Ivan Franco Capelli (born 24 May 1963, in Milan) is an Italian former Formula One driver.
He participated in 98 Grands Prix, debuting on 6 October 1985.He achieved three podiums, and scored a total of 31 championship points. From 1997 until 2018 he was a Formula One commentator on the Italian TV station Rai 1. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Ivan Franco Capelli competed in F1 between 1985–1993, entering 98 Grands Prix (with 93 starts) for Tyrrell, AGS, March, Leyton House, Ferrari and Jordan. It seemed a dream drive was handed him when he signed for Ferrari for 1992 and became the first Italian with a regular drive with them since Michele Alboreto in 1988 (Gianni Morbidelli had a one-off race for the team the season before). Described as immensely likeable, the Ferrari dream unfortunately turned sour as he struggled and it seemed to break his spirit, with the team in turn losing confidence in him and he was sacked before the season’s end.
Born on the 24th May 1963 in Milan, Italy, he told how “I was just four or five years old and I was following F1 on TV obviously, but the moment where I had the first spark is when I followed my father at Fiorano because he was cameraman and produced the commercials for Parmalat, and Parmalat was sponsoring Emerson Fittipaldi, Vittorio Brambilla and Niki Lauda. After starting in karts, he told how “it took four or five races for me to understand how to drive, but after that it was a successful season and I won the Italian championship..I think it helped that I’d been a good skier from a young age. I’d been competing in downhill events since I was seven or eight, so understood the notion of racing lines. Early on I also met Pietro Sassi, an experienced driver who was competing at the top level in Italy. We tested together a couple of times and he taught me a few useful tricks.”
In 1980 and 1981, he travelled to F3 races with Ravarotto Racing, monitoring his friend Paolo Barilla’s progress and worked at their factory, helping the mechanics in order to understand how the cars worked. Although he never raced for them, they introduced him to the Pedrazzani family, who built the Novamotor F3 engines, which in turn led to him meeting Cesare Gariboldi. He credits him in helping his career and though he “had to learn about gears, understand how to give relevant feedback and so on, but I felt comfortable straight away.” After starting 1982 with a March chassis, they switched to a Ralt RT3 and he finished sixth in the championship. The performance earned him an invitation from the Brabham BMW team to try a Formula 1 car at a test session at Monza. Enzo Coloni won the Italian title then retired to focus on running a team and, with having sponsorship already secured, offered Ivan a free drive for 1983. Fortunately Cesare understood it was the best move for him and there was no animosity over it. Contesting 1983’s Championship with Coloni Racing’s RT3, after finishing eighth and third in the first rounds, he went on to record nine victories and his dominant performance saw him take the Championship with 91 points, 58 ahead of the second placed driver.
In the following year he moved with the Coloni team to the European F3 Championship, racing their Martini MK42, but there was a setback during practice at the first race at Donington Park. He spun off but though only grazed the wall, moments later his team-mate went off at the same place, hit him, and destroyed both cars. They went to Martini’s factory in Magny-Cours to rebuild the chassis and he told how “I followed the truck down in my small motorhome to help the mechanics. It was also my job to cook for everybody while we were there! The next race was at Zolder and I had another accident during practice, destroying the front-left suspension. The car was repaired, I qualified fifth and, just before the start Enzo Coloni came over to me, bent into the cockpit, opened my visor and said, ‘Look Ivan, if you are not on the podium after this race, that’s it, it’s all over.’ He then turned away and walked back to the pits, but fortunately I finished third.”
He then took consecutive victories at Magny-Cours and La Chatre. During the early part of the season the car featured very little sponsorship but a victory at Monaco helped the team secure some backing, which “Cesare used it to negotiate a deal on my behalf with Marlboro Italy, which helped me to continue racing.” He was third and second at Silverstone and Nurburgring (plus fastest lap) and had consecutive victories at Enna-Pergusa (from pole and fastest lap) and Mugello (and fastest lap). Later rounds saw second at Nogaro then third and second at Jarama and Misano (plus fastest lap) and with 60 points he was crowned European F3 Champion, ahead of Johnny Dumfries on 54 (who was that year’s British F3 champion). In November, he raced for Theodore in the International F3 race at Macau and finished fifth.
