Ivan Capelli

Ivan Capelli

1991 United States Grand Prix
Born	(1963-05-24) 24 May 1963 Milan, Italy
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Italian
Active years	1985 – 1993
Teams	Tyrrell, AGS, March, Leyton House, Ferrari and Jordan
Races	98 (93 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	3
Career points	31
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First race	1985 European Grand Prix
Last race	1993 Brazilian Grand Prix

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. Today he is a Formula One commentator on the Italian TV station Rai 1.

Career

Capelli began his career as a kart driver when he was 15 years old, and after four years he moved to the Italian Formula Three Championship.

In 1983 he became Italian Formula Three champion, after dominating the series with nine victories. After that he moved with the Coloni team to the European Formula Three Championship, and here he was the champion again in 1984.

In 1985 he graduated to the European Formula 3000 Championship with a Genoa Racing March-Cosworth and won one race. The same year he debuted in Formula One, driving a Tyrrell at the European Grand Prix (despite never having driven at Brands Hatch before), and finished fourth in Australia. Nevertheless, he was not picked up for a full time Formula One drive in 1986.

Instead, he contested the 1986 Formula 3000 Championship, still with Genoa Racing, and also raced a BMW in the European Touring Car Championship. He did race several times in F1 with the AGS team. Meanwhile, Cesare Gariboldi, boss of Genoa Racing, was working with Robin Herd of March to create a new Formula One team. Capelli was a core component in their plans. By now, Capelli and Gariboldi had an almost father-son relationship.

Capelli driving for March at the 1988 Canadian Grand Prix.

Capelli driving for Leyton House at the 1991 United States Grand Prix.

In 1987 Capelli was in Formula One full-time with the March team, led by Gariboldi and running Herd's new chassis with a Cosworth V8 normally aspirated engine. Capelli also continued with BMW touring cars for the Schnitzer team, as the March budget was tight (so much that they raced at the Belgian Grand Prix with a detuned 3.3 litre sports car engine rather than the full 3.5l Formula One unit), and the Schnitzer team had works status with BMW, allowing him to be on the German company's payroll. Capelli scored March's first point with sixth at the Monaco Grand Prix and March's return to Formula One was generally seen as competent, professional and promising for the future. In 1988 Capelli had a new weapon, a March chassis designed by Adrian Newey (later famed as a designer at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull) combined with a Judd V8 engine (derived from the Brabham-Honda CART engine and the Judd/Honda F3000 unit). March had hoped to be the favoured development partner for this engine, but they found themselves sharing it with Williams and Ligier, both having lost their engine contracts. Capelli was joined in the team by the British Formula Three Champion, Brazilian Maurício Gugelmin. They made a strong team, and March was the surprise of the year. At Spa-Francorchamps he scored his first podium with a third place behind Ayrton Senna's and Alain Prost's McLarens, and at Suzuka he was the first driver of the only naturally aspirated car to lead a Grand Prix in a season of turbo dominance.

However, the momentum did not continue. March had financial problems and a sponsor, Leyton House, acquired a controlling interest. Gugelmin finished third in his home race at Jacarepaguá in 1989, but this was done in the 1988 car. The definitive 1989 Leyton House March was a disappointment, and neither driver challenged for the top in the rest of the year. Team spirit remained intact despite the death of Gariboldi in a car crash. 1990 starte little better. Newey's car (given the prefix CG in honour of Gariboldi) had excellent aerodynamics, but it was intolerant of bumps. It was so bad on the notoriously bumpy Mexico City track that neither driver could control te car and both failed to qualify. Nevertheless, in the next at Paul Ricard in France, Capelli led Gugelmin in a Leyton House 1–2 throughout much of the race. Gugelmin finally retired, and Capelli was overtaken near the end by Prost, finishing a strong second. Revisions to the car had made it more competitive (ironically Newey having the team shortly before the race), but it was the billiard table-smooth track which allowed the result. Despite some promising showings at Silverstone and Hockenheim, the remainder of the year was unfulfilled.

Capelli in the cockpit of his Leyton House for the 1991 United States Grand Prix.

In 1991, Leyton House was responsible not only for chassis development but also bankrolled the ambitious Ilmor V10 engine programme. With so many new ingredients, results were again thin on the ground although Capelli often qualified and raced well. When Leyton House's owner Akira Akagi was arrested in connection with the Fuji Bank fraud, the team was in a precarious state. Capelli had signed for Scuderia Ferrari for the '92 season, so he voluntarily stepped down, allowing pay driver Karl Wendlinger to finish the season and personally paid to attend the races he missed to offer support to the team and advice to his rookie substitute.

In 1992, Capelli became the first Italian to driver for Ferrari since Michele Alboreto in 1988. The Scuderia had gone through a tough time in 1991, but with a new car, the F92A (nicknamed the F-15 on account of its resemblance to the American fighter jet), expectations were high. The new car was not competitive and before the season began Capelli was showing his disappointment. A driver who enjoyed the convivial atmosphere of a family-type team, he struggled to integrate with the bureaucratic structure of early 1990s Ferrari. Losing motivation, the team in turn lost confidence in him and his teammate Jean Alesi gained the upper hand. Capelli was sacked before the season's end.

Capelli during a charity football match In Abu Dhabi

This experience seemingly broke his spirit, but those who had worked with him at March still had faith, notably Ian Phillips, then Jordan team manager. Taking a Jordan seat for 1993 alongside a young Rubens Barrichello, Capelli failed to rediscover the spark that not long ago had marked him as a champion of the future. After failing to qualify for the second race in Brazil, he left the team by mutual consent. Capelli was distraught and Jordan was disappointed too – they knew Capelli had the ability, but he just couldn't muster it up any longer. His Formula One career was over.

Following his exit from Formula One, he raced a Nissan Primera with mixed results in German Supertouring for BMS Scuderia Italia and later took part in the Trofeo Maserati one-make series. He also became a Formula One commentator on Italian TV station Rai 1 and remains a popular personality in the paddock. Having come to terms with the disappointment of Ferrari, he has regained the happy disposition which had originally made him popular.

Racing Results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ivan Capelli.

• Ivan Capelli career statistics
• F1 Rejects article on Capelli's 1992 season
• Official site

v t e Leyton House Racing Founder Akira Akagi Drivers Ivan Capelli Maurício Gugelmin Karl Wendlinger Formula One cars CG901 CG911