Giovanna Amati

Giovanna Amati (born 20th July, 1959 in Rome, Italy) is an Italian former racing driver best known for her appearances in Formula One.

The daughter of a cinema magnate, Amati grew up in rather opulent surroundings which eventually saw her being kidnapped outside her family's villa by a French mobster at the age of 18. Amati remained in custody of the kidnappers for over two months in a wooden cage and was eventually released when her father paid the near $1 million ransom using the box office receipts from the first Star Wars film.

After a number of unremarkable appearances in Formula 3000, Amati made her F1 debut in 1990 when she signed for the Coloni team. Unfortunately for her and teammate Paolo Barilla, Coloni were woefully uncompetitive and struggled to pre-qualify all season. She would then get a second chance at the sport in 1992 for the Brabham team. She would fail to qualify for the opening round in South Africa by over 4 seconds and was dismissed from the team almost immediately after the race.

Following her F1 career she began racing in Sportscars and eventually becoming a motorsport reporter for various Italian publications.

Complete Formula One 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
1990	Barilla Subaru Coloni SpA	Coloni C2	Subaru 1235 3.5 F12	USA DNPQ	BRA DNPQ	PAC DNPQ	SMR DNPQ	MON DNPQ	CAN DNPQ	MEX DNPQ	FRA DNPQ	GBR DNPQ	GER DNPQ	HUN DNPQ	BEL DNPQ	ITA DNPQ	POR DNPQ	JPN DNPQ	AUS DNPQ		—	0
1992	Motor Racing Developments	Brabham BT57B	Ilmor 2175A 3.5 V10	RSA DNQ	MEX	BRA	PAC	ESP	SMR	MON	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	JPN	AUS	—	0