Alessandro Zanardi

Alessandro Zanardi (born 23rd October, 1966 in Bologna, Italy) is an Italian racing driver best known for his appearances in Formula One and US Open Wheel racing.

Early career

Zanardi began car racing in 1988 when he took part in Italian F3.

Zanardi graduated to Formula 3000 in late 1989 with Middlebridge Racing - where he won his first race at this level in the round at Le Mans.

Zanardi moved across to the Italian Il Barone Rampante team in 1990, initially struggling before winning two straight races at Monza & Jerez - putting the Italian firmly into the lead of the championship.

Formula One

1991-1993: Scuderia Italia

Zanardi graduated to Formula One in 1991 with the BMS Scuderia Italia team driving alongside Alex Caffi. Zanardi was plagued with reliability issues in his first season at this level but did score a impressive fifth place in the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Zanardi would stay with the team for 1992. That season, Zanardi and the team would suprise everyone in the paddock by enjoying a breakout year. A sturdy, but nimble Dallara chassis powered by the Ferrari V12 allowed Zanardi and veteran teammate and fellow countryman Andrea de Cesaris to score points with alarming regularity, culminating in the team finishing at an outstanding 5th place in the constructor's standings, tied on points with Ferrari, while Zanardi himself would finish 7th in the drivers standings.

Despite interest from many teams, most notably front runners Benetton Arrows, Zanardi suprised everyone by staying with Scuderia Italia for 1993. With Ferrari not giving them their powerplant, the team opted for Mugen-Honda engines, while Dallara returned to supply them chassis following their very successful 1992. Zanardi would end up regretting this decision, though, as the Dallara-Mugen Honda package was considedably off the pace, with the Japanese powerplant blowing up with alarming regularity.

1994: Lotus

Following Scuderia Italia's F1 outfit merging with Minardi, Zanardi opted to sign for British outfit Lotus for 1994 amidst interest from Sauber and the aformentioned Minardi.

Complete Formula One World Championship Grand Prix Results

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
1991	BMS Scuderia Italia	Dallara F191	Judd GV 3.5 V10	USA Ret	BRA Ret	PAC Ret	SMR Ret	MON 13	CAN Ret	MEX Ret	FRA Ret	GBR 15†	GER 10	HUN Ret	BEL 13	ITA Ret	POR 5	ESP 10	JPN Ret	AUS‡ Ret	20th	2
1992	Scuderia Italia	Dallara F192	Ferrari 037 3.5 V12	RSA 6	MEX 6	BRA 7	PAC 7	ESP Ret	SMR 8	MON 7	CAN Ret	FRA 8	GBR Ret	GER 6	HUN 7	BEL 6	ITA 5	POR 5	JPN Ret	AUS 5	7th	10
1993	Scuderia Italia	Dallara F193	Mugen-Honda MF-351 HB 3.5 V10	RSA 10	BRA Ret	PAC Ret	SMR 10	ESP 13	MON 12	CAN 9	FRA 14	GBR Ret	GER Ret	HUN Ret	BEL Ret	ITA 10	POR Ret	JPN Ret	AUS Ret		—	0