1985 saw a move up to European F3000, now with Genoa Racing, although national service meant he did not start until the fifth race at Vallelunga. It proved a frustrating season as he retired in four rounds and did not start at Zandvoort and Pau though there was a victory with the March 85B at Osterreichring and third place at Donington Park. A collision at Vallelunga with Lamberto Leoni launched Ivan into the air but though unhurt, the car was very badly damaged and they couldn’t afford a rebuild. Cesare sold his racing transporter, which allowed them to get the car fixed though they now had no means of taking it to races. Ivan recalled Cesare “did a deal with Sanremo Racing boss Alberto Colombo, who also had an F3000 team. He would send his truck to our factory and pick up my car on the way to events. In the paddock Colombo had his own cars under the awning, and usually there was no room for mine, so it often stood out in the open, even when it was raining.” At the final round at Donington Park, he suffered gearbox problems and started 21st and last. With them starting at the back of the field, and on a damp track, “we gambled on using the softest Bridgestone slicks, added a bit more front wing and gave it a go. I came through to finish third and afterwards Ken Tyrrell found me in the paddock. We had a little chat and I asked Cesare what he thought. He just said, ‘If he came to see you, there must be a reason…’” Two weeks later, Ivan made his GP debut, replacing Stefan Bellof at Tyrrell for the European GP at Brands Hatch but he retired due to an accident. Recalling his debut, he told how “I’d made it clear from the start that I wouldn’t be able to bring any money. Mr Tyrrell told me not to worry and that I would have to pay only for my flights and accommodation. I couldn’t even afford to buy an air ticket for Cesare… I flew from Milan to the UK on my own, took a bus from Heathrow and then completed the journey to Brands Hatch by taxi…I arrived on Wednesday, was introduced to the team and then hung around because I didn’t have a rental car to get to the hotel. When Ken Tyrrell realised, he asked my team-mate Martin Brundle to be my chauffeur for the weekend. I was a bit jealous because Martin had a company Jaguar XJS, through his sports car racing. I had to squeeze in the back, behind him and his wife. He arrived at Brands Hatch without testing the car “because Ken Tyrrell didn’t have enough engines, without knowing the circuit because I only tested at the short Brands Hatch circuit. So basically, without any mileage, I just jumped in on the first day at the European GP… And I just started my career in F1 like that. Tyrrell said: “Look if you want your chance, you have to jump in and you have to drive…Then on race morning, I looked around me in the drivers briefing. I saw Rosberg Prost, Tambay, Watson… I thought to myself, “what I am doing here? Am I dreaming or what?” There was a second drive for the team in the season ending race in Australia but it was a test of endurance due to the blazing heat and his drinks bottle failing almost immediately. Despite this, he battled with Martin Brundle and Eddie Cheever to take fourth place, though needed medical attention after the race and only eight cars finished.
With no full-time F1 drive available for 1986 Ivan continued in F3000 with Genoa plus raced a BMW in the European Touring Car Championship. His year started at the Daytona 24 Hours in February with a Hawk-March 85G-Buick alongside Whitney Ganz, John Paul Jr. and Chip Ganassi though engine issues ended their race after 310 laps. Despite retiring from four out of eleven races in F3000 with the March 86B, he won at Vallelunga (from pole plus fastest lap) and Osterreichring, had three podium finishes and was fourth at Le Mans and Jarama and took the title ahead of Pierluigi Martini, Emmanuele Pirro and Luis Perez-Sala. This was an impressive result as Genoa were only a small four man team running a small box truck and they beat strong factory opposition from March, Ralt and Lola. He recalled “there was a lovely family atmosphere at Genoa..That was an important factor, as was Cesare’s ability to set the car up perfectly to match my driving style.” Teamed alternately with Roberto Ravaglia and Dieter Quester in the Schnitzer BMW 635 Csi, results saw fifth at Nogaro, sixteenth at Jarama plus ninth at Estoril and he recalled “I was sharing a 635 CSi with Roberto Ravaglia and Dieter Quester in the Estoril finale and came up alongside Tom Walkinshaw’s Rover on the main straight. Because the Rover was right-hand drive, we were pretty much right next to each other. Tom had an open-face helmet and I could see him looking across at me like a maniac.” There were further F1 drives, this time for AGS, though he retired in Italy and Portugal (puncture and transmission) plus there three Japanese F2 outings with Leyton House Racing’s March 86J-Yamaha. He was sixth on his debut in Suzuka then second (to Mike Thackwell) at Fuji, taking the first podium for Leyton House Racing. He was third in his final race at Suzuka and was then summoned to a meeting with Mr. Akagi, who asked “whether I would drive for Leyton House Racing in Japan on a full-time basis in 1987. He offered me a $200,000 salary, too. I replied that I’d like to come but that I was already talking to a few F1 teams, including Osella and Tyrrell. Cesare looked at me in astonishment, because it was a complete bluff…Mr Akagi then asked how much it would cost to support me in F1, running in full Leyton House colours. I had no idea, so told Cesare it was his turn to answer and he suggested $4m. Mr Akagi asked if I was sure I was ready for F1, which I said I was. He said, ‘OK, we’ll do it’ and agreed yet again on a handshake. On the flight back to Europe we had a lot to drink but didn’t know how we were going to arrange any kind of F1 deal. After landing in Milan, Cesare booked a flight to London for the following morning, turned up unannounced at Robin Herd’s door and asked whether he’d like to bring March back into Formula 1, because he had the necessary support. I think they sorted it out over a bottle of wine, though the 1987 March F1 car was really just an 86B F3000 chassis modified to accommodate a bigger fuel tank and with revised aerodynamics.” His final race that year came at Macau’s International F3 race where he finished eleventh with David Price Racing’s March 86J.
