William Alatalo

William Alatalo
William Alatalo
	Alatalo at the Red Bull Ring in 2022
Nationality	Finnish
Born	19 April 2002 (age 22); Ilmajoki, Finland
FIA Formula 3 Championship career
Debut season	2022
Racing licence	FIA Silver
Former teams	Jenzer Motorsport
Starts	18 (18 entries)
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	18th in 2022
Previous series
2021; 2020; 2018-19; 2017	FR European Championship; Formula Renault Eurocup; Italian F4 Championship; Formula STCC Nordic

William Alatalo (born 19 April 2002) is a Finnish-Ethiopian^[1] racing driver from Ilmajoki who most recently raced for Jenzer Motorsport in the FIA Formula 3 Championship.^[2]

Career[edit]

Karting[edit]

Alatalo started karting in 2009. He had a successful karting career winning the Finnish championship in Cadet (2010), Raket (2014) and OKJ classes (2016).

Formula STCC Nordic[edit]

In 2017, Alatalo made his single-seater debut in Formula STCC Nordic with Kart In Club Driving Academy. Alatalo won one race at Anderstorp and finished the season 5th with 142 points.

Italian F4 Championship[edit]

Alatalo moved to the Italian F4 Championship for 2018 where he spent two years driving for Mücke Motorsport.^[3] The two seasons in Italy netted him one win and another podium finish in 42 races.

Formula Renault Eurocup[edit]

In 2020 Alatalo contested the Formula Renault Eurocup driving for JD Motorsport.^[4] He achieved two podiums and a pole position during the season and finished 8th in the standings with 92 points.

Formula Regional European Championship[edit]

2021[edit]

The following year, Alatalo moved to Arden Motorsport, partnering Alex Quinn and Nicola Marinangeli in the Formula Regional European Championship.^[5] His campaign proved to be consistent, with Alatalo finishing every race and being outside of the top ten on only seven occasions. The Finn's best result would end up being a third place at the Circuit Paul Ricard, and he finished the season in eleventh place, two positions behind Quinn.

2022[edit]

Alatalo was called up to replace Santiago Ramos at the season finale in Mugello with KIC Motorsport, a month after the final round of Alatalo's F3 season.^[6]

FIA Formula 3 Championship[edit]

In 2022 Alatalo made the step-up to the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Jenzer Motorsport, having taken part in a number of test days with the Swiss team in the winter. Upon the announcement of his signing, Alatalo commented that this move brought him "one step closer to [his] dream".^[7] He managed to score a points in the first feature race at Bahrain, and followed that up with another point in the next feature race in Imola, benefiting from a penalty for Ollie Bearman. The Finnish driver then went on a points-scoring drought lasting five races, until he managed to collect four points in tricky weather conditions at the Red Bull Ring. Two point-less races in Budapest would come before a fruitful weekend at Spa: there, Alatalo took points in both races, ending up sixth on Saturday and seventh in the feature race. Despite this, a mistake at the restart of the sprint race, where he went into the gravel and lost four positions, cost him a chance at a higher position, which Alatalo took full blame for and described as having been "quite rubbish".^[8] A disappointing round at Zandvoort followed, where the Finn caused a premature end to qualifying after a crash in turn 3, but he would score a best qualifying result of seventh in the final round at Monza, which he called "a good way to end the last qualifying of the season".^[9] Alatalo had more points than either his teammates Ido (2 pts) or Malvestiti (0 pts), scoring 24 points and thus finishing 18th in the standings.

Personal life[edit]

Alatalo goes to school at Kuortaneen urheilulukio.^[4] He was born to an Ethiopian mother and Finnish father.^[10]

Karting record[edit]

Karting career summary[edit]

Season	Series	Team	Position
2013	Finnish Cup — Raket		5th
2014	Rotax Max Challenge Finland — Mini Max		26th
2014	Finnish Junior Championship — Raket		1st
2015	South Garda Winter Cup — KFJ	Mad-Croc Karting	DNF
	Göteborgs Stora Pris — KF3		7th
	Finnish Cup Championship — KFJ		7th
	CIK-FIA European Championship — KFJ		46th
	CIK-FIA World Championship — KFJ		28th
2016	WSK Champions Cup — OKJ	Mad-Croc Karting	32nd
	South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ		NC
	X30 Challenge Europa — X30 Junior		23rd
	Finnish Championship — OKJ		1st
	German Karting Championship — OKJ		46th
	WSK Super Master Series — OKJ	Mad-Croc Karting	35th
	CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ	RB Racing	27th
	WSK Final Cup — OKJ		18th
	CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ		33rd
2017	WSK Champions Cup — OK	CRG SpA	14th
2017	South Garda Winter Cup — OK		31st

