Sami Seliö is a Finnish powerboat racer and two-time Formula 1 Powerboat World Champion.
Education
By the mid 1990s he had progressed up the classes and in 1996 finished third overall in the Formula 4 World Championship. Over the following years Seliö gained experience and in 2005 enjoyed his best season to date as he finished second in the championship.
Career
Seliö races for the Mad Croc BaBa Racing Team and has competed in the series since 1998. In 1998 he made his debut in Formula 1 and a string of points finishes brought with it the award for 1998. The 2007 season began a sequence of four consecutive years where Seliö never ended lower than third in the championship.
In his title defence year of 2008, he finished runner-up and he slipped one place to third at the end of 2009.
The 2010 season would see Seliö clinch his second world title, again coming from behind in the points, this time to beat Jay Price, at the final race of the year. In October 2011 in Liuzhou, China, Seliö lost control of his boat at 200 km/h and was concussed, broke his ribs and coccyx, and his right eye developed a hematoma.
He missed the final two races of the season, but was able to return in time for 2012, where he eventually finished fourth overall. In 2013 Seliö would also finish fourth at the end of the season but entered the final race leading the championship.
Having crashed out of qualifying he started well down the field and a retirement in the race meant no points, and the chance at a third title was lost.
Complete Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship results 1 The 1999 Grand Prix of Russia was halted after 12 laps with results annulled and no points awarded. 2 The starting grid for the 1999 Grand Prix of Turkey was formed on the basis of current championship standings following the İzmit earthquake, with the race held as planned on Sunday 22 August. 3 The 1999 Grand Prix of Austria was stopped after seven laps, with the results taken from the completion of the seventh lap, and no points awarded.
4 The 2004 Grand Prix of of Korea was run under the "match race" format, and the event thus did not count towards the final championship standings and no points were awarded.
5 The 2005 Grand Prix of Singapore was halted after 18 laps, with half points awarded.