Biography

For the first time, Sonia decided to sit in the cockpit of a Formula car herself at the age of 9 months: at the exhibition “Road Safety”, she approached and climbed into the car.

Even then, one could guess that Sonia would like the speed. And for the first time it manifested itself on the ski track. In January 2013, one-year-old Sonia skied for the first time on a Finnish slope. The following winter, she already took lessons from professional instructors and in the spring of 2014, she confidently glided along all the slopes of the Ruka resort (Finland). Article by Lyubov Kvartina, Sonia’s coach, about her young student: http://skistop.ru/sportblock/kids/mass-media/kogda_detej_stavit_na_lyzhi1/
 

 Dad and little Sonia went skiing from the morning to the evening at least three times a week! The quantity turned into the quality. The first snowboard appeared, the first competitions and ... the first injuries. Sonia showed a sporty character. It was the end of the day, three-year-old Sonia was rushing down the slope. Slowly a man was climbing up the track, holding his snowboard in his hands. At the moment when Sonia was flying past him, he suddenly moved his board into her path. Sonia didn’t have time to maneuver - and crashed into the snowboard with her head. Of course, the girl began to cry at once, and dad was going to take her home right away. But no. “The final descent must be successful, dad! Let's go back to the top,” Sonia resolutely declared, and then with a laugh she told her mother how “that snowboarder is clumsy.” Then there were trainings in the Alps, competitions, the first freeride at the age of 4, and at the age of 5 - an invitation to the TV show “Best of All”. 

         Rollerblades, quad bike, scooter, skates, bicycle, motobike were mastered quickly and cheerfully. All this was supplemented by mental mathematics, electrical engineering and victories in dance competitions.

For the first time, Sonia got behind the wheel of a kart at the age of 6. It started with a curiosity at the birthday party of her friend in kindergarten: the children rode tricycles with a bicycle drive and handbrakes. Sonia was the only child who understood how to operate his mechanism. She was flying between the other children and, using the brakes, turned her tricycle 180 degrees. The father of the birthday boy turned out to be a racer. He invited Sonia's parents to bring her to the karting "well, to try it out ...". And on March 10, 2018, Sonia was driving a rental kart for the first time. Two weeks later, on March 24, she was a full-fledged participant in the Primo Karting races in St. Petersburg, where she immediately won her first pole position.

Two weeks later, she was given her first racing license, and the owners of Primo gifted Sonia an Exprit race kart and engine.

         

On June 22, 2018, at the invitation of the Williams team, Sonia became a guest of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in France for the first time. ...To say that Sonia went everywhere she was allowed to go is to say nothing. On the second day of the stage, Sonia disappeared for half an hour, and then returned - in a soiled dress, but with four wheel caps and two Swiss francs in her hands. The girl solemnly declared that she had earned money by washing wheels in the Haas team. 

   On the final day of the Grand Prix, Sonia's attention was drawn to a yellow stall with souvenirs. “Why is it yellow?” - she asked. “Whose helmet is this?” So Sonia learned about Ayrton Senna. On the way from the racetrack, she watched the film "Senna" without stopping. And when the movie ended, she said: “Is Monaco far? I want to get on the grid!... Senna is not dead, dad. Senna moved into me. He just covered himself with an umbrella and became invisible. But I can feel it." The plane flew home the next morning from Munich, but, of course, dad could not refuse his daughter. At one in the morning, they were in Monaco, Sonia got out of the car - just for a minute, because there was still a plane to catch in Munich - she smiled, and they rushed on. The same summer of 2018, there were her first tests in Italy - in Cecina and Sienna.

On October 6, 2018, it was raining in St. Petersburg, and Sonia had a training session. On that rainy day, a six-year-old Sonia, driving her entry level kart, confidently overtook the mini-karts for the first time. (The video is available)        

In early December of the same year, Sonia and her dad went to Lonato. The team, which promised to rent a kart for tests, could not come, and so that his daughter would not be upset, dad found an alternative in the BabyRace. The team owner Sandro Lorandi watched a video of Sonia driving in the rain and immediately made an appointment with the young racer: "Tomorrow at 8 am." That’s how Sonia's career began in Italy, in one of the best karting teams, and Sonia received the nickname Ayrton Sonia from the Italians for her love of racing in the rain...