Complete CIK-FIA Karting European Championship results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	DC	Points
2015	Mad-Croc Karting	KFJ	PRT QH 44	SAR R DNQ	PFI QH 45	PFI R DNQ	KRI QH 35	KRI R DNQ							46th	0
2016	RB Racing	OKJ	ZUE QH 25	ZUE PF 10	ZUE R 31	ADR QH 35	ADR PF 17	ADR R 13	PRT QH 23	PRT PF 16	PRT R 33	GEN QH 31	GEN PF 9	GEN R 17	27th	23

Racing record[edit]

Racing career summary[edit]

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2017	Formula STCC Nordic	Kart in Club Driving Academy	13	1	0	1	4	142	5th
2017–18	Formula 4 UAE Championship	Mücke Motorsport	8	2	0	0	4	104	9th
2018	Italian F4 Championship	BWT Mücke Motorsport	21	1	0	0	2	108	8th
2019	Italian F4 Championship	BWT Mücke Motorsport	21	0	0	2	0	118	9th
	ADAC Formula 4 Championship	ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg	3	0	0	0	2	43	16th
	FIA Motorsport Games Formula 4 Cup	Team Finland	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	3rd
2020	Formula Renault Eurocup	JD Motorsport	20	0	1	0	2	92	8th
2021	Formula Regional European Championship	Arden Motorsport	20	0	0	0	1	91	11th
2022	FIA Formula 3 Championship	Jenzer Motorsport	18	0	0	0	0	24	18th
2022	Formula Regional European Championship	KIC Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2023	Italian GT Championship - GT3	AKM Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC†

† As he was a guest driver, Alatalo was ineligible to score points.

Complete Formula STCC Nordic results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos	Points
2017	Kart in Club Driving Academy	KNU 1 8	KNU 2 9	ALA 1 4	ALA 2 DNS	RUD 1 3	RUD 2 4	FAL 1 5	FAL 2 Ret	KAR 1 2	KAR 2 5	AND 1 6	AND 2 1	MAN 1 5	MAN 2 3	5th	142

Complete Italian F4 Championship results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	Pos	Points
2018	BWT Mücke Motorsport	ADR 1 9	ADR 2 Ret	ADR 3 Ret	LEC 1 26	LEC 2 32	LEC 3 13	MNZ 1 4	MNZ 2 1	MNZ 3 2	MIS 1 12	MIS 2 13	MIS 3 6	IMO 1 8	IMO 2 19	IMO 3 Ret	VLL 1 5	VLL 2 7	VLL 3 6	MUG 1 4	MUG 2 10	MUG 3 12		8th	108
2019	BWT Mücke Motorsport	VLL 1 8	VLL 2 6	VLL 3 Ret	MIS 1 6	MIS 2 9	MIS 3 C	HUN 1 4	HUN 2 13	HUN 3 5	RBR 1 4	RBR 2 5	RBR 3 6	IMO 1 6	IMO 2 Ret	IMO 3 Ret	IMO 4 14	MUG 1 9	MUG 2 7	MUG 3 8	MNZ 1 4	MNZ 2 4	MNZ 3 22	9th	118

Complete FIA Motorsport Games results[edit]

Year	Entrant	Cup	Qualifying	Quali Race	Main race
2019	Team Finland	Formula 4	10th	5th	3rd

Complete Formula Renault Eurocup results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pos	Points
2020	JD Motorsport	MNZ 1 Ret	MNZ 2 5	IMO 1 3	IMO 2 2	NÜR 1 5	NÜR 2 Ret	MAG 1 9	MAG 2 8	ZAN 1 11	ZAN 2 10	CAT 1 12	CAT 2 8	SPA 1 9‡	SPA 2 9	IMO 1 8	IMO 2 9	HOC 1 7	HOC 2 9	LEC 1 11	LEC 2 7	8th	92

