Luca Badoer
| Luca Badoer racing for Ferrari | |
| Luca Badoer | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Italian
|
| Years | 1993, 1995 - 1996, 1999 |
| Team(s) | Scuderia Italia, Minardi, Forti |
| Races | 56 (48 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Points | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First race | 1993 South African Grand Prix |
| First win | |
| Last win | |
| Last race | 1999 Japanese Grand Prix |
Luca Badoer (born January 25 1971) is an Italian Formula One driver who has raced for the Scuderia Italia, Minardi and Forti Corse teams, and is presently a test driver for the Ferrari F1 team. Of the drivers currently active in F1 in 2007, only Badoer and Honda driver Rubens Barrichello have competed against Ayrton Senna.
Career
Badoer was born in Montebelluna, Veneto.
Prior to Formula One he was regarded as an upcoming driver from Italy. He graduated through the time-honoured route of karting, in which he was Italian champion. He beat Alex Zanardi in the final round of the 1990 Italian Formula 3 Championship. In 1991 he won four races in a row, but was disqualified after a technicality concerning his tyres. For 1992 he was offered a ride in Team Crypton for the F3000 Championship, in which he emerged as champion.
His début Formula One season in 1993 was mired by Scuderia Italia's uncompetitive Lola chassis, which, despite Ferrari engines, was the slowest car in the championship in terms of qualifying pace. He regularly beat his experienced team-mate Michele Alboreto, but lost out to him for the second drive when Scuderia Italia merged with Minardi for the 1994 season. He was retained as test driver however, and took over the drive in 1995 when Alboreto retired. In the underfunded team his best results were eighth places in Canada and Hungary and ninth in Japan. In 1996 he switched to Forti Corse, where he was only able to qualify for six of the ten races the team entered, which folded after that year's British Grand Prix.
In 1997 Badoer began his long spell as Ferrari's test driver, a role he continues to perform. He returned to racing for one season in 1999, with the Minardi team. In the July of that season, Ferrari's number one driver Michael Schumacher broke his leg in an accident at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. As Ferrari's test driver, Badoer expected to be promoted to the race seat in Schumacher's absence, but the team opted for Mika Salo instead, prompting criticism from former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi.
Badoer holds the dubious distinction of being the driver who has competed in the most Grands Prix (48) without scoring a single point. He nearly achieved his first points finish in the 1999 European Grand Prix when a strong drive saw Badoer lying in 4th place with only 13 laps remaining. Unfortunately the gearbox on his Minardi subsequently failed and television cameras showed Badoer weeping by his stricken car.
Badoer was unable to find a race seat in Formula One after 1999, and he became a permanent test driver for Ferrari. He covers thousands of kilometres at the Mugello and Fiorano test circuits each year and it is likely that Badoer has driven more kilometres in a Ferrari F1 car than any other Italian in history.
At the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, Badoer was chosen to demonstrate the power and beauty of Ferrari F1 by driving the team's 2005 car to the centre of the stadium, revving the engine, and performing several doughnuts, creating a large cloud of tire smoke, and leaving circular black marks on the white platform. The event was witnessed by millions of television viewers worldwide, further giving stock to Badoer as a Ferrari stalwart.
Complete Formula One results
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Lola BMS Scuderia Italia | Lola T93/30 | Ferrari V12 | RSA Ret |
BRA 12 |
EUR DNQ |
SMR 7 |
ESP Ret |
MON DNQ |
CAN 15 |
FRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN Ret |
BEL 13 |
ITA 10 |
POR 14 |
JPN |
AUS |
- | 0 | |
| 1995 | Minardi Scuderia Italia | Minardi M195 | Ford V8 | BRA Ret |
ARG DNS |
SMR 14 |
ESP Ret |
MON Ret |
CAN 8 |
FRA 13 |
GBR 10 |
GER Ret |
HUN 8 |
BEL Ret |
ITA Ret |
POR 14 |
EUR 11 |
PAC 15 |
JPN 9 |
AUS DNS |
- | 0 |
| 1996 | Forti Grand Prix | Forti FG01B | Ford V8 | AUS DNQ |
BRA 11 |
ARG Ret |
EUR DNQ |
- | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Forti FG03 | SMR 10 |
MON Ret |
ESP DNQ |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR DNQ |
GER |
HUN |
BEL |
ITA |
POR |
JPN |
||||||||||
| 1999 | Fondmetal Minardi Ford | Minardi M01 | Ford V10 | AUS Ret |
BRA Inj |
SMR 8 |
MON Ret |
ESP Ret |
CAN 10 |
FRA 10 |
GBR Ret |
AUT 13 |
GER 10 |
HUN 14 |
BEL Ret |
ITA Ret |
EUR Ret |
MAL Ret |
JPN Ret |
- | 0 |
External links
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