Ivan Capelli

Ivan Franco Capelli (born 24 May 1963) 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 1998 until 2017 he was a Formula One commentator on the Italian TV station Rai 1.

Ivan Capelli
Born (1963-05-24) 24 May 1963
Milan, Italy
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Italian
Active years19851993
TeamsTyrrell, AGS, March, Leyton House, Ferrari and Jordan
Entries98 (93 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums3
Career points31
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1985 European Grand Prix
Last entry1993 Brazilian Grand Prix

Early career and F1 entry

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.

F1 with March

Despite not landing a full-time contract for 1986, Capelli started several F1 races for the AGS team. Meanwhile, Cesare Gariboldi, boss of Genoa Racing, was working with Robin Herd of March to create a new Formula One outfit. 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 March chassis designed by Adrian Newey (later a winner of multiple Constructors' Championships 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 the French Ligier team as well as the defending F1 Constructors' Champions Williams who had lost their supply of turbocharged Honda engines to McLaren. Capelli was joined in the team by the British Formula 3 Champion, Brazilian rookie Maurício Gugelmin. They made a strong team and the March 881 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 (though this was not known until after the season when the Benettons were disqualified for fuel irregularities). Capelli's best finish was second place at the Portuguese Grand Prix where he finished behind Prost. Even better was ahead for the Italian when he became the first non-turbo driver since 1983 to lead a World Championship Grand Prix. This happened on lap 16 of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka when Prost missed a gear coming out of the final chicane and Capelli was able to get ahead before the start/finish line and officially lead the lap. However, Prost used Honda's superior power and was ahead before turn 1. His Judd V8 suffered electrical failure just 3 laps later.

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. Capelli in particular only finished once throughout the season (12th in Belgium) and went far enough to be classified on one further occasion (Monaco where he dropped out from 6th place near the end and was classified 11th). Despite this, he was one of only six drivers to start in all of the 16 races of the 1989 season (the others were the McLaren drivers Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, the Williams duo Riccardo Patrese and Thierry Boutsen, and Benetton's Alessandro Nannini). Team spirit remained intact despite the death of Gariboldi in a car crash and midway through the season Capelli felt happy enough in the team to take up his option for 1990. The new decade started poorly, though. Newey's car (given the prefix CG in honour of Gariboldi) had excellent aerodynamics and exclusive use of Judd's updated V8 engine, but it was intolerant of bumps. It was so bad on the notoriously bumpy Mexico City track that neither driver could control the car and both failed to qualify. Nevertheless, in the next at Paul Ricard in France came a complete turn around in form. 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 the Ferrari of Prost with only 3 laps remaining and went on to finish second. Revisions to the car had made it more competitive (ironically Newey left the team shortly before the race to join Williams), but it was the billiard table-smooth track which allowed the result. Despite some promising showings at Silverstone and Hockenheim, it remained their best race of the season.

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 sparse, 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.

Ferrari and Jordan

In 1992, Capelli became the first Italian with a regular drive with Ferrari since Michele Alboreto in 1988, after Gianni Morbidelli's one-off race for the team the season before. The Scuderia had gone through a tough time in 1991, but with a new car, the F92A, 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. It was the last time until Felipe Massa in 2011 that a Ferrari driver failed to finish on the podium during a season.

Capelli playing for Nazionale Piloti 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, whom the team hoped would prosper under the more experienced driver, 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, being replaced by Thierry Boutsen. He did not race in Formula One again.

Post-F1 career

Following his exit from Formula One, Capelli raced from 1994 to 1996 with a Nissan Primera with mixed results in STW for BMS Scuderia Italia and in some round of CET in 1995 and 1996. He also became a Formula One commentator in 1998 on Italian TV station Rai 1.

Racing results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Pts
1985 Genoa Racing March 85B Cosworth SIL THR EST NÜR VAL
Ret
SPA
Ret
DIJ
Ret
PER
Ret
ÖST
1
ZAN
DNS
DON
3
7th 13
Sanremo Racing PAU
DNS
1986 Genoa Racing March 86B Cosworth SIL
Ret
VAL
1
PAU
Ret
SPA
3
IMO
2
MUG
3
PER
Ret
ÖST
1
BIR
Ret
BUG
4
JAR
4
1st 38

