal had signed with Prema Powerteam for the 2009 season. He had a testing first season in the category, with a podium at the Hungaroring being his only points–scoring finish, as he wound up 20th in the standings.
In the off–season, Leal tested for both Prema and Mofaz Racing at the Circuit de Catalunya and in December 2009, it was announced that he would drive for Draco Racing in the 2010 season, partnering Formula Renault graduate Nathanaël Berthon. He again finished the season in 20th position after struggling to match his rookie team–mate, with his best race result being a fourth place at the first race in Brno.

Auto GP

In March 2010, it was announced that Leal would also compete in the new Auto GP championship, competing for the Italian team Trident Racing. He finished seventh in the final standings, with the highlight of his season coming at the penultimate round at the brand–new Circuito de Navarra, where he won the first race after starting from pole position.

GP2 Series

In November 2010, Leal tested a GP2 Series car for the first time, taking part in the post–season test at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, and in January 2011 it was announced that he had signed with the Rapax Team to contest the GP2 Asia Series season, lining–up alongside Fabio Leimer. He had initially signed to contest only the Asia series, but in March 2011 it was confirmed that he would stay with the team for the main 2011 championship, in which he finished 27th.
Leal switched to the Trident Racing team for the non-championship season finale at Yas Marina, and remained with the outfit for the 2012 season, where he was partnered with Stéphane Richelmi. He scored his first series points and finished 21st in the championship.
Leal moved to Racing Engineering for the 2013 season, his teammate for the second time was champion of that year Fabio Leimer. He scored a total of 62 points, including two sprint race podiums leaving him 12th in the championship. For 2014, he moved to British squad Carlin alongside Felipe Nasr. He finished on the podium in both races at the first round but ultimately would finish 10th in the final standings on 68 points.
Leal continued with Carlin for 2015.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Euroseries 3000/Auto GP results

YearEntrant12345678910111213141516DCPoints
2007DurangoVAL
FEA
10
VAL
SPR
10
HUN
FEA
10
HUN
SPR
9
MAG
FEA
8
MAG
SPR
10
MUG
FEA
11
MUG
SPR
6
NÜR
FEA
Ret
NÜR
SPR
7
SPA
FEA
7
SPA
SPR
Ret
MNZ
FEA
5
MNZ
SPR
4
CAT
FEA
7
CAT
SPR
6
10th14
2008DurangoVAL
FEA
5
VAL
SPR
6
SPA
FEA
9
SPA
SPR
C
VAL
FEA
5
VAL
SPR
2
MUG
FEA
4
MUG
SPR
3
MIS
FEA

3
MIS
SPR
2
JER
FEA
Ret
JER
SPR
7
CAT
FEA
Ret
CAT
SPR
4
MAG
FEA
Ret
MAG
SPR
9
6th38
2010Trident RacingBRN
1
10
BRN
2
4
IMO
1
Ret
IMO
2
8
SPA
1
7
SPA
2
Ret
MAG
1
9
MAG
2
7
NAV
1

1
NAV
2
Ret
MNZ
1
8
MNZ
2
4
9th21

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

YearTeam1234567891011121314151617PosPoints
2009Prema PowerteamCAT
1
15
CAT
2
19†
SPA
1
19
SPA
2
18
MON
1
14
HUN
1
22
HUN
2
3
SIL
1
17
SIL
2
16
BUG
1
Ret
BUG
2
20
ALG
1
18
ALG
2
17
NÜR
1
17
NÜR
2
14
ALC
1
21
ALC
2
22†
20th11
2010International Draco RacingALC
1
Ret
ALC
2
Ret
SPA
1
11
SPA
2
12
MON
1
16
BRN
1
4
BRN
2
13
MAG
1
Ret
MAG
2
19
HUN
1
Ret
HUN
2
16
HOC
1
13
HOC
2
9
SIL
1
Ret
SIL
2
10
CAT
1
Ret
CAT
2
Ret
20th11

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete GP2 Series results

YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718192021222324DCPoints
2011RapaxIST
FEA
19
IST
SPR
Ret
CAT
FEA
17
CAT
SPR
14
MON
FEA
Ret
MON
SPR
Ret
VAL
FEA
11
VAL
SPR
9
SIL
FEA
22
SIL
SPR
21
NÜR
FEA
14
NÜR
SPR
9
HUN
FEA
20
HUN
SPR
Ret
SPA
FEA
Ret
SPA
SPR
Ret
MNZ
FEA
16
MNZ
SPR
Ret
27th0
2012Trident RacingSEP
FEA
15
SEP
SPR
15
BHR1
FEA
12
BHR1
SPR
17
BHR2
FEA
15
BHR2
SPR
14
CAT
FEA
24
CAT
SPR
17
MON
FEA
21
MON
SPR
Ret
VAL
FEA
12
VAL
SPR
8
SIL
FEA
20
SIL
SPR
17
HOC
FEA
21
HOC
SPR
12
HUN
FEA
16
HUN
SPR
15
SPA
FEA
7
SPA
SPR
9
MNZ
FEA
10
MNZ
SPR
8
MRN
FEA
11
MRN
SPR
16
21st9
2013Racing EngineeringSEP
FEA
5
SEP
SPR
Ret
BHR
FEA
19
BHR
SPR
16
CAT
FEA
13
CAT
SPR
25†
MON
FEA
Ret
MON
SPR
14
SIL
FEA
8
SIL
SPR
4
NÜR
FEA
22
NÜR
SPR
12
HUN
FEA
15
HUN
SPR
21
SPA
FEA
6
SPA
SPR
2
MNZ
FEA
5
MNZ
SPR
3
MRN
FEA
Ret
MRN
SPR
12
YMC
FEA
16
YMC
SPR
10
12th62
2014CarlinBHR
FEA
2
BHR
SPR
3
CAT
FEA

4
CAT
SPR
5
MON
FEA
Ret
MON
SPR
16
RBR
FEA
13
RBR
SPR
7
SIL
FEA
5
SIL
SPR
5
HOC
FEA
16
HOC
SPR
18
HUN
FEA
Ret
HUN
SPR
15
SPA
FEA
13
SPA
SPR
10
MNZ
FEA
14
MNZ
SPR
17
SOC
FEA
9
SOC
SPR
17
YMC
FEA
12
YMC
SPR
11
10th68
2015CarlinBHR
FEA
8
BHR
SPR
5
CAT
FEA
Ret
CAT
SPR
16
MON
FEA
6
MON
SPR
5
RBR
FEA
14
RBR
SPR
22
SIL
FEA
9
SIL
SPR
12
HUN
FEA
16
HUN
SPR
15
SPA
FEA
4
SPA
SPR
11
MNZ
FEA
12
MNZ
SPR
9
SOC
FEA
SOC
SPR
BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
YMC
FEA
YMC
SPR
14th38

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

YearEntrant1234DCPoints
2011RapaxYMC
FEA
Ret
YMC
SPR
17
IMO
FEA
17
IMO
SPR
18
26th0

Complete European Le Mans Series results