Paul Belmondo

Paul Belmondo — Biography

The French racing driver Paul Belmondo is the son of the actor Jean-Paul Belmondo and the grandson of the sculptor Paul Belmondo. He raced in Formula One for March and Pacific, then turned to GT and endurance racing and founded his own team.

His career falls into three phases. The first began in 1987 with Formula 3 and Formula 3000, where he never finished in the top ten. The second is Formula One: in 1992 he joined March as a pay driver, finished ninth at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and was replaced by Emanuele Naspetti when his money ran out. In 1994 he drove for the uncompetitive Pacific team, usually behind teammate Bertrand Gachot, and qualified for only two of 16 races. In all he entered 27 Grands Prix and started seven, without scoring a point. In the third phase he moved to GT racing with a Chrysler Viper GTS-R; his Paul Belmondo Racing team ran in the FIA GT Championship and the Le Mans Endurance Series and folded in 2007.

He also raced in endurance events and rallies: he is reported to have taken part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans twelve times and in the Dakar Rally five times. On screen he appeared in Itinerary of a Spoiled Child (1988) and Les Misérables (1995), and appeared as himself in the documentary Belmondo par Belmondo (2016).