1987 saw a season of F1 and he also continued racing for Schnitzer BMW in touring cars. Teamed alternately with Roberto Ravaglia and Dieter Quester in the BMW M3 in the ETCC and World Touring Car series, he was seventh at Donington plus second at Nurburgring, Dijon-Prenois and the 4 Hour Jarama though was one of six M3s disqualified at Monza and retired from the 24 Hours Spa with BMW Motorsport GmbH’s M3. Contesting F1, March’s 871 was not ready for the first race in Brazil so the team used an F3000/F1 hybrid, the March 87P. Unfortunately, on race day they ran out of Cosworth DFZs, blowing their last one in the Sunday morning warm-up and Ivan was unable to start. He told how “at the first race in Rio we had a team of just 17 people, including Mr Akagi, his girlfriend, his translator and my father. Our engine tuner Heini Mader didn’t yet have a full-spec Cosworth DFZ ready, so we used a World Sports Car Championship-spec engine that wasn’t very powerful. On the straights the turbos were coming past at least 60mph faster than I could run, so I was a bit of a mobile chicane.” The 871 was ready for the second race in San Marino but he retired there and at Belgium (distributor and oil pressure) though took their first point with a sixth place finish at Monaco. There were further mechanical retirements in Detroit, France, Britain and Germany then in August and September he had a run of five consecutive finishes, with tenth and eleventh in Hungary and Austria, thirteenth in Italy, ninth in Portugal and twelfth in Spain though retired in Mexico and his races in Japan and Australia ended due to an accident and a spin. However the team finished fourth in the Colin Chapman Trophy for constructors of cars equipped with naturally aspirated engines.
Things looked promising for 1988, having a chassis designed by Adrian Newey and Akira Akagi had increased his support, which allowed the team to field a second car, driven by Maurício Gugelmin. Regarding the partnership with Gugelmin, he later stated “the relationship really worked. It was also interesting to have a team-mate to compare the performances. Adrian Newey drew a very, very small car for us and the performances were good, so we were enthusiastic for the project but at the same time it was really hard for us to keep the limit for the race because of the very small cockpit. We couldn’t have a ‘dish’ (steering wheel) too big because we then couldn’t sit inside the car!..He was not political. We had a very honest relationship. Obviously at the end of the day we were closing the visor before the start of the race and we were competing against each other, but without any back-stabbing political attitude or so on. Just enjoying life and racing together.” The Judd powered March 881 impressed onlookers, with Ivan having three fifth and a sixth place finish plus two podiums. He suffered mechanical retirements in the first races at Brazil and San Marino then had three consecutive finishes with tenth in Monaco, sixteenth in Mexico and fifth in Canada. Unfortunately broke a bone in his foot after hitting the pit wall at Detroit and had to miss the race but recovered in time for France, where he finished ninth. After qualifying sixth, he retired at Silverstone (though Gugelmin was fourth) then was fifth in Germany but after qualifying fourth in Hungary he did not finish. Then came a third place result at Spa behind the McLarens, due to the Benettons being disqualified from third and fourth due to fuel irregularities). It was his first F1 podium and the first time a March had finished on the podium of a GP since Monza in 1976. He followed this with a fifth place result at Monza but he was soon to take his best finish, with second in Portugal. The two McLarens were on the front row at Estoril (taking their ninth front row) ahead of Ivan in third and Gugelmin in fifth behind Berger’s Ferrari. After two aborted starts, Senna led off at the third start but Prost took the lead on lap 2, despite seemingly being forced by his team mate towards the pit wall. While Prost built up a lead, Senna soon found himself having to manage his fuel consumption, which allowed Ivan to close up on him though he held him off for 22 laps until he out-braked Senna and opened up a gap on him. While he set off after Prost, Berger also passed the McLaren and claimed the fastest lap in his pursuit of the March, but spun off on lap 36 after accidentally activating his on-board fire extinguisher. Gugelmin, Piquet, Alboreto, Patrese and Boutsen were hotly contesting the last point place in sixth. On lap 29 Patrese retired with a split radiator and Piquet retired on the next lap with clutch and gearbox problems