  On December 6, 2018, Sonia was at the international meeting "Women in Motorsport", held in St.   Petersburg as part of the week of the FIA General Assembly. All the participants of that meeting were   invited to look at Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes car, which he used in Formula 1 races. Of course, the car   was fenced and no one was allowed to sit in it. But Sonia was able to convince the mechanic to let her   get into the cockpit of the car.  After sitting there for a few minutes, Sonia asked the mechanic three questions: “Where is the fuel tank? Why is there an aerodynamic floor? And why does Mercedes have 28 buttons on the steering wheel, while Ferrari has 33?” While the mechanic was thinking about the last question, Sonia gave him her version of Hamilton's secret of success: “He has less buttons! It's easier to drive!" The next day Sonia was introduced to Toto Wolf. Toto Wolf kindly passed a drawing Sonia made to Hamilton. The drawing depicted Hamilton, Senna and Sonia. 

As often happens in sports, victories follow defeats. At her first race in Italy, in May 2019, Sonia took 8th place. Athe ambitious racer was unhappy with the result, but this did not turn her away from the sport - it only motivated her to analyze mistakes and continue hard training. ...Moreover, having settled in the top ten in Italy, Sonia continued to dream of the brightest rivals. Just a year ago, she drew a cute picture for Lewis Hamilton, and in 2019 she turned to another famous racer with a challenge. She wrote a letter to Alain Prost: “Alain Prost! I want you to get behind the wheel of a kart and compete with me. Alain Prost by Ayrton Sonia. Mr. Prost received the letter later.

 

    

 

 

Soon she was already presenting an experimental electrocart of Russian design to leaders of the Rosatom. As a result of the presentation, Rosatom agreed on financing the production of 10 vehicles, and a year later they were delivered to karting tracks for use by young athletes. 

 

At the beginning of 2020, an unknown Englishman gave Sonia a racing suit replica of Ayrton Senna's uniform. In it she immediately won the pole - to the surprise of all the competing boys who were older than her. She finished third in the race that time. A week later, at another race, she came in second, and a week later, first. And, until her family left for Finland, in all indoor karting tracks in St. Petersburg, Sonia made the best lap times.

 

Also in 2020, for the birthday of Ayrton Senna on March 21, the F7 AutoMotorsport Academy with the support of BabyRace and Rosatom was preparing a racing tournament. Of course, Sonia could not miss such an event. But due to the coronavirus, all events, except for children, were canceled. It was economically unprofitable to hold a tournament without an adult team. Upon learning of this, Sonia asked her dad to use her sponsorship money for the race. Sonia took an active part in organizing the sports event: she prepared questions for the quiz, was engaged in design, and chose prizes.Finland, in all indoor karting tracks in St. Petersburg, Sonia made the best lap times. Sonia and her teammate took second place in that race.

  First podium and second place were recorded in Lonato July 20, 2020. It was dramatic final. Sonia had two accidents during the race and still got P2.

                                                                                                                                     In September 2020 Sonia achieved next podium in Lonato. 

   The next race took place in Lahti, Finland. The race was organized by Valteri Bottas's first mechanic, Mr. Tomi Talja. Sonia finished the second in dry conditions. And won the wet race on Sunday. 

 

 

 

 

 A dramatic episode for Sonia was the Trofeo Senna in Sarno in December 2020. Leading the whole weekend and winning pole position, Sonia ended up finishing only in seventh place, despite the fastest lap. Experiencing a defeat at the tournament named after her idol, the nine-year-old girl sat on the edge of an empty track for an hour and a half and did not let anyone come close, even her dad. And then she was silent in the car for another hour - until she finally said loudly and confidently: “Ok, enough of that! Dad, when is my next race? For the entire season of 2021, Sonia, having switched to mini, without qualified mechanics and a team, kept around 10th place in the Finnish championship and the Finnish IAME series, gaining experience and occasionally flying to Italy.

