Alex Zanardi

Alex Zanardi
Driver Information
Born	23 October 1966 (1966-10-23) Bologna, Italy
Nationality	ITA
Formula One World ChampionshipCareer Statistics
Status	Retired
World Titles	0
Races	44 (41 starts)
Poles	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Fastest Laps	0
Point	1
First Race	1991 Spanish Grand Prix
Last Race	1999 Japanese Grand Prix

Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (born 23 October 1966 in Bologna, BO, Emilia-Romagna, Italy) is a former Formula One driver who competed in the 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 seasons, and made a return to the sport in 1999.

Scoring only one single point during the 1993 season at the race in Brazil, he had a horrible crash at Belgium which occured on the Eau Rouge corner, making him miss the rest of the season, being replaced by Pedro Lamy.

Zanardi also competed in other forms of motorsport, including IndyCar, ChampCar and European Touring Car Championship series', during the first 13 years of his motorsport career.

Zanardi is, however, probably best known for a horrific accident suffered during a CART race at Lausitzring in 2001, in which he lost both of his legs. In attempting to rejoin the track following a pit-stop, Zanardi spun across the track, coming to rest at right-angles to the oncoming traffic. As Zanardi's car laid stricken on the circuit, the Forsythe Racing Ford of Patrick Carpentier was able to avoid him, but Alex Tagliani's car was not. Tagliani hit the side of Zanardi's car, just behind the front wheels, at around 200 mph, splitting the car in half. Due to the exceptional work of doctors, Zanardi survived, but he had both legs amputated above the knees as a result of his horrific injuries.

A long and difficult rehabilitation followed, but due to the dedication and ambition of Zanardi, he was back behind the wheel at the 2003 event at Lausitz using a specially adapted "hand-control" car in which throttle and brake were controlled by the driver's hands.

Less than a year later, Zanardi competed in his first competitive race since his accident - the opening race of the 2004 European Touring Car season at Monza. A year later, the series was renamed the World Touring Car Championship and in August 2005, Zanardi won his first race since returning to motorsport - the 2nd race of the WTCC Race of Germany at Oschersleben.

In 2006, Zanardi was given the opportunity to drive a hand-controlled BMW Sauber Formula One car at Valencia.

In 2009 Zanardi elected to retire from competitive motorsport to focus on the production of the Zanardi kart chassis which has been produced since 2004. Zanardi has also competed in numerous Para-Cycling races and, in 2009 stated his intention to represent Italy at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. In 2012 it was confirmed that he would compete at the 2012 Games.

On 5 September 2012, Zanardi won paralympic gold in the hand-cycling at Brands Hatch. The win was the third time Zanardi had been on the podium at the Brands Hatch circuit, after finishing second in a Formula 3000 race in 1991 and third in a hand-operated Touring Car in 2008.

He won another Paralympic gold in 2016 at the Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Formula One Statistical Overview

Formula One Record

Year	Entrant	Team	WDC Pts.	WDC Pos.	Report
1991	Footwork Grand Prix International	Footwork-Ford Cosworth	Test Driver		Report
	Team 7Up Jordan	Jordan-Ford	0	NC
1992	Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton-Ford	Test Driver		Report
	Minardi Team	Minardi-Lamborghini	0	NC
1993	Camel Benetton Ford	Benetton-Ford	Test Driver		Report
	Team Lotus	Lotus-Ford	1	20th
1994	Team Lotus	Lotus-Mugen-Honda	Test Driver		Report
			0	NC
1995–1997: Did not compete
1998	Winfield Williams	Williams-Mecachrome	Test Driver
1999	Winfield Williams	Williams-Supertec	0	NC	Report
2000–2005: Did not compete
2006	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	Test Driver

Career Statistics

Entries	44
Starts	41
Pole Positions	0
Race Wins	0
Podiums	0
Fastest Laps	0
Points	1
Laps Raced	1568
Distance Raced	7,275 km (4,520 mi)

Career Results

Complete Formula One Results
Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pts	Pos
1991																	0	NC
														9th	Ret	9th
1992																	0	NC
									DNQ	Ret	DNQ
1993																	1	20th
	Ret	6th	8th	Ret	14th	7th	11th	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS	INJ	INJ	INJ	INJ
1994																	0	NC
	INJ	INJ	INJ	INJ	9th	15th	Ret	Ret	Ret	13th		Ret		16th	13th	Ret
1995–1998: Did not compete
1999																	0	NC
	Ret	Ret	11th	8th	Ret	Ret	Ret	11th	Ret	Ret	Ret	8th	7th	Ret	10th	Ret

Key
Symbol	Meaning		Symbol	Meaning
1st	Winner		Ret	Retired
2nd	Podium finish		DSQ	Disqualified
3rd			DNQ	Did not qualify
5th	Points finish		DNPQ	Did not pre-qualify
14th	Non-points finish		TD	Test driver
Italics	Fastest Lap		DNS	Did not start
18th†	Classified finish (retired with >90% race distance)		NC	Non-classified finish (<90% race distance)
4thP	Qualified for pole position		[+] More Symbols