then Gugelmin’s engine failed on lap 59. Ivan began pressing on but after seeing team mate Gugelmin’s smoking car at the side of the road, reasoned “I’d better ease up and be grateful to finish second to Mr Prost. It’s no disgrace, huh?” Following this he retired in Spain though in Japan he briefly held the lead, recalling “that was a wonderful moment, even if Alain Prost re-passed me quickly..The 881 handled wonderfully around Suzuka and I was helped a little by the conditions, because my car was more tractable than the turbos in the damp, so I was able to compete with the McLaren-Hondas until an ECU problem brought me to a halt.” There was a sixth place result in the final round at Australia and he finished seventh in the standings, with March ending the year sixth in the constructors’ championship.
The team continued with the same driver pairing in 1989 but despite it proving a disappointing year, they kept fighting all season. The Adrian Newey designed March CG891 was powered by a Judd EV 3.5 litre V8 engine and, besides Leyton House, carried sponsorship from BP, Philips, Autoglass, Daivia, Cobra, Osama, AMK and Fiamm. The CG in the car’s designation stood for Cesare Gariboldi, a Leyton House March team manager who was killed in a road accident in the winter of 1988/1989. A total of five CG891 chassis were constructed during 1989 though the team used an 881 in the first two races in Brazil and San Marino but he retired from both (suspension and an accident). The CG891 was only introduced at Monaco but he had to revert to the 881 for part of qualifying as his CG891 developed electrical problems and though he failed to finish he was still classified eleventh. This was the first of only two classified finishes for him for the season, with his only other result coming with twelfth in Belgium. A start-line accident in the French GP forced Gugelmin to use the spare car and he went on to record the fastest lap of the race, though was unclassified at the finish plus Ivan had run as high as second at one point but retired with engine problems. The team finished twelfth in the Constructors’ Championship, their four points due to Gugelmin’s third place with the 881 in the first race at Brazil.
Running as Leyton House the following season, they struggled initially, with Ivan retiring the CG901 after twenty laps at Phoenix then neither driver qualified at Interlagos due to the track’s bumpy nature. There was a retirement at Monaco, then tenth in Canada but though he did not qualify in Mexico, the following race in France was a revelation. Adrian Newey left the team during the season but had already devised a new floor plan, which helped with the car’s aerodynamic issues and Paul Ricard’s smooth surface and long straights suited the car and it ran so well the tyres wore considerably less than the other teams. The performance was helped by a diffuser change and Ivan realised that not taking Signes corner flat could massively reward them. “This car was only good on the very smooth circuits, which Paul Ricard was, even though the asphalt was abrasive. We were very, very competitive in practice and I realised that there was a chance for us to save the tyres. To do this, I had to not take Signes corner completely flat because otherwise we would destroy the front left tyre. I know doing that gave us a chance to do the race without stopping, whereas everyone else had to stop.” He eventually qualified seventh, with Gugelmin tenth but technical chief Gustav Brunner began pushing for a change of car set-up. Ivan told how, before the race “Gustav came to me and said: ‘Listen, the wind has changed a lot, there is a very strong sidewind, and I would like to put more wing on the front, to increase the level of downforce on the flap. I was worried though and said: ‘No, the car is so perfect and so well balanced. Don’t touch the car because I feel the car is very competitive.’ But Gustav insisted and we came to a very funny compromise. We put only one degree more flap just on the inside section, on the right of the front wing. We left the outside of the front wing the same. So it had an asymmetric set-up and this, in the end, was a very good solution.” They reasoned that by looking after the tyres in the early part of the race, it would benefit them in the later stages. “It was a gamble. We decided not to change tyres and were careful early in the race, so as not to put any extra load on the Goodyears. I felt very well in the car and, when the others stopped to change tyres, I found myself in the lead.” Both drivers led 1–2 for much of the race, but he was overtaken by Prost’s Ferrari and finished second. “I led the race for 46 