Rafael Câmara Haas Formula 1 debut Brazilian Grand Prix, Digi Mart USA News (Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil): Brazilian driver Rafael Câmara will make his Formula 1 debut with Haas at the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix. His journey in motorsport began in karting and led him to the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Rafael Chaves Câmara was born on May 5, 2005, in the Recife region of Pernambuco, Brazil. He started karting at age six, after a friend of his father, Amaro, enrolled his son at a karting track and invited the family to the circuit.
The experience sparked his father’s interest, and his older brother, Gabriel, began karting before leaving the sport after roughly 18 months.
Rafael had followed his brother’s experience closely and asked his father for permission to drive a kart. Amaro agreed once Rafael reached six, the minimum age for karting.
A few months later, the young Câmara was taking his first laps at the Kartódromo do Tamboril. His maternal grandmother, Niege Rossiter, was one of the first women to compete in official racing in Brazil around 1960.
At age 12, Câmara moved to Italy to continue his racing career while combining competition with school, using virtual classes to keep up with his studies. During those years he lived alongside Gabriel Bortoleto, who became his friend.
Both drivers are now set to share the track in Formula 1, with Câmara at Haas and Bortoleto at Audi.
In Italy, Câmara won the WSK Champions Cup 2021 and the WSK Super Masters Series. He finished second in the CIK-FIA European Championship, behind Kimi Antonelli, and won the Champions of the Future event in Belgium.
These results led to support from Escudería Telmex, with which he competed in the SFDA World Finals, and he was later admitted to the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Câmara’s rise continued through Formula 4 in Italy and the United Arab Emirates and the German series, where he recorded nine wins in one season. After another year in Formula Regional, he moved up to Formula 3 with Trident in 2025 and won that championship with four victories and five poles.
In 2026 he stepped up to Formula 2 with Invicta Racing.
With two rounds remaining, Câmara leads the Formula 2 drivers’ standings with 207 points, seven ahead of Nikola Tsolov at 200 points. Haas had already confirmed him as a race driver for 2027, but the departure of Esteban Ocon brought his Formula 1 debut forward.
He will make his debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix, in front of his family and home crowd.