Complete Formula One results

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

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
1985 Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell 014 Renault EF4B 1.5 V6 t BRA POR SMR MON CAN DET FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA BEL EUR
Ret
RSA AUS
4
17th 3
1986 Jolly Club SpA AGS JH21C Motori Moderni Tipo 615-90 1.5 V6 t BRA ESP SMR MON BEL CAN DET FRA GBR GER HUN AUT ITA
Ret
POR
Ret
MEX AUS NC 0
1987 Leyton House March Racing Team March 87P Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 V8 BRA
DNS
19th 1
March 871 SMR
Ret
BEL
Ret
MON
6
DET
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
10
AUT
11
ITA
13
POR
9
ESP
12
MEX
Ret
JPN
Ret
AUS
Ret
1988 Leyton House March Racing Team March 881 Judd CV 3.5 V8 BRA
Ret
SMR
Ret
MON
10
MEX
16
CAN
5
DET
DNS
FRA
9
GBR
Ret
GER
5
HUN
Ret
BEL
3
ITA
5
POR
2
ESP
Ret
JPN
Ret
AUS
6
7th 17
1989 Leyton House Racing March 881 Judd CV 3.5 V8 BRA
Ret
SMR
Ret
NC 0
March CG891 Judd EV 3.5 V8 MON
11
MEX
Ret
USA
Ret
CAN
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
Ret
BEL
12
ITA
Ret
POR
Ret
ESP
Ret
JPN
Ret
AUS
Ret
1990 Leyton House Leyton House CG901 Judd EV 3.5 V8 USA
Ret
BRA
DNQ
SMR
Ret
MON
Ret
CAN
10
MEX
DNQ
FRA
2
GBR
Ret
GER
7
HUN
Ret
BEL
7
ITA
Ret
POR
Ret
ESP
Ret
JPN
Ret
AUS
Ret
10th 6
1991 Leyton House Leyton House CG911 Ilmor 2175A 3.5 V10 USA
Ret
BRA
Ret
SMR
Ret
MON
Ret
CAN
Ret
MEX
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
Ret
GER
Ret
HUN
6
BEL
Ret
ITA
8
POR
17
ESP
Ret
JPN AUS 18th 1
1992 Scuderia Ferrari SpA Ferrari F92A Ferrari 038 3.5 V12 RSA
Ret
MEX
Ret
BRA
5
ESP
10
SMR
Ret
MON
Ret
CAN
Ret
FRA
Ret
GBR
9
GER
Ret
HUN
6
BEL
Ret
13th 3
Ferrari F92AT ITA
Ret
POR
Ret
JPN AUS
1993 Sasol Jordan Jordan 193 Hart 1035 3.5 V10 RSA
Ret
BRA
DNQ
EUR SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR JPN AUS NC 0

Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results

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

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos. Pts
1994 BMS Scuderia Italia Nissan Primera AVU
Ret
WUN
6
ZOL
Ret
ZAN
Ret
ÖST
8
SAL
9
SPA
9
NÜR
5
11th 21
1995 BMS Scuderia Italia Nissan Primera ZOL
1

11
ZOL
2

Ret
SPA
1

Ret
SPA
2

DNS
ÖST
1

Ret
ÖST
2

DNS
HOC
1

Ret
HOC
2

DNS
NÜR
1

Ret
NÜR
2

14
SAL
1

22
SAL
2

20
AVU
1

Ret
AVU
2

Ret
NÜR
1
NÜR
2
29th 26
1996 BMS Scuderia Italia Nissan Primera ZOL
1

21
ZOL
2

DNS
ASS
1

14
ASS
2

20
HOC
1
HOC
2
SAC
1
SAC
2
WUN
1
WUN
2
ZWE
1

10
ZWE
2

Ret
SAL
1

Ret
SAL
2

DNS
AVU
1
AVU
2
NÜR
1

8
NÜR
2

13
25th 49

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1995 Honda Motor Co. Ltd. Armin Hahne
Bertrand Gachot
Honda NSX GT1 GT1 7 DNF DNF

Complete Porsche Supercup results

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

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
2003 Porsche AG Porsche 996 GT3 ITA1
7
ESP AUT MON GER1 FRA GBR GER2 HUN ITA2 USA1 USA2 NC‡ 0‡

‡ – Guest driver – Not eligible for points.

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Enzo Coloni
Italian Formula Three Championship
Champion

1983
Succeeded by
Alessandro Santin
Preceded by
Michel Ferté
Monaco Formula Three
Winner

1984
Succeeded by
Pierre-Henri Raphanel
Preceded by
Pierluigi Martini
European Formula Three Championship
Champion

1984
Succeeded by
Daniel Juncadella
(2012)
Preceded by
Christian Danner
International Formula 3000
Champion

1986
Succeeded by
Stefano Modena
Awards
Preceded by
Inaugural
Lorenzo Bandini Trophy
1992
Succeeded by
David Coulthard
(1995)
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