laps, so I was pretty convinced I’d win it. Although Prost was close to me, I thought he wouldn’t want to take any risks in overtaking me because he had to consider the championship. But three laps before the end, when I was going around Signes, I saw the light of one of the oil alarms going off-plus I heard a bit of noise from the engine. I had no choice but to back off and Prost seized his moment and took the lead. At that moment I was completely destroyed – because I thought that such a good opportunity would not happen ever again. I was miserable about not winning the race. But later, when I found myself on the podium beside Prost, who had won the race, and Ayrton Senna, who was third, I was quite happy. To be up there together with such great drivers and great personalities was something fantastic.” It was a popular result and their technical director Gustav Brunner jumped over the pit wall as he crossed the line. It was the biggest moment of his Formula 1 design career to date but, having left to join Williams a matter of days before the race, Adrian Newey missed it. He watched it on television and was delighted with the performance, even though Ivan did not win, stating “it was very satisfying to see that after going through the problems in 1989 and the first part of ’90, which were caused by the floor of the Southampton wind tunnel that we were using being bowed, that we came up with a solution that worked and saw the car be genuinely competitive.” Added to that, Gugelmin had run second to Ivan for much of the race before his engine expired with a little over 20 laps to go. His only finishes in the following nine rounds were seventh in Germany and Belgium but then suffered mechanical retirements in six races and retired after 59 laps in Spain through cramp; this was where Martin Donnelly suffered his horrific, career ending crash during practice plus was also Alesssandro Nannini’s last GP as one week afterwards, his right arm was severed in a helicopter accident. Ivan received an approach to join Benetton, which needed a driver after Nannini’s accident. “Flavio Briatore called while I was following the news about Sandro on TV. I told him I’d just verbally agreed to renew my contract with Leyton House and that I couldn’t turn up in Japan and tell Mr Akagi I was switching to Benetton. I needed time to think, to see whether we could perhaps work something out for the following season, but apparently that wasn’t an option. He told me I had to make up my mind there and then: did I want to race for him in Suzuka, or not? I turned him down, because I had given Mr Akagi my word.”
1991 was another disappointing season but, despite reliability problems with the CG911, Ivan often qualified and raced well. He was running fifth at San Marino before he spun out due to a puncture and was in fourth place at Montreal until his engine failed. His only finishes were sixth (plus a point) at Hungary, eighth at Monza and seventeenth at Portugal though there could have been more points in Portugal until a kerb took off his nosecone. Unfortunately team owner Akagi was arrested on fraud charges and the team found themselves in a precarious state. Ivan had signed to drive for BMS Scuderia Italia for the following season but then came a phone call from Ferrari. “I explained that I had a contract with Scuderia Italia but they assured me that wasn’t a problem and that they would deal with it. I obviously didn’t want to say ‘no’ to Ferrari, but I joined completely blind, without knowing anything about what they were planning.” He voluntarily stepped down two races before the season’s end, to allow Karl Wendlinger to finish the season and also personally paid to attend the races he would miss to offer support to the team and advice to Wendlinger. “I didn’t receive my salary that year but paid my own way to the final races in Japan and Australia, because I wanted to be there to support the team.” At the final race the team presented him with a trophy in a pit lane ceremony to commemorate his six years with them. After four years together, both drivers left at the end of the year, with Ivan headed to Ferrari and Gugelmin drove for Jordan and Ivan stated “having Mauricio was a good thing for me, for the team, for everybody. Mauricio was a very honest man..the four years that we shared together we were really sharing everything; from the technical points, the life that we were doing around the world. In good and bad times, we were sharing the same things. I remember very well how strong we were in terms of friendship and at the same time pushing each other to the limit. In the end we were happy with the results that we could achieve.”
