He is informally styled as His Imperial and Royal Highness and titled as an Prince Imperial and Archduke of Austria, Prince of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. However, the titles and honorifics are disputed due to his parents’ non-dynastic marriage; they are also unofficial as Austria is a republic with all royal titles being legally abolished in 1918.
Habsburg began his racing career at the age of 14 with the Austrian team Speedworld Academy.
He has worn racing number 62 since the beginning of his karting career.
1997
Ferdinand Zvonimir Maria Balthus Keith Michael Otto Antal Bahnam Leonhard von Habsburg-Lothringen (born 20 June 1997 ) is an Austrian motor racing driver and heir apparent to the headship of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
He is driving in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Alpine Endurance Team and European Le Mans Series with Cool Racing.
Habsburg won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class alongside Charles Milesi and Robin Frijns in 2021.
Ferdinand Habsburg was born on 20 June 1997 to Karl von Habsburg and Francesca von Habsburg.
A member of the House of Habsburg, his paternal grandparents were Otto von Habsburg, the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary, and Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen.
His maternal grandparents are Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and Fiona Campbell-Walter, descendant of the Campbell baronets of Airds – his cousin, Jamie Campbell-Walter, is also a racing driver and doubles as Habsburg's manager.
Habsburg was baptised on 20 September 1997 in Zagreb by Cardinal Franjo Kuharić.
His godparents were his uncle Georg von Habsburg; Alois-Konstantin, 9th Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg; Queen Margarita of Bulgaria; and Agnes Husslein (born Countess of Arco).
He was also given the traditional Croatian name Zvonimir.
He is the brother of Eleonore von Habsburg and Gloria von Habsburg.
His brother-in-law (Eleanore's husband) is former driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio.
2007
Ferdinand is the heir apparent to the headship of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, held by his father on 1 January 2007.
2013
He also qualified three times for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, scoring a best result of eleventh in 2013.
However, Habsburg was unable to find the form from the previous year, scoring just a lone podium at Misano and finishing 13th in the championship.
2014
In 2014 after four years spent in ROTAX Junior category, winning multiple championship titles, he switched to Rotax DD2.
In 2014, Habsburg made his début in single seaters, taking part in the Formula Renault 1.6 NEC Championship with Lechner Racing.
He finished fourth with a 100% finishing rate in 15 races.
2015
For 2015, Habsburg contested New Zealand's Toyota Racing Series in January and February 2015 with Victory Motor Racing, finishing 11th in the championship and 5th in the rookie class with two podium finishes.
For 2015, Habsburg decided to switch to the Formula Renault Northern European Cup with Fortec Motorsports.
Habsburg made his debut in the Euroformula Open Championship in the 2015 season finale at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where he finished both races in the top ten.
The following year Habsburg committed to the series full-time, racing for Drivex School.
Having lost ground to the more experienced title-favourite Leonardo Pulcini during the first few rounds, Habsburg was able to achieve his first race win in the series at the Circuit Paul Ricard.
He followed that up by scoring seven podiums across the five remaining rounds, which included a win in Barcelona, and finished second in the standings, with twelve podiums from just 16 races to his credit.
2016
He would return to the series with Giles Motorsport for 2016 and finished fourth in the championship behind Lando Norris, Jehan Daruvala and Brendon Leitch with four podium finishes, which included his first win in car racing in the season opener at Mike Pero Motorsport Park.
2017
Habsburg contested his final season in the series in 2017, this time driving for M2 Competition.
The Austrian finished the campaign in eighth place, scoring two podiums.
For 2017, Habsburg stepped up to the FIA European F3 Championship, racing for Carlin.
He had a highly successful season, taking four podiums and a first series win at Spa.
However his most impressive drive came in the end of year Macau Grand Prix.
In the main race, he battled hard for the lead with Brazilian Sérgio Sette Câmara, but was unable to pass.
On the final lap, Habsburg took the lead around the outside of the final corner at Fisherman's Bend, but braked too late and understeered into the barriers on the exit of the corner, with Sette Câmara doing exactly the same thing, handing the race win to Câmara's teammate Dan Ticktum.
Habsburg eventually limped across the line fourth despite broken front suspension.
Nonetheless, the Austrian would gain much praise from both his team boss and journalists for his final lap maneuver, along with his great season as a whole.
2018
He returned to the series in 2018 with Carlin, this time partnering Jehan Daruvala, Sacha Fenestraz, Nikita Troitskiy and Ameya Vaidyanathan.
He scored two points finishes in Circuit Zolder and the Norisring and ended up 18th in the driver's championship.
2019
Having only raced in the first five rounds in the series with a best finish of fifth at his home event at the Red Bull Ring, the Austrian ended up 19th in the standings.
In 2019, Habsburg signed for R-Motorsport II to race the Aston Martin Vantage DTM in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
