Adrien Simon
Adrien Simon
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Adrien Simon (born 21 April 1986) is a French virtual racing driver who competed in Formula Virtual from 2013 until 2022 when he retired, having spent his entire FV career driving for Mathershaw under their various guises. Simon is one of the most successful drivers in Formula Virtual history and won the World Championship in 2016, becoming the first ever Frenchman to do so. Simon has the fourth-most race victories (26), podium finishes (69), and pole positions (22).
Simon currently competes in the 2024 Virtual Porsche Cup for his eponymous team, ASM by Mathershaw Technology, where he is also the team manager.
Personal life
Simon was born on 21 April 1986 in Bordeaux, France.
He is married to Aurélie Simon and together they have two children; Hugo and Amélie.
Early career
Formula Virtual career (2013-2022)
Mathershaw (2013)
In Formula Virtual's first season, the 2013 Formula Virtual World Championship, Simon was signed by Arthur Lapierre and Robert Mathershaw to drive for the Mathershaw-Mercedes team with teammate Karl Beckenbauer alongside him.
2013
Already in the second race of the season in Malaysia he was able to claim a podium in the race thanks to his strong pace over the weekend. He finished 5.8s behind Franklin-Honda driver Powers.
At the Canadian V-Prix, Simon was able to win his first race and finished first in just under 5 seconds, ahead of the two Franklin drivers. At the Italian V-Prix, too, Simon was able to win from second place on the grid.
The remainder of his season was characterized by consistent top ten placements, only failing to make it into the top ten three times, including two times by retiring from the race.
He ended the season in fifth place in the drivers' standings as the best of the rest, more than 60 points ahead of Puccio Giodano in sixth place.
Liverpool (2014-2015)
For the 2014 season, Simon stayed with the Mathershaw team, which from that season was called Liverpool. Also this season was his teammate Karl Beckenbauer, who would prove to be a bigger competitor for Simon this year than the year before.
2014
In the first race of the season, Simon clinched his first pole of his career. However, he was only able to finish 17th in the race due to traffic and an incident, while his teammate won the race.
As in the previous year, he was able to win the Canadian V-Prix ahead of his teammate Beckenbauer. He was also able to pull in his first hat-trick on a race weekend. Previously only Will Hoskins, Jean Mattson and Carson Davenport were able to do this.
At the Italian V-Prix he dominated all weekend and also managed to pull off a hat-trick here, his second of the season.
In Japan, after a good qualifying session and starting second, he was able to celebrate his fifth victory of his career, as pole setter Enrique Ruiz dropped out due to a damaged gearbox.
He was able to continue his consistency throughout the year, but mid-season failures and incidents caused him major problems and made a chance of winning the drivers' title almost impossible. He ended the season only in fourth place behind both Franklin drivers and teammate Beckenbauer.
2015
In 2015, the first test sessions already indicated that Franklin would dominate. So Simon and his teammate Beckenbauer started with a Liverpool that was good enough for the front of the field, but couldn't quite keep up with the leaders.
Simon felt this directly at the first V-Prix in Melbourne, where he secured second place but finished more than 25 seconds behind the winner Ruiz. Two more podiums followed in the first half of the season, in Spain and France. He also clinched his only pole of the season at his home race in France. However, due to the strong performances of Puccio Giodano and Elroy Wagner, he only finished third.
Another highlight was the German V-Prix in Hockenheim. Simon dominated teammate Beckenbauer over the entire weekend, took third place in qualifying and finished the race in second place. Along with the Australian V-Prix, this was his best result of the season.
For the rest of the season, he was able to lead himself to a solid final placement thanks to his very consistent point finishes. He only failed to score twice, one of which being his retirement at the Belgian V-Prix.
In the end it was enough for fourth place, almost 100 points behind World Champion Elroy Wagner.
DS Mathershaw (2016-2019)
For the 2016 season, Mathershaw Technology ended their partnership with Liverpool and got a new partner in DS Automobiles. Simon remained with the team and was joined by his new rookie teammate, Olen Inman.
2016
This year saw DS Mathershaw produce a strong package and Simon would be a strong contender for the title.
After a botched start to the season due to a collision in Australia, six podiums followed in the next seven races, including four wins.
The negative highlight of the season was the disqualification in the Netherlands, which was caused by continuing to drive without a rear wing. It was also surprising that teammate Inman was only three points behind championship leader Simon at the halfway point in the season. Throughout the season, both fought a close race for the top spot.