The reaction after signing for Ferrari was immediate and he described how the situation changed after the press conference at Maranello. “Obviously for an Italian to become a Ferrari driver is a fantastic experience. You immediately make a big jump forward in the eyes of the media and the public. You realise you are going to be known by nearly everybody in Italy..On the morning of the press conference I drove to Maranello. I stopped just before the highway to refuel and it was no problem. In the evening we stopped again to refuel at the same place, and in five seconds my car was surrounded by people, asking for autographs. This was in just eight hours…” Unfortunately he arrived during one of the most turbulent periods in the team’s history. In 1991 they had failed to win a single race for the first time since 1980, team manager Cesare Fiorio had been sacked plus Alain Prost was sacked before the end of the season for criticising the team. “The situation I found there was quite dramatic.” When he first tested the car at Estoril he realised it was not a positive advance compared to the previous year’s car plus the V12 proved unreliable. “I drove the old ’91 car first. When I left the pits with the little black horse in the middle of my steering wheel, I couldn’t believe it. On your skin you have a feeling that is fantastic, you can’t really find the words to describe it. The car was not so bad compared to my Leyton House, especially the engine.” However, “on the last day, in the afternoon, I was finally allowed to try the F92A for the first time and could tell straight away it didn’t feel right. During the debrief I didn’t say ‘Look, we have a s**t car,’ but I pointed out that we needed to refine the front suspension and the aero-it required a lot of work. When they switched to Jean on the other side of the table, he told them the car was fantastic, that he could win races and challenge for the championship. I pointed out that we were 1.5sec slower than Williams, but they just said I didn’t understand and chose to believe Jean. For me, the whole thing was a nightmare from about day two, with lots of political stuff that I simply never had during my March and Leyton House days, when we worked as a family. Mauricio and I used to eat together, go on holiday together. With Ferrari, a driver relationship like that was impossible.” Regarding the engine, he told how “at the beginning of the year we were revving to 13,500rpm, and during the year we actually had to reduce the revs because the engine couldn’t last the race…The car was designed with a transverse gearbox but I think the Ferrari factory managed to make only two that worked properly, and they were both given to Jean Alesi. For the first seven or eight races I used the longitudinal gearbox from 1991, so we had two completely different cars. It was an absolute disaster, because we couldn’t exchange information.” He qualified ninth on his debut in Kyalami but retired when the engine failed, then engines kept failing during practice in Mexico and after starting twentieth he retired due to an accident.
The, in Brazil, after Mansell and Patrese recorded another Williams 1–2 finish, Alesi and Ivan were fourth and fifth behind Schumacher. This was his first points result for Ferrari and the team’s only double points finish of the season. He qualified fifth in Spain and finished tenth but after qualifying eighth at San Marino his race ended when he spun off into the gravel trap on lap twelve. Used to the friendly atmosphere of a family-type team, he struggled to integrate within the structure of Ferrari and as the season went on Ivan seemed worn down and demoralised by the pressures. In the weeks following Imola, the Italian motorsports press had been vocal in its criticism of him and there were persistent rumours that he was about to be replaced by Gianni Morbidelli (who was both a Minardi driver and Ferrari test driver), who had conducted the team’s testing since San Marino. The team’s President, Luca di Montezemolo, was forced to announce that his place in the team was safe in order to quash the rumours. Monaco qualifying saw Mansell and Patrese on the front row, with Alesi on the next row in fourth place alongside Senna while Ivan lined up eighth on row four with Brundle. As the race progressed, he ran in a group of cars until on lap 17 when Brundle had to pit for repairs and lost his seventh place to Ivan. Alesi had been running in fourth but his race eventually ended on lap 23 and this, plus Berger’s retirement, saw Ivan move up to fifth. However, on lap 61, he damaged the steering arm at Casino Square and though able to continue, as he reached the swimming pool complex, the damage caused him to spin and slide backwards and his Ferrari was left perched on a 45-degree angle at the corner. Alesi and Ivan qualified eighth and ninth in Canada but on lap 18, a failure on the car caused him to crash hard into the wall and demolish his Ferrari. He stated “we had front wishbone failure, but for political reasons they didn’t want to say anything. I really worked for the team that year, saying it’s my fault instead of being the team’s fault. I was completely alone