Nicolas Minassian (Armenian: ; born 28 February 1973) is a French professional racing driver of Armenian descent.
After finishing second place in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, Marseille-born Minassian graduated to the French Formula Three Championship where he finished runner-up to countryman Laurent Redon at his second attempt in 1995. He then moved to the British series for another two years in a successful partnership with Promatecme and Renault UK that yielded a fourth place in 1996 and second place the following year.
Minassian graduated to Formula 3000 with West Competition for 1998, but failed to impress whilst his teammate Nick Heidfeld mounted a strong challenge for overall honours. The following year, he moved to Kid Jensen Racing where he enjoyed more success, including an emphatic lights-to-flag triumph at Silverstone. He signed for the illustrious Super Nova Racing team in 2000 where he came a strong second in the championship.
Unable to secure a Formula One drive despite promising tests for Williams and BAR Honda, Minassian moved to CART in 2001 for Target Chip Ganassi Racing with F3000 title adversary Bruno Junqueira and competed in the Indianapolis 500 before being released. In 2002, Minassian won the ASCAR oval racing series for RML Group before returning to endurance racing for such teams as Creation Autosportif and Pescarolo Sport.
In 2007, Minassian became a factory driver for the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP diesel LMP1 in the Le Mans Series. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the brand until 2011, scoring two overall podiums and a fastest lap. After Peugeot's programme ended, Minassian raced in the FIA WEC's LMP2 class for the AF CorseâÂÂrun PeCom and SMP Racing teams.
In 2013, Minassian was named by Autosport as one of the top 50 drivers who never raced in Formula One.
In 2018, Minassian was appointed sporting director of fledgling LMP2 team IDEC Sport, and guided it to the 2019 European Le Mans Series title before stepping up to the role of team principal in 2021.
In 2019, Minassian founded a management company together with his former team-mate Jamie Campbell-Walter and MarÃÂa Catarineu, Bullet Sports Management, which represents the likes of Ferdinand Habsburg, Franco Colapinto, Oliver Goethe and Rui Andrade.
() (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
() (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
()
+ Not Eligible for points
() (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)