Ivan Capelli
|
|||||||||
| Nation: |
 Italy
|
||||||||
| Formula 1 world championship | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First start: | 1985 European Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Last start: | 1993 Grand Prix of South Africa | ||||||||
| Constructors | |||||||||
| 1985 Tyrrell 1986 AGS 1987–1991 March 1992 Ferrari 1993 Jordan | |||||||||
| statistics | |||||||||
| World Cup balance: | Seventh World Cup ( 1988 ) | ||||||||
|
|||||||||
| World Cup points : | 31 | ||||||||
| Podiums : | 3 | ||||||||
| Leadership laps : | 48 over 185.07 km | ||||||||
Ivan Franco Capelli (born May 24, 1963 in Milan ) is a former Italian racing driver who competed in Formula 1 from 1985 to 1993 .
Career
Ivan Capelli began his career as a kart driver at the age of 15. Four years later he switched to the Italian Formula 3 championship . He won that championship in 1983 after dominating the season with nine wins. Together with the Coloni team , he switched to the European series , which he also won in 1984.
In 1985 Capelli started in the European Formula 3000 Championship with Genoa Racing March and was able to win a race. On October 6, 1985 he made his Formula 1 debut as a driver for the Tyrrell team. His best result this year was fourth in Australia .
A year later he was able to win the Formula 3000 European Championship. He also drove for BMW in the European Touring Car Championship and contested several races for the AGS team in Formula 1 .
In 1987 Ivan Capelli played his first full season in Formula 1 at Leyton House-March and in 1988 came second behind Alain Prost at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril . The 1988 March was built by chief designer Adrian Newey , who was responsible for the Williams and McLaren world championship cars in the mid and late 1990s . The car was characterized by excellent aerodynamics , but it was prone to bumps. Likewise, the Judd engines used were not reliable enough to allow further outstanding placements. For example, Capelli retired in Japan in 1988 in second place with engine failure. He also continued his involvement with BMW in the European Touring Car Championship with Team Schnitzer .
After the promising conclusion of the 1988 season, Ivan Capelli and March were considered an insider tip for podiums and even victories in 1989 . But this season turned into a disaster. Both the vehicle and the engine were not stable, and so the Italian was eliminated in 14 of 16 races with technical defects.
The 1990 season did not go as planned either. Newey had further improved the aerodynamics of Leyton House (the sponsor took over the naming rights to the vehicle), but this made the car very difficult to set up. With too much ground clearance, which was necessary on bumpy roads, the car was very difficult to drive, and so neither Leyton House could qualify in Mexico . The next race, the French Grand Prix on the very flat Circuit Paul Ricard , was the highlight for Capelli and the team. The car worked well and was so gentle on the tires that Capelli and his teammate Maurício Gugelmin were able to drive through without a pit stop. The two had a double lead for a long time before Gugelmin was out and Alain Prost caught up with Capelli. With three laps to go, Prost was able to overtake Capelli in the clearly superior Ferrari . Second place was the last podium finish in Capelli's Formula 1 career. In the following race at Silverstone he retired after a fantastic drive and as the fastest man on the track in third place with an engine failure.
The 1991 season was also marked by technical defects and reliability problems at Leyton House. Nevertheless, Capelli was able to underline his talent with a few highlights and was then signed by Ferrari for the 1992 season . Capelli renounced the last two races of the 1991 season in favor of Karl Wendlinger , who was able to help the financially troubled Leyton House team with sponsorship money.
Planned as a major breakthrough, the 1992 Ferrari season turned out to be the darkest time in Capelli's career. The Ferrari F92A was not competitive and Capelli lost motivation. So he clearly fell behind against his team-mate Jean Alesi . After several accidents, Capelli was sacked by Ferrari after the Portuguese Grand Prix and his Formula 1 career was more or less ended. Nicola Larini took over his cockpit .
Although he still contested two races for the Jordan team in 1993 , after a failure in South Africa and a non-qualification in Brazil , Eddie Jordan Capelli resigned when the Italian could not raise the promised financial means.
Ivan Capelli took part in a total of 93 Grand Prix, achieved three podiums and a total of 31 championship points during his career. His greatest success was seventh place in the World Cup in 1988.
Capelli is considered to be one of the fastest Formula 1 drivers of the late 1980s and early 1990s, but he was never really able to prove this and translate it into results due to inferior material. The poor performance in the traditional Ferrari team partly robbed him of faith in his own abilities and destroyed the self-confidence that is essential for a racing driver.
Today Ivan Capelli comments on Formula 1 on the Italian television programs Rai Due and Rai Uno, qualifying and the race.
statistics
Le Mans results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 |
 Honda Motor Co. Ltd.
|
Honda NSX GTI |
 Armin Hahne
|
 Bertrand Gachot
|
failure | Clutch damage |
literature
- Steve Small: Grand Prix Who's Who, 3rd Edition . Travel Publishing, London 2000, ISBN 1-902007-46-8
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Capelli, Ivan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Capelli, Ivan Franco (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian Formula 1 racing driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 24, 1963 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Milan , Italy |