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2021	Arden Motorsport	IMO 1 6	IMO 2 5	CAT 1 6	CAT 2 7	MCO 1 8	MCO 2 14	LEC 1 9	LEC 2 3	ZAN 1 12	ZAN 2 4	SPA 1 9	SPA 2 10	RBR 1 8	RBR 2 15	VAL 1 13	VAL 2 13	MUG 1 4	MUG 2 16	MNZ 1 14	MNZ 2 9	11th	91
2022	KIC Motorsport	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	IMO 1	IMO 2	MCO 1	MCO 2	LEC 1	LEC 2	ZAN 1	ZAN 2	HUN 1	HUN 2	SPA 1	SPA 2	RBR 1	RBR 2	CAT 1	CAT 2	MUG 1 22	MUG 2 26	NC†	0

† As Alatalo was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	DC	Points
2022	Jenzer Motorsport	BHR SPR 11	BHR FEA 9	IMO SPR 15	IMO FEA 10	CAT SPR 15	CAT FEA 12	SIL SPR 19	SIL FEA 16	RBR SPR Ret	RBR FEA 8	HUN SPR 16	HUN FEA 16	SPA SPR 6	SPA FEA 7	ZAN SPR 30	ZAN FEA Ret	MNZ SPR 14	MNZ FEA 7	18th	24

References[edit]

^ "William Alatalo interview with etv". YouTube. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
^ "A-MAAJOUKKUE Nuorten A-maajoukkue".
^ "Mücke Motorsport at the Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth with three drivers". Tkart. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Formulalupaus William Alatalo siirtyy Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup -sarjaan". Moottoriurheilu.tv (in Finnish). 18 December 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
^ Koivunen, Tommi (11 April 2021). "Suomalaislupaus William Alatalo, 18, kisaa ensi kertaa F1-viikonloppuna – "Onhan se nyt ihan törkeän siistiä"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 February 2022.
^ Wood, Ida (20 October 2022). "F3 racer Alatalo joins FREC finale, Bortoleto tops testing". Formula Scout. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
^ "Jenzer Motorsport sign rookie Alatalo for 2022". FIAFormula3 - The Official F3 Website. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
^ "Alatalo frustrated at losing out after restart error despite best-ever F3 result". FIAFormula3 - The Official F3 Website. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
^ Series, F1 Feeder (2022-09-10). "Martí and Alatalo score best qualifying results at Monza: 'It's a good way to end'". F1 Feeder Series. Retrieved 2022-09-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Raja-Aho, Juuso (8 March 2022). "Ilmajoen formulatähti uuteen sarjaan – William Alataloa odottaa iso yleisö Bahrainissa". Epari [fi] (in Finnish). Ilkka-Yhtymä. Retrieved 18 January 2023. Alatalon isä on suomalainen ja äiti etiopialainen.

External links[edit]

Official website
William Alatalo career summary at DriverDB.com

[1] "William Alatalo interview with etv". YouTube. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2021.

[2] "A-MAAJOUKKUE Nuorten A-maajoukkue".

[3] "Mücke Motorsport at the Italian F4 Championship Powered by Abarth with three drivers". Tkart. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2020.

[moottoriurheilu-4] "Formulalupaus William Alatalo siirtyy Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup -sarjaan". Moottoriurheilu.tv (in Finnish). 18 December 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.

[5] Koivunen, Tommi (11 April 2021). "Suomalaislupaus William Alatalo, 18, kisaa ensi kertaa F1-viikonloppuna – "Onhan se nyt ihan törkeän siistiä"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 12 February 2022.

[6] Wood, Ida (20 October 2022). "F3 racer Alatalo joins FREC finale, Bortoleto tops testing". Formula Scout. Retrieved 21 October 2022.

[7] "Jenzer Motorsport sign rookie Alatalo for 2022". FIAFormula3 - The Official F3 Website. Retrieved 2022-02-12.

[8] "Alatalo frustrated at losing out after restart error despite best-ever F3 result". FIAFormula3 - The Official F3 Website. Retrieved 2022-08-28.

[9] Series, F1 Feeder (2022-09-10). "Martí and Alatalo score best qualifying results at Monza: 'It's a good way to end'". F1 Feeder Series. Retrieved 2022-09-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[10] Raja-Aho, Juuso (8 March 2022). "Ilmajoen formulatähti uuteen sarjaan – William Alataloa odottaa iso yleisö Bahrainissa". Epari [fi] (in Finnish). Ilkka-Yhtymä. Retrieved 18 January 2023. Alatalon isä on suomalainen ja äiti etiopialainen.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]