...Accidents on the track did not stop Ayrton Sonia. She had her first serious accident when she was 6 years old. During the race, the kart lost its steering wheel and Sonia crashed into the wall at full speed. “Dad, today I had an accident like Senna. Tell me, can I die someday, too?” she asked on the way home. Seeing the eyes of his daughter, dad realized that it would wrong to deceive her. "Yes, you can. But you can stop racing and do something else” - “No, dad. I want to win Formula 1. When is the next race?” Now, in 2021, three years later, an even more serious accident happened: in the final of the race in Lonato, Sonia was unsuccessfully attacked at the mechanic corner. A blow to her rear wheel - and both karts flew through the air about 25 meters. Sonia turned over and was pinned beneath her kart. The doctor arrived, examined Sonia, stated that she was in a satisfactory condition, and then called her dad and said: “She's asking when the next race will be. I wanted to tell you this, because this a first for me.” So, just like running into a snowboard on a slope at the age of three, and like at the age of six, after hitting a wall, Sonia again showed her strong will to continue her racing life.

...

But no matter how Sonia tried to keep herself cheerful, this accident, difficulties due to the coronavirus, and problems in the family affected her: in the end of November, having taken second position at the start in Franciacorta, Sonia had a false start - a penalty of 10 seconds and as a result, the tenth position in the final. Sonia came in fourth across the finish line, but this did not bring any joy.

     After trying WSK and showing a good time,
Sonia then got a little "lost", and we all
started again, going back to the basics -
general physical training, exercises, tests ...
And by chance, at one of the tests, Sonia
was asked to show the trajectory to a boy of
about five years old. So, Sonia met the son
of Gerhard Berger, and then the legendary
driver himself.

In the second “session” of training, Sonia, on her own initiative, changed the sequence of work: instead of just showing the trajectory, she allowed the boy to overtake her, looked where he was going wrong, and then, stepping forward, showed him the right path. As a result, Sonia managed to improve the time of little Berger, and Gerhard thanked her and invited her to the DTM. Of course, she visited several DMT races with gratitude to Gerhard.

   Together they drove along the track, visited the Senna Memorial and control room. There Sonia got acquainted with Michael, who helped her with the electric pip and many other little things. Of course, Sonia was invited to the starting greet of the main DTM race. Gerhard Berger introduced Sonia to his sister, joking, “Does Sonia want to replace the driver in this Mercedes” to which he received an answer: «If you adjust the car for me and give me at least one day of tests, then I am ready». Another story happened to Sonia on F1 in Austria in July 2022. Leaving on the table her old Senna baseball cap, Sonia went to the WC. Two gentlemen were passing by, who noticed the baseball cap and asked to whom it belonged. Having received the answer that the baseball cap belonged to a 10-year-old girl with a nickname Ayrton Sonia, the gentlemen waited for her. One of them turned out to be a physiotherapist of Senna, who worked with Ayrton until the last day of his life. Joseph Leberer devoted a lot of time to Sonia, inviting her to Alfa-Romeo boxes and showing her pitstop training... This accidental meeting wasn’t a one-time thing.  Mr. Leberer several times came to Sonia in Italy for her trainings, and Sonia was at his Austrian training center for drivers. They still remain in touch and communicate in the same language, despite the age differences.

 In 2021 there were many test days and races. Here are the results of some of them. Also in 2021, Sonia entered the Italian municipal school in Sirmione and once and for all moved to Italy from Finland, switching to remote study at her school in Helsinki. In August 2022 Sonia got the podium in Ala karting Trofeo, P3. 

       2022 and 2023 were full of racing events: February 12, 2023, Sonia got P2 at Trofeo primavera in Lonato.

 

  Ijune 3 - she won the race in Lonato.

  

                                         July 23 - she took second place in ROK Cup in Franciacorta.

                                                                   Ijune 19 - she got to try Formula X for the first time.

Sonia also has experience with the Predator Pc015.

After a two-minute briefing by Corrado Cuzi, the owner of the factory that produces the PC015, Sonia could handle the clutch and the first three laps on the track in Varano. 

 

 

    The car was rebuilt for Sonia, and as soon as she got permission to test it at the Avtodrome F 1 in Sochi on November 1-2, 2023, Sonia's lap time in the fourth circle was 2.53.30 on an unknown track. Because the track was still drying, and to Sonia's annoyance, they only let her run 4 laps. At the same time, the telemetry showed its maximum and minimum speed 235/81 km hour. About this came out an article in the newspaper Rosatom… Another PC015 vehicle was prepared in Italy by the N3M Racing team and a test plan in Italy was formed for 2024.