The exciting finale of the season was made even more exciting by Simon's poor race weekend in Portugal, which saw Inman in the lead of the World Championship going into the final race. It meant Simon had to see the chequered flag before Inman to become World Champion. He did so in a thrilling Brazilian V-Prix, winning the final race ahead of teammate Inman and crowning himself the 2016 World Champion by two points.
Adrien Simon was the first Frenchman to celebrate this success and also, up to that point, the oldest rider to become World Champion - at 30 years old.
2017
World Champion Simon drove for DS Mathershaw again in 2017, his team-mate was rookie Allar Kangur after Olen Inman joined FUN a few weeks before the start of the season.
DS Mathershaw and Simon wanted to build on the great successes of 2016 this season, but their biggest competitor was Downton, who after two years in the lower midfield were now at the top.
In the first races there was a lot of promise for this season, with five podiums from the first seven races, but it quickly became clear that Downton had the better consistency this year and therefore had to agree on smaller successes.
The highlight of the season was the Malaysian V-Prix, the second race of the season. Simon was only seventh in qualifying yet surprisingly won the race thanks to his driving skills and a good strategy.
In the middle of the season problems spread and had to end the race two out of three times prematurely. In addition, teammate Kangur didn't have the same consistency as Simon throughout the season, so he was sometimes alone in the duel against both Downton drivers.
Nevertheless, he won in Turkey. Already in qualifying he was able to outperform rookie Klaas van Snelheid in the Downton thanks to a strong performance and started from second place behind Nathaniel Powers. In the race he finally prevailed against Powers in the Downton by just 0.6 seconds. This was his second win of the season.
In the end, neither DS Mathershaw had a chance against Downton. Simon finished the season in third place behind van Snelheid and the new World Champion Nathaniel Powers, who won the World Championship just two points ahead of rookie van Snelheid.
2018
Simon drove for DS Mathershaw again in 2018, signing a 1-year contract extension with the French team. This marked his sixth season with Mathershaw and the longest driver-team bond in FV history.
Like in 2017, Simon's teammate was Allar Kangur, who was allowed to drive for the French team for another year due to positive development. Simon's ambitions were clear: both World Championships should be won.
Right at the start of the season, Simon set an example and took pole in Australia, later winning the race.
Nevertheless, problems with the vehicle caused the DS Mathershaw issues throughout the season. Simon had to retire three times over the course of the season, teammate Allar Kangur four times.
But also the big rival Downton, especially Nathaniel Powers had a few bad races, so Simon was in first place at the Mexico V-Prix with a gap of 25 points to second placed Allar Kangur. Drama happened in Mexico: Simon was on pole for the race but later had to retire. Teammate Kangur won the race with Powers second.
So before the last race in Brazil, three drivers still had the chance to become World Champion: Nathaniel Powers, Allar Kangur and Adrien Simon.
In Brazil however, everything went wrong. Simon and Kangur messed up qualifying, and in the end Simon only managed eighth place in the race. Not enough for the title as Powers finished second behind his teammate. Ultimately, Simon missed out on the World Championship by five points. Disappointed, he ended the season with five poles, five wins and nine podiums, but again only in third place overall.
2019
As in the previous year, the mission in 2019 was: World Championship title number two. Simon stayed with DS Mathershaw again with a 1-year contract and, in Kangur, Simon had a capable teammate who was also able to challenge Simon in races.
In the first race in Australia Simon took pole, but this year the revived Franklin came back to the top with World Champion Enrique Ruiz. Ruiz also won the first V-Prix of the season, Simon didn't make it into the points due to problems in the race.
In the second race in Japan he fought back from a weak start in Australia. He started the race from fifth place, in the end Simon won the race in front of his teammate. Two more podium finishes followed.
However, at DS Mathershaw it was quickly noticed that they were only third in the field behind Downton and Franklin. Simon's consistency was enough for a few consecutive fourth and fifth place finishes.
In the last four races of the season he was able to prove his class again, winning two of the races - in Italy and Brazil.
In the end, with 190 points, three wins and six podiums, he finished fourth in the overall standings with a clear lead over teammate Kangur.
Porsche Mathershaw (2020-2022)
In 2020, the Porsche Team Mathershaw was founded through a partnership between Porsche in Formula Virtual and Mathershaw Technology. Despite the failures of the last three years, Simon extended his contract for another year and became a works driver for Porsche from this season.
2020
A new teammate also joined him in the form of two-time World Champion Enrique Ruiz. It became clear to Simon that he would now effectively take on the role of number two driver, although this was never confirmed by the team.
Long-term rivals Downton were very strong again this year and the favourites for both titles.