Notes

V T E	Teams and Drivers
1991 Teams and Drivers Teams McLaren • Tyrrell • Williams • Brabham • Footwork • Lotus • Fondmetal • Leyton House • AGS • Benetton • Dallara • Minardi • Ligier • Ferrari • Lola • Coloni • Jordan • Lambo Engines Ferrari • Ford • Honda • Ilmor • Judd • Lamborghini • Porsche • Renault • Yamaha Drivers 1 Senna • 2 Berger • 3 Nakajima • 4 Modena • 5 Mansell • 6 Patrese • 7 Brundle • 8 Blundell • 9 Alboreto • 10 Caffi • 10 Johansson • 11 Häkkinen • 12 Bailey • 12 Herbert • 12 Bartels • 14 Grouillard • 14 Tarquini • 15 Gugelmin • 16 Capelli • 16 Wendlinger • 17 Tarquini • 17 Grouillard • 18 Johansson • 18 Barbazza • 19 Moreno • 19 Schumacher • 20 Piquet • 21 Pirro • 22 Lehto • 23 Martini • 24 Morbidelli • 24 Moreno • 25 Boutsen • 26 Comas • 27 Prost • 27 Morbidelli • 28 Alesi • 29 Bernard • 29 Gachot • 30 Suzuki • 31 Chaves • 31 Hattori • 32 Gachot • 32 Schumacher • 32 Moreno • 32 Zanardi • 33 De Cesaris • 34 Larini • 35 Van de Poele Other Drivers McNish
1992 Teams and Drivers Teams McLaren • Tyrrell • Williams • Brabham • Brabham • Footwork • Lotus • Fondmetal • March • Benetton • Dallara • Minardi • Ligier • Ferrari • Venturi • Jordan • Andrea Moda Engines Ferrari • Ford Cosworth • Honda • Ilmor • Judd • Lamborghini • Mugen-Honda • Renault • Yamaha Entrants Central Park Venturi Larrousse • Scuderia Italia Drivers 1 Senna • 2 Berger • 3 Grouillard • 4 de Cesaris • 5 Mansell • 6 Patrese • 7/14 van de Poele • 8 Amati • 8 Hill • 9 Alboreto • 10 Suzuki • 11 Häkkinen • 12 Herbert • 14 Chiesa • 15 Tarquini • 16 Wendlinger • 16 Lammers • 17 Belmondo • 17 Naspetti • 19 Schumacher • 20 Brundle • 21 Lehto • 22 Martini • 23 Fittipaldi • 23 Zanardi • 24 Morbidelli • 25 Boutsen • 26 Comas • 27 Alesi • 28 Capelli • 28 Larini • 29 Gachot • 30 Katayama • 32 Modena • 33 Gugelmin • 34 Caffi • 34 Moreno • 35 Bertaggia • 35 McCarthy
1993 Teams and Drivers Teams Williams • Tyrrell • Benetton • McLaren • Footwork • Lotus • Jordan • Larrousse • Lola (BMS) • Minardi • Ligier • Ferrari • Sauber Engines Ferrari • Ford Cosworth • Hart • Lamborghini • Mugen-Honda • Renault • Sauber • Yamaha Drivers 0 Hill • 2 Prost • 3 Katayama • 4 De Cesaris • 5 Schumacher • 6 Patrese • 7 Andretti/Häkkinen • 8 Senna • 9 Warwick • 10 A. Suzuki • 11 Zanardi/Lamy • 12 Herbert • 14 Barrichello • 15 Capelli/Boutsen/Apicella/Naspetti/Irvine • 19 Alliot/T. Suzuki • 20 Comas • 21 Alboreto • 22 Badoer • 23 Fittipaldi/Gounon • 24 Barbazza/Martini • 25 Brundle • 26 Blundell • 27 Alesi • 28 Berger • 29 Wendlinger • 30 Lehto
1994 Teams and Drivers Teams Williams • Tyrrell • Benetton • McLaren • Footwork • Lotus • Jordan • Larrousse • Minardi • Ligier • Ferrari • Sauber • Simtek • Pacific Engines Ferrari • Ford Cosworth • Hart • Ilmor • Mercedes • Mugen-Honda • Peugeot • Renault • Yamaha Drivers 0 Hill • 2 Senna • 2 Coulthard • 2 Mansell • 3 Katayama • 4 Blundell • 5 Schumacher • 5/6 Lehto • 6 Verstappen • 6 Herbert • 7 Häkkinen • 7 Alliot • 8 Brundle • 9 Fittipaldi • 10 Morbidelli • 11 Lamy • 11/12 Zanardi • 11 Adams • 11 Bernard • 12 Salo • 12 Herbert • 14 Barrichello • 15 Irvine • 15 Suzuki • 15 de Cesaris • 19 Beretta • 19 Alliot • 19 Dalmas • 19 Noda • 20 Comas • 20 Délétraz • 23 Martini • 24 Morbidelli • 25 Bernard • 25 Herbert • 25 Lagorce • 26 Panis • 27 Alesi • 27 Larini • 28 Berger • 29 Wendlinger • 29 de Cesaris • 29 Lehto • 30 Frentzen • 31 Brabham • 32 Ratzenberger • 32 Montermini • 32 Gounon • 32 Schiattarella • 32 Inoue • 33 Belmondo • 34 Gachot
1999 Teams and Drivers Teams McLaren • Ferrari • Williams • Jordan • Benetton • Sauber • Arrows • Stewart • Prost • Minardi • BAR Engines Arrows • Ferrari • Ford Cosworth • Mercedes • Mugen-Honda • Petronas • Peugeot • Playlife • Supertec Drivers 1 Häkkinen • 2 Coulthard • 3 M. Schumacher/Salo • 4 Irvine • 5 Zanardi • 6 R. Schumacher • 7 Hill • 8 Frentzen • 9 Fisichella • 10 Wurz • 11 Alesi • 12 Diniz • 14 De la Rosa • 15 Takagi • 16 Barrichello • 17 Herbert • 18 Panis • 19 Trulli • 20 Badoer/Sarrazin • 21 Gené • 22 Villeneuve • 23 Zonta/Salo

v·d·e

Nominate this page for Featured Article