with my engineer and chief mechanic who are now both working for Minardi! It was hard mentally being an Italian in an Italian team and being treated like that. Obviously it was difficult to accept.” “During the season I had the opportunity to test Alesi’s car. He drove it with a different style, being more brutal with the steering wheel when turning in. Maybe that suited the car a little bit more. My driving style was a little bit cleaner and it didn’t work at all..I wanted to do everything at the maximum, and put a lot of pressure on my driving. But I couldn’t. As soon as you started pushing, the car went nowhere.” After another eighth place qualifying position in Germany, engine problems ended his race on lap 38 though he was sixth in Hungary. Ferrari introduced a drastically modified version of the car, the F92AT, in Belgium (which was first tested privately at Monza) with Alesi at the wheel though Ivan, stuck with the old car, qualified fourteenth and retired while running in sixth place. He raced the updated version at Monza, and started seventh then was pushing his team mate in fifth but spun off on lap 12, shortly after Alesi retired with a broken fuel pump. He started sixteenth at Estoril and ran in that position until his engine failed on lap 34 but this proved to be his final drive with the team as he was fired and replaced by Nicola Larini for the last two races. Larini’s F92AT carried the team’s first attempt at an active suspension system, which carried a 30kg weight disadvantage to Alesi’s version, and he finished twelfth and eleventh at Suzuka and Adelaide, to his team mates’s fifth and fourth. At the end of the season Ferrari only scored 21 points and finished fourth in the constructors’ championship, one place below their 1991 result.
Despite the experience seemingly breaking his spirit, he signed for Jordan for the following season, alongside Rubens Barrichello. Jordan’s 193 differed to its two predecessors, having a higher nose and very different front wing, and like most of the cars that competed that year it had numerous electronic aids to assist the driver and improve the car’s performance. Traction control was used throughout the season, as was the team’s first semi-automatic gearbox. Unfortunately his confidence seemed damaged and he struggled to rediscover the spark from previous seasons with March. In the season’s opening round in South Africa, in Friday qualifying, he spun though was able to return to the track but qualified eighth on Saturday. Unfortunately his debut race with the team came to an end when he lost control of the car and went into the barriers on lap three. At Brazil, the team had major troubles and both drivers had very limited running, with Barrichello managing only a handful of laps and Ivan only able to complete a single flying lap. He failed to qualify and after the two races left the team by mutual consent. Barrichello competed in every race after Ivan left while Thierry Boutsen, Marco Apicella, Emanuele Naspetti and Eddie Irvine all raced the second car at different stages of the season. He later asked Adrian Newey if there were any roles available as a test driver with Williams, but there were none, and stated “that’s when I realised the door back into F1 was closed.”
After leaving Formula One, some months later he raced a Nissan Primera in Italian Touring Cars and from 1994 to 1996 raced the Primera in the Super Tourenwagen Cup series. He made his Le Mans debut in 1995, driving a Honda NSX GT1 with Armin Hahne and Bertrand Gachot though clutch problems ended their race after seven laps. He later competed in GT races around the world, including Germany, the UK, Italy and Australia and raced cars including a Porsche 911 GT1, Ferrari 360 Modena, Ferrari F355, Ferrari F430, Porsche 996 GT3 Cup and Maserati Trofeo Light and contested the 24 Hour Daytona with a Target 24 Riley & Scott Mk III alongside Alex Caffi, Fabio Montani and Gabrio Rosa.“I spent many years as an F1 analyst with RAI and had to attend every grand prix. That meant I was unable to commit to a championship programme, though I did a few races in the Italian GT Championship for fun.” Having a long-standing friendship with Jim Manolios, who owns the Trofeo Motorsport team, he contested five Bathurst 12 Hours events with them from 2013 to 2019. He was first at the wheel of a Corvette C6 then a Ferrari 458 and the last three events in Lamborghini Huracans, with his best results tenth (and third in class) in 2017 alongside Jim Manolios, Dean Canto and Ryan Millier and the quartet were eighth (and fourth in Pro-Am class) the following year.
In 2016 he took part in an Adelaide Motorsport Festival, where he was reunited with the Leyton House March he drove in 1989’s Australian GP. Ivan mainly devoted his time to TV commentating, a role which seemed to help him rediscover his cheerful side and was a popular personality in the paddock. Away from racing and media work, he regularly played in the charity World Stars Football matches which took place before the Monaco GP, playing for the Nazionale Piloti team of drivers and ex-drivers plus former professional football players.
1992 F1
Gallery F1 F3000