Simon was able to consistently achieve good podium finishes and points, but for the first time since 2015 he was unable to win a race this season. He finished second five times and third twice. He retired three times during the season, but still finished fourth overall, well behind his teammate and both Downton drivers.
2021
The 2021 season was Simon's second year as a Porsche Mathershaw driver and his ninth season overall with the team. His teammate for this year was once again Enrique Ruiz.
During pre-season testing, it was already noticeable that the gap between Downton and Porsche Mathershaw was increasing, so the chance of winning the title seemed very low once again at the beginning of the season.
2021 was Simon's worst year in his Formula Virtual career; he couldn't win again and his best result was second place three times. His teammate Ruiz also had problems, but Simon didn't manage to score points on his own three times.
In the Constructors' Championship, too, they ended up well behind Downton. Ultimately, Simon finished fifth overall behind both Downtons, Ruiz and ex-teammate Allar Kangur.
2022
The 2022 season was Simon's tenth season with the team. After a few unsuccessful years, people definitely expected more from the partnership with Porsche. His teammate for this season was still Ruiz, who clearly had the upper hand over Simon in the internal duel in the last two years.
2022 made for an exciting World Championship as Porsche Mathershaw and Downton were evenly matched and either race could have been won by any of the four drivers. This season would also prove to be a strong one for Simon after the frustrating past few years. Especially in the second half of the season he built on the successes of the past days and finished on the podium seven times in eight races.
In the end he ended up third for the first time since 2018. Simon got three poles, five wins and eight podiums this season.
On August 13, 2022, Simon announced his retirement. This makes him the only driver to date who spent the whole of his career with a single team. One of the reasons for his resignation was his family, with whom he wished to spend more time in the future.
He also announced that he would be a representative of the FVA's safety campaign after the season.
In total, from 2013 to 2022, he won 26 times in 168 races, took pole position 22 times and stood on the podium a total of 69 times. With 1908 points, he is the most successful Frenchman in FV history to date.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team Name | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Formula Virtual | Barclays AMG Mathershaw Technology | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 157 | 5th |
| 2014 | Formula Virtual | Liverpool V-Prix Racing | 17 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 186 | 4th |
| 2015 | Formula Virtual | Liverpool V-Prix Racing | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 154 | 4th |
| 2016 | Formula Virtual | DS Automobiles Team Mathershaw | 18 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 243 | 1st |
| 2017 | Formula Virtual | DS Automobiles Team Mathershaw | 18 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 191 | 3rd |
| IndyVirtual | Signature Performance | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 188 | 22nd | |
| IndyVirtual Triple Crown | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 188 | 3rd | ||
| 2018 | Formula Virtual | DS Automobiles Team Mathershaw | 18 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 236 | 3rd |
| 2019 | Formula Virtual | Red Bull DS Automobiles Team Mathershaw | 17 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 190 | 4th |
| 2020 | Formula Virtual | Coca-Cola Porsche Team Mathershaw | 16 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 188 | 4th |
| 2021 | Formula Virtual | Coca-Cola Porsche Team Mathershaw | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 130 | 5th |
| 2022 | Formula Virtual | Coca-Cola Porsche Team Mathershaw | 16 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 233 | 3rd |
| 2024 | VPC | ASM by Mathershaw Technology | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 111* | 8th* |
* Season in progress.
Complete Formula Virtual results
(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
* Season in progress.
IndyVirtual Triple Crown results
| Year | Team | Manufacturer | JPN | MON | CAL | Pos. | Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q | R | Q | R | Q | R | |||||
| 2017 | Signature Performance | Chevrolet | 9 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 15 | 8 | 3rd | 188 |
Complete IndyVirtual results
(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap; results with * indicate most laps led)
| Year | Team | Manufacturer | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Signature Performance | Chevrolet | FLO |
DAY |
JPN 3 |
SUR |
IND |
CAN |
SEB |
INDY |
MON 4 |
FRA |
GBR |
GER |
RSA |
NYC |
LBH |
CAL 8 |
AUS |
MAC |
22nd | 188 |
Complete VPC results
(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | ASM by Mathershaw Technology | GBR 1 6 |
GBR 2 2 |
TUR 1 3 |
TUR 2 6 |
ITA 1 7 |
ITA 2 6 |
GER 1 8 |
GER 2 30 |
USA 1 19 |
USA 2 30 |
ARG 1 |
ARG 2 |
NED 1 |
NED 2 |
FRA 1 |
FRA 2 |
8th* | 111* |
